Verifying the attenuation of earplugs in situ: Method validation using artificial head and numerical simulations

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Volumn 124, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 973-981

  Bockstael, Annelies ^a   De Greve, Bram ^a   Van Renterghem, Timothy ^a   Botteldooren, Dick ^a   D'Haenens, Wendy ^a   Keppler, Hannah ^a   Maes, Leen ^a   Philips, Birgit ^a   Swinnen, Freya ^a   Vinck, Bart ^a  

^a GHENT UNIVERSITY   (Belgium)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMPUTER SIMULATION; FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD; FUNCTIONS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES; MICROPHONES; NUMERICAL ANALYSIS; ULTRASONICS;

ARTIFICIAL HEAD; EAR CANAL; FINITE DIFFERENCE TIME DOMAIN; HEARING PROTECTORS; IN-SITU; IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS; METHOD VALIDATIONS; MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS; NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS; OUTER EAR CANAL; SOUND LEVELS; SOUND PRESSURES; STRIKING FEATURES;

TRANSFER FUNCTIONS;

ARTICLE; AUDITORY CANAL; AUDITORY THRESHOLD; COMPUTER SIMULATION; EARDRUM; ELECTRONICS; GEOMETRY; MICROPHONE; NOISE REDUCTION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REPRODUCIBILITY; SOUND DETECTION; SOUND INTENSITY; SOUND LEVEL MEASUREMENT; SOUND LEVEL METER; SOUND PRESSURE; SOUND TRANSMISSION;

COMPUTER SIMULATION; EAR CANAL; EAR PROTECTIVE DEVICES; EQUIPMENT DESIGN; HEAD; HUMANS; MODELS, ANATOMIC; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; NOISE; PRESSURE; REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS; SIGNAL PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED; SOUND SPECTROGRAPHY; TYMPANIC MEMBRANE;

EID: 49249087396     PISSN: 00014966     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1121/1.2945709     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Berger, E. H. (2005). " Preferred methods for measuring hearing protector attenuation.," Environmental Noise Control (Inter Noise, Brazil).
2. Berger, E. H. (2007). " Introducing F-MIRE testing-background and concepts.," Technical Report No. E-A-R 06-29/HP, E.A.RCal Laboratory, Indianapolis.
3. Berger, E. H., Franks, J. R., Behar, A., Casali, J. G., Dixon-Ernst, C., Kieper, R. W., Merry, C. J., Mozo, B. T., Nixon, C. W., Ohlin, D., Royster, J. D., and Royster, L. H. (1998). " Development of a new standard laboratory protocol for estimating the field attenuation of hearing protection devices. Part III. The validity of using subject-fit data.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 665-672.
4. Berger, E. H., Franks, J. R., and Lindgren, F. (1996). International Review of Field Studies of Hearing Protection Attenuation (Thieme Medical Pub, New York), pp. 361-377.
5. Botteldooren, D. (1995). " Finite-difference time-domain simulation of low-frequency room acoustic problems.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 3302-3308.
6. Botteldooren, D. (1997). " Vorticity and entropy boundary conditions for acoustical finite-difference time-domain solutions.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 170-178.
7. Brüel & Kjær (1996). " Microphone handbook.," Technical Report.
8. Burks, J. A., and Michael, K. L. (2003). " A new best practice for hearing conservation.," in Noise-Con, Cleveland, OH, June 23-25.
9. European Parliament and Council. (2003). " Directive 2003-10-EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise).," 2003-10-EC.
10. Farmer-Fedor, B., and Rabbitt, R. (2002). " Acoustic intensity, impedance and reflection coefficient in the human ear canal.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 600-620.
11. Franks, J. (2003). " Comparison of the regulatory noise reduction rating (NRR) and the required ANSI S3.19 test method with real world outcomes and results from testing with the new ANSI S12.6B method.," in Workshop on Hearing Protector Devices (United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.).
12. Franks, J., Murphy, W., Harris, D., Johnson, J., and Shaw, P. (2003). " Alternative field methods for measuring hearing protector performance.," Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J. 64, 501-509.
13. Gan, R. Z., Sun, Q., Feng, B., and Wood, M. W. (2006). " Acoustic-structural coupled finite element analysis for sound transmission in human ear-pressure distribution.," Med. Eng. Phys. 28, 395-404.
14. Hager, L. D. (2006). Fit testing ear plugs, Occupational Health & Safety.
15. Hammershøi, D., and Møller, H. (1996). " Sound transmission to and within the human ear canal.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 408-427.
16. Hellstrom, P.-A., and Axelsson, A. (1993). " Miniature microphone probe tube measurements in the external auditory canal.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 93, 907-919.
17. Hillström, L., Mossberg, M., and Lundberg, B. (2000). " Identification of complex modulus from measured strains on an axially impacted bar using least squares.," J. Sound Vib. 230, 689-707.
18. Hillström, L., Valdek, U., and Lundberg, B. (2003). " Estimation of the state vector and identification of the complex modulus of a beam.," J. Sound Vib. 261, 653-673.
19. Hiselius, P. (2004). " Method to assess acoustical two-port properties of earplugs.," Acta. Acust. Acust. 90, 137-151.
20. Hiselius, P. (2005). " Attenuation of earplugs-objective predictions compared to subjective reat measurements.," Acta. Acust. Acust. 91, 764-770.
21. Howe, M. S. (1998). Acoustics of Fluid-Structure Interactions, Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
22. Hsu, Y.-L., Huang, C.-C., Yo, C.-Y., Chen, C.-J., and Lien, C.-M. (2004). " Comfort evaluation of hearing protection.," Int. J. Ind. Ergonom. 33, 543-551.
23. Hudde, H., and Engel, A. (1998). " Measuring and modeling basis properties of the human middle ear and ear canal. Part II: eardrum impedances, transfer functions and model calculations.," Acust. Acta Acust. 84, 1091-1109.
24. International Standard Organisation (ISO). (1998). " Acoustics-Determination of sound absorption coefficient and impedance in impedance tubes-Part 2: Transfer-function method.," ISO 10534-2.
25. Jarzynski, J., Balizer, E., Fedderly, J. J., and Lee, G. (2003). Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology (Wiley, New York), pp. 1-47.
26. Keefe, D. H., Bulen, J. C., Arehart, K. H., and Burns, E. M. (1993). " Ear-canal impedance and reflection coefficient in human infants and adults.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 94, 2617-2638.
27. Kringlebotn, M. (1988). " Network model of the human middle ear.," Scand. Audiol. 17, 75-85.
28. The LEE Company (2006). " Laws for gas-how to calculate flow resistance for gasses.," www.theleeco.com (Last viewed March 27, 2008).
29. Margolis, R., Paul, S., Saly, G. L., Sachern, P. A., and Keefe, D. (1999). " Wideband reflectance tympanometry in normal adults.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106, 265-280.
30. Nakazawa, M., and Nishikata, A. (2005). " Development of sound localization system with tube earphone using human head model with ear canal.," IEICE Trans. Fundamentals E88-A, 3584-3592.
31. Neitzel, R., Somers, S., and Seixas, N. (2006). " Variability of real-world hearing protector attenuation measurements.," Ann. Occup. Hyg. 50, 679-691.
32. Nélisse, H., Gaudreau, M.-A., Voix, J., Laville, F., and Boutin, J. (2007). " A preliminary study on the measurement of effective hearing protection device attentuation during a work-shift.," in Noise at Work 2007-Proceedings (CIDB, INCEEUROPE, Association AINF, Lille), pp. 1295-1322.
33. Pääkkönen, R., Savolainen, S., Myllyniemi, J., and Lehtomaäki, K. (2000). " Ear plug fit and attenuation-an experimental study.," Acust. Acta Acust. 86, 481-484.
34. Parmentier, G., Dancer, A., Buck, K., Kronenberger, G., and Beck, C. (2000). " Artificial head (ATF) for evaluation of hearing protectors.," Acust. Acta Acust. 86, 847-852.
35. Pascal, J., Bourgeade, A., Lagier, M., and Legros, C. (1998). " Linear and nonlinear model of the human middle ear.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1509-1516.
36. Pierce, A. D. (1997). Encyclopedia of Acoustics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 21-37.
37. Schroeter, J. (1985). " The use of acoutsical test fixtures for the measurement of hearing protector attenuation. Part I: Review of previous work and the design of an improved test fixture.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 79, 1065-1081.
38. Schroeter, J., and Poesselt, C. (1986). " The use of acoustical test fixtures for the measurement of hearing protector attenuation. Part II: Modeling the external ears, simulating bone conduction, and comparing test fixture and real-ear data.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 80, 505-527.
39. Shaw, E. A. G., and Stinson, M. R. (1981). " Network concepts and energy flow in the human middle ear.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 69, S44.
40. Tian, X., and Qing, H. (2003). " Finite difference computation of head-related transfer function for human hearing.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113, 2434-2441.
41. Toivonen, M., Pääkkönen, R., Savolainen, S., and Lethtomäki, K. (2002). " Noise attenuation and proper insertion of earplugs into ear canals.," Ann. Occup. Hyg. 46, 527-530.
42. Tonndorf, J. (1988). Physiology of the Ear (Raven, New York), pp. 29-39.
43. Voix, J. (2006). " Mise au point d'un bouchon d'oreille 'intelligent' (Development of a 'smart' earplug).," Ph.D. thesis, Ecole de Technologie Supérieure Université du Québec.
44. Voss, S., and Allen, J. (1994). " Meaurement of acoustic impedance and reflectance in the human ear canal.," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 372-384.
45. Wit, H. P., Damme, K. J., and Van Spoor, C. W. (1987). Fysica voor de fysiotherapeut (Physics for the physiotherapist) (Bunge, Utrecht).