Noise and Vibration Control

Course Outline

Mechanical equipment, such as cooling towers, generates noise and vibration during its normal operation. It is an important aspect of the building design to control the undesirable noise and vibration. This course provides the criteria and guidance required for design and construction of those features related to noise and vibration control of mechanical equipment systems most commonly encountered. The course materials are based entirely on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Technical Manual TM 5-805-4: Noise and Vibration Control (1995 edition, 150 pages). This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Have a better understanding of the sound distribution and propagation; and
• Be familiar with various methods to control the noise and vibration.

Course Content

The purpose of this course is to provide the criteria and guidance required for design and construction of noise and vibration control of mechanical equipment systems. You will be directed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' website to study the following publication:

Technical Manual TM 5-805-4: Noise and Vibration Control (1995 edition, 150 pages, PDF file, 2.5 MB)

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The following contains the outline of the Technical Manual TM 5-805-4:

Noise and Vibration Control

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL
Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 1-1
Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 1-1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 1-3 1-1
Noise Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1-4 1-1
English, Metric Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5 1-1
Explanation of Abbreviation and Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6 1-1

CHAPTER 2. Noise and Vibration Criteria
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 2-1
Noise Criteria In Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 2-2 2-1
Vibration Criteria In Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 2-4

CHAPTER 3. Sound Distribution Indoors
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 3-1
Sound Pressure Level in a Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 3-1
Room Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 3-2
Sample Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 3-4

CHAPTER 4. Sound Isolation Between Rooms
Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-1 4-1
Sound Transmission Loss (TL), Noise Reduction (NR) & Sound Transmission Class (STC). . . . . . . .4-2 4-1
Transmission Loss-Walls, Doors, Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 4-4
Transmission Loss of Floor-Ceiling Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-4 4-6

CHAPTER 5. Sound Propagation Outdoors
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-1 5-1
Distance Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 5-1
Atmospheric Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 5-3 5-4
Terrain and Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 5-4 5-6
Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 5-7
Reception of Outdoor Noise Indoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 5-11
Combined Effects, Sample Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-7 5-12
Source Directivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8 5-13

CHAPTER 6. Airborne Sound Control
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1 6-1
Indoor Sound Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2 6-1
Outdoor Sound Problem and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3 6-2
Quality of Analysis Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 6-4 6-2
Noise Control Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 6-3

CHAPTER 7. Air Distribution Noise for Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning SYSTEMS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1 7-1
General Spectrum Characteristics of Noise Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 7-1
Specific Characteristics of Noise Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 7-1
Control of Fan Noise in a Duct Distribution System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 7-3
Procedure for Calculating Noise Control Requirements for an Air Distribution System . . . . . . . . 7-5 7-7
Calculation Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6 7-9

CHAPTER 8. Vibration Control
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1 8-1
Vibration Isolation Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 8-2 8-1
Mounting Assembly Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 8-3 8-3
Tables of Recommended Vibration Isolation Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 8-4 8-6
Vibration Isolation-Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5 8-10

CHAPTER 9. Mechanical Noise Specifications
Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1 9-1
General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 9-2 9-1
Partitions and Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3 9-1
Mufflers and Duct Lining for Ducted Ventilation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4 9-1
Sound Levels for Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5 9-1

CHAPTER 10. NOISE AND VIBRATION MEASUREMENTS
Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1 10-1
Sound and Vibration Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2 10-1
Measurement of Noise and Vibration in Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3 10-2
Measurement of Noise and Vibration Outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4 10-2

APPENDIX A. REFERENCES
B. BASICS OF ACOUSTICS
C. SOUND LEVEL DATA FOR MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Course Summary

This course provides data and recommendations for mechanical equipment installations on-grade and in upper-floor locations of steel and concrete buildings. The noise estimates and the noise control designs presented in this manual may be used with reasonable confidence for most general purposes.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

---

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.org or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

---