Showing papers by "Sang-Kwon Lee published in 2010"

Sound quality evaluation of the impact noise induced by road courses having an impact bar and speed bumps in a passenger car

Abstract: Sound quality indices for impact noise are developed by using sound metrics and a subjective evaluation. A new sound metric for impact sound is developed on the basis of a continuous wavelet transform, which is a useful tool for the analysis of non-stationary signals such as impact noise. Two other conventional sound metrics related to sound modulation and fluctuation are also considered. In all, three sound metrics are employed to develop impact sound quality indices for several specific impact courses on the road. The indices are verified by comparing the correlation between the index output and results of a subjective evaluation based on a test. These indices are successfully applied to an objective evaluation for improvement in the impact sound quality for cases where some parts of the suspension system of the test car are modified.

Identification of acoustic wave propagation in a duct line and its application to detection of impact source location based on signal processing

Abstract: For the detection of the impact location in a pipeline system, the correlation method has been the conventional method. For the application of the correlation method, the diameter of a duct should be small so that the acoustic wave inside the duct can propagate with nondispersive characteristics, in the form of, for example, a plane wave. This correlation method calculates the cross-correlation between acoustic waves measured at two acceleration sensors attached to a buried duct. It also gives information about the arrival time delay of an acoustic wave between two sensors. These arrival time delays are used for the estimation of the impact location. However, when the diameter of the duct is large, the acoustic waves inside the duct propagate with dispersive characteristics owing to the reflection of the acoustic wave off of the wall of the duct. This dispersive characteristic is related to the acoustic modes inside a duct. Therefore, the correlation method does not work correctly for the detection of the impact location. This paper proposes new methods of accurately measuring the arrival time delay between two sensors attached to duct line system. This method is based on the time-frequency analyses of the short time Fourier transform (STFT) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT). These methods can discriminate direct waves (non-dispersive waves) and reflective waves (dispersive waves) from the measured wave signals through the time-frequency analysis. The direct wave or the reflective wave is used to estimate the arrival time delay. This delay is used for the identification of the impact location. This systematic method can predict the impact location due to the impact forces of construction equipment with more accuracy than the correlation method.

Development of Sound Quality Evaluation System for a Printer Noise Based on Human Sensibility

Abstract: The printer sound has many aspects which define its quality because the printer has lots of components and its operation is very complicated. These sound qualities are related to the international competition in printer markets. Recordings inside anechoic chamber were analyzed and a large number of sounds were stimulated using digital signal processing technique. First subjective tests of the printer sound were conducted using semantic different method. By applying factor analysis to the subjective response, two important factors of sound quality were extracted. Second subjective tests were conducted to evaluate the quietness and the impulsiveness of the printer sounds. On the other hand, sound metrics are calculated applying psychoacoustic theories. In this paper, the nonlinear relation between subjective evaluation and sound metrics was identified using artificial neural network and the printer sound quality index was developed. Later, subjective sound quality evaluation will be estimated and evaluated using this index.

Development of a new sound metric for impact sound in a passenger car using the wavelet transform

Abstract: Vehicles can experience impacts due to harsh road conditions. Contact with an uneven road surface causes vehicles to vibrate, which generates a loud impact sound. The attenuation of such noise is important because car passengers may complain about the impact noise. However, perfect removal of impact noise is not possible because most of it is caused by external conditions. More research is needed on the objective attributes of impact noise; however, the problem of impact noise is not a simple matter because impact noise is transient in nature and reaches a high level instantaneously. In this paper, a new objective attribute of impact noise is designed using the wavelet transform, which is appropriate for analyzing nonstationary signals, such as an impact signal. The usefulness of the new objective attribute, which is a sound metric, is examined by comparing the mean subjective ratings for real impact noise in passenger cars. The new sound metric has better correlation with the mean subjective rating than currently existing sound metrics.

Identification of Printer Noise Source and Its Sound Quality Evaluation System Development

Abstract: The printer noise consists of the noise of the various components and parts such as motor, fan and solenoid. And the human`s printing sound recognition shows various aspects when the printer starts to print papers because the components operate at the same time. Especially, printers are usually installed in the quiet office room. Therefore the printing noise is related to its competitiveness in the market. The importance of the printer sound qualities is increasing and it is necessary to develop the sound quality evaluation system, so it is a key point to identify the noise source of the printer and develop the sound quality index to each component. By using this evaluation system, it is possible to evaluate the sound quality of a prototype printer compared to the already existing one. In this paper, the printer sound quality evaluation system was developed by the following steps. Firstly, the signal processing method was applied to the recorded printing sound to identity and split the noise of components. Secondly, the MLR(multiple linear regression) method and the psychoacoustics were used to develop the sound quality index. Finally, the improvement of the printer sound quality is possible by using the result of the MLR and the path analysis. The output of this research will be applied to the development of a new printer.

Sound Metric for the Impact Sound of a Car

Abstract: Vehicles experience the impact due to harsh road conditions. Contact with a barrier on a road induces vehicles to vibrate, which brings about an impact sound. The attenuation of the impact sound is an important issue since passengers may complain about the impact noise. However, the perfect removal of impact noise is not possible as most of impact noise is caused by external conditions. It is thus necessary to make vehicles to possess more desirable sound quality characteristic of impact sound. More research is needed on objective attributes of impact sound; it is not a simple matter since impact noise is transient in nature and has a high level of sound at an instantaneous moment. A new objective attribute of impact noise is designed by using wavelet transform. Wavelet transform is appropriate for the analysis of transient signals such as impact noise. The usefulness of new objective attribute, which is a sound metric, is examined by comparison with the mean subjective rating for real impact noise of passenger cars. The new sound metric has better correlation with the mean subjective rating than already existing sound metrics

CWT-Based Method for Identifying the Location of the Impact Source in Buried Pipes

Abstract: This paper presents a new method for indentifying the location of impact source in a buried duct. In a gas pipeline, the problem of leakage occurs due to the mechanical load exerted by construction equipment. Such leakage can cause catastrophic disasters in gas supply industries. Generally, the cross-correlation method has been used for indentifying the location of impact source in a pipeline. Since this method involves the use of the dispersive acoustic wave, it derives an amount of error in process of estimating the time delay between acoustic sensors. The object of this paper is to estimate the time delay in the arrival of the direct wave by using the wavelet transform instead of the dispersive wave. The wavelet transform based method gives more accurate estimates of the impact location than the cross-correlation method does. This method is successfully used to identify the location of impact force in an actual buried gas duct.

Estimation of Subjective Evaluations for Impact Sound and Analysis of the Effects for Parts of a Car

Abstract: Impact noise is induced in a car when it is driven on a harsh road or over some bumps. This noise occurs with the very high level of sound, which affects passengers in some way or other. Although it is impossible to clearly remove such noise, it is necessary to research an improvement in sound quality for impact noise. A new sound metric for impact sound is presented. This metric is verified by comparison between mean subjective ratings and several sound metrics. In this paper, more objective attributes are considered, which the attributes are expressing the level and modulation of sound. Three sound metrics are employed to get impact sound indexes for each course by the method of multiple linear regressions. The indexes are verified by considering the correlation between the estimated values from the multiple linear regressions and the mean subjective ratings by evaluators. Also, the subjective ratings on the indexes are estimated for the case in which some parts of suspension system are changed. The estimated ratings represent more reasonable or acceptable ratings. Thus, such indexes can be used for modification of the parts of suspension system under considering a good sound quality.