Asia-Pacific News (Sep 2016)

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Australia

Aircraft Noise Information Handbook, SA HB 149:2016

Australian Standard, AS 2021, Acoustics—Aircraft Noise Intrusion—Building Siting and Construction has been the primary reference since 1997 when dealing with planning and aircraft noise impact. This standard provides the guidance for land use based on Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) contours around an airport. A revised version was introduced in 2015 that still has the planning guidance on the basis of ANEF contours. It is now well acknowledged that such contour maps do not provide sufficient information for the community to understand the potential impact from future operations of the airport or for future airport expansion.

To supplement the AS 2021, the Standards Australia EV-011 committee worked on providing a handbook to provide guidance on the preparation of information on aircraft noise for dissemination to the public. This resulted in the production of SA HB 149:2016 Handbook Acoustics—Guidance on Producing Information on Aircraft Noise, which was released in June 2016. In contrast to AS 2021, it is not a land-use planning tool, but is intended to improve the availability of information about aircraft noise in a form that will allow individuals to make personal judgements about the impact of that noise on themselves.

The guidance provided in this handbook is intended for use by airport owners and operators, government agencies, and other organizations when producing and promulgating information on the distribution of aircraft noise around an airport. Provision of information in a format that is meaningful to the public will assist both the agencies presenting the information and the public for whom that information is provided. The handbook identifies the key features of that noise as it might affect the public, as follows:

  1. Where aircraft fly
  2. How often aircraft fly
  3. How much noise aircraft make
  4. When aircraft fly
  5. How widely noise will be heard
  6. Current and projected future noise impacts, and
  7. Other factors

They may not all be required for every airport, but they should be regarded as the key elements of noise information dissemination and should only be discarded if there is a sound basis for doing so.

Copies of the handbook are available from the SAI Global store:https://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/Details.aspx?productID=1865417

Good Music Neighbours

The Good Music Neighbours funding program has been created in Victoria, Australia and aims to invest in the cohabitation of venues and residences in our cities and the peaceful and amicable sharing of our great live music culture. The Good Music Neighbours grants help venues be proactive about sound management and offers up to AU$25,000 (approximately US$19,000) per venue in matched funding for responsible design and management of live music sound to achieve best practice to minimize noise impact on those outside the venue.

Grants must be used to pay for expenses for buildings or works for soundproofing/noise attenuation measures to minimize noise emissions from live music entertainment venues, including obtaining soundproofing advice, and a portion can be spent in capital investment in sound equipment.

More information:http://www.musicvictoria.com.au/gmn/aims-and-guidelines

Taking Listening to a New Level

Your hearing is like your fingerprint—unique to you—a fact that has inspired a Melbourne-based start-up company to develop headphones that take personalization to a whole new level.

Designed by a team that has experience across both engineering and hearing science, Nura plans to produce headphones that will deliver a completely custom listening experience. They feature innovative technology that takes the signals—or otoacoustic emissions—produced by your ear when you are listening, and uses this information to tailor what you hear.

The headphones are a hybrid of in-the-ear and over-the-ear headphones that deliver an immersive sound experience that the outside world can’t listen in on.

More information:http://www.australiaplus.com/international/study-and-innovation/melbourne-startup-plans-to-change-the-way-you-hear-sounds/7626644

(News source) Marion Burgess

China

27th National High-Tech Application of Vibration and Noise Conference

This conference was held July 27–29, 2016 at the International Communication Center for Conference of Harbin Engineering University. It is the annual conference in the area of vibration engineering organized by the Sound and Vibration Control Committee of the Chinese Society of Vibration Engineering, and sponsored by Harbin Engineering University and China Orient Institute of Noise and Vibration. The papers of the conference will be published in Volume 12 of the Proceedings for Modern Technology in Noise and Vibration.

2016 China International Rail Transit Noise and Vibration Control Technology Summit

This summit will be held September 27–28, 2016 in Hefei, China. The symposium is set up to promote extensive technical exchanges at home and abroad related to the field of rail transportation professionals, and the theme is “Focus on the track vibration and noise reduction comprehensive technological progress and promote harmonious urban rail transit quiet operation.” The background to the symposium is that as continued development and urbanization continue to expand economic construction, urban rail transport with large volume that is fast, safe, reliable, punctual, and comfortable, and with efficient environmental protection and other technical advantages, easing traffic pressure on the ground has played an increasingly important role. It has become the focus of development and construction of large and medium hot urban transport systems. By the end of 2015, there were forty cities in Mainland China that approved the construction of urban rail transit, including twenty-six cities that launched operation 112/116 (above) lines, the total length of operational lines 3293/3612 km, including Beijing and Shanghai, operating lines then respectively 18, 16, and the length of 554.69 km, 627.15 km, the highest in the world. At the same time, in the country there are hundreds of lines under construction. By 2020, it is expected that urban rail transit will reach fifty in the country, operating line length will reach 6,000 km scale, and construction of rail transit investment will reach 4 trillion RMB.

TB 10501-2016, Environmental Protection of Railway Engineering Design Specifications

TB 10501-2016 was published on June 26, 2016 by the National Railway Administration of China. It sets out the technical standards of environmental protection in railway construction project design, and defines the general requirements of the railway construction project environmental protection in terms of railway line selection and location, ecological and environmental protection, as well as noise, vibration, water, air, solid waste, electromagnetic pollution prevention and control. The standard is mainly used to guide new construction, renovation of railway engineering design of environmental protection.

(News source) Jun Yang

Korea

2016 Spring Conference of the KSNVE

The 2016 Spring Conference of the KSNVE (Chair: Moon Kyu Kwak/Dongguk University) was held Wednesday through Saturday, April 20–23, 2016 in Gyeongju, Korea, with the theme “Noise and Vibration—the Past, the Present, and the Future.” The technical program included thirty-seven sessions with 240 papers presented by more than 600 participants. It was an opportunity to reflect back on the past and the present, and to chart the future course of the society.

The keynote speech was given by Su Hyun Baek (Chair) of the Korean Standards Association on the recent trend in global standardization. A tutorial lecture on presentation skills and a short course on vibration basics were offered to the conference participants. On the first day, Yang-Hann Kim (KAIST) presented a reception lecture titled “Art in Engineering, Engineering in Art.” The KSNVE Prize was awarded to Weui Bong Jeong (Pusan National University), who delivered a prize lecture entitled “Modeling and Vibration Analysis of Damped Structures.”

Titles of the technical sessions included energy, acoustics/noise theory, architecture/civil engineering, automobiles/transportation vehicles, vibration/dynamics theory, vibration control, community noise, vibration diagnosis of rotating machinery in nuclear power plants, environment/health, rotor vibration, underwater acoustic imaging, field examples, measurements and monitoring, elastic waves, young investigators, home appliance/mobile devices, construction equipment, and control theory and evaluation. Of particular interest to participants were noise studies in high-density housing, presented in the community noise session. SM Instruments Inc., a sustaining member of the KSNVE, showcased its noise/vibration products and services in the industry session celebrating its tenth anniversary. Case studies of noise and vibration in industries were also presented in a special competition, intended to promote cooperation between the society and its industrial partners. The exhibition was also held where attendees could visit the booths to browse the latest noise and vibration-related products.

15th International Conference on Electrorheological Fluids and Magnetorheological Suspensions (ERMR 2016)

ERMR 2016 (Chair: Seung-Bok Choi/Inha Univ.) was held July 4–8, 2016 in Incheon, Korea with more than 250 participants from twenty-one countries. The conference was a venue to share the latest developments on electro- and magnetorheological fluids among researchers around the world. The technical program included twelve plenary lectures, twenty-eight oral sessions, and eight poster sessions with the total of 197 papers. Apart from the technical program, a tour of downtown Seoul was conducted to introduce international attendees to the sights and sounds of Korea, which featured visits to such Korean landmarks as Gyeongbok Palace, Insa-dong, and Namsan Hanok Village. More information:http://ermr2016.org

Program TOPIC

  • Electrorheological (ER) fluids: materials and physical properties
  • Electrorheological gels and elastomers
  • Ferrofluids: materials and applications
  • Magnetorheological (MR) suspensions: materials and characteristics
  • MR elastomers and gels: materials and physical properties
  • Stimuli-responsive bio-materials and colloids
  • Emerging stimuli-responsive materials including graphene, graphene oxide, LC, Pickering, new type of magnetic particles, etc.
  • Smart fluid based energy saving and harvest
  • ER and MR polishing
  • Engineering applications of ER and MR materials
  • Medical and pharmaceutical applications of ER and MR materials
  • Functional Materials or External-sensitive Materials
  • Other related field-responsive systems

15th Machine Condition of Diagnosis Technique Lecture

Korea Certification Institute for Machine Diagnostics (KCI-MD, Chair: Oh Sung Jun/JeonJu University) is an affiliate organization of the KSNVE with the national mandate to oversee the certification of machine diagnostics technicians in Korea. A short course on the theory and applications of machine diagnostics was offered by the KCI-MD, June 30–July 1, 2016 in Pusan, Korea. More than one hundred experts around the country attended the course, featuring nine technical lectures, sixteen case studies, and an exhibition.

(News source) Yeon-June Kang

Japan

INCE/J Social-Contribution Activities

INCE/J took part in a special event of “Children’s Visit-Kasumigaseki Day,” which was an experiential tour of the central government ministries and agencies for elementary and junior high school students, held on July 27–28, 2016. INCE/J provided an exhibition booth named “What is Sound?—Let’s Experience Various Sounds” in the zone of the Ministry of the Environment. At the booth, one could have various experiences concerning sound; for example, playing with handmade toys that make sound and making whistles out of straws. A lot of children and their parents visited the booth and had much fun with an extreme interest in sound.

2016 Autumn Meetings of INCE/J and ASJ

INCE/J will hold the 2016 autumn technical meeting at Meijo University in Nagoya, November 19–20. The meeting will consist of fourteen sessions, including three organized sessions: “Prediction of road traffic vibration at viaducts,” “Information disclosure and harmony with local community in the field of noise and vibration,” and “Revision of the verification and inspection rules of the Measurement Act.” In addition, a special ceremony, commemorative lectures, and a special award are planned to celebrate INCE/J’s fortieth anniversary.

The Acoustical Society of Japan will hold the 2016 autumn research meeting at Toyama University in Toyama Prefecture (http://www3.u-toyama.ac.jp/csslab/ASJ/index.html) September 14–16. The meeting is planned to have the following nine structured sessions: (1) basic acoustics 2—physiological and psychological acoustics, (2) the role of noise and vibration research field toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, (3) education in sound design, (4) recent development in non-contact acoustic technologies, (5) speech signal processing in noisy environment, (6) current and future perspectives for research on physiology of hearing: from bioacoustics point of view, (7) current research topics on outdoor emergency sound system, (8) forefront of developing international standards on acoustics: to know social needs is to find research seeds, and (9) are the sound technologies useful for acoustical assists? A workshop of Technical Trend Reviewing will take place in the afternoon of September 14 and feature wind turbine noise: noise impact evaluation, as well as measurement, analysis, and monitoring technologies. The Beginners Seminar, taking place in the evening of September 14, will give an introductory lecture on tools and books helpful for acoustical measurements. The special ceremony to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Hokuriku Chapter of the ASJ will be held soon after the research meeting, in the morning of September 17, which follows a memorial lecture meeting with three presentations: “What is the ASJ?,” “Soundscape in Toyama,” and “Sound of Takaoka: Temple Bell.” More information:http://www.asj.gr.jp/annualmeeting/ASJ2016springCFP(E).html

Recent Special Editions of the INCE/J Journal

The INCE/J Journal Vol. 40, No. 3, published this August, focused on the compatibility of acoustical performance and other required for materials. It contained a general account of “Acoustical performance and others: change of thinking from trade-off to value addition,” and six technical data reports: (1) performance of glass wool sound absorbing material as a fire protection material, (2) sound absorption and design property of the interior finish, (3) performance required for the acoustic material to be used in the nursery, (4) safety and acoustic performance required for the ceiling, (5) floor impact sound insulation performance and walking feeling required for lightweight floor material, and (6) acoustical and other performance characteristics required for soundproofing wall.

The latest issue of the INCE/J Journal Vol. 40, No. 4, being published in November, will focus on the measurement and evaluation of small sound, fluctuating sound, and impulsive sound. It contains five review accounts: (1) measurement method for small and impulsive sounds—precautions for instruments and use, (2) psychological evaluation of low level noise, (3) evaluation of fluctuating sound, (4) acoustic characteristics of heavy weapon noise and evaluation for noise mitigation measures around maneuvering ground, and (5) measurement and evaluation of explosion sound, and three technical reports: (1) low level noise generated by construction facilities, (2) outline of “strange sound”—small structure-borne sounds from unidentified sound sources, and (3) evaluation of impulsive noise emitted from office equipment.

(News sources) Kiyoshi Nagakura, Shinichi Sakamoto and Ichiro Yamada