Jounlal of Sound and Vibration (1973) 28(3), 643-648

T H E I . S . V . R . W O L F S O N U N I T

C. G. GORDON

Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton S09 5NH, England

(Received 28 February 1973)

The I.S.V.R. Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control is one of the pioneers of university-industry collaboration. Its origins, terms of reference and scope of activities are described, in the context of national needs and policy for development of such collaborative work.

I, HISTORY

The Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control finds its beginning in 1966 when an "Advisory Service for Industry" was established within the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. The need for such a service arose from the increasing pressure placed upon the Institute by industry for help in evaluating and controlling noise and vibration problems. Initially the service was operated by the academic and research staff as a "spare-time" activity, but as the need for this kind of service continued to grow, it became clear that the service should be organized on a firmer commercial footing.

In order to offer a rapid and confidential service, a full-time staffwas essential and in 1968 an Industrial Noise Unit was formally established, with three consultants, as a self-financing group within the Institute " . . . to provide, through consultation, assistance to private, industrial, commercial and governmental bodies in resolving problems concerning noise and vibration".

In 1968 the Wolfson Foundation awarded the Institute a sum of s 000, payable over three years, as "pump priming" support to improve and extend the services provided, the funds to be expended in the appointment of a Technical Manager, an Administrative Officer, and the purchase of laboratory equipment and vehicles for use by the Unit. In recognition of this generous support from the Foundation, the Unit was renamed "The Wolfs0n Unit for Noise and Vibration Control".

The Unit continued to grow and by 1970 the staff numbered seven Consultants and six Staff (Technical) Assistants. At this time a Technical Manager was appointed, followed by an Administrative Assistant one year later.

In 1972 a part of the Unit concerned with automotive design work--considerably outside the other areas of involvement of the Unit--was formally established as a separate entity under the title "The Automotive Design Advisory Unit".

2. AN EXERCISE IN COLLABORATION

The matter Of collaboration between universities and industry has been the subject of much enquiry and discussion in recent years. In 1967 the Universities and Industry Joint

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Committee (a joint committee of University Vice-Chancellors and senior industrialists) set up a working party under the chairmanship of Mr P. Docksey with the terms of reference

"to study the existing relationship between the universities and industry in the field of research, and to make recommendations".

In the course of their three years ofenquiry, leading to the publication oftheir report (The Docksey Report) in July 1970, the Working Party found that most industries did not regard university departments as a major source of technical advice "except where they have par- ticular expertise or facilities". Many industries criticized the lack of commercial knowledge and judgement of university consultants and their inability to work to industrial time scales. The problem of commercial security was a further bar to effective communication. Not unexpectedly, the survey also showed that collaborative links tended to favour the large rather than the small companies.

In its final recommendations, the Docksey Report lays very substantial stress on the value of university consultants as a means of improving and extending the collaboration between industry and the universities. In particular they recommend that " . . . universities should encourage more staff to develop expertise of use to industry and recognize both this and the ability to communicate it to industry as a major factor when considering stafffor promotion".

Although in its embryonic development the Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control significantly predates the Docksey Report, the Unit satisfies many of the needs and criteria for university consulting activities as seen by the Docksey working party.

3. CONSTITUTION AND ORGANIZATION

The Constitution of the Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control iand there is now a total of seven such units within the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Southampton--sets out the following objectives:

(a) the primary objective of a Unit is to apply to practical situations the principles and techniques which are allied to the department's teaching and research activities, and to feed back suggestions to the department where there appears to be a need for further research; a unit thus provides a valuable link with industry and may provide additional tests of the validity and value of the department's research;

(b) to increase the use of certain special equipment, apparatus, etc., which has been obtained primarily for the teaching and research activities; earnings obtained via the work of a Unit will permit the appointment of non-teaching staff who will facilitate the use of the equipment for teaching and research as well as for the purposes of the Unit; where equipment was purchased for teaching or research, these shall have priority in its use;

(c) to provide additional opportunities for academic staff, research fellows, assistants and postgraduate students, to come into direct contact with industrial problems;

(d) to organize specialist seminars, short courses and conferences either for the benefit of individual companies, ccrtain professional groups in industry or Government bodies (for example, Factory Safety Officers, Health Inspectors, Works Managers);

(e) to provide feedback to departments of the expertise and experience of Engineers employed by the Units (this may be achieved by the Engineers jointly supervising some undergraduate and postgraduate projects, and by giving specialist lectures, where appropriate);

(f) the work of the Unit may be confidential to the client--although it is expected that the client will allow publication of the results of particular studies where appropriate;

(g) the work of the Unit may include research, development, design, and consultancy projects taking periods ranging from days to months or, in special cases, to several years;

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(h) the work of the full-time staff members of the Unit may be backed-up and assisted by the teaching and research staff of the University.

The Unit is required by the University to be financially self-sustaining. Fees for services must therefore take account of all staff salaries together with operating overhead and general administrative costs. Fees, in fact, are comparable to those charged by outside (private) consulting firms.

The relevance of the activities of the Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control (and of other similar units) to the improvement and maintenance of collaborative links between universities and industry is therefore self-evident; and, of course, the relevance extends much further than simply the industrial sector studied by Docksey. The technology of noise and vibration has application to a wide range of possible users outside industry itself, including planners, architects, public health authorities, highway engineers, to mention a few. The Wolfson Unit has an important role to fill in ensuring an adequate communication and flow of information between the Institute and these persons also.

4. TECHNICAL PROJECTS

The major technical activities of the Wolfson Unit for Noise and Vibration Control can be split conveniently into two broad areas, as follows:

hldustrial Noise and Fibration--including studies of the mechanisms of machinery noise generation; development of noise control techniques and devices for industrial machinery and plant; the provision of guidance in setting up industrial hearing con- servation programmes; studies of vibration generation, propagation and isolation in industrial building structures, machines and vehicles; Environmental Noise and Vibration--including studies of the generation, propagation and control of transportation system noise; evaluation of sites from the viewpoint of development planning; the provision of guidance in the design of buildings for external and internal noise and vibration control.

Over the past twelve-month period, upwards of 180 projects in these areas have been initiated, ranging from brief studies requiring only one or two man-days of effort to large studies of several man-weeks or even months of involvement. Some of the highlights of our activities and areas of special interest that have arisen in recent years, particularly in the immediate past year, are summarized below.

4.1. INDUSTRIAL NOISE AND VIBRATION

The field of industrial noise has been significantly affected in the past twelve months by the publication of the Department of Employment's "Code o f Practice for Reducing the Exposure of Employed Persons to Noise". The response of employers to the document can be partly judged by the rapidity with which the first printing was sold out, and by the mushroom-like growth of courses to explain and expand on the provisions of the Code. Many lectures have been given by the Unit's personnel to such courses, both of an open nature such as given by PERA, and those arranged by the larger industrial groups for their own higher and middle managements. It is encouraging to see the large number of divisional directors and group managers attending these courses, but we get the impression that in general the decision to take action on the provisions of the Code is somewhat slow in follow- ing. Several managers have voiced the opinion that the provisions of the Code should have been mandatory rather than advisory, in so far as all employers are then equally committed to take action, whereas with the present situation the more conscientious employers who are

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willing to act on the Code now could potentially be putting themselves at a commercial disadvantage by spending considerable sums of money on noise investigations and control. A result of the present attitude has been that the Unit has been asked to undertake many factory noise surveys, perhaps taking one or two man-days of effort, but that in many cases no action appears to have been taken as a result of these. The experience has been valuable, however, in indicating the broad range of noise problems which exist in industry. Many of these problems are relatively simple to solve, and in many cases could be tackled by the works engineer, using a minimum of noise control knowledge and a degree of common- sense. There remains, however, a large quantity of relatively difficult noise control problems requiring specialist assistance such as that which the Unit is pleased to supply.

The commonest sources of high internal noise levels in industrial machines and plants are

(a) impact processes such as occur in presses, forges, heading machines and printing machines, pneumatic chipping hammers, sheet-metal handling, etc.,

(b) release of high-pressure air and steam into the atmosphere, (c) fan-assisted ventilation and cooling systems, and (d) hydraulic systems.

The Wolfson Unit has investigated a variety of problems in these areas and devised solutions.

Of increasing interest over the past year has been that created in the brewing and dairying industries where considerable noise is generated by the fluid containers, whether bottles, kegs, or cans, and their handling machinery. The requirements for cleaning and sterilization produce extra problems in the design of noise control features.

The various types of plant and machinery used in the paper industry continue to present problems with respect to operators and, in many cases, to nearby communities. A number of paper mills and packaging firms have been surveyed and in a number of instances noise control techniques have been applied. A number of new lines of thought on reduction of noise at source have been developed. However, these can only be economically applied where there are opportunities to develop new equipment. It would seem a pity to await full resump- tion of investment in new machinery before pursuing active research and development. Paper corrugators and suction rolls are amongst items peculiar to the industry which might well yield to a serious application of theoretical and measurement techniques which the Institute has pioneered in other forms of rotational machinery.

Petrochemical plants continue to form a significant part of the Unit's work. In this area it is particularly gratifying to see that some of the equipment manufacturers have been tackling their environmental noise problems very seriously and have made substantial advances. Notable amongst these are the fin-fan cooler manufacturers. Other types of machinery do not appear to have received as much effort as might be desired. Electric motors and turbines continue to give problems as do some applications of control valves. There now exist well-established methods for attempting to design and lay-out plants in such a way that community noise problems are minimized, but some of these design procedures are based on scant evidence. Amongst these is the way in which sound is propagated from equipment located in the middle of a plant to the community. The Unit has undertaken one research project in this area and intends to continue this work in the future. In the process plant field there still remains a need to understand much more about the reasons for excessive noise from equipment so that equipment can be designed to operate quietly without the need for the addition of cumbersome and expensive external noise control features such as enclosures and lagging.

The recent concern over the treatment and disposal of refuse and scrap sewage has not been without its noise problems also. Increasing mechanization of such sources has brought

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with it several community noise problems, ranging from those caused by the crushing of scrap cars to those caused by sewage centrifuges.

Studies have also been undertaken in connection with the prediction and control of the noise of a projected desalination plant.

There has been substantial activity by the Unit in the general area of machinery noise as it relates to transportation vehicles. Noise in shipping, for instance, continues to be a major interest and several projects in this area are currently under way. The problems are caused by ships' machinery, and may involve hearing hazard, speech and sleep interference or annoyance to passengers and crew. The technology of ship noise control is in its infancy at the moment; it may be expected to develop considerably in the next few years. Noise in and around pleasure craft has also provided a number of interesting projects.

Throughout its period of formal existence, the Unit has made a steady contribution in working on noise and vibration problems on marine and track-guided hovercraft. On one particular marine project we were called upon to predict external noise characteristics and to specify noise control treatments for passenger saloons. In due course we evaluated actual noise levels on the prototype craft and worked with the manufacturer closely to remedy shortcomings and to investigate certain vibration problems which arose during the craft's development. More recently the Unit has comprehensively evaluated the scope for even further improvements of external noise stand.4rds at low operational powers.

The development of suppressors for aircraft gas turbine engine ducts is an area of the Unit's activity which has benefited from the basic research on which I.S.V.R. has been a world leader. The Unit has worked with several major aerospace organizations in specifying design parameters and evaluating candidate lining materials under realistic simulated duct noise level and airflow conditions. It is felt that some ofthese techniques may have application elsewhere in industry in situations where conventional fibrous or foam sound-absorbent materials are not acceptable for fire or hygiene reasons. Economic problems, however, often make such solutions hard to accept despite other advantages.

4.2. ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE AND VIBRATION

The Unit has been involved in a number of site evaluation studies for building develop- ment. These studies have included site measurements and predictions of future noise trends and the development of design constraints for building layout and construction.

For a number of years the Wolfson Unit has worked closely with the South East Road Construction Unit, assisting them in the preparation of noise contours for road schemes in the planning stage. A number of substantial field measurement exercises have been carried out, including a recent one in which the influence of road surface treatment on vehicle tyre noise was studied. The forthcoming legislation which will entitle householders to sound insulation and/or compensation in certain situations involving exposure to traffic noise will certainly increase the importance of our activity in this field.

Train noise is increasingly a subject of public concern and the Unit has undertaken several projects involving train noise evaluations.

Together with the Operational Acoustics Group of the Institute, the Wolfson Unit has participated in studies involving the prediction, measurement and evaluation of noise exposure contours around a number of airports.

Building acoustics is an area of our activity which continues to develop. Increasingly, architects and mechanical services consultants are considering the internal and external noise environments of buildings as a matter of some importance.

Yet a further source of noise in our environment is the noise of sporting activities such as motor racing and motor-cycle racing. Several surveys in this area have been carried out and recommendations made for noise abatement.

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It is pertinent under the heading ofenvironmental noise to note also the increasing concern being shown about the noise of equipment used in the home and in other situations where comfort rather than hearing hazard is the prime design constraint. Included in our studies have been electric motors and fans for domestic and automobile equipment, kitchen equip- ment and a quiet X-ray processing machine for hospital use.

As a somewhat special aspect of environmental noise control and as part of the Institute's " l ink" arrangement with the Royal Aircraft Establishment, we have built up a successful collaborative programme of experimental and consultative investigation covering all aspects of the military strike aircraft crew compartment environment. Investigations range from methodology and determination of the acoustic effectiveness of personal equipment (e.g., flying helmets) to full-scale studies of the acoustic insulation properties of crew compartments and canopies. This heavy commitment is likely to continue into the foreseeable future, and we are actively assisting with the design of new flight test programmes aimed at deeper understanding of noise source contributions and more adequate definitions of the environ- ment under all operational flight regimes.

Continuing our interest in impulsive noise sources (which hitherto has concentrated on the effects of sonic booms on buildings) we recently completed tests in our large anechoic chamber to define the noise signature of a design of air bag restraint system for automobiles, as a function ofseveral design-parameter options. One objective was to establish the relevance of the latest proposed standards for hearing damage risk to sources of this type, which, although universally recognized as being intense, would be expected to be experienced by passengers only extremely infrequently.