Effect of the acceleration on vehicle noise emission

In urban areas, traffic noise, considered as one of the most important public nuisances, is generated by stop–go traffic. Irregular urban traffic is directly linked to traffic regulation devices, which are the cause of frequent accelerations/decelerations of vehicles, depending on driving behavior. In order to predict sound levels at the time of conception, traffic regulation devices, measurements of acceleration passby noise, are necessary. Urban streets are synonymous with complex acoustical environments (presence of reverberant obstacles and multiple sources of noise): carrying out of in situ vehicle noise emissions measurements is impossible. Measuring vehicles’ noise emissions on test tracks can overcome this difficulty, therefore resulting in a better understanding of the acceleration effect on vehicle noise emission. The method described in this paper is based on simultaneous measurements of kinematical data (speeds, accelerations), mechanical parameters (gear ratio, engine speed), and acoustical l...