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Objective evaluation of the sound quality of the warning sound of electric vehicles with a consideration of the masking effect: Annoyance and detectability

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Abstract

This study developed a method to evaluate the sound quality of the warning sound masked by background noise considering the masking effect. The warning sound of an electric vehicle is required by law for the safety of pedestrians. Therefore, the warning sound becomes an additional noise pollution source if it is designed as an annoyance. On the other hand, if the sound is designed with a low sound pressure level, pedestrians will not recognize the approach of vehicle due to background noise. To avoid nose pollution and permit the detectability of an approaching vehicle, a method for evaluating the annoyance and detectability of an electric vehicle is required. In this paper, the whine index evaluating the whine sound masked by the background was developed and used as a sound metric. This metric was employed for the development of an annoyance index and detectability index for electric vehicles.

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Abbreviations

A:

constant related to the amplitude of a monopole source

P rms :

mean squared value of the sound pressure

q:

source strength of a mono pole source

ρ :

density of air

c:

speed of sound

k:

wave number

r:

distance from the source to the listener

θ :

directivity of sound presure

v:

speed of the vehicle

L(f):

sound pressure level (SPL) of the waveform

L E,n :

frequency masking curve of nth masker

I:

noise intensity present in the critical band

L TH(f):

hearing threshold the frequency f

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 22212, Korea

    Sang Kwon Lee, Seung Min Lee, Taejin Shin & Manug Han

Authors
  1. Sang Kwon Lee
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  2. Seung Min Lee
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  3. Taejin Shin
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  4. Manug Han
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sang Kwon Lee.

Additional information

This paper was modified from the original paper presented in FISITA World Automotive Congress 2016, and recommended by the Scientific & Technical Committee for journal publication.

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Lee, S.K., Lee, S.M., Shin, T. et al. Objective evaluation of the sound quality of the warning sound of electric vehicles with a consideration of the masking effect: Annoyance and detectability. Int.J Automot. Technol. 18, 699–705 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-017-0069-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-017-0069-6

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