Analysis of Noise Level and Sound Transmission Loss (STL) of Noise Barrier Material for the Construction Site

The construction activities are commonly known as the noisy and annoying work that affects a human’s routine. Those students and lecturers whose location are at the noise receptor locations might be suffering from the health impairment. The objective of this study is to assess and determine the noise level present throughout the daytime period (9AM - 12PM and 2PM - 5PM) at respective measurement points. The analysis of noise spectrum of the sound source from 125 Hz to 4 kHz is part of the scope of study as well. The analysis was carried out by comparing the recommended safe noise level with the equivalent continuous sound level (LAeq) and sound pressure level (Lp) gathered from this study. By setting up a barrier to shield or enclose the sound source is the common way to control the noise transmission. Therefore, selection of the best noise barrier materials is based on the sound transmission loss (STL) value. In this study, the experiment STL of four different types of noise barrier material (newspaper, aluminium foil, cotton and EPS foam) also was carried out in the small scale of reverberation chambers equipped with the LMS Test Lab and LMS SCADAS Mobile device. The 16 tested one-third octave frequency band ranging from 125 Hz to 4 kHz had been utilized in this study. The results revealed that the material of newspaper produced the STL ranging from 0 dB to 9.7 dB within the low frequency of 125 Hz to 800 Hz. Meanwhile, the aluminium foil, had the optimum performance with at least 5.4 dB and above for the STL value at higher frequency ranging from 1 kHz to 4 kHz. Generally, the newspaper is considered as the best noise barrier material as it able to reduce the noise level more throughout the selected frequency range in this study