Development and Validation of a Test System for measuring the Acoustic Signature of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Personal Protective Equipment Ensembles
Abstract
14. ABSTRACT-LIMIT 200 WORDS An acoustic measurement system was developed and validated for assessing the acoustic signature of commercially available chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) personal protective equipment (PPE). Current commercial CBRN PPE standards don't consider the minimization of acoustic signatures required for tactical operations. An acoustic signature includes all noise created by the wearer and the PPE that could lead to audible detection by a potential adversary. Many CBRN respiratory PPE design features increase the acoustic signature and can make stealth operations more challenging or impossible. The developed noise measurement system matched the specifications stated in the Department of Defense (DoD) Noise Limit Standard (MIL-STD-1474D) and used a free field microphone (Type 40AF, G.R.A.S., Denmark) mounted in an anechoic chamber. A data acquisition device (NI-PCI-4461, National Instruments, Austin, TX) coupled with a program developed in LabVIEW 8.6 (National Instruments, Austin, TX) recorded the sound pressure and calculated the decibel levels at 1/3 octave intervals from 50 to 10,000 Hz. Verification tests measured different tones and decibel levels with the developed system and a sound level meter simultaneously. The results demonstrated that the system could detect frequencies within the range of human hearing and compared favorably with the sound level meter.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA521760
Entities
People
- Daniel J. Barker
- Jonathan P. Eshbaugh
Organizations
- Battelle Memorial Institute