Prediction of sound radiated from tunnel openings

Wolfgang Probsta)
(Received: 5 April 2009; Revised: 19 November 2009; Accepted: 20 November 2009)
Road or railway tunnels are taken into account in noise prediction programs
with the traffic flow ending at the tunnel mouth. The sound radiated from inside
the tunnel through the tunnel mouth into the environment is calculated using an
additional point or area source at the position of the tunnel opening. Some
investigations have been published where the source strength of the radiating
tunnel mouth has been calculated from analytically derived propagation
relations inside the tunnel. In the meantime sound propagation inside rooms can
be modelled more precisely even for complex environments, where the basic
algorithms have been selected and improved based on measurements in more
than 150 rooms and halls. These techniques have been standardized and in the
meantime after about 8 years of experience with the application of these
strategies they form an experimentally well established and computer based
method that can be used to solve many of these special problems. The procedure
is used as a part of an integral approach to calculate the noise radiated from
tunnel openings. It can be used for different and even complex configurations
and may help to integrate this very special noise source in environmental
modelling for noise calculation. © 2010 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.

Primary subject classification: 52.4; Secondary subject classification: 25

1 INTRODUCTION around the opening. The methodology of the Interna-

The radiation from tunnel-mouths has been studied
in some papers theoretically and experimentally1–9.
Most of these investigations are based on analytical
closed solutions of sound propagation inside the tunnel
caused by a source inside. In the meantime calculation
procedures and software packages for the prediction of
sound propagation in closed rooms are available, that
have been developed on the basis of measurements in
more than 150 rooms and halls10,11 and that are even
standardized12—this is a much better and experimen-
tally verified starting point to predict sound propaga-
tion inside the tunnel to its opening cross section even
with absorbing panels near the tunnel mouth. For the
tunnel of infinite length with uniform acoustic proper-
ties at all cross sections a closed analytic solution for
this problem is presented—the levels are in good agree-
ment with those determined by the above mentioned
software-supported technique.
From these calculations inside the tunnel the
strength of emission of the tunnel opening is deter-
mined. The directivity of this radiation is developed by
calculating the propagation of sound from the line
source inside the tunnel to receivers arranged in a circle
a)
DataKustik GmbH, Gewerbering 5, D-86926 Greifenberg
GERMANY; email: wolfgang.probst@datakustik.de.
tional Standard ISO 9613-213 has been used to calcu-
late reflections to high orders with a mirror image
method and the radiation of these mirror sources to the
receivers outside including the diffraction around the
edges of the tunnel mouth. To suppress the shortcom-
ing of software based on ISO 9613-2 not to calculate
ground reflections by mirror image sources a trick has
been applied—the tunnel was rotated by 90 degree into
a vertical position and simulated by vertical screens with
the relevant absorption properties inside. The software
supported calculations are all based on ray tracing
techniques and on geometrical acoustics. This is accept-
able for typical tunnel geometries with dimensions large
relative to the relevant wavelengths and if A-weighted
levels shall be determined.
The results of this investigation are applied by
simulating the radiation from inside a tunnel to the
environment by modelling the tunnel mouth as a verti-
cal area source. The strength of emission of this source
“tunnel opening” and the directivity of the radiated
sound is derived from the parameters of the traffic flow,
the tunnel geometry and its acoustic properties.
It is the aim of this work to facilitate the prediction
of A-weighted mean sound levels related to defined
time intervals—e. g. day and night. This restriction
shall be mentioned, because only for energetically

Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010 201

 ds
tunnel
receiver
Fig. 1—The part of the track ds that radiates to-
wards the receiver without diffraction.
averaged mean levels the source inside the tunnel is a
line source. As it is shown later only based on these
conditions the sound field in a tunnel of infinite length
is diffuse—this is not the case if the sound distribution
inside the tunnel produced by a moving car or train
shall be predicted. But the agreement of results
obtained with ray tracing techniques and by a method
based on diffuse sound field in the infinite tunnel
proves the validity of these assumptions.
2 PROBLEM DEFINITION
Roads and railways are guided through tunnels to
prevent sensitive living environments from noise
exposure or to cross under hilly terrain to avoid costly
mountain roads. If the noise of such roads shall be
predicted the sound radiated by the road inside the
tunnel is generally neglected and this subpart of the
road inside the tunnel is simply deleted from the model
(if modern graphic oriented software is applied).
But the sound radiated from the tunnel mouth into
the environment may produce a level increase that can
not be neglected. For a given receiver position near the
tunnel opening three different contributions have to be
taken into account.
The first part is radiated from the part ds of the track
inside the tunnel that can be seen from the receiver and
propagates without diffraction, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
It can be taken into account if this part ds would be
included in the calculation. But this is only a solution
for fixed receiver locations—when noise maps are
calculated ds will be different for each grid point.
The second part is the sound that is radiated from the
track inside the tunnel and is diffracted over a tunnel
edge towards the receiver, as shown in Fig. 2. It can be
determined by subdividing the track in small parts and
by applying a usual diffraction calculation.
The third contribution is caused by sound that is
reflected at the inner surfaces. The role these reflections
play depends on the absorption of these surfaces, see
Fig. 3.
202 Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010
receiver
Fig. 2—The direct sound from inside the tunnel
diffracted at the tunnel edge.
3 THE SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL INSIDE
THE TUNNEL AND IN THE OPENING
AND THE RADIATION INTO THE
ENVIRONMENT
In the following the strength of emission at the
tunnel opening is derived from basic acoustic
principles. The results are validated and extended using
a software program that was developed to calculate
sound pressure levels in rooms with any distribution of
absorption inside14. Another software for sound propa-
gation outside15 is used to calculate the sound power
radiated through the tunnel opening to the environment
taking into account reflections inside up to high orders.
This allows the directional dependence of the radiation
to be determined. The applied principles are indepen-
dent from these software packages—in the following
the underlying principles and references are given.
3.1 The Sound Radiated from Inside the
Tunnel to the Opening Cross
Section—Analytic Solution
The upper part of Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal section
of a tunnel for roads or railways with the acoustically
relevant elements. The traffic flow is extended along
the tunnel duct and it is assumed that the length of this
tunnel is large relative to the dimension of the cross
section. The sound pressure level at the receivers shown
in the middle cross section shall be determined. This is
performed using a simple thought experiment. As it is
receiver
Fig. 3—Reflected sound radiated from inside the
tunnel to the receiver.
 long road or railway tunnel -5

-10
tunnel tunnel

road or railway
-15

SPL - PWL (dB)

acoustically equivalent model
-20

-25

-30

-35
Fig. 4—Replacing the tunnel of infinite length by 1 2 3 4 5 10 20 50 100
a “slice” cut out by two ideally reflecting Distance Source - Receiver (m)

walls. Fig. 5—Spatial sound decay curve according to

Refs. 12 and 16 in a tunnel with extension
shown in the lower part of Fig. 4, a piece of the tunnel 500 m, cross section 10 m ⫻ 6 m and ab-
is separated from the rest by two completely reflecting sorption coefficient 0.1 (dashed line—free
planes. The distance X between these reflecting walls field, red line normalized levels along axis
shall be similar to the dimensions of the cross section. of the tunnel).
If the sound pressure level in this imaginary section
of the tunnel is calculated using mirror image method,
If the sound pressure level in the middle of the
the reflected rays originally coming from the piece of
tunnel is known, the level at the tunnel opening can be
road are assumed to come from the mirror images of
assumed to be 3 dB lower, because the rays penetrate this
this source—the sound level inside this imaginary
cross section only from one side.
room is identical to the level in the extended tunnel
Based on these ideas the sound pressure level in the
(upper part of Fig. 4) with the same cross section.
tunnel and at the tunnel openings caused by reflections
Therefore the determination of the sound pressure level
up to highest orders can be calculated, With input data:
in the infinite extended tunnel is reduced to the calcu-
lation of the sound pressure level in the imaginary
L⬘W: Level of the length related sound power of
room with two totally reflecting walls. The sound
the traffic lines in the tunnel
pressure level in this room can be calculated applying
X: Length of the tunnel section
the equations for diffuse sound fields, because the room
X0: Reference length 1 共m兲
fulfils these requirements ideally.
S0: Reference area 1 共m2兲
At a first glance it may be a surprise that the sound
U: Perimeter of the tunnel cross section (m)
pressure level in the room with a relatively arbitrary
␣: mean absorption coefficient of the tunnel
length X should not depend on this length. But the
surfaces inside the tunnel
source is extended from wall to wall—an increase of X
The sound power level inside the artificial room of ex-
will enlarge the volume of the room by the same factor
tension X (tunnel piece with reflecting walls) is
as the sound power of the source—this means that the
resulting level remains the same. The sound field
⬘ + 10 log10共X/X0兲
LW = LW 共1兲
produced by a single source—e. g. a car driving
through the tunnel—is not at all diffuse, as it is shown The equivalent absorption area inside this artificial
in the spatial sound decay curve Fig. 5. But if the sound room is
pressure level is integrated over times with many cars
passing through the tunnel, then this mean level obeys A=␣·U·X 共2兲
the rules given by diffuse field theory.
Following the above mentioned ideas, the time and the resulting sound pressure level is
averaged sound pressure level in an infinitely extended
tunnel can be calculated with the relations of diffuse Linside = LW − 10 lg共A/S0兲 + 6 dB 共3兲
field theory, if the surfaces inside are not too absorbent.
The fitting of walls and ceiling over a certain length Insertion of Eqns. (1) and (2) in Eqn. (3) eliminates the
behind the tunnel openings can be included in a second length X of this imaginary room as expected and the
step shown below. level inside is

Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010 203


absorption inside endpiece
receivers
line source
Fig. 6—Left side cross section at opening, right side longitudinal section of tunnel.
⬘ − 10 log10共U/X0兲 − 10 log10共␣兲 + 6 dB
Linside = LW
Taking into account the analogy explained above, Eqn.
(4) describes the sound pressure level inside a tunnel of
infinite length. The sound pressure level in the cross
section of the tunnel opening is 3 dB less because sound
rays pass through this cross section only from one side.
The radiating tunnel opening can be replaced by an area
source covering the opening like a cap with an emission
L⬙W numerically equal to the sound pressure level, if the
rays pass at right angle through the opening.
⬙ = LW
LW ⬘ − 10 log10共U/X0兲 − 10 log10共␣兲 + 3 dB
If a portion k 共k = Uabsorbing / U兲 of the perimeter is fitted
and ␣ref is the absorption coefficient of the reflecting and
␣abs the absorption coefficient of the absorbing part, the
mean absorption coefficient to be applied in Eqn. (4) or (5)
is
␣ = k · ␣abs + 共1 − k兲 · ␣ref
This is only applied for absorption that is relevant for
the complete tunnel—fittings of a restricted length of
the tunnel behind the opening are taken into account
with a correction derived later.
3.2 The Sound Radiated from Inside the
Tunnel to the Opening Cross
Section—Numeric Solution
In a second step a calculation was performed based
on VDI-Guideline 376012 or ISO 11690-316 using a
software program that accounts for locally varying
distributions of absorption14.
The general procedure is based on the calculation of
sound propagation as proposed by Jovicic17 with statis-
tically distributed scattering of sound according to
Kuttruff18. The method was found to minimize the
deviation of calculated from measured levels in rooms,
where sound propagation in about 150 industrial halls
has been investigated10. It has been developed for the
204 Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010
500 m
d
noise prediction in work rooms, but the applied
algorithms and procedures are nevertheless applicable
共4兲
for any type of room that is approximately box shaped.
Both tunnel cross sections 10 m ⫻ 6 m and 20 m
⫻ 6 m have been included in this investigation. The
software CadnaR was applied to calculate the sound
propagation in two rectangular rooms 500 m ⫻ 10 m
⫻ 6 m and 500 m ⫻ 20 m ⫻ 6 m. Using symmetry
relations, it was sufficient to calculate the sound pressure
level at 6 receivers (Fig. 6) distributed in one part of the
cross section a small distance d away from the opening
that was modelled by a wall with absorption coefficient 1.
The traffic line is modelled by a line source 0.5 m
above ground (Fig. 6 left side).
共5兲 The mean sound pressure level in the opening was
calculated with the tunnel extension varying from 50 m
up to 500 m with a mean absorption coefficient 0.1 of the
surfaces inside. The calculation is performed by
– separating the line source inside into small
parts and replacing each part by a point source
– calculating the direct sound and reflections up
共6兲
to the order 20 for each part and summing up
these contributions for all 6 receivers
averaging energetically these 6 levels.
The resulting sound pressure level—normalized
with the length related sound power level L⬘W of the
source inside the tunnel—is shown in Fig. 7. This level
is mainly determined by reflected sound.
The diagram shows that the level in the opening
increases with the length of the tunnel up to about
300 m—this length represents roughly the infinite long
tunnel. With a larger mean absorption coefficient than
0.1—the assumed value in this case—even with a shorter
tunnel the conditions for infinite length are given.
With a next step the two walls and the ceiling were
assumed to be absorbent at a varying length from
0 to 100 m behind the tunnel opening—these calcula-
tions were performed with absorption coefficients of 0.1
up to 0.3 for the other surfaces of the tunnel with infinite
length. The results are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 for the two
different cross sections 10 m ⫻ 6 m and 20 m ⫻ 6 m.
 Table 1—Values of LW⬘ (source)—Lp (opening) cal-
-3

-3.5 culated with ray tracing (12, 15) and with Eqn.
(5)—(diffuse field theory).
Lp - L'W in dB

-4

-4.5 cross section

of tunnel
-5

10 m ⫻ 6 m 20 m ⫻ 6 m
-5.5
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
mean
Length of tunnel (m) absorption mirror image equ. (5) mirror image equ. (5)
0.10 2.1 2.1 4.0 4.2
Fig. 7—The mean sound pressure level in the 0.15 3.9 3.8 5.8 5.9
opening in dependence of tunnel exten- 0.20 5.3 5.1 7.1 7.2
sion, normalized by the length related 0.25 6.4 6.0 8.2 8.1
sound power level of the source. 0.30 7.7 6.8 9.6 8.9

At the marking of the ordinates of these figures the

sound pressure level in the opening is replaced by the
area related sound power level LW⬙ of the opening- It is interesting to compare these sound pressure
source. levels in the opening that have been determined by
summing the contribution of the rays geometrically
14 calculated in detail with the levels resulting from the
diffuse field model discussed above. In Table 1 these
LW'(source) - LW''(opening) in dB

12
0.3 values obtained with completely different methods are
10
0.25 shown for different mean absorption of the surfaces
0.2 inside and for the two cross sections.
8
0.15
The table suggests that diffuse field theory is an
0.1 Parameter: mean absorption coefficient of walls inside
acceptable description of the sound field in a long
6
tunnel (treated end piece excluded) tunnel with a line source of the same length inside.
4 Therefore Eqn. (5) can generally be used to calculate
cross section 10 m x 6 m
the sound pressure level in a tunnel of infinite length.
2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Length of absorption inside behind tunnel opening (m) 4 DIRECTIVITY OF THE SOURCE
“TUNNEL—OPENING”
Fig. 8—Difference of length related sound power
level of the source and sound pressure In the next step the rays inside and outside the tunnel
level in the opening with cross section have been calculated to get all the effects caused by
partial absorbent fittings inside and by diffraction at the
10 m ⫻ 6 m.
edges at the opening. This was performed by modelling
14 the tunnel like a chimney vertical to the ground,
0.3
13 because this configuration allows to include the real
LW'(source) - LW''(opening) in dB

0.25
12
0.2
3-D-rays even for all reflections at the 4 surfaces inside
11 the tunnel. The model of the tunnel—vertical to the
10 0.15
ground—was extended 500 m and the receivers are
9 located in angle steps of 10° in two planes vertical to one
0.1
8 another. This procedure is necessary because the applied
Parameter: mean absorption coefficient of walls inside
7 tunnel (treated end piece excluded) calculation method ISO 9613-2 does not allow to include
6 the ground in a real mirror image calculation if the tunnel
5
cross section 20 m x 6 m
is modelled horizontally.
4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Inside the tunnel the line source is replaced by 500
Length of absorption inside behind tunnel opening (m) point sources with spacing 1 m and lined in 0.5 m
distance from the wall simulating the ground.
Fig. 9—Difference of length related sound power First the mean sound pressure level is calculated on
level of the source and sound pressure a receiver grid in the opening cross section and at the
level in the opening with cross section receiver points located outside on circles in different
20 m ⫻ 6 m. angular orientation to the axis. Then the tunnel with its

Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010 205

 5
y = -0.1094x + 3.1841
4

directivity correction dB
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
angle horizontal (degree)

Fig. 12—Directivity horizontal with tunnel 10 m

⫻ 6 m without additional absorption
(absorption coefficient 0.1).

of the angular orientation and the thin line is calculated

by linear regression.
The same procedure has been applied with a tunnel
cross section 20 m ⫻ 6 m—the results are shown in Figs.
15–18.
These results show—as it can be expected from
physical principles—that tunnels radiate with more
Fig. 10—The tunnel modelled “vertical” with
directivity if walls and ceiling near the opening are
receivers located on circles with 100 m
treated with absorption. This investigation shows
radius centered around the tunnel open- further that the influence of the size of the cross section
ing. on the directivity in the far field is rather small. There-
fore it is acceptable to distinguish only the two cases
internal point sources is replaced by an area source at with and without absorption.
the cross section of the tunnel opening radiating
y = -0.1638x + 7.082
omnidirectional with an area related sound power level 10
8
identical to the level calculated at the receivers in this
directivity correction dB

6
cross section before. 4

Finally the sound pressure levels at the receivers on 2

0
the circular paths shown in Fig. 10 are recalculated -2
with this area source radiating. -4
-6
The directivity correction shown in Figs. 11–18 is -8
the difference of the levels calculated at the points on 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
angle vertical (degree)
the circular paths once with the sources inside the
tunnel and once with the area source at the tunnel Fig. 13—Directivity vertical with tunnel 10 m
opening. ⫻ 6 m, 100 m absorption (absorption
The bold lines show these differences in dependence
coefficient 0.8).
y = -0.118x + 5.1704 y = -0.1635x + 6.7006
5 10
4 8
directivity correction dB
directivity correction dB

3
2 6
1 4
0 2
-1
-2 0
-3 -2
-4 -4
-5
-6
-6
-7 -8
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 15 30 45 60 75 90
angle vertical (degree) angle horizontal (degree)

Fig. 11—Directivity vertical with tunnel 10 m Fig. 14—Directivity horizontal with tunnel 10 m
⫻ 6 m without additional absorption ⫻ 6 m, 100 m absorption (absorption
(absorption coefficient 0.1). coefficient 0.8).

206 Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010

 5 y = -0.1686x + 7.3907
y = -0.1103x + 4.3475 10
4
8
directivity correction dB
3

directivity correction dB
6
2
1 4
0 2
-1 0
-2 -2
-3 -4
-4 -6
-5 -8
-6 -10
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
angle vertical (degree)
angle horizontal (degree)

Fig. 15—Directivity vertical with tunnel 20 m Fig. 18—Directivity horizontal with tunnel 20 m
⫻ 6 m without additional absorption ⫻ 6 m, 100 m absorption (absorption
(absorption coefficient 0.1). coefficient 0.8).

This calculation of directivities was also performed The presented relations should be detailed enough to
separately for individual frequency bands—Figs. 19 determine the radiation from tunnel openings and to
and 20 show the results for cross section 10 m ⫻ 6 m, include this source in the modelling for noise calcula-
where the calculation of Fig. 20 is based on an absorbing tions. If special cases have to be evaluated, the method-
treatment 100 m behind the opening with absorption ology presented can directly be applied using the actual
coefficient 0.8. The effect of the frequency dependent system parameters.
diffraction around the edge can be seen with angles near
90°. It shall be mentioned that the lower frequency bands 5 TUNNEL OPENINGS IN NOISE
31.5 Hz and 60 Hz are only included to show roughly the PREDICTION CALCULATIONS—A
influence of frequency on the screening of the mirror PROPOSAL
sources—the accuracy of the absolute values in these
bands may be fairly poor because the wavelengths are Roads and railways are characterized by an emission
large. value that may be different for different time
intervals—e. g. Lday and Lnight. According to national or
y = -0.1283x + 3.255 other calculation guidelines these emission values are
4
produced by the software applied from the acoustically
directivity correction dB

2
relevant parameters like traffic flows, speeds and road
0

-2
surfaces.
-4
The tunnel is characterized by its cross section a
-6 ⫻ b—if rectangular—or by the circumference U of the
-8 open cross section and by the energetic sum of the
-10 emission values of all tracks or traffic lines inside.
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
angle horizontal (degree)
With rectangular cross section
U = 2 · 共a + b兲 共7兲
Fig. 16—Directivity horizontal with tunnel 20 m
⫻ 6 m without additional absorption with half circle circumference with radius r
(absorption coefficient 0.1).
U = 共2 + ␲兲r 共8兲
10
y = -0.1619x + 6.9478 If N traffic lines or tracks with emission values LE,n are
8
directivity correction dB

6 inside the tunnel, the total emission value is calculated

4 from
2
0
LEmission = 10 log10共100,1 LE,1
+ 100,1 LE,2
-2
-4 + . . . . 100,1 LE,N
兲 dB 共9兲
-6
-8
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
For the example shown in Fig. 21 the emission values
angle vertical (degree) of the railway tracks have to be added according to Eqn.
(9), while the emission value of each road has to be
Fig. 17—Directivity vertical with tunnel 20 m assigned to the relevant duct.
⫻ 6 m, 100 m absorption (absorption These emission values Lemission are different accord-
coefficient 0.8). ing to different national calculation methods. Using the

Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010 207

 6 horizontal

directivity correction DI'

2 31,5 Hz
63 Hz
0 125 Hz

-2 250 Hz
500 Hz
-4 1000 Hz
2000 Hz
-6 4000 Hz
8000 Hz
-8
-10
-12
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
angle (degree)

Fig. 19—Frequency dependent directivity without absorption behind the opening.

correction values Cemission from Table 1 the emission value Correction C1 can be determined for any cross
Lemission is transformed to the length related sound power section with the following expression derived from
level L⬘WA. Eqn. (5):

⬘ = Lemission + Cemission
LW
The emission from a tunnel opening is simulated by a
vertical area source with shape and size of the opening.
This area source closes the duct like a cap.
If the walls and surfaces inside the tunnel are charac-
terized by the same absorption everywhere—no
additional absorption is applied near the opening—the
area related sound power level of this vertical area
source at the opening is
⬙ = LW
LW ⬘ − C1
L⬘W is the length related sound power level of all traffic
lines in the tunnel according to Eqn. (9) and C1 is a
correction that can be taken from Fig. 22 or calculated
with Eqn. (12). In Fig. 22 two typical cross sections of
the tunnel are taken into account.
共10兲 ⬘ − LW
C1 = LW ⬙ = 10 log10共U/X0兲 + 10 log10共␣兲 − 3 dB
共12兲
where L⬘W is the level of the length related sound
power of all traffic lines in the duct according to Eqn.
(10), L⬙W is the level of the area related sound power of
the vertical area source simulating the opening, X0 is
the reference length 1 共m兲, U is the length of the inner
perimeter of the duct in meters and ␣ is the mean
absorption coefficient of the surfaces inside the
共11兲 duct—default value 0.1.
If walls and ceiling inside the tunnel are covered
with absorption material at a given length behind the
opening, the emission is reduced by a correction C2,
that can be taken from Fig. 23. These values have been
derived from the calculations with results shown in
Figs. 8 and 9.

10 horizontal
8
6
directivity correction DI'

4 31,5 Hz
63 Hz
2
125 Hz
0 250 Hz
500 Hz
-2
1000 Hz
-4 2000 Hz
-6 4000 Hz

-8
-10
-12
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
angle (degree)

Fig. 20—Frequency dependent directivity with absorption behind the opening.

208 Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010

 10
Two railway tracks in one duct
8

Directivity correction dB
6
Walls of tunnelmouth covered with absorption
4
2
0
-2
Two roads in separate ducts
-4 Walls of tunnelmouth reflecting

-6
-8
-10
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Angle to axis (degree)

Fig. 21—Railway tunnel with one duct and road Fig. 24—Directivity correction D of the source
tunnel with two ducts. “tunnel opening”.

The two curves in Fig. 23 are again related to the two D = 0.115 · ␺ + 3.08 dB 共14兲
typical cross sections of the tunnel. If absorption is
If tunnel walls and ceiling are covered with absorption
applied, Eqn. (13) is used instead of Eqn. (11).
material behind the tunnel opening this correction is
D = 0.165 · ␺ + 6.95 dB 共15兲
⬙ = LW
LW ⬘ − C1 − C2 共13兲
␺ is the angle between the axis of the tunnel and the
line from the center of the tunnel opening to the
Further the directivity of the radiation has to be taken receiver position. 共0 艋 ␺ 艋 90° 兲. Equation (15) has been
into account. Two types of directivity are derived from developed using 100 m length of the absorbing section of
Figs. 11–18. the tunnel behind the opening and a value C2 of 9 dB.
If the tunnel is not treated with absorption, the direc- If less than 100 m length behind the tunnel opening is
tivity correction is treated with absorption and C2 is determined using Fig.
23 and applied in Eqn. (13), the following expression—an
10 interpolation of Eqns. (14) and (15)—should be used.
8 D = − 0.115 · ␺ − 5.55 · 103 · C2 · ␺ + 0.43 · C2 + 3.08
20 m x 6 m
共16兲
6
C1 in dB

Figure 24 shows the directivity correction according to

4
10 m x 6 m Eqns. (14) and (15).
2 As described above, these directivity corrections
have been calculated based on ray tracing techniques as
0
mean values for the two cross sections 10 m ⫻ 6 m and
-2
20 m ⫻ 6 m. An absorption coefficient of 0.8 was
0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 assumed for walls and ceiling in the case of absorbing
Absorption coefficient of the inner surfaces treatment at a length of 100 m behind the tunnel opening.
The dependence of directivity from these parameters is so
Fig. 22—Determination of correction C1. weak, that it can be recommended to use these two
10
standard directivities generally.
9 10 m x 6 m Some remarks about the modelling:
20 m x 6 m
8 – The vertical area source “tunnel opening”
7 should radiate the complete sound power into
6
C2 in dB

the space in front of the opening—taking into

5
4
account the ground it is a quarter sphere radia-
3 tion. This can be taken into account by an index
2 D⍀ of 6 dB that accounts for sound propagation
1 into a solid angle of ␲ (instead of 4␲).
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
– The directivity correction shown in Fig. 24 has
Length of absorbing treatment behind the opening in m been determined by subtracting the levels cal-
culated with omnidirectional radiation of the
Fig. 23—Correction C2 in dependence of the total sound power into the quarter spherical
length of the absorbing part. space from the levels calculated with ray trac-

Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010 209

Table 2—Correction Cemission to convert national
emission values to length related sound power levels.
Country/Source Guideline Emission Value Cemission
International ISO 9613-2 LW⬘ 0.0
Germany RLS-90 Lm,e 19.1
England CRTN L10, 18 h 15.1
France NMPB 共G = 0兲 LAW⬘ 0.9
Austria RVS04 L1A,eq 4.0
Swiss STL86 Lr,e 3.2 Fig. 25—Modelling of the tunnel mouth as verti-
Swiss SonRoad LwA⬘ −0.4 cal area source.
Scandinavia Nordic Pred. Meth. Laeq*, 10 m 14.2
Czech Liberko Laeq, 7.5 m 12.7 two grids arithmetically produces a map that shows the
USA TNM Ltraf,ref 18.1 level increase caused by the radiation from the opening,
as seen in Fig. 26.
With this example up to a distance of 50 m a relevant
level increase can be expected. But this is only true if the
ing methods. Therefore this directivity correc- road is straight. Figure 27 shows the same example with a
tion D must be added arithmetically to the level curved road—even for large distances straight in front of
calculated with omnidirectional radiating the tunnel opening the level increase is about 1 – 2 dB.
source. The values taken from Fig. 24 should Based on these procedures it is possible to handle
not be normalized to 0 dB as the mean value on the noise from tunnel openings with different national
the quarter sphere before applying them in propa- guidelines and even in special cases and to integrate
gation calculations. tunnel openings in the models for usual prediction
calculations.
6 EXAMPLE 7 CONCLUSION
The radiation of a road tunnel shall be calculated and This paper provides a methodology to predict the
presented as a noise map: strength and the directivity of the sound emission from
– Daily traffic 10.000 Kfz/ 24 h
– Percentage of heavy vehicles 20 %
– Vmax 80 km/ h
The tunnel with concrete surfaces has a cross section of 1
10 m ⫻ 6 m and is not treated with absorption.
Solution:
– Applying the calculation method RLS-90, the 50 m
2
emission value based on these traffic data is
Lm,E = 69.2 dB
3
– with Eqn. (10) and Table 2 the length related 4
sound power level is L⬘WA = 88.3 dB
– for the tunnel without absorbing treatment an
absorption coefficient of 0.1 is assumed and the
Fig. 26—Increase of level caused by the radiation
perimeter of the tunnel inside is 32 m from the tunnel opening.
– from Fig. 5 a correction of C1 = 2 dB and an area
related sound power level of the source “tunnel 1
opening” of L⬙W = 共88.3− 2兲 dB= 86.3 dB can
be determined.
The vertical area source is located in front of a wall
that is presented by a building or by contour lines as it 2

is shown in Fig. 25. This source is characterized by this 50 m

1
emission of 86.3 dB, by an index D⍀ of 6 dB—for
2 3
radiating into the quarter sphere in front—and by a direc-
3
tivity according to Fig. 24 (untreated tunnel).
Calculation of a noise map for road and tunnel
opening, then for the road alone and subtracting these Fig. 27—Increase of level with curved road.

210 Noise Control Eng. J. 58 (2), March-April 2010

openings of tunnels for roads and railways. These
emission characteristics are derived from the emission
of the traffic flow and the geometry and absorption
characteristics inside the tunnel. The influence of an
absorbing treatment of the tunnel section behind the
opening is developed with calculations based on the
mirror image method. The results of this investigation
can be used to model a tunnel opening as a sound
source with known emission characteristics and to
calculate the increase of sound pressure levels in the
vicinity of the opening caused by radiation from inside
the tunnel. These results allow to determine the noise
reduction attainable in the environment by absorptive
coating of a tunnel section behind the opening as a
function of the length of this treated section.
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211