Undergraduate Engineering Research in Acoustics

Senior theses in acoustics by undergraduate mechanical engineering students have been successfully undertaken at the University of Hartford for many years. Prerequisites are required courses in Vibrations and Applied Acoustics. Source material is available from extensive library facilities in this field maintained at the University. The purpose of this paper is to report for the first time results of selected student projects. Topics of student activity include: development and enactment of a model zoning code and noise ordinance for the student's home town; a series of related projects for the development of acoustic transducers and systems to measure fluid noise within piping systems; ongoing projects for the development of instrument techniques to determine the interrelation of self-generated aerodynamic noise and sound attenuation in corregated ducts; an investigation of the noise level of variety of power mowers and the effect of their random operation in a suburban development on the background levels of that development; and the use of lead sheeting to improve the transmission loss of walls within and between apartments in existing multifamily dwellings.