REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE IN THE MOTORCYCLE TEST SECTOR

The noise pollution is currently the third biggest environmental problem, affecting many people. When exposed to a high level of noise, the people can show occupational, social, physical and/or psychological problems. The noise is part of people's daily lives and work environments, so research projects and proposals that aim to improve this difficult reality are justified. Personal protection is an immediate measure. However, the control should aim mainly at the emitting source, whether in the noise generation mechanism or in the containment of the propagation. The general objective of this work is the developing of an acoustic booth proposal to reduce environmental noise from the motorcycle test area. The specific objectives are: to map the environmental noise level in the motorcycle testing area; propose an acoustic booth design. In the methodology sought practical results oriented to the problem of controlling environmental noise at the emitting source. An inductive approach is chosen when collecting noise data in the test sector and developing a design as a result of analysing that data. An exploratory, descriptive and explanatory study was developed. Exploratory in data collection, descriptive and explanatory in the development of the acoustic cabin. The investigation strategy uses a case study focused on specifying all qualitative aspects that allow the total reproduction of the results. So, the sound sources that generate noise from the motorcycle test area were verified; area noise levels were measured; the area with the highest noise level was evaluated; the place of installation of the cabin was evaluated; the noise absorbing material was defined; each item used to make the cabin was listed; the costs for making the cabin were defined; the way the panels were assembled was defined; and; The final design of the acoustic booth was designed. The highest noise level found was the motorcycle horn, which when performing the functional test reached an average of 100.91 dB. With the implementation of acoustic booth in the test area, it is proposed to reduce environmental noise in the areas of people circulation.