Revealing the Effect of Rounded Noise Protection Screens with Finite Sound Insulation on an Acoustic Field Around Linear Sound Sources

This paper reports studying the reduction of traffic noise by rounded noise protection screens with finite sound insulation, that is, those that can pass sound. Almost all models of acoustic screens, which are examined by analytical methods, are either direct or such that disregard the passage of sound through the screen, that is, it is assumed that the screen sound insulation is non-finite. This approach made it possible to solve the problem for a simplified model analytically but made it impossible to analyze the required sound insulation of noise protection screens. In the current paper, the problem of investigating an acoustic field around the screen whose sound insulation is finite has been stated, that is, it was taken into consideration that a sound wave propagates through the body of the screen. In addition, a given problem considers a rounded screen, rather than vertical, which is also used in different countries. Such a problem was solved by the method of partial domains. This method has made it possible to strictly analytically build a solution to the problem by simplifying it to solving an infinite system of algebraic equations, which was solved by the method of reduction. The screen model was set by the values of the density and speed of sound in the screen material. This approach has made it possible to change the acoustic impedance of the screen material and thereby change the sound insulation of the screen. That has made it possible to quantify the effect of screen sound insulation on its effectiveness. It has been shown that the efficiency of noise protection screens with finite sound insulation is approaching the efficiency of acoustically rigid screens, provided that the screen's natural sound insulation is 13–15 dB greater than the estimated efficiency of the rigid screen. The study results could make it possible to more accurately assess the effectiveness of noise protection screens. Determining the screen acoustic efficiency would make it possible to set requirements for its sound insulation characteristics. That could make it possible to select the designs of noise protection screens with minimal physical parameters, such as thickness, weight, etc