Inclination angle of noise barriers : A study on the effect an inclination angle has on the reflected noise from noise barriers.

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to determine the effect an inclination of a noise barrier has on the reflected noise produced by road traffic. The height distribution of the reflected noise is expected to decrease with an increasing angle of inclination. A theoretical study based on mirror sources and trigonometry explains the relation between the barrier inclination and the height of the reflected noise. The theoretical model is complemented with a scale model measurement and a simulation performed in Odeon. Acoustic hard surfaces and totally absorbent surfaces are used during the theoretical model, scale model measurement and the simulation. The results of the scale model measurement and the simulation supports the behavior of the theoretical model and displays an angle of inclination where the behavior is reversed and at which the height of the pressure is increased with further the increase of the inclination angle.