Quantification of Important Features of Acoustical Signatures of Heavy Construction Equipment.

Construction vehicles produce noise arising from the engine, exhaust, transmission, etc. In theory, each sound source generates noise at one or more frequencies. Therefore, it is convenient to consider the overall noise as a combination of sounds in different frequencies. Schuster (1987) and many researchers were motivated to find the hidden frequencies from a noise source. They used an acoustical signature to represent the structure of a noise pattern in terms of frequencies. In practice, a noise generated by a construction vehicle is much more complex than one can expect due to the variety of field conditions, equipment characteristics, etc. The noise contains a random and variable mixture of many frequencies. Many researchers used prominent features to characterize acoustical signatures for identifying an unknown sound source. For example, Cabell (1990) designed a system to classify an acoustical signature as being a jet plane, a propeller plane, or a helicopter by using features. This research investigates the important features of the acoustical signatures of the heavy construction equipment. This research investigates the use of acoustical signature analysis techniques in quantifying important features to identify the type and status of the heavy construction equipment. It automates the data acquisition process. Acoustical signatures are obtained on active construction sites. Repeatable prominence of the signatures are identified as important features. Those features are quantified and graphically analyzed to characterize the known acoustical sources.