b'White Goods | Engineer InnovationHome appliances: from noise troubleshooting to noise reduction strategiesThe current trends of living inonly 1 or 2 decibels (dB) lower than increasingly dense cities, buying smalleryours? Such developments in the market living areas, and having open kitchensmay make you lose the market share and means that people are constantlymay cause a significant loss of money.surrounded by noise. Busy environments make having a quieter home somethingHow can you make sure that you will be to strive for. Customers have becomeable to decrease the sound power value more sensitive to noise generated byof your next generation dishwasher or their household appliances. They do notwashing machine? Certainly not by a wish their conversations to be disturbedtrial-and-error approach, nor by by a dishwashers cacophony.randomly adding acoustical material to the prototype. These approaches are far Noise levels and sound quality, then, arefrom optimal and they do not guarantee important characteristics in all kinds ofsuccess. Luckily, different test-based home appliances and white goods, andapproaches can help you lower the manufacturers are now acknowledgingsound power value in a systematic and this trend. They realize that they can usetime efficient way.pleasant sounds as brand identity and as a competitive advantage. TheseSmart strategies to improve noise in manufacturers optimize noise levels andproductsthe quality of the sound produced inAs a strategy, you can block the noise, each of their products in order to bringtry to find where it comes from, and acoustically better goods to the market. with some further details, you can understand the underlying phenomena.For this, however, manufacturers must follow certain regulations and standardsBlock the noiseset by the International Organization forYou can block the noise quite easily by Standardization (ISO). For example, theadding acoustic material to dampen or ISO-based sound power procedure allowsabsorb the noise before it enters the the comparison of noise values betweenroom. Extra acoustic material can beFigure 1: European Energy Labeldifferent equipment in an absolute way,used inside the equipment to help lower independent from the distance to thethe emitted noise. Typically, a bitumen object and from the acousticallayer is put on the side panels of, for environment where it was measured.instance, washing machines and Moreover, the value obtained from thedishwashers. ISO sound power test appears on the European Energy Label for white goods. ItBut what if you want to try new allows manufacturers to compare theirmaterials or a combination of multiple equipment with previous generations orlayers? It is not necessary to apply all the with competitor brands. It alsodifferent acoustic materials every time guarantees the end-user that they areyou want to test it. Quantifying the choosing the quietest brand whenacoustical absorption and transmission purchasing an appliance at the store loss characteristics of such materials can or online. be done on a small sample using impedance tube standards, such as However, measuring the sound powerISO10534 or ASTM E1050, using the value is one thing. What if your mainSimcenter Testlab Sound Absorption or competitor releases a new model that isSound Transmission Loss solutions. As an 55'