Update 7.0 EN

SoundPLAN
Update information 7.0
Braunstein + Berndt GmbH

March 2010
Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0
Table of content
New in version 7.0
Highlights An overview of all modifications Changes in Detail The new calculation core in version 7.0 The Attribute Explorer The elevation filter Flexible source definitions for roads and railways Tunnel openings Properties of the tunnel opening Properties for noise control walls Reworking the module Indoor Factory Noise New Entries in the Geo-database Filter in SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and Graphics Filter column and type of rounding type Filter by buildings Filter by receiver points Filter settings in Faade Noise Map and level tables Receiver flags in the Graphics Result request for receiver flags in the file selection Object type receiver flags Move the receiver flags Print preview and unprintable frames in Graphics Convert sheets from a pre 7 version Train Animation in the 3D Graphics Bitmaps in SoundPLAN New developments with the Noise Allotment New developments of Wall-Design Annex Propagation of noise from tunnel openings Directivity Literature Algorithms used in Indoor Factory Noise Implemented Calculation Standards
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1 2 11 11 12 14 17 18 19 20 22 22 23 25 25 25 26 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 34 36 39 39 40 41 41 43
Table of content
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New in version 7.0
Highlights
New layout and more information in the SoundPLANManager Unlimited continuous zoom in the Geo-Database New calculation core with multi threading, increased calculation accuracy and increased flexibility with the design of noise barriers Side diffraction enabled for road and railway projects Indoor Factory Noise completely rewritten Border lines in Documentation and Spreadsheet is now user configurable Noise Allotment further refined and with connection to the graphics Direct Excel-Export from the Documentation New Attribute Explorer in the Geo-Database with calculation and statistics functions New object type tunnel opening Noise protection walls with different reflection definitions, flexible shapes and the possibility of noise passing underneath the wall Print preview in the graphics the sheet does not have to be fitted to the active canvas size Flexible receiver flags in the graphics Improvements to the elevation filter with additional features
Highlights
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An overview of all modifications

The layout of SoundPLAN Manager was updated and extended by 2 buttons for the Building Acoustics Outside and the Noise Allotment. The data entry for aircraft noise at the moment is only accessible via the SoundPLAN Managers EXECUTE menu. In a later version 7 it is planned to completely integrate the aircraft noise into the Geo-Database. In addition, the new SP Manager now shows the selected calculation standard for aircraft noise and the selected emission time slots for traffic noise (road, railway, aircraft noise). o If you select a packed project, the SoundPLAN Manager now asks if the project shall be unpacked.
Geo-Database o The Attribute Explorer clearly arranges the properties of an object type in a table. You can for example set properties via formulas or perform statistical functions, see The Attribute Explorer on page 12. Increases of noise levels close to tunnel portals now can be directly assessed by selecting the object type Tunnel Portal (Tab for sources), see Tunnel openings on page 18.
The wall properties now allow the entry and calculation of more flexible forms and the definition of different reflection properties of the wall, see Properties for noise control walls on page 20.
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The filter algorithm for importing data with elevations was reworked and extended, see The elevation filter on page 14. Flexible emission definition screens for road and rail, see ... Zoom in the Geo-Database without limits. No need any more to define new viewports just to zoom in further. GeoTool EVALUATE MULTIPLE REFLECTION ADDITIONS: After selecting an emission line, you are asked if you want new coordinates to be inserted using linear interpolation or splines. With linear interpolation the road alignment is exactly as before whereas the spline interpolation will create coordinates not exactly along the existing alignment and thus may create problems in tight inner city situations. When roads are displayed with their properties, refreshing the screen can become quite time consuming. With ESC you can now interrupt displaying the properties. New shortcut for VIEW -> CURRENT GEO-FILE (F5) and VIEW -> CURRENT OBJECT TYPE (F6). When pressing the function key again, all objects will be displayed again. For better identification the railway emission line is now drawn in purple.
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In the pull-down-menu for an object, the sequence of menu items has changed, the sub-menu Enhanced Functions is no longer needed.
o o Shape-file Import: dBase-tables (*.dbf) now can be opened in the SoundPLAN Spreadsheet. Shape-files consist of a dBase-table containing the objects attributes and all of their definitions and a file with the coordinates. In any case it is advisable to view this database table before importing the Shape-files. The Spreadsheet makes it possible for example to re-configure traffic data given in a format incompatible to SoundPLAN so that it can be imported. The formula generator in SoundPLAN is a very helpful tool here. As the Excel spreadsheet from the version 2007 can no longer save the data in the dBase-format, we have generated a possibility here within SoundPLAN to cope with these data. Open the file manager and select the menu topic OPEN and select the file filter for dBase (*.dbf). The functionality was restricted to open Shape-file dBase-tables: Load and save (save as is not offered as the dBase-table must have the same name as the rest of the Shape-files, safety copies can be generated using the Windows-Explorer). Generation of extra columns. Entry and calculation of formulas.
When you save the table, it is saved in the dbf-format rather than in the SoundPLAN format. Formulas and references entered are converted into values. o For calculations in accordance to the Schall 03 the German railway company demands that shielding and reflections from buildings are suppressed. For the location of the receiver on a building and the references to the Faade Noise Map the buildings are vital, so in the calculation it is not possible to simply ignore the buildings. In order to supply the calculation core with the required information and to facilitate this some extra controls are introduced: Building properties, tab additional: IGNORE THIS BUILDING IN THE
PROPAGATION SCREENING. CALCULATION CONCERNING REFLECTION AND
Calculation settings Facade Noise Map: Check the box SEARCH RANGE DEFINED BY FACADE and also check the box IGNORE BUILDINGS FOR
PROPAGATION CALCULATION WHICH HAVE APPROPRIATE FLAG IN THE BUILDING PROPERTIES.
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In the Emission Library below the emission spectrum with the selected frequency filter the spectrum is shown with a linear filter. The user defined spectrum and the selected filter are printed in blue. You can modify values in the filtered or the linear spectrum. In either way, the values of the other spectrum are immediately calculated to reflect the modification. In Result table and SoundPLAN Spreadsheet now line width and color for table header, table and footer can be set separately.
In the result table the line width is printed in points, a point equals about 0.35 mm or a little bit more than 1/8 of an inch. The spreadsheet displays line width in mm. The result table depicting the mean propagation was changed to document the individual time slots to have a more consistent documentation of the Leq and Lmax time slots.
For each source now the mean propagation table generates a new line for each time slot, to document the influences during the propagation calculation. This way it is much easier to pinpoint the influence of each propagation parameters. The results are no longer averaged for sources not active in all time slices. For better overview select individual time slots. With the right mouse button call up the TIME SLICES and activate the time slots you want to display.
Calculation of the negative extra path length / terrain edge The Object type terrain edge is no longer in use. As soon as a calculation standard demands the calculation of the negative extra path length (screening in the illuminated zone), SoundPLAN automatically calculates this value. In projects modeled with a pre-7.0 version SoundPLAN replaces the terrain edge with 2 elevation lines. With the use of external spot height data to calculate a DGM for setting receivers and to calculate the elevations between source and receiver, it is no longer sensible to manually define terrain edges. In case you have a project where terrain edges were required by the standard but none were defined, it is possible to have deviations of up to 5dB with the new automatic generation of the terrain edges.
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Terrain base line If between source and receiver no obstacle is found that would result in a positive extra path length, SoundPLAN defines a line between the ground at source and receiver labeled the terrain base line. All elevation lines and DGM triangle edges above below this terrain base line are checked if negative extra path length needs to be considered. The point delivering the highest value of extra path length for the terrain base line is chosen for the calculation of the negative screening. Calculation Core o SoundPLAN 7.0 has received a new and very efficient and fast calculation core! The calculation core has been completely rewritten and now uses the Dynamic Search (DS) principle. DS does not use fixed angle increments any more, instead it dynamically searches all sources and obstacles, ranks them in accordance to their importance and then replaces the first order guess with real calculated numbers that are derived from a full projection of the geometry and calculations fully compliant with the selected standard. During this source by source calculation, the list of sources that needs full calculation may need to be dynamically extended, hence Dynamic Search. Once all of the remaining sources would not increase the results by more than the defined tolerance, the rest of the sources are either estimated or omitted. See The new calculation core in version 7.0 on page 11. o Multi threading: The new Dynamic Search calculation core now allows users to use all cores of all processors in the PC to be used without using Distributed Computing. The program automatically recognizes how many cores the PC has. By default the full number of cores are used for calculations but if you want to use the PC for other tasks while a SoundPLAN calculation is in progress, it is wise to reduce the number of cores used in the calculation (normally by one). To set the number of cores, please open OPTIONS -> RUN SETTINGS and set the desired number of threads for the calculations.
Even when you calculate on multiple PCs using Distributed Computing, the maximal number of threads is automatically recognized. Therefore it is now wise to connect to each PC once even if the PC has multiple cores. The advantage of this change is that the project needs to be distributed only once to each of the participating PCs, using less time, hard disk space and memory. Pre-calculations such as the generation of the DGM only once have to be carried out at the DC server computers. o The procedure to evaluate side diffraction has been reworked and can now be used with all standards, regardless if side screening is required in the standard or not. The check box if side screening shall be used therefore
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is no longer a switch for the settings of an individual calculation run but a detail of the selected standard. When an individual run is opened, click on the double arrow in the settings of the standard and check the box for ENABLE SIDE DIFFRACTION under the tab diffraction.
For standards that by default do not use side screening, the checkbox by default has the setting off. Buildings that are connected to each other, are now recognized, the screening will use the entire building block for side screening around the objects. o Floating screens linked to buildings or walls of floating screens going down to the ground (negative wall height) no longer need to be extended into the building or into the soil. Overlaying and stapled objects are also automatically recognized.
Starting with version 7.0 all calculations using a 3-dimensional model require a DGM as the base. In the main data section all calculations requiring a DGM now have a separate DGM selection line.
If no DGM is entered for grid map calculations, the program will generate a DGM from all available elevation information. Receiver elevations and the elevation supply for the propagation model then will be using the newly created DGM. If all objects are located on the 0.0 m plane, the program will use the constant elevation for the calculation. For single point calculations without a DGM SoundPLAN evaluates the elevations along the profiles as before. Compared to the method with a fixed search angle of 6.5 and prior the search angle might become much bigger and significant inaccuracies are possible. To warn the user, in this case a warning message will appear. In the tab Grid Noise Map the entry of a DGM was taken out, the elevations for the receiver grid are taken from the normal DGM.
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When opening the graphics tab of a calculation run, loading and drawing the DGM can be suppressed by deactivating it in VIEW -> DGM TRIANGLES. Now you can delete multiple calculation runs and their results at once. Click right and select DELETE (CTRL-DEL). As soon as more than one calculation run is marked, you can delete the all run definitions by clicking on the button YES ALL. With an additional query you can also determine if you want to delete the results that were generated by the deleted calculation runs. For batch calculation runs you now can define, that the query for existing results (overwrite or continue) shall only be displayed when starting the batch run. The setting is used for all calculations during the batch run.
Distributed Computing (DC) The settings for the control of DC are updated and unified. All settings for the calculations now are under OPTIONS -> DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING in the calculation core or in the SoundPLAN Manager under OPTIONS -> SETTINGS, node "Program, Distributed Computing". In order to combine Distributed Computing with Multi threading, set the number of threads or processor cores that shall be used for the computation and set the number of Distributed Computing instances to 1. Exit the control for distributed computing and restart the socket server from the Execute menu. In the calculations when defining DC calculations, only activate each PC once.
Use Distributed Computing parallel for the SoundPLAN versions 6.5 and 7.0 In order to use Distributed Computing in your net with different versions of the SoundPLAN software, you need to redefine the port numbers in the settings for Distributed Computing. Please be aware that the same port numbers need to be set on all PCs that are to be used for Distributed Computing and that the port numbers shall not be higher than 65635.
SoundPLAN Spreadsheet o o The Swiss cost/benefit index has been moved, it is now available under
FILE -> ADDITIONAL COLUMNS -> SWISS COST / BENEFIT INDEX.
The filter options have been reworked; the column that the filter is activated for is now accessible to the user. See Filter in SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and Graphics on page 25.
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Graphics o In addition to the level tables you now have new receiver flags to your disposal in the Graphics. In these tables you can present any of the column information or the structure lines from the SoundPLAN Spreadsheet. See Receiver flags in the Graphics on page 27.
For the Graphics sheets you now can define the exact measurements of the sheet as the non printable frame around it is administered by the program, see Print preview and unprintable frames in Graphics on page 31. Processing bitmaps has been reworked, see Bitmaps in SoundPLAN on page 33. For the display of geometry texts you now have more options. Select if you want to enter the font and position of the text reference marker like in the Geo-Database or if you want to customize them in the object type for text under the tab for Cartography.
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Hints for the symbol buttons you now can either have connected to the cursor (like in the Geo-Database) or in the status line of the Graphics screen. Select you choice under PARAMETER -> OPTIONS. Caution: when you link the hints to the cursor, the times of a screen refresh may take much longer, depending on the amount of data loaded! Editing data in edit-map (for example to move texts for contour line values or to move level tables) is no longer accessible via the menu Edit but is now directly available as topic on the edit-map menu bar.
Select from the list what content you want to edit, ACTIVATE is enabled by default. To leave the edit mode, deactivate the checkbox ACTIVATE. When moving table positions, the cursor changes into a move cursor, the new position is visibly marked.
When tables are overlapping, the program first will activate the table that is on top. o The graphics now retains the information which graphics printer is now active.
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Access to the map-object types is now also given via right clicking in Edit Map and in the 3D-Graphics. Reload the plan data (Ctrl+ R): For huge amounts of data it can take a while to reload all data for the entire sheet, therefore with Alt+R you can force the program to only reload the data that have changed. Grid Noise Maps print the text as value: With the checkbox in front of the font, you can force the program to automatically fit the font size to the size of the grid cell.
Query when loading DGMs. Optionally you can clip triangles out of a selected area or calculation area, e.g. to filter border triangles that are very narrow and do not represent the geometry. Select a Geo-file containing the area.
3D-Graphics o In menu accessible by right clicking, there is now a new menu topic OVERVIEW, with which you can recall the view of the last saved scene (in case you got lost in 3D space). It is now possible to display the train animation in 3D-Graphics, see Train Animation in the 3D Gra on page 32. With the fog effect you can now simulate distances from the viewer.
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Open PARAMETER -> 3D-SETTINGS, (the 3D model must already be loaded via VIEW -> 3D MODEL).
Select from the pick list the fog type of choice linear, exponential or steep-exponential and the color", that causes the fog effect. The fog effect can be fitted dynamically to the middle of the scene but you also can define the distances. With the switch TAKE OVER you immediately can see how the settings influence the scene. Try for yourself what you like best. With the Noise Allotment out with the users, some additional wishes and desires have been voiced that now have found its way into the version 7. See page 34 for details. In Wall-design additional diagrams and presentations in accordance to both the Swiss Cost/Benefit-Index and in accordance tot the Hints concerning the
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generation of noise prediction studies (Hinweise zur Erstellung Schalltechnischer Untersuchungen) of the EBA (German Federal Railway Authority) (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt). See New developments of Wall-Design on page 36. The printout of BA-Facade was reworked. The aircraft noise standard AzB 2008 is now completely implemented, tested and certified. Import and export of AzB 2008 aircraft noise data according to the QSI standard. The SoundPLAN Manual for the new version is not only available on CD but it also is installed with the software on your computer so that you can browse the handbook from the SoundPLAN Manager under HELP -> READ MANUAL. This update text also will be installed with the version 7 and can be read under HELP -> UPDATE NEWS.
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Changes in Detail
The new calculation core in version 7.0
The calculation core for SoundPLAN 7.0 was re-designed from the ground up. Here are the motivations for this change: New standards (for example TNM, Nord2000 and possibly Harmonoise) require much more detail calculations for the propagation calculation for each receiver. In order to keep the total calculation time from reaching unsustainable dimensions, the software needs to employ clever techniques to reduce the number of source to receiver calculations to a bare minimum. CPUs in years past became faster by increasing the clock frequency for the processor. With considerations to the thermal load and other physical problems, this route has been maxed out and faster CPUs can only be produced by processing the information parallel with multiple CPU cores. In order to use multi-core PCs successfully, calculations must be parallelized analog to the Distributed Computing (DC). Although DC is able to utilize multiple cores of the same PC, the memory requirement for big simulation jobs will become the bottleneck. With the introduction of new objects or object settings (for example nonvertical walls, stacked-walls and tunnels) it was necessary to develop new algorithms that allow these new contents to work in better agreement to the physics and the standards. Increased accuracy while reducing the calculation time. Improved user friendliness with less complex and difficult to understand parameters.
The new calculation core that is now replacing the older one, is not totally new, it was already part of the version 6.5 although it was not released and not visible to the regular user, the entire railway noise mapping for Germany was calculated with it. This big project allowed us to validate and further improve the calculation core. New parameters: The parameters defining angular increment, reflection depth and the switch to precalculate the source-side reflections are no longer required and are taken out of the program. The need for these parameters is gone as the calculation is now able to automatically make the correct decisions and get the correct results at an optimized calculation speed. In the new calculation core you find 2 new parameters pertaining to reflections:
MAX. REFLECTION DISTANCE REC[M] MAX. REFLECTION DISTANCE SRC [M]
(default value 200 m) (default value 50 m)
The program only calculates reflections for reflecting surfaces that are either closer to the receiver than the first parameter entered or closer to the source than the second parameter. Reflecting surfaces outside the 2 zones are not leading to reflections. There are many reasons for this restriction, the most important one is that noise does not travel directly on the line of sight but forms an arc. The farther the distance from source to reflector and receiver, the higher the reflection point will be on the reflecting object, thus the farther away the reflection occurs, the larger the reflector must be. The default settings in general produce sensible results. The parameter TOLERANCE was present in earlier SoundPLAN versions, however the new calculation core is now designed around the tolerance requiring a value greater zero to be entered (the minimum value is 0.001 dB). This parameter is designed to increase the calculation speed, the higher the tolerance value the higher the time saving in the calculations. As this tolerance is not just simply used to truncate the calculations but mark a range of sources that
The new calculation core in version 7.0 Page 11
need to be calculated accurately, the results will be conservative. With high values of tolerance, the results are overestimated rather than underestimated. The value for the tolerance depends on the task to be calculated. Recommended values: 0.8 dB: Noise mapping projects, calculations in accordance to the END. 0.1 dB: Road and railway projects for determination of noise protection. Uncritical industrial projects. 0.001 dB: Sensitive industrial projects. Principles of tolerance: The tolerance is evaluated for each receiver, tolerance and rankings from one receiver have no influence upon another receiver. First all sources are evaluated and ranked in accordance to their free field contributions. Here only the equivalent sound power and the spreading are evaluated. The sources are ranked in accordance to their contributions and divided into 2 groups, the group 1 which needs to be completely calculated and the group 2, the not important sources that will be estimated in the end. Group 1 plus the tolerance shall be the equivalent of the contributions of group 1 plus group 2. Group 2 is also labeled the rest level. During the calculation the program calculates source after source of group1 and successively replaces the level estimate with real calculations. This will cause the anticipated noise level at the receiver to also change and thus the cut-off where sources are decided between groups 1 and 2. As the noise level for real calculated source contributions is lower than just the free-field value, the estimate changes and with it the need to move additional sources from group 2 into group1. This procedure is called Dynamic Search. Dynamic Search is not only evaluating sources for the average of day and night but is checking for each hour of the day which sources need to be calculated. After the calculation has processed all sources in group 1 and if there are no additional sources to be moved from group 2 to group 1, the source contributions of group 2 are estimated. For the specific receiver the averages of air absorption, ground effect and screening etc is evaluated and applied to the sources of group 2. As the sources of group 2 tend to be farther away, the attenuation will be underestimated, leading to an overestimate of the source contributions of sources in group 2. All contributions from group 2 are gathered in the result files of the Documentation under the label rest source level. It can be stated 10*log((10^(0.1*R)+10^(0.1*F))/ 10^(0.1*R))<T with R: Sum of fully calculated sources (group 1) [dB] F: Sum of remaining free field levels (group 2) [dB] T: Tolerance entered das a calculation parameter
The Attribute Explorer

The Attribute Explorer enables a table type view of attributes of objects. One object type is displayed at a time, the objects in this table are either all objects if no objects are marked- or all objects of a type. The attributes contained in this table are user selectable. The purpose is to enable the user to control and manipulate the data. Changes can be made to a single cell or a block of cells, modifications can be made to parameters directly or to references to the library. For the manipulation of blocks/entire columns it is possible to sort columns, design formulas that involve different columns, it is even possible to insert one temporary column. Open the Attribute Explorer via TOOLS -> ATTRIBUTE EXPLORER (CTRL+ E), for the sub-elements of the industrial building direct in the object definition of the object using the right mouse button or (CTRL+ E).
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Modifications to individual objects can be made directly in the table, changes for multiple objects are done by entering new values or formulas into the field CELLS. Multiple adjacent cells are marked with a depressed shift key by moving up/down with the arrow keys. Individual cells cannot be marked (and do not need to be). The formulas in the Attribute Explorer follow the same syntax as the formulas in the SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and in the coordinate and attribute manipulation of the Geo-Database. To recognize a formula the Attribute Explorer expects the formula statement to begin with an = sign. Columns are referenced by their column number in format X+number. The columns of the Attribute Explorer are numbered sequentially, when you select different columns, the numbering will change. Formulas are commands that are valid for the current column. After executing the command the formula will be replaced with the calculated value. The formulas are not saved with the table but it is possible to open the last formulas with a pick-list in the field CELL. When objects in the Geo-Database are marked prior to opening the Attribute Explorer, only the objects that are marked and of the selected object type are opened in the table. Objects with changing attributes will only display the first entry of the object, for example the road will display the properties defined in the first coordinate of the road but no subsequent changes in traffic volume, speed or road surface An extension is planned to extend the capabilities of the Attribute Explore to fully cover object types with variant attributes.
Core functions:
You determine which one of the -sometime plentiful- attributes shall be presented in one of the columns (yellow wheel or via TOOLS -> SELECT DISPLAYED ATTRIBUTES). If you want to hide a column temporarily without changing the standard display settings, you can do so by right clicking on the table header and selecting -> REMOVE COLUMN. To sort the table in ascending or descending order, right click on the column header that is to be used as the sorting parameter and select -> SORT. As the filed-names some times are too long for the table header, you can display a self defined short title. (The short title is defined via TOOLS -> SELECT DISPLAYED ATTRIBUTES in the settings of the object properties. With the statistics functions (right mouse button on the statistics line in the column header of value columns) you can generate entries for the sum, average or the smallest/highest value and for noise levels also the energetical sum of the levels. In value columns you can mark a block of lines and with the field CELL assign a value to all marked lines of the current column.
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Elements from the library can be referenced either with the element names or via the element number. A block of references to the library can be reassigned via a pick list containing the element names. With column status selected, which you can activate via TABLE -> SHOW you can use formulas or the simple entry of 1 for selected 0 for unselected to change the status of multiple objects. This selected status remains active when you close the Attribute Explorer and further process the data on the level of the Geo-database-canvas (for example to change in which Geo-file the data shall be saved).
STATUS SELECTED AS COLUMN,
With a temporary column (TABLE -> INSERT TEMPORARY COLUMN) you can store intermediate calculation results and use them for further actions in additional formulas. Data in this column will not save, they are lost when the attribute explorer is closed.
Examples of how to use the Attribute Explorer:

Redefine the height of all buildings with less than 2 meters to a height of 4 meters: Open the Attribute Explorer for buildings, click on the column header for the height of the building and sort all buildings in ascending order. Click on the top line and keep the shift key pressed while you move down in the table with the arrow keys. Mark all values smaller than 2 and then enter the number 4 in the field CELL in order to transfer the value 4 into all marked cells. Mark all buildings with multiple apartments: Either: Sort column Number of Dwellings in descending order, activate the column Status selected (TABLE -> SHOW STATUS SELECTED AS COLUMN), enter 1 into all lines containing a value > 1. Or: Activate the column Status selected (TABLE -> SHOW STATUS SELECTED AS COLUMN), right click on column header and activate entire column and then write the formula =xNo. Column number of dwellings > 1 into the CELL and execute it.. Modify the emission spectrum for all sources of a group Sort sources according to the group they are part of. In the column emission spectra for all sources of this group mark all sources with a depressed left mouse button and from the selection list in the box CELL select the new desired element from the library. Via the symbol Library you have access to the libraries.
The elevation filter

The elevation filter since its installation in SoundPLAN has gone through a constant refinement procedure adapting it to new knowledge and new concepts. While at first the flyover data were offered as grid based data with resolutions between 1 x 1 m or 10 x 10 m, now most of the already corrected (trees and other obstacles removed) data are offered as ungridded spot elevations. Additional common formats such as the Winput SCOP and the ESRI ASCII Grid needed to be made available. SoundPLAN now can read these formats and filter them intelligently and efficiently to reduce the size of the DGM. The size of the DGM has big influence upon the work in the Geo-Database and especially upon the calculation time of noise maps. Spot elevations are normally imported into the Geo-Database via the ASCII grid elevation import, during this procedure the data is filtered. The import data can be in a single file or can be tiled, thus distributed over many individual files, often each file containing data for 1 square kilometer.
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In case the spot elevations are present in a different format (for example DXF), you can import the data unfiltered and filter them afterwards in the Geo-Database via GEOTOOLS -> FILTER TERRAIN POINTS FILTERN. The already imported spot elevations must be marked before opening the geo-tool. Open FILE -> IMPORT -> ASCII ELEVATION GRID and select the folder where the elevation data are stored. Hint: When the files are not shown, select the correct data filter or enter *.* to present all files available. By selecting the file with a double click, all files with the same extension will be sent to the elevation filter. Mark one or multiple files with the shift or the Ctrl key (all files with Ctrl + A) and click on the upper right hand button INFORMATION FROM THE SELECTED FILE(S). SoundPLAN loads the files and extracts the structure. Depending on the number and size of the files, this may take time. This procedure needs only to be done once, SoundPLAN remembers the structure and additional information. If the data are loaded via the Geo-tools into the elevation filter, this information will be extracted directly. The information box displays how the data are stored, their min/max coordinates and additionally for unstructured data the average point distance.
Select how you want the elevations to be imported; the following options are possible (these options are the same regardless where the filter is invoked import or direct start):
For all import types

You can select an area and only coordinates within this area are imported and filtered. Often you get data with a much bigger scope than you need. Enter a general area in the GeoDB that generously covers the area for which you need elevation supplied, save the area in a geo-file of its own. After you click the check-box USE AREA DEFINING THE IMPORT AREA and select the Geo-file.
Filter Coordinates
For spot elevations positioned on a regular grid, the GRID SPACING is displayed. For unstructured spot elevations a grid with a spacing of four times the average distance between coordinates is assumed but this value can be modified at will. The finer the base grid, the smaller the number of iterations needed to force a structure where all elevation deviations of the remaining coordinates are below the set tolerance, yet for finer grids the number of coordinates remaining will be higher, thus the results are not as efficient as with a courser base grid. It might be worth the time to set the base grid to a coarser grid spacing and later on save time fitting embankments, loading DGMs and calculating noise levels. Enter MAXIMUM ELEVATION DIFFERENCE to the original coordinates that shall not be exceeded.
MAXIMAUM POINT SPACING: It turned out that the maximal spacing between the coordinates shall not be too big and that if the spacing was moderate the number of iterations were smaller and that the filtering generated more equal sided triangles that were better suited for all processing later on. If you do not like the results of the filtering, try again with a reduced MAXIMUM POINT SPACING.
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As the triangulation of the DGM calculation with a square grid is random, the program with the option SEARCH FOR TERRAIN EDGES generates forced elevation lines generates forced connections between the grid coordinates first in order to obtain a more realistic DGM. If the slider is shifted to the far left, no terrain edges are searched, if the slider is to the far right, the program will try to set the triangulation even for small elevation differences. Whether you have the program search for terrain edges depends on the terrain, the grid spacing. For mostly flat terrain the tendency should be to generate less terrain edges and for rough terrain to generate them. When terrain edges are used the number of spot elevations increases and so is the size of the DGM with all consequences later on. After filtering a DGM is calculated from the remaining spot elevations and the terrain edges. This DGM is then compared with the original elevations and a difference elevation grid map is generated. If spot elevations are outside the tolerance, SoundPLAN will insert coordinates to force the DGM to conform to the original data. This procedure is repeated iteratively until all differences are within the tolerance. In the logbook you can also view each iteration step.
Import points without filtering

Imports spot elevations without filtering them. If you select this option in GEOTOOLS -> FILTER ELEVATION DATA, you can delete duplicate spot elevations clicking the button DELETE IDENTICAL POINTS. For duplicate terrain points with different elevations, SoundPLAN deletes the point with the higher elevation.
Filter points in outlying areas with increased tolerance.

Often the area of a community consists of areas with buildings and outlying areas with fields, forests and meadows. As in the non built up areas the accuracy is not quite as important as between buildings, a bigger tolerance can be chosen here. For the outlying areas, enter general areas in the GeoDatabase and save them in a Geo-File of its own. For the area with a FACTOR FOR A COURSER FILTER VALUE select this Geo-File.
Import spot elevations within the circumference of buildings without filtering

If the spot elevations within the building have not been washed out, the average height of the building can be calculated most accurately with the Geotool EVALUATE SPOT ELEVATIONS FOR BUILDING HEIGHT when you import the elevations within the circumference of buildings without filtering. For this option enter a geo-file or a situation with the buildings. As no elevation differences need to be filtered, the import is very fast.
Import spot elevations within bands of roads and railways without filtering
When the terrain information within bands of roads and railways are very accurate, it can be sensible to use unfiltered elevation information to set the elevation of the road and the railway axis. For this purpose the unfiltered elevation information can be imported only in the band around the road and railway master alignment. In order for the import to get the geographical location of roads and railways, you must enter the Geo-file where these objects are located. As no elevation differences and no filtering are done, this import is very fast. From the unfiltered imported coordinates, generate a DGM and place the road and railway alignment on top of this DGM.
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Later on the elevation information of the unfiltered coordinates is deleted within the band around the road/railway axis when the embankments around the objects are generated (Geotool GENERATE EMBANKMENTS),
Move files in marked area to a sub-folder

With this function you can move all elevation files located within a marked general area can be moved to a sub-folder. Entire files will be moved, not only the part that is located within the marked area. The sub-folder is generated in the normal project folder and is named "Select".
Flexible source definitions for roads and railways

Within the framework of extending the noise time slots from day/night to day/evening/night, new source definitions were implemented for railway and road noise. These controls were available from the version 6.4 on but from version 7.0 they will be the only source definitions to be upgraded to new regulations and new developments (for example having different speeds for the various time slices). For new projects we can only recommend to use the new emission definition screens! In the selection of the calculation standard in the SoundPLAN Manager the older day/night version of the emission definitions are referred to Emission according to standard name (***) (for example: RLS-90 (***)), the new emission definition is found under Emission according to standard name. The results of the emission calculation itself are identical.
Advantage: Well organized emission documentation for roads in the Geo-database without the need to first run a calculation. Different speeds allowed for day, evening and night. Often you can get separate figures for the traffic volume for day, evening and night but are still obliged to produce results only for day/night. This was impossible with the older data entries but is possible with the new variant. With the access to the road day history it is now possible to generate histories fort eh emission calculation itself. The new variant is more flexible with importing traffic volume data.
If the traffic numbers are available for only 2 time slots, switch the SoundPLAN Manager under OPTIONS -> SETTINGS, current project -> node Emission noise level to 2 time slices.
Flexible source definitions for roads and railways
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Tunnel openings
With the object for tunnel-openings the emissions of roads and railway lines inside the tunnel are used to determine the sound power and directivity of the propagation of noise from the tunnel opening. From the geometry of the tunnel opening, the length of the tunnel and the absorption properties close to the tunnel opening the program calculates the sound power which is then assigned to 4 point sources in the opening. The directivity is considered. The procedure is based upon the Nord2000, in the annex of his paper you can find literature references. The propagation direction from the coordinates of the tunnel opening is to the left as seen in the direction of entry of the coordinates. If the object is to be displayed with properties, as soon as it is closed with F2, the propagation direction of the tunnel is shown on screen. When opening the tunnels properties, you can change the propagation direction of the tunnel by clicking on ADJUST GEOMETRY, or via the right click menu with -> CHANGE INPUT DIRECTION.
This plan shows the increase of noise levels due to the noise emitted from the tunnel opening:
The calculation regards the different directivity for road and railways and therefore is done separately for roads and railways. All roads or railway lines intersected by the tunnel opening are contributing to the emission of the tunnel. The program uses the local emissions at the tunnel opening, so any changes of the emission further in the tunnel will not have any influence on the sound power at the tunnel opening. The emissions inside the tunnel are summed up as Lw, the sound power per meter, which is used to determine the sound power handed over to the 4 substitute sources in the tunnel opening. In the tunnel opening the program inserts a coordinate, the section inside the tunnel does not contribute to the outside contribution. For roads or railways intersecting the tunnel opening multiple times, only the first intersection is relevant. The 4 point sound sources in the tunnel opening each have LwT 10 log(4) as the sound power. The propagation for road and railways is always done in accordance to the following standards: The following road standards are calculated in accordance to the ISO 9613-2: RLS90, Hungarian Road, DIN18005 Strae, CRTN, EMPA (StL86, StL95, StL97), RVS, FHWA, ENEA, Russian Road, Statens planverk report no. 48, Road Traffic Noise Nordic Pred. Method; 1996, NMPB-Routes: The following railway standards are calculated in accordance to the ISO 9613-2: Schall03, Transrapid, VBUSCH, DIN18005 Schiene, ONR305011, Kilde67, CRN,
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Tunnel openings
Semibel, RMR 2002, Hungarian Rail, Russian Rail, Israeli Rail, ASJ-B, ASJ-RTN2003, Japan Rail, SNCF Nord2000 road and Nord2000 railway are calculated in accordance to the Nord 2000, TNM roads are calculated in accordance with TNM (Industry) and NMT-96 railways are calculated in accordance to General Prediction Method.
Properties of the tunnel opening

The tunnel opening is defined with a line consisting of 2 coordinates. After the entry of the first coordinate the properties dialog for the tunnel itself is started, however the entries for the tunnel are only generated after the second coordinate is entered. This line must intersect the road-alignment or railway alignment (multiple road or railway lines are also possible) in order to take over geometry and emissions from the road/rail into the tunnel opening.
For the SHAPE of the tunnel opening select either a semi circle or a rectangle. The WIDTH of the tunnel opening is first taken from the length of the line, however it can be refined via the control ADJUST GEOMETRY. For the form semi circle" the radius is automatically calculated, if you select the form rectangle you need to enter the HEIGHT. BASE HEIGHT is calculated from the intersection between the tunnel opening and the road/railway axis. The tunnel can be acoustically split into 2 sections, the area directly behind the portal, which often is clad with acoustics panels and the area further into the tunnel that most often is left acoustically hard. For the acoustical description of the walls, SoundPLAN supplies 4 typical cases with the sound absorption coefficient (see annex). With 2 separate tunnel portals for a road with 2 separate lanes, 2 separate tunnel openings must be defined. To connect the tunnel opening with the road, the following procedure is to be followed: First enter the tunnel opening over the master alignment of the road, then open the object definitions and move the tunnel opening with ADJUST GEOMETRY. Although the tunnel opening may not intersect with the road alignment any longer, the connection between road and tunnel is made. Repeat this procedure with the second tunnel opening.
Tunnel openings
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Adjust geometry
The tunnel opening width (portal width) is extracted from the length of the digitized tunnel opening, the base height is derived from the intersection between tunnel opening and road/railway alignment. Both values can be adjusted here. When the DISTANCE TO AXIS is 0 m, the tunnel opening is located centrally over road/railway. For separate tunnel openings for both directions of the road, one of the distances to axis must be a positive number while the other must be negative. The tunnel opening can be moved by clicking on the ADJUST button.
With the checkmark REVERSE EMITTING DIRECTION the tunnel opening can be reversed.
Particularities for the object type tunnel opening in the Graphics

A separate object type is delivered for the display of the tunnel opening in the site map of the Graphics. In order to show the emitting direction, the symbol is twice as large as the tunnel opening. As a default the factor is set to 2 in the base settings of the object type.
If you want to use another symbol for the tunnel opening (e.g. a semi circle), please change the factor (size) to 1, in order to display the correct size of the tunnel opening. The 3D Graphics uses a semi circle or a rectangle, depending on the selected form of the tunnel opening in the GeoDatabase.
Properties for noise control walls

A noise control wall can now be defined using many elements above one another. For each element the reflection definitions and/or the direction can be adjusted. Reflections however are only evaluated from the vertical parts of the noise control wall. The screening is evaluated regardless if the wall is vertical or points in any direction or covers the road/railway. Walls with multiple elements are already finally defined and therefore cannot be used for a wall design calculation.
Page 20 Properties for noise control walls
Under the tab base element you find the new switch WALL FLOATS ABOVE When this box is checked, the bottom of the wall is no longer extended to the ground, it will be using the object elevation as the bottom. If there is a gap between the terrain and the bottom of the noise protection wall, noise can propagate under the noise protection wall.
GROUND.
With this feature noise protection walls on bridges can be modeled better than before. Roads and Railway lines should still be marked to be on a bridge in order to prevent the propagation through the bottom of the bridge. This way it is also possible to graphically document the height and reference kilometer of walls on bridges.
Open the tab for Additional elements and use the + to request new elements.
As soon as an element is no longer vertical, the absorption properties are discarded, no reflection is calculated in this case. The SLANT BASED ON PREVIOUS ELEMENT tilts the noise protection wall. A positive value will tilt it to the right (in the direction of entry of the object), a negative value will tilt it to the left.
HEIGHT/WIDTH
defines the size of an element in meters.
Via the NO.OF SIMILAR ELEMENTS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER you can request that a number of elements are stacked. If for example you entered a slant of 10 degrees and requested 9 elements, you have created a quarter pipe as a noise protection wall.
Properties for noise control walls
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Example:
Galleries or wall combinations as are printed above next to the definition box, should be defined as floating screens so that the reflection on the top vertical element still can be calculated.
Reworking the module Indoor Factory Noise

The program module Indoor Factory Noise allows the calculation and assessment of noise in work spaces and is focused at the acoustical evaluation of industrial facilities indoors. On the basis of the calculations of this module it is possible to evaluate if noise control measures are required and if so calculate alternative noise control remedies. Compare and optimize different variants with noise control. This module is following the VDI-standard 3760 (Calculation and measurement of noise propagation in work rooms) and extends the concept in accordance to the standard procedure Mirror sources with scattering in accordance to the writings of Kutruff & Joicic (see Appendix).
New Features
The floor plan for the industrial building no longer has any restrictions except that floor and ceiling need to be parallel to one another and that all walls need to be vertical. It is possible to place full and partial height screening walls at any position in the factory building. The walls can be fixed to the ground or defined as floating screens. The insertion loss incurred by these walls is recognized and applied by the calculations. Absorptions can be defined for all surfaces, only the density of scattering surfaces and the average absorption coefficients for the scattering surfaces needs to be defined as a room dependant constant. The new version also allows the calculation of a vertical cross-sectional type noise map within the industrial building.
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Entries in the Geo-database

In order to carry out calculations involving the noise levels inside the factory building, additional definitions and parameters must be made. Step 1: Object settings of the industrial building -> tab Indoor absorption -> tab General
Definition of the MEAN ROOM HEIGHT (the height of the room on the inside can differ from the outside dimensions) Definition of the SCATTERING OBJECT DENSITY (q = 1/L, L = mean free distance between scattering objects) and the absorption spectrum of scattering objects. The density of scattering objects increases with increased grade of filling the hall with machines. Here some guidance values for Dense fill with machines Middle fill with machines Scattered fill with machines Hall with very few machines 0.1 0.08 0.03 0.01
Select the absorption spectrum most commonly used in the factory building as the DEFAULT ABSORPTION SPECTRUM. With the switch ALL FACADES ABSORPTIVE this spectrum will be distributed to all walls.
Step 2: Object settings industrial building -> tab indoor absorption -> tab absorptive surfaces
Modifications of the absorption parameters for area that deviate from the default absorption spectrum (mark an area in the tree and select a different spectrum under the settings for Absorption). Taking over of inserted components as absorption area (mark the area in the tree and use the right mouse button to -> COPY INSERTED COMPONENT AS ABSORPTION AREA). Definition of local absorption areas (draw the area in the drawing window, mark the absorption area in the tree and under ABSORPTION select the spectrum)
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Step 3: Object settings of the industrial building -> tab indoor wall The indoor walls are entered -like before- in the object Indoor wall in the data entry window of the Geo-database. Digitize a wall and enter the vertical POSITION OF THE WALL IN THE HALL (distance to floor and ceiling) and define the ABSORPTION SPECTRUM for the left and the right side.
If Indoor Factory Noise walls are defined outside of the factory building window, upon opening the factory building window, you will be asked if you want to integrate these walls into the factory building. If yes was the answer, the walls will be taken off the normal data entry and integrated into the factory building itself. Walls where the parameters change from element to element (for example to define different distances of the wall top to the ceiling) are broken down into multiple walls with constant properties. If you want to modify a wall that is integrated into the factory building on the basis of the full canvas, right click on the wall and select EXTRACT OBJECT from the popup menu.
It is also possible to enter the walls in the factory building window under the tab Indoor walls. This is especially useful if you already know the exact coordinates of the walls. o o o o o Draw walls in the drawing window Mark the wall in the tree Define the height of the wall (distance to floor and ceiling) Define the absorption properties (left side / right side) If needed adjust the wall geometry (coordinates)
Multiple walls of the factory building can be processed using the Attribute Explorer directly from the industrial building (right mouse bottom in the tree -> ATTRIBUTE EXPLORER) or CTRL+ E.
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Filter in SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and Graphics

So far the filter is defined in the (options) document settings:
The filters EXCLUDE FACADES SMALLER THAN [M] and LOAD ONLY POINTS WHICH ALSO ARE IN has not been changed and has been described in the handbook. The rest of the filters have been reworked and are now categorized. As all filters are dependant of a (or all) level column(s), these filters are labeled column dependent filter. The there is a distinction between 2 filter types, filters depending on buildings and filters depending on coordinates. For the coordinate-wise filtering only the coordinates are loaded whereas the building dependent filtering will load all coordinates of a building as long as the criterion for at least one coordinate of the building is met. As soon as you change the filter settings for the current document with OPTIONS -> you are asked if you want to regenerate the table. In this case all coordinates of all results are loaded and sorted building by building, afterwards the filter is applied.
DOCUMENT SETTINGS -> CURRENT DOCUMENT,
Filter column and type of rounding type
With the FILTER COLUMN you define for which level column i.e. for which of the time slots the filter (conflict value) value needs to be generated. With the check mark APPLAY FILTER TO ALL TIME SLOTS the filter criteria are applied to all time slots of the results. For example for the filter load only receiver points with conflict , this means that only the receiver point with the highest magnitude of excess to the noise limit is used, regardless of the time slot. Please be aware that this is not necessarily the receiver point with the highest noise level. For the decision which point has a conflict, the ROUNDING MODE is important and also the information to which decimal it shall apply. It is for example possible that a receiver point in accordance to the RLS90 is not a conflict in the un-rounded state but that the rounding lifts it to the criterion to become a conflict. For this you need to define the parameters here. If due to rounding, multiple values are becoming identical, the value of the highest infringement to the limit is used to set the biggest conflict. The setting to calculate using the shown number of decimals is not used for the filtering.
Filter by buildings
Filter in SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and Graphics
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In accordance to the checkboxes the program loads either only buildings WITH CONFLICT, or buildings WITH THE LEVEL >= an entered threshold value. All receiver points are loaded as long as at least one meets the filter criteria. In addition you can opt to only load a single receiver point per faade.
Filter by receiver points
With the receiver point type filtering criteria on the same line are mutually exclusive whereas criteria below each other can be added. For example you can select to load only POINTS WITH CONFLICTS or to load POINTS WITH LEVELY GREATER THAN. You can further refine the selection by checking the box for loading receiver points with the highest level / conflict PER FACADE or PER
BUILDING
With loading floors ONLY WITH HIGHEST LEVEL / CONFLICT only the single floor with the highest values is loaded whereas ALL AFFECTED will look at every floor of the building.
Effect of the filtering upon calculations

If for example you are using the point receiver filter to LOAD ONLY POINTS WITH THE HIGHEST LEVEL PER BUILDING and only LOAD FLOORS WITH THE HIGHEST LEVEL, only a single value is loaded per building. This point then all inhabitants of the building are assigned to (the columns inhabitants and inhabitants /faade/floor will contain identical values). If the filter to show ONLY CONFLICT is active, you can easily generate worst case calculations for an area as all inhabitants of all building are assigned to the point on the building that shows the highest conflict value. Additional information: Mark lines (points) and hide them: Hidden lines are only excluded from the evaluation statistics (under the tools menu), otherwise the lines are calculated and also are evaluated for the structure lines.
Filter settings in Faade Noise Map and level tables

If multiple receiver points on a faade have been calculated and only some of them are showing a conflict, the display without filtering will only display sections of the facade representing the conflict receiver. If you use the filter to LOAD ONLY THE POINTS WITH THE HIGHEST LEVEL PER FACADE, the entire facade is marked as having a conflict.
Similarly the display of the Facade Noise Map in the object settings will use scale colors to paint the facade either for a single receiver or for the entire facade. For the level tables the display combination of showing conflict facades in combination with the selection to load only the POINT WITH THE HIGHEST VALUE FOR THE ENTIRE BUILDING is not sensible as only a single point is marked even if there are multiple conflicts.
Page 26 Filter in SoundPLAN Spreadsheet and Graphics
Receiver flags in the Graphics

Use small flags you can display at the receiver points to present any content of a receiver table (spreadsheet) in a map. In contrary to the level tables, that only present the level values per receiver, you can flexibly display all desired information. The below extract from the spreadsheet and the resulting receiver flag explain the relationship:
The receiver flags are connected with a reference line to the receiver point in the map. With Boolean (logical) columns generated in the spreadsheet you define which receiver points shall be represented with receiver flags and which points and facades shall be marked as conflicts (columns 25 and 26 in the table above). Apart from the any column you can also display structured rows you have defined in the spreadsheet. The columns and headers are stored separately in so called column combinations in the table so that the tabular format and the graphical display as receiver flag can come from the same spreadsheet with completely different layout and contents.
Column combinations and file type selection

Select the file type RECEIVER FLAGS in the Graphics file selection manager, you will see a dialog for the selection of the columns to be displayed.
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Select the column that contains the TEXT IN REFERENCE POINTS. This can be a text or integer column from the spreadsheet. Whether the text is actually shown in the Graphics however depends on you definitions for the receiver flags in the object types. Select the Boolean columns for marking it as a CONFLICT POINT and for marking POINTS TO B DISPLAYED IN THE GRAPHICS (both columns can be the same).
In the table above Boolean columns have been generated for the selection of the conflict and for the display in the graphics. This way you can for example present a level table for the loudest receiver on a building and mark additional ones that generate conflict receivers and conflict facades. Choose the HEADER TYPE for the column combination. You can select to use the column headers from the SoundPLAN Spreadsheet or define your own short title. Hint: You can define your own headers here and still later on select not to have a header or use the headers from the spreadsheet. If STRUCTURE LINES (block beginning and/or block end) are contained in the spreadsheet, you can select if you want to display them in the small tables. Now select the columns that shall be visible. By default all columns visible in the spreadsheet are marked visible here. If desired enter a short header if you want to have a different text (one line) than the header from the spreadsheet, which can have multiple lines.
SELECT COLUMNS:
Switch to DISPLAY ALL COLUMNS, for example to activate a column from the structure line or any other one that was not visible. DISPLAY ONLY SELECTED COLUMNS gives you a better overview is there are columns already selected. Further compilations of this table you can generate by clicking on the + sign next to the column combination name. The name must be unique. Column combinations no longer in use are deleted with the - sign. With >> change the name of the column combination. If you change a name to a column combination that is already in use in a sheet, the connection to this column combination will be lost however!
Result request for receiver flags in the file selection

After selecting the spreadsheet and defining the column combination, additional parameters for the presentation are requested:
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Define the spacing between the receiver and the reference point and the spacing between the reference point and the middle of the table.
Both distances facade - reference point and reference point - receiver flag are connected with a line, the layout of the line can be further defined in the plan-object types. The type of header and whether structured lines are used or not, is taken from the column combinations but can be modified in the current sheet. fits the width of the columns to the longest text present. Structure lines are not used in the calculation of the table width, if they are longer than the table allows, they are truncated.
OPTIMIZE COLUMN ZIZES
Object type receiver flags

The layout of the receiver flags is set in the object setup under the tabs general and table layout.
As the test size from the spreadsheet may be too big for the display in the graphics, you have a SIZE FACTOR to your disposal to scale the texts up and down without having to redo the table itself. If you only want to use the receiver flags to mark individual receivers specially, you can deactivate the receiver flags with the switch SHOW TABLES. Use the switch ONLY SHOW TABLES THAT ARE MARKED IN THE BOOLAN PRESENT COLUMN, in order to show the receiver flags for all receivers contained in the spreadsheet. With SHOW ONLY FLOORS WITH CONFLICT you can set to print only table lines with a conflict or for all floors as soon as that location on the building shows a conflict in any of the floors.
Receiver flags in the Graphics Page 29
A checkmark in front of SHOW TEXTS IN REFERENCE POINT prints the text from the column you have defined in the column combinations. Font and color and size are also defined here. Define the WIDTH and COLOR of the connection line between the facade and the table. In case the reference point was moved from the faade, both parts are displayed the same way. Under the tab table layout select the background colors for the headers, the structured lines and the data lines. They are administered independently from the spreadsheet.
Click on the checkbox in front of the line types in order to make a selection of colors valid. The color then can be different in the graphics from the colors in the spreadsheet. If the checkbox is unchecked, the colors from the spreadsheet are used. Structure lines can either be placed under the header from the spreadsheet or the column combination or on top. Often the lines between the time slice columns are switched off in the Spreadsheet. Therefore you can define the TABLE LINES in the object types. You can select, whether you want to keep the settings from the Spreadsheet (then only lines between rows can be additionally displayed), display lines from the object type definition additionally to the settings from the Spreadsheet or completely ignore the settings from the Spreadsheet and only use the line color and line width defined in the object types. The TABLE EDGE LINES are always taken from the definition in the object types.
Move the receiver flags

Individual tables can be moved under "Edit Plan". Activate MOVE TABLE "RESULT FILE".*. When the cursor moves on to a table, the cross of the cursor changes into the movement arrow. With the left mouse button pressed, move the table or the symbol.
SoundPLAN remembers the position you have moved results to. When you load another result file into your plan, you can force the program to use the same position as was used in the result file xxx. First select the spreadsheet to be loaded (the original table must be still part of the plan), then mark the USE THE POSITION FROM FILE xxx and then take the original table out of the plan.
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Print preview and unprintable frames in Graphics

The Graphics now is no longer working on the active drawing area but is controlling the exact sheet dimensions down to the non printable frame around the active drawing area. Therefore the exact paper dimensions in [mm] need to be defined in the sheet properties. The size of the unprintable area is controllable through the tab Edge. Hint: Old sheets and templates are still usable as the edges in the older sheets are set to =0. Regardless, it is the recommendation to adapt the sheets and templates to the new way because positioning the drawing on the sheet is much easier and it is now possible without any problem to generate a sheet with a border wide enough to punch holes in to place them into a folder. It is also possible to generate a new sheet, select the sheet size and the desired printer and then view the sheet FILE -> PRINT PREVIEW. The active drawing area is requested from the printer driver and displayed. If it does not fit, you see the message:
In case the paper format for the sheet and the printer do not match and the sheet is too big, the message "sheet too big for selected paper size is displayed. At the same time the print preview shows the preview of the sheet and the non printable border frame.
As long as the sheet frame is smaller than the unprintable area on the printer, the values for the sheet frame are displayed in red boxes. Change printer settings You also have the option to change the printer here or to change the printer settings. Click on the symbol in the upper left hand corner to CHANGE PRINTER SETTINGS. Enter the minimum sizes for the sheet border and match them at least to the unprintable area of the printer. You can also customize the sheet to contain a stapling / hole punching area of 2[cm] on the left had side.
Print preview and unprintable frames in Graphics
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As soon as the border frame is defined, the switch TAKE OVER is active and allows you to set the frame settings in the sheet properties. Child elements (plan, group boxes ...) are automatically fitted to the printable drawing area. You can view the sheet with or without the frame to maximize the active viewing area on screen. With VIEW -> WITHOUT SHEET FRAME (CTRL+ E) the frame is activated/deactivated. After defining the sheet frame it is no longer possible to move the child elements beyond the sheet frame. You can activate the checkbox FIT ONLY FOR HTIS PRINTOUT to leave the sheet frame untouched but to have the content fitted correctly to the sheet. Additionally you can disable the presentation of more complex content in the preview (speeding up the generation of the preview) if you uncheck the checkbox SHOW GEOMETRIE AND RESULTS.
Convert sheets from a pre 7 version

If you already have fitted the size of the sheet to the active printing area of the printer, you can directly convert the sheet. Open the print preview. The SoundPLAN Graphics recognizes that sour sheet is of the older type. Click on the switch CONVERT. The program determines the hull-rectangle of all child elements on the sheet. The frame resulting from this action is then extended by the nonprintable frame of the printer and this is defined as your sheet non printable border. The position of the plan on the sheet has not changed. The size of the sheet is now the correct paper size, the position of your plan is located by defining the width of the unprintable border.
Only sheets that are in agreement with the unprintable border size of the printer can be converted. If the sheet was designed for a different printer (printer driver) there may be a conflict.
Train Animation in the 3D Graphics
Preparation
Before you can generate the animation itself, you must calculate a rid Noise Map with the activated option Animated Grid Map (Moving Train). This variant of the noise map generates the time/level charts that drive the animated noise map. The calculation of the time/level chart requires several settings in order to operate properly.
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An assessment must be selected with the maximum noise level for trains activated as one of the time slots The standard for the calculation of the train noise map must allow the calculation of the maximum noise level for trains The emission of the train must be set to have a specific train with train length and maximum noise level defined.
Train Animation in the 3D Graphics
In the Noise Assessment of the calculation RUN definition the L-Max calculation must be activated.
To present the train itself, the train line must be loaded in the graphics and must be marked in the Geo-Database as the reference line. If the Grid Noise Map is associated with an animated time/level history file, you can find the data in Edit Map in the selection list under the label Load level time history . By checking the appropriate box, the program will load the data.
Presentation of the train

For the presentation of the train, the sub-object-type Emission line of the train object is used. In the top view the train is presented as a line, in 3D as a solid figure. For the color and thickness of the train, the normal line display is used. In order for the train not to be covered by the emission line, the emission line itself must be deactivated. The length of the train and the length of the rail cars are defined in the Cartography section: - PATTERN SIZE - PATTERN RATIO = length of the train = approximate length of a rail car
In 3D the width and height of the train cannot be altered, the train body starts 30 cm above the railhead and is 2.5 meters wide and 2.8 meters tall.
Presentation in 3D
In order to present the train-animation in 3D, the data must be loaded while the Edit-Map facility is operating in 2-D. After loading the data, switch to the 3-D mode. Please make sure that the object types for the grid noise map has the switch USE GROUND ELEVATIONS set in the tab 3D of the object settings. In the settings for 3D there is a new tab for the train animation, select one of the 4 different way of presentation: Keep the current view Move with the train and look at the noise map from a position on the train in a defined angle. Move with the train and look towards the center of the of the animation world Look from the center of the animation towards the train.
Depending on the animation setting, select the position relative to the animation track (distance to the front of the train, height above the train) and the view angle.
Bitmaps in SoundPLAN
With switching the program development system from Delphi 7 to Delphi 2007, some of the external bitmap processing tools became obsolete and had to be set on a new platform that is less dependent on the compiler. Some changes to the bit map processing needed to be accepted here. Like in the Geo-Database, the Graphics now supports the same graphics formats: Window-Bitmaps (*.bmp) Jpeg-files (*.jpg) Png-files (*.png) Tiff-files (*.tif) Loading geometry bitmaps is faster now as each format can be loaded directly and can be converted into a windows bitmap. The function rotate was designed new without the need to buffer the bitmap on the disk.
Bitmaps in SoundPLAN
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A new mode for a fast re-draw was also implemented that allows much higher rates of re-drawing, specially for black and white bitmaps, however with this fast-redraw mode the quality on screen in some resolutions is a bit reduced. This only affects the screen, not printed output. What is different in re-drawing the screen? Drawing any bitmap on screen the bitmap first needs to be converted into the pixelmatrix of the screen and then it is drawn. As most bitmaps have a higher resolution than the screen, often multiple pixels from the bitmap are presented with only a single pixel on screen. The fast re-draw does not calculate an average of all the pixels from the bitmap that should be presented as a single pixel on screen but rather has each one of them draw the pixel, which means that the last bitmap pixel to be drawn is what you see in the end. This may result in the picture looking like having less detail. The slower mode averages the bitmap pixels resulting in a better picture quality. In the addition mode multiple draws will result in black, in the normal draw mode will yield gray.
New developments with the Noise Allotment

In the past the Noise Allotment could be saved under any file name, now the file name is fixed. This meant that you could generate multiple variants from a single pre-calculation. This is not possible any longer, the allotment is now saved under the same name as the pre-calculation. Why this restriction? You can generate a grid noise map for your allotment (a more detailed description below). This Grid Noise Map needs a calculation run number, this is now the same as the pre-calculation and the allotment. This makes it easier to keep together the different parts of the allotment. In case you want to generate variations, copy the pre-calculation run and have its results saved under a different run number. The copied calculations need to be executed before the allotment can be run.
Selection to determine the additional noise contingents
You can now select how the additional contingents shall be generated: With SECTORS (A.2 according to DIN 45691) By area (via the usage areas)
NO additional contingents
For the determination of additional contingents via the method by area, at first the areas need to be defined in the Geo-Database as usage areas. All usage areas to be
Page 34 New developments with the Noise Allotment
used in the Allotment must be located in the same Geo-File, which is then assigned to the Allotment. The additional contingents are assigned to the areas instead of the sectors. If multiple receivers are located in an area, the program will use the lowest additional contingent.
Suggestion of a LEK per time slot
Via the pocket calculator you can have the program make a suggestion for the LEK for each time slot. This suggestion is not optimized, it rather assumes the same LEK for all partial areas, maximizing the permitted sound power. This suggestion shall be viewed as the beginning of your noise allotment optimizing.
New possibilities for the setting of additional contingents
If you have already set a lot of sectors and then you by accident move the reference point, you need to redo your work. Therefore a new function allows you to FIX THE REFERENCE POINT AND THUS GUARDS it against accidental movement. You can connect sectors by overlaying the angle border between neighboring sectors or receivers. In order that this is not just an accident, you need to first activate the switch ALLOW SECTORS T BE CONNECTED. Additionally you can select to CLOSE SECTORS AUTOMATICALLY. If this switch is active, the angle marker is deleted if moved. The same way as sectors can be joined, they can be sub divided again. When sectors are changed the program automatically generates a new list of critical receivers for day and for night and calculates the lowest additional contingent. Here too it is now possible to generate sectors without receivers, i.e. without additional contingents.
Settings for the printout
Now you can select the font type and a scale factor for the font size to make sure that even bigger tables can be fit on a page. Also select if you want the geometry (page 4) to be printed. For the documentation in accordance to DIN 45691 this graphics is not required. Additionally you can load the geometry in the graphics and refine it there with additional text boxes and a scale.
New developments with the Noise Allotment
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Calculation of Grid Noise Maps

Once the Noise Allotment is finished you can calculate a Grid Noise Map using the allotment results. In order to simplify the handling, the grid noise map is saved under the same number as the pre-calculation and the allotment. The calculation is started in the program section for Noise Allotment under the tab Calculate Grid Noise Map. Click on the green arrow to start the calculation. Like in the calculation core the logbook contains vital information about your calculations. It is not necessary to change into the Calculation core to start the calculations, however in the Noise Allotment the noise map is not graphically displayed while it is calculating. The calculation is done in accordance to DIN 45691 with free field propagation without ground interaction. The calculation times accordingly are extremely short. Additional contingents are not used in the calculations, however they can be added later on in the graphics from other calculations.
Display of the Noise Allotment in the Graphics

As usual, load the noise allotment from the file selection of the graphics, the file type is Noise Allotment . The Grid Noise Map is loaded via the file type Grid Noise Map under the name of the pre-calculation, i.e. RNAT****.RES. For the selection of the time slot check the additional checkbox to use the additional noise contingents:
New developments of Wall-Design

The display of the wall optimization history now has added several diagram types: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The benefit of the noise protection wall The efficiency of the wall, i.e. the benefit/cost ratio The effectivity, indicating the percentage of how much the target value is reached in % The WTI (Wirtschaftlicher Tragbarkeits-Index= Economic feasibility index according to the Swiss (BAFU) EPD) The cost per solved case of conflict
The topics 1-4 are based on the Swiss Cost Index (-> Swiss Environmental Protection Department = Schweizer Bundesamt fr Umwelt BAFU), the WTI (Wirtschaftliche Tragbarkeit und Verhltnismigkeit von Lrmschutzmanahmen = Economic feasibility of noise protection construction), which you probably already know from the SoundPLAN Spreadsheet.
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This study assumes that noise is responsible costs to the economy. By controlling the noise the economic costs are reduced, thus noise control not only has costs associated but there also is an economic benefit to the society. In the diagram-selection you will find base value above the target value instead of inhabitants above target value in the diagram type base value above the threshold value. For this diagram type as well as for effectivity, the WTI and the costs per solved conflict, a selection list is available where you can set the base to be: o o o inhabitants dwellings receivers
In addition you can select for these diagram types if the evaluation is for the active time slot of for all time slots.
Calculation of the economic (cost) damages due to noise

The damage per receiver is calculated as follows: Damage = (A * B) * Conf * RentF[nc] * cost_per_m o o o o o o A = square meters of entire floor divided by number of receivers calculated on that floor B = Correction factor for A to adjust for non inhabited areas such as staircases etc. Conf = conflict the damages are based upon RentF= rent factor per noise class Cost_per_m = rent price per m per year The area A is automatically calculated from the geometry of the building. The correction factors and all other parameters are defined under options > settings.
The damage defining conflict is given by the excess of noise above a given threshold value for day or night and also depends on a sensitivity setting for the building. This sensitivity depends on the usage of the building. In order to keep the work defining parameters at bay, the program used the usage assigned to the building in the Geo-Database. A common sensitivity is assumed but threshold- and alarm-values can be defined. The pre setting is for a value -5 for sensitivity step II for residential areas. The noise class is selected in accordance to the noise level (day/night) as follows:
Noise class I II III Evaluation noise level > Alarm level > Threshold value+5 > Threshold value
The rental cost per m per year is set to represent the average rental cost in Switzerland and must be adjusted to represent the true cost in your area. Benefit of noise control measures: The benefit of the noise control measures is defined as the reduction of the economic damages. The efficiency: Is defined as the ratio of cost to benefit. The effectiveness: In reference to the base inhabitants, dwellings or receivers, the percentage of inhabitants properly shielded from noise is calculated. When all receivers are shielded to be below the noise threshold, the effectiveness will be 100%.
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The WTI (Wirtschaftlicher Tragbarkeits-Index = Economic Feasibility Index): The WTI is calculated as follows: WTI = Effectivity * Efficiency / 25 WTI according to BAFU is evaluated in classes
WTI > 4.0 > 2.0 >= 1.0 < 1.0 < 0.5 Evaluation Very good Good Sufficient Insufficient Bad
The cost per solved conflict case: In reference to the base inhabitants, dwellings or receivers the cost for each shielded receiver is presented. The default setting is for dwellings and for all time slots in accordance to the benefit/cost analysis from the Hinweisen zur Erstellung Schalltechnischer Untersuchungen = Hints for conducting noise technical investigations of the German EBA (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt = Federal Railway Authority).
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Annex
Propagation of noise from tunnel openings
The noise transmission loss (as a factor not in dB) from a stationary source in a distance to the tunnel opening is defined as [1]: For tunnels with a semicircular cross-section:
For tunnels with rectangular cross-section:
With R: wT: h: a: radius of tunnel [m] half the width of the tunnel opening [m] height of tunnel [m] parameter defining the average absorption of the tunnel (0<=a>=1)
in general: where is the sound absorption index of the walls of the tunnel. Typical values for
Frequency range [Hz] <160 160-400 0.08 >400-1250 0.08 >1250 0.08 Smooth concrete surfaces; 0.08 Roads or reflecting ballast bed Reference case for directivity Rough concrete surfaces; 0.08 Roads or reflecting ballast bed Concrete surfaces; Ballast beds for railways 0.15
0.11
0.14
0.14
0.5 0.5
0.8 0.8
0.65 0.65
Typical sound absorption 0.15 material
If a line source in the tunnel is regarded with a sound power per meter Lw , the total sound power radiated from the tunnel mouth is:
With L: length of tunnel [m]
If Lw is constant within the tunnel:
When the tunnel opening is built with absorption material it can be stated [2]:
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With a1: a2: x1: Absorption parameter in area 1 (0..x1) Absorption parameter in area 2 (x1..L) distance between tunnel opening and the transition from area 1 and 2
When Lw is constant within the tunnel:
Directivity
For roads a directivity correction factor () is calculated. For the reference case (smooth concrete surfaces) this correction is:
Angle [deg] 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105..180 Frequency range [Hz] <160 3 3 3 3 3 2 -2 -6 160-400 5 5 4 3 2 -3 -10 -24 >400-1250 6 5 4 2 0 -6 -17 -26 >1250 7 5 4 1 -2 -7 -19 -27
For the Non-reference case the difference level between the sound power in the tunnel opening and for the reference and the non-reference case is set and the directivity is set according to the table below.
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Values for all other angles are derived by linear interpolation.
Literature
[1] K. Takagi et.al., Prediction of Road Traffic Noise around Tunnel Mouth Proc. Internoise 2000, pp3099-3104 [2] Jonasson, Storeheier, Nord 2000. New Nordic Prediction Method for Road Traffic Noise, Version 1.0, 2001-12-21 [3] Jonasson, Storeheier, Nord 2000. New Nordic Prediction Method for Rail Traffic Noise, Version 1.0, 2001-12-21
Algorithms used in Indoor Factory Noise

The calculation method used in the SoundPLAN Indoor Factory Noise Model is extending the concept of the of Spiegelquellenverfahren mit Streuung = Mirror Source Method with Scattering (according to Kutruff & Jovicic) as it is described in the German VDI 3760. The calculation of the sound pressure level is considering the room parameters sound power of the source, density of scattering objects, and absorptive properties of scattering objects and all other surfaces in the building. The calculation is split into a direct component and a scattered component. Direct Noise Component
P = sound power of the source q = scattering object density c = speed of sound r = distance source to receiver m = air absorption coefficient Scattered Noise Component
P = sound power of the source q = scattering object density c = speed of sound r = distance source to receiver a = absorption coefficient (contains the absorption of scattering objects and the absorption of ceiling and floor) The noise level is the sum of the direct and the scattered component summed up with direct and reflects paths.
= absorption coefficient of the walls
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The standard procedure is extended by the evaluation of mitigation effects:
The screening objects in the factory building cause a mitigating effect that for the direct noise is calculated from the extra path length the noise has to travel over the obstacle and for the scattered noise component the ratio of the areas permitting transmission versus the areas blocking the transmission.
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Implemented Calculation Standards

Unfortunately not all standards and guidelines have official test procedures and sample answers. We regard a standard only as tested when the official test questions are fulfilled or we have calculated all key parts of the standard by hand (Excel). As generating such test procedures constitutes a demanding, time consuming challenge, there are differences in the test status between the standards and guidelines. All tested cases are checked for each update if any values have changed. Road RLS-90 (D), test questions are fulfilled and are on the CD, additional details beyond the normal test questions have been tested. DIN 18005 (D) road tested VBUS (D) - tested RVS 3.02 /4.02 (A), the test questions are fulfilled and are contained on the CD, additional details beyond the normal test questions have been tested. NMPB 96 (F/EU) examples tested according to the standard EMPA StL 86, StL 95, StL 97 (CH), tested CoRTN (GB), tested FHWA (USA) tested with examples from the standard TNM Road (USA) Statens planverk report no. 48 (DK), 1980 tested ASJ RTN Model B 1998 (Japan) Quality control done by OnoSoki ASJ RTN Model B 2003 (Japan) Quality control done by OnoSoki Nordic Traffic Noise Prediction 1996 tested Nord2000 road, tests still in progress Emissions calculation for Hungarian roads Russian roads
Railway
SCHALL-03 (D), test questions are fulfilled and are on the CD, additional details beyond the normal test questions have been tested. Transrapid (D), the test questions are fulfilled DIN 18005 (D) with emission calculation for rail tested VBUSch (D) - tested Calculation of Rail Noise CRN 99 (GB) tested ONR 305011(A), tested RMR 2002 (NL/EU), no official test questions available, in comparison calculations with third party products there are still unresolved differences. SEMIBEL (CH) tested Nordic Prediction Method for Train Noise NMT 98 (Scandinavia) tested Nordic Rail Prediction Method Kilde Report 130 (Scandinavia) tested Nord2000 rail, tests still in progress
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Industry
Japan Narrow Gauge Railways (Japan), Quality control done by OnoSoki Emission calculation Hungarian railway Russian railway French rail NFS 31-133
DIN ISO 9613-2 tested DIN 18005 Industry (D) tested VDI 2714/2720 tested TA Lrm simplified procedures tested AL-28 (A) and General Prediction Method for Industrial Plants (DK) were tested on the basis of the version 4.2 in the framework of the quality assurance program. For the AL 28 with the rubber band method for screening the test procedures were adjusted Nord2000 Industry (Scandinavia), tests still in progress Construction Noise (Hong Kong) tested BS5228 (GB) plausibility verified by sample calculations no test procedures available ASJ CN Model 2002 (Japan), Quality control done by OnoSoki Concawe (NL) plausibility verified by sample calculations TNM Industry (USA) VDI 3760 (D), tested
Aircraft noise The aircraft noise model in accordance to the AzB was checked by Umwelbundesamt (German EPD). The calculation methods for single receivers, Grid Noise Maps and contour calculations are certified. AzB AzD/AzB 2008 ECAC Doc 29 (incl. EU interim) DIN 45643 DIN 45684 AL 24
Air pollution standards TA-Luft (Gauss-Model) tested MISKAM und MISKAM Screening tested AUSTAL 2000
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Braunstein + Berndt GmbH

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New in version 7.0

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An overview of all modifications

An overview of all modifications

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An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

An overview of all modifications

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An overview of all modifications

Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

(default value 200 m) (default value 50 m)

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The Attribute Explorer

The Attribute Explorer

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The Attribute Explorer

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Examples of how to use the Attribute Explorer:

The elevation filter

The elevation filter

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For all import types

The elevation filter

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Import points without filtering

Filter points in outlying areas with increased tolerance.

Import spot elevations within the circumference of buildings without filtering

The elevation filter

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Move files in marked area to a sub-folder

Flexible source definitions for roads and railways

Flexible source definitions for roads and railways

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Update Information SoundPLAN 7.0

Properties of the tunnel opening

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Particularities for the object type tunnel opening in the Graphics

Properties for noise control walls

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defines the size of an element in meters.

Properties for noise control walls

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Reworking the module Indoor Factory Noise

Reworking the module Indoor Factory Noise

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Entries in the Geo-database