Study on the perceptible level for infrasound

✍ Scribed by S. Tsunekawa; Y. Kajikawa; S. Nohara; M. Ariizumi; A. Okada

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 351 KB
• Volume: 112
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-460X
• DOI: 10.1016/s0022-460x(87)80089-5

✦ Synopsis

The human perception of infrasound was investigated by a field survey. Experiments on the perceptible level of infrasound were performed at various places, such as under a bridge, inside an automobile and around a cooling tower, where infrasounds were predominantly observed. The dose-response relationship was also evaluated under various levels of infrasound with a single predominant frequency. Examinees were asked whether they could feel infrasound as pressure on the ears and head, and/or as reverberation in the chest and abdomen. In the frequency range between 6 and 23 Hz, the 50% response level (threshold value) had a slope of -10 dB/octave, and at 10 Hz was about 93-94 dB. The 20% response level was nearly 6 dB lower than the 50% response level, and the 80% response level was nearly 6 dB higher than the 50% response level. The response level for the chest and abdomen was 6-9 dB higher than that of the total response for the ear, head, chest and abdomen.