Noise Attenuation of Vented and Non-Vented Earplugs Evidence in Support of Elimination of the Venting Requirement for Earplugs used in Fixed Wing Flight

摘要

1.Earplug venting reduces noise attenuation capabilities by 1.5 - 6.2 dB for the configurations tested1.1 Effect is most pronounced at low frequencies1.2 This decrease is less than that found in previous study, but still drastically reduces allowable mission time2.Results show relative performance, but cannot tell us true attenuation in humans3.No tradeoff between pressure equalization and noise attenuation 3.1 the values are not correlated4.These results, combined with results from study Part 1, provide evidence in support of removing the requirement for earplug venting for tactical jet pilots5.Part 3 of study, earplug pressure equalization in human subjects, will be conducted this year.