Simple method to predict the performance of Noise Barriers

Noise barriers are usually classified attending to their intrinsic acoustic characteristics. This is standardized by the European standard EN 1793-2 [1], in which a single parameter, DLR, is defined in order to assign four different levels of insulation. However, the final performance of a noise barrier, quantified by the socalled Insertion Loss, IL, is not only dependent on the insulation provided by the noise barrier, but it is as well affected by geometrical aspects and the acoustic characteristic of the environment where these noise-reducing devices are placed. In this work, we explore the relationship between the Insertion Loss and the Acoustic Insulation by means of numerical methods. Moreover, we propose a simple way to predict the Insertion Loss from a numerical simulation in which this parameter is obtained for a completely rigid noise barrier.