Acoustical Standards

Acoustical Standards activities focus on the development and maintenance of primary acoustical ultrasound and vibration standards for Canada. Staff provide calibration services, technical consultation, and laboratory certification assessment. Standards are disseminated to regulatory and international trade agencies, government departments, and industrial and health science sectors.

Acoustical standards provide the technical infrastructure for federal and provincial government guidelines on hearing conservation, on the use of ultrasound for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, and for trade and industrial services. The emphasis is on the enhancement of acoustical metrology in Canadian industry and in the health sciences sector.

• Publications
• Calibration Services
• Consultation Services
• Facilities

Primary shock calibration using laser interferometry

This research project will realize a method for calibration of shock sensitivity of accelerometers that does not require the previous calibration of a reference shock accelerometer. Instead, the time history of the displacement of the accelerometer is measured using an interferometer, with traceability to the SI through the wavelength of laser light.   [More]

Acoustic transfer impedance for pressure reciprocity calibration

The primary calibration of laboratory standard microphones using the pressure reciprocity technique is critically dependent on the determination of the acoustic transfer impedance of pairs of coupled microphones. The acoustic transfer impedance depends on the electromechanical properties of the microphones and the distribution of the sound pressure in the cavity that couples the microphones. Various improvements to the existing standardized model for the distribution of sound pressure are being investigated for their suitability.   [More]

Related Information

Institutes:

• NRC Institute for National Measurement Standards