Introducing uncertainties in acoustic engineering studies

PIBE (Prévoir l'Impact du Bruit des Éoliennes - Predicting the impact of wind-turbine noise) is a research project funded by ANR (French National Research Agency) which main objectives are to better understand the sound level created by wind-turbines and assess noise-reduction solutions. One topic of this project focuses on the propagation of uncertainties. Code_TYMPAN(tm) is an open-source software for calculating industrial noise in the environment. Its open architecture, implemented by a Python API, allows advanced users to build and solve models programmatically. This open architecture made possible the implementation of a parametrical computational tool. This tool generates input data, launches the calculations with Code_TYMPAN(tm), generates and post-processes output data. Thus, sensitivity analysis and propagation of uncertainties were performed on an industrial test case. This development demonstrates the feasibility of introducing uncertainties in acoustic engineering studies.