Sound Power Testing—A crash course in acoustics and ratings for the fan industry
Ralph T. Muehleisen · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2025
For several decades the Air Motion and Control Association (AMCA) has run a 3-day, 16-h, short course entitled “Sound Power Testing.” The short course was first developed by Joe Pope in the 1990s and modified, updated, and augmented by Ralph Muehleisen from 2007–2023. The course is specifically designed to provide a useful intro/background for fan manufacturing staff who are doing the equipment sound testing and rating as well as for the application engineers who are frequently asked for help and advice related to noise control of their company’s fans. Day 1 is an afternoon that focuses on an introduction to sound and acoustics and the concept of the decibel and basic logarithmic/decibel math, frequency analysis, and loudness. The morning of Day 2 focuses on sound level meters, sound in rooms, and sound power testing methods. The afternoon of Day 2 is a tour of the AMCA sound testing facilities with a demo of the reverberation room testing method. Day 3 is a morning that focuses on fan and silencer basics, advanced decibel math, AMCA sound ratings, and noise control basics.