Introduction

The noise and vibration of some sources can be just annoying. Some sources, however, can be intense enough to permanently hurt people. Research on noise and vibration control is therefore very important and it has produced the development of multiple control approaches. It is widely accepted that noise and vibration control is most effective when it is considered at the design stage. Proper design and construction of machinery, buildings, transportation vehicles, airports, and highways can eliminate potential noise and vibration problems. Before selecting noise and vibration control measures, sources must be identified and evaluated. Although each noise and vibration problem is somewhat different, a systematic approach and use of several well‐known methods often produce sufficient reduction and acceptable conditions. Implementation of noise and vibration control measures and predictions of their performance are therefore important issues. This chapter begins with a discussion of the source–path–receiver model, continues with a description of the most useful passive noise and vibration control approaches, and concludes with a discussion of the main applications of the relatively new topic of active noise reduction. Several individual worked examples are provided of the use of passive noise and vibration control approaches.