This document discusses assessing and reducing noise from 3D printers. It aims to provide insight into measuring acoustics and achieving quiet printing. The key points are: - Noise pollution is an important issue as people spend more time at home, and it can increase stress and health issues. Industry is starting to focus on quiet products. - Sound is usually measured in A-weighted decibels (dBA), but other sound quality aspects like patterns may also impact perception of noise. - A study found that while printers make noise, quiet operation could be a differentiating "wow-feature" according to the Kano model of customer satisfaction. - Achieving quiet printing involves addressing noise sources from

1. Quiet Printing - Acoustics Assessment
and redesign of an FDM Printer
Y. Yamamuro
Oct. 22, 2015
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2. Objectives
• To give insight into one specific aspect, acoustics, of home 3d printers
• How to measure
• To give you a tool to assess
• One way to achieve quiet printing
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3. Why is sound in consumer products
important?
• 2013 Forbes article on Noise Pollution in the Home
• 72k views
• Article says it’s relevant because we’re spending more and more time
in the home.
• E.g. 3.1M people work from home in the USA.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2013/09/09/quiet-please-how-to-cut-noise-pollution-at-home/

4. Our well being
• Inhabitat.com says:
• Sound pollution is a major factor in causing increased stress levels
• This stress can lead to health issues:
• Anxiety and a feeling of stress without perceived causes
http://inhabitat.com/3-tips-for-reducing-the-negative-effects-of-sound-pollution-at-home/
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5. • From the Environmental
Health Perspectives
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307272/
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6. Industry is catching on
• “Quiet Mark has established a universal symbol and system of
support for consumers and industry alike and is a vehicle to finance
transformation of the aural environment for the benefit of all.”
-Launched in 2012 by the Noise
Abatement Society,
-It is creating demand for quiet
consumer products
-There’s a category for computers,
but not printers
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7. How is sound in products measured?
• Usually measured in A-weighted Decibels
• dBA
• In the A-weighted system, the decibel values of sounds at low
frequencies are reduced; compared with unweighted decibels, for
which there is no correction. This correction is made because human
ears are less responsive to low audio frequencies, typically below
1000 Hz; compared to high audio frequencies.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/A-weighted-decibels-dBA-or-dBa-or-dBa
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8. Sound weightings visually
http://www.hearforever.org/tools-to-learn/sound-source-a-and-c-weighted-noise-
measurements
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9. However, is dBA the right measure?
• E.g., People are good at detecting aural patterns
• Adaptive hearing where basic noise level is discounted with a focus on the
relevant pattern
• Therefore, a pattern perceived as annoying will be unpleasant
regardless of the dB values
Sound Quality Aspects for Env Noise, Dr. Ing. Klaus Genuit, Internoise 2002
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10. Introducing Sound Quality
• Sound quality is the total response of acceptability
• Takes into account:
• Strength of magnitude:
• A weighted sound level (dBA)
• Annoyance value
• Noisiness, roughness, sharpness
• Amenity value
• Regularity, harmonicity, appropriateness
• Information content
• Identification, performance and condition of the product, appropriateness
Product Sound Quality – from Perception to Design, R Lyon
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11. Is all sound bad?
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12. Study of Sound Perception in 3D Printers
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13. Kano: a Framework to help Interpret
• Developed by Noriaki Kano
• Model where customer’s
satisfaction with product features
depend on level of functionality
that is provided
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14. Kano Model
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15. Kano Model
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16. Kano Model
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17. Kano Model
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18. What About Quiet Printing?
Like It Don’t Care Dislike
Like It 3
Don’t Care 10
Dislike
WhenQuietPrintingIsPresent
When Quiet Printing Is Absent
“Noise is inefficiency”
“Important for long print jobs”
“Just starting, not a priority”
“Don’t care”
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19. Quiet Printing
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20. How Do You Achieve it?
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21. Sources of Noise
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1 3
5 6
7
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X-Axis Y-Axis Z-Axis

22. Retrofit
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23. Noise Reduction
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24. Conclusion
• Why quiet products are important: health
• How to measure: sound quality
• To give you a tool to assess: Kano Model
• Kano Model Output: Quiet printing can be a
differentiating wow-feature
• Some ways to achieve quiet printing
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25. Thank You!
Thanks to Simplexity, our design partner.
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26. Appendix – Sound Level Comparison
Environmental Noise
Weakest sound heard 0dB
Whisper Quiet Library at 6' 30dB
Normal conversation at 3' 60-65dB
Telephone dial tone 80dB
Level at which sustained
exposure may result in
hearing loss
90 - 95dB
Hand Drill 98dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock
Concert
115dB
Pain begins 125dB
Jet engine at 100' 140dB
12 Gauge Shotgun Blast 165dB
Death of hearing tissue 180dB
Loudest sound possible 194dB
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html
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