A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in ful lment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, Johannesburg, September 2019 / The objective of this research was to develop an integrated Port Hamiltonian model
of the human outer, middle and inner ear. The developed Port Hamiltonian model of
the human ear is based on the Dirac structure. The outer, middle and inner ear are
developed in segments, tested and validated prior to the system being coupled. The
outer, middle and inner ear are validated against existing literature and the results are
found to be comparable. The application of the developed Port Hamiltonian model
is illustrated using a developed feedback based noise policy management model for
mine workers. This feedback based measurement system can be used to monitor mine
workers in the mines hence provide the mine administrators with the current state of
hearing of the individual worker. The information obtained from the system may be
used by the administration to provide an early intervention and as a result the mine
workers are protected from experiencing signi cant hearing threshold shifts. A control
engineering approach is then used to formulate the mining noise occupational policies
as a control law. Both social and measurements aspects of this system are explored.
The International Standard Organization guide ISO:1999 is used to generate data
and develop a basic feedback model. The basic feedback model is further re ned into
a dynamic model which includes a Port Hamiltonian integrated ear model and the
mining policies. The feedback based noise policy management model is validated
using real data from the mine documented in open source literature. The models are
implemented using MATLAB as a modelling platform and the results are generated
using the Simulink model. This research work has been given an ethical clearance
certi cate by the Human Research Ethics Committee (Medical), therefore, allowing
for the ndings of the investigations to be published. In conclusion,to be developed
is an integrated Port Hamiltonian model of the Human outer, middle and inner ear
to be used for estimation of Noise induced hearing loss. The use of this model is then
illustrated using a feedback based noise policy monitoring system for mine workers. / PH2020
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/29048 |
| Date | 09 1900 |
| Creators | Madahana, Milka C. I. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (110 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf |
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