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Delta Plus has created and installed a new acoustic cabin in its R&D laboratory in order to develop more effective, but also more comfortable, anti-noise helmets. Kevin Renckly, R&D Project Manager, explains its benefits.
Delta Plus has created and installed a new acoustic cabin in its R&D laboratory in order to develop more effective, but also more comfortable, anti-noise helmets. Kevin Renckly, R&D Project Manager, explains its benefits.
Expertise, Hearing protection
Update 28.01.25
From 2022, as part of its strategy to move upmarket, Delta Plus wanted to develop a new range of noise-cancelling helmets.
Previously, to ensure that its helmets met current standards, Delta Plus carried out tests with certification bodies (notified bodies).
The privatisation of these tests often implies a lack of performance in terms of costs and deadlines. That's why we decided to give ourselves the means to carry out some of these tests in-house.
"Our two main requirements were to be able to have a booth that performed as well as those of the certification bodies and was compact enough to be integrated into our R&D laboratory in Apt (Delta Plus headquarters, Editor's note).
This type of cabin did not exist on the market. So we designed one, specifically adapted to our needs, in partnership with Almacoustic, acoustic experts based in Le Mans. The cab was installed at the end of 2023 and is now fully operational."
Kevin Renckly:
"First of all, the acoustic booth named “ Cabin Delta ” meets the requirements of the ISO 4869-3* standard, the basis for the development of anti-noise helmets. Its innovative feature is its compact size of around one cubic metre. Inside, there are a number of noise sources generating a diffuse acoustic field, as well as a standardised false head made up of high-performance microphones.
This assembly enables insertion loss measurements to be carried out, i.e. by measuring the difference in decibels with and without the hearing protector, over a wide range of frequencies from 63Hz to 8000 Hz**.
Once these measurements have been taken and analysed, we can predict, with a small margin of error, the performance results of the noise protection headphones at the time of certification by a notified body (values resulting from so-called subjective tests on human subjects, editor's note).
One highlight: the uniqueness of the ‘Cabin Delta’ and the fact that it was developed in partnership with experts in acoustics has enabled us to take part for the first time as a co-author in the Inter-Noise international acoustics conference in Nantes in August 2024 ’."
Kevin Renckly:
" This is a range of 4 helmets with a compact design whose SNR*** will evolve from 27 to 35. It will be available in 2025.
The aim is to offer high-performance hearing protection developed and designed entirely by Delta Plus. For this range, we have also focused on comfort, in addition to attenuation performance. On certain models we have managed to lighten the helmet by around 20% (compared with the current range, for a given SNR).
To achieve this result, in partnership with the Matelys acoustics research laboratory , we really dissected the noise-cancelling headphones, element by element, and analysed the impact of each parameter on attenuation.
From this, we derived an analytical model that enabled us to simulate optimal helmet configurations, tested using the ‘Cabin Delta’. This new range took 2 years to develop."
A PICB (Protection Individuelle Contre le Bruit - Individual Protection Against Noise) refers to personal protective equipment (PPE) used to attenuate excessive noise levels in certain working environments. Earplugs or ear muffs are PICBs. To protect workers' hearing, Delta Plus offers a complete range of anti-noise PPE.
In addition to noise protection, Delta Plus has also surrounded itself with experts and partners with world-renowned know-how, to design and manufacture premium safety footwear: discover other examples of synergies with 3 Italian companies that have resulted in innovative and accessible footwear like the Aérofit safety boot.
