Acoustic assessment of pneumatic and electric jackleg drills used in 

the mining industry 

Hugo E. Camargoa)
 

a) Email address: HCamargo@cdc.gov 

Jeffrey S. Petersonb)
 

b) Email address: JPeterson@cdc.gov 

Peter G. Kovalchikc)
 

c) Email address: PKovalchik@cdc.gov 

Lynn A. Alcornd)
 

d) Email address: lyn3@cdc.gov 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
 

626 Cochrans Mill Road
 

P.O. Box 18070 

Pittsburgh, PA 15236 

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not 

necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 

Hearing loss is the most prevalent disease among miners. A study of U.S. western hardrock mines revealed that 96% of machine operators were overexposed to noise, with 

jackleg drill operators having the most rapid noise dose accumulation. Traditionally, 

jackleg drills have been driven by pneumatic power. However, there are currently 

available rotary hammer drills powered by electricity. This paper presents an acoustic 

assessment of pneumatic and electric jackleg drills that involved Noise Source 

Identification (NSID), penetration rate measurements, operator’s cumulative noise dose 

measurements, and the determination of sound power levels. NSID using beamforming 

array technology revealed two dominant noise sources for the electric drill, one located at 

the drill and one located at the drill steel-rock interaction place. In contrast, NSID for the 

pneumatic drill showed only one dominant noise source located at the drill. Penetration 

rate and noise dose measurements were combined to estimate the accumulated dose and 

time required to drill a reference depth hole. Sound power level measurements while 

drilling into granite yielded overall levels of 115.3 dB(A) and 123.4 dB(A) for the electric 

and pneumatic drills, respectively. The results show that from an occupational noise 

exposure perspective the acoustic performance of the electric drill, despite its slower 

penetration rates, overcomes the benefits of traditional pneumatic drills. 

1 INTRODUCTION 

Occupational hearing loss is still the most prevalent disease in the mining industry. A study 

of U.S. western hard-rock miner’s noise exposure revealed that 96% of hard-rock mining 

machine operators were exposed to levels exceeding the Permissible Exposure Level (PEL) set 
by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)1

. Time-motion analysis further showed 

that for all mining machine operators, jackleg drill operators had the most rapid noise dose 

accumulation. 

Jackleg drills, simply referred to as “drills” throughout this paper, are used to drill blast 

holes as well as bolt holes, especially in narrow vein situations. Traditionally, these drills have 

been driven by pneumatic power. However, there are currently available rotary hammer drills 

powered by electricity. These electric drills are less noisy and have lower vibration levels than 

pneumatic drills and constitute an attractive alternative to pneumatic drills; nevertheless, electric 

drills also have lower penetration rates as compared to pneumatic drills2

. As a consequence, the 

acoustic and vibration benefits of the electric drills tend to be overshadowed by the slower 

penetration rates. 

Previous studies conducted by the United States Bureau of Mines identified three dominant 

noise sources: the exhaust, drill machinery noise, and drill steel noise3. The noise at the exhaust 

is produced by the turbulence of the discharge air and thus it is of aeroacoustic type. The drill 

machinery noise arises from the fluctuating air flow inside the drill, and also from the impacts 

among internal components of the drill. Drill steel noise is originated by the vibration of the drill 

steel rod. 

This paper presents the results of a series of tests conducted by the Office of Mine Safety 

and Health Research (OMSHR) to assess the acoustic performance of both pneumatic drills and 

electric drills used in the mining industry. The objective of this assessment is to determine, from 

an occupational noise exposure perspective, whether electric drills constitute a viable alternative 

to pneumatic drills. 

2 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP 

Two rock drills were used for the present study. A Gardner Denver model S83 pneumatic 

drill and a Hilti model TE MD20 rotary hammer electric drill. Furthermore, the pneumatic drill 

was provided with a muffler and therefore measurements for this drill were conducted with and 

without the muffler. Figure 1 shows the pneumatic drill with and without muffler as well as the 

electric drill. The characteristics of the drill steel and drill bit of the rock drill under test are 

presented in Table 1. For all tests, two different drill media were used: granite with a 

compressive strength of 138 MPa (20000 psi), and concrete with a compressive strength of 41.3 

MPa (6000 psi). For consistency purposes, each hole was collared, i.e. started to a depth of 0.6 

cm (0.25 inch), before collecting data. 

The study consisted of sound pressure level measurements, phased array measurements, 

dosimeter measurements, and penetration rate measurements in a hemi-anechoic chamber. 

Furthermore, the study included the determination of sound power levels which were conducted 

in a reverberation chamber accredited by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program (NVLAP). All the above measurements were conducted in the facilities of the Office of 

Mine Safety and Health Research in Pittsburgh. 

The beamforming array used for noise source identification purposes consisted of 42 

microphones distributed on a wheel-type configuration with a 1.98-m diameter. The array plane 

was located 3.7 meters (145.7 inches) away from a plane containing the drill steel. Figure 2 

shows the phased array, the drill media, and one of the drills under test in the hemi-anechoic 

chamber. 
3 SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL MEASUREMENTS 

Sound pressure level measurements were conducted in order to assess the acoustic field of 

the sound radiated by the drills during operation. To this end, single microphone measurements 

were conducted in the hemi-anechoic chamber at the following three locations: 1) At the 

operator’s location, 2) at 3.0 meters (10 feet) away from the operator’s location, and 3) at 6.1 

meters (20 feet) away from the operator’s location, as shown in Fig. 2. The results from these 

tests are shown in Fig. 3. From the plots in this figure, it can be seen that the acoustic field of the 

pneumatic drills have flatter spectra as compared to the spectra of the electric drill. Furthermore, 

it can be seen that the spectra of the electric drill have significant contribution in the 1600 Hz to 

10000 Hz frequency range. Below 1600 Hz, the sound pressure levels of the electric drill are 

significantly lower than the levels of the pneumatic drill with differences ranging between 10 

dB(A) to 30 dB(A). Figure 3 also show that the effect of the muffler on the pneumatic drills is 

more significant in the 1000 Hz to 2000 Hz frequency range with differences ranging between 3 

dB(A) and 10 dB(A). 

4 NOISE SOURCE IDENTIFICATION 

Noise source identification involves the determination of the physical location as well as the 

frequency content of the dominant noise sources. To accomplish these tasks, a microphone array 

was used to sample the acoustic field. The data were then processed using a conventional 

beamforming algorithm to determine the location of the dominant noise sources. The processing 

plane was selected to be the plane containing the drill steel. The results from this processing 

were obtained in the form of one-third octave band acoustic maps. These maps have a dynamic 

range of approximately 13 dB at 1000 Hz. As the frequency increases, the dynamic range of the 

acoustic maps decreases to approximately 9.5 dB at 5000 Hz. 

Figure 4 presents the acoustic maps in the 1600 Hz to 4000 Hz frequency range for the two 

configurations of the pneumatic drill (S83 and the S83 with muffler), and the electric drill (TE 

MD20). From these maps it can be observed that for the case of the S83 drill, i.e. maps on the 

left column, there is only one dominant noise source which is located at the drill body. The 

center column of Fig. 4 shows the acoustic maps when a muffler was installed on the S83 drill. 

From these maps, it can be seen that the levels in the 1600 Hz to 2500 Hz frequency range were 

reduced significantly, i.e. up to 10 dB, and now, since the dynamic range has been lowered, there 

are two dominant noise sources: one source is located at the place where the drill bit interacts 

with the rock, and the other source is located at the drill body. Furthermore, at higher 

frequencies, i.e. 3150 Hz and 4000 Hz, there is only one dominant source located at the drill bitrock interaction place. Therefore, the effect of the muffler is to reduce the source at the drill, i.e. 

exhaust noise, to a level that is comparable to the noise source at the drill bit-rock interaction 

place. 

The third column of Fig. 4 shows the acoustic maps of the electric drill. From these maps it 

can be seen that with the exception of the 1600 Hz map, there is only one dominant noise source 

located at the drill bit-rock interaction place. Comparison of the levels of the electric drill with 

the levels of the pneumatic drill with muffler reveals a further reduction in noise, i.e. between 2 

dB and 9 dB. 
5 NOISE DOSE ACCUMULATION 

Another variable that was measured during the present study is the noise dose accumulated 

by the operator of the drill. The cumulative dose of the operator of any mining machine during 

any work shift is what eventually determines whether or not the operator complies with the Title 

30 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 624. 

To assess the accumulated dose, a Spark 705+ dosimeter was placed at the operator’s 

shoulder, close to the ear. The dosimeter was set up per the Mine Safety and Health 

Administration (MSHA) Permissible Exposure Level (PEL): 90 dB criterion and threshold level 

and a 5 dB exchange rate. 

Figure 5 shows the cumulative dose as a function of time while drilling concrete in the 

hemi-anechoic chamber. In this figure, the three segments corresponding to the dose 

accumulated while operating each tested drill are clearly identified. From this figure, it can be 

seen that the operator accumulates dose more rapidly while operating the S83 drill. These results 

were used to estimate average cumulative dose rates per minute which are summarized in Table 

2. This table also shows the time required to reach 100% dose. 

6 PENETRATION RATE 

The penetration rate of every drilled hole was determined by dividing the hole depth by the 

time required to drill that particular hole. Figure 6 shows the average penetration rates of the 

pneumatic and electric drills in granite and in concrete. From this figure it can be seen that the 

penetration rate of the electric drill is approximately 61% and 66% the penetration rate of the 

pneumatic drill in concrete and granite, respectively. Using these penetration rates, and the time 

required to reach 100% dose, presented in Table2, allows estimating the number of 1.2 meter 

(48-inch) depth reference holes the operator can drill before accumulating 100% dose. As a 

result, as shown in Table 3, the operator of the pneumatic drill provided with a muffler would 

drill 36 holes in concrete, while the operator of the electric drill would drill 54 holes in the same 

media. The difference is even larger when drilling in granite where the operator of the pneumatic 

drill would complete 12 holes as compared to 24 holes when using the electric drill. Regarding 

the time required to drill a reference 1.2 meter (48 inch) hole in concrete, it would take 1.98 

minutes using the S83 with muffler as opposed to 3.24 minutes using the TE MD20. Similarly, it 

would take 3.22 minutes to complete a 1.2 meter (48-inch) reference hole in granite using the 

S83 with muffler, while it would require 4.89 minutes to drill the same hole using the TE MD20 

drill. During this time, the operator of the pneumatic drill with muffler would accumulate 

approximately 8.1% dose, while the operator of the electric drill would accumulate 4.2% dose. 

7 DETERMINATION OF SOUND POWER LEVELS 

The last test of this study consisted in the determination of the sound power level radiated by 

each drill in a reverberation chamber. The sound power of a noise source measures the actual 

sound energy emission of a device and does not vary with the surrounding environment, as it is 

the case with sound pressure. Thus, it is a valuable tool for comparing the noise generated by the 

drills under test. The sound radiated by every drill was sampled three times for 30 seconds each. 

The pneumatic drill was tested with and without the muffler installed. Figure 7 shows the onethird-octave band plots of the sound power levels for the drills. From Fig. 7a it can be seen that 
the sound power level while drilling into concrete for the electric drill was 10.5 dB(A) and 7.2 

dB(A) lower that the sound power radiated by the pneumatic drill without, and with muffler, 

respectively. Similarly, Fig. 7b shows that drilling into granite resulted in differences of 8.1 

dB(A) and 4.8 dB(A) between the pneumatic drill and the electric drill, and between the 

pneumatic drill with muffler and the electric drill, respectively 

8 CONCLUSIONS 

An assessment of the acoustic performance of a pneumatic drill and an electric drill was 

conducted. Microphone array measurements processed with a beamforming algorithm showed 

that for the case of the pneumatic drill, there is only one dominant source located at the drill 

body. Installing a muffler reduces the levels of this source in the 500 Hz to 2500 Hz by up to 10 

dB. As a consequence, the acoustic maps of the pneumatic drill with silencer show two dominant 

sources located at the drill body and at the drill bit-rock interaction place. However, the presence 

of these two noise sources is due to the fact that the dynamic range was lowered and not due to 

operational changes. For the case of the electric drill, the acoustic maps show that, with the 

exception of the 1600 Hz band, there is only one dominant source located at the drill bit-rock 

interaction place. 

Penetration rate measurements showed that the electric drill has approximately 61% and 

66% the penetration rate of the pneumatic drill in concrete and granite, respectively. On the other 

hand, dosimeter measurements showed that the operator of the electric drill would accumulate 

noise dose at a rate 40% and 34% the rate of the pneumatic drill operator in concrete and granite 

respectively. Thus, to drill a 1.2 meter (48 inch) depth reference hole in granite, it would take 

3.22 minutes using the S83 with muffler as opposed to 4.89 minutes using the TE MD20. During 

this time, the operator of the pneumatic drill with muffler would accumulate approximately 8.1% 

dose, while the operator of the electric drill would accumulate 4.2% dose. 

Sound power level measurements in granite revealed a difference of 8.1 dB(A) and 4.8 

dB(A) between the pneumatic drill and the electric drill, and between the pneumatic drill with 

muffler and the electric drill, respectively. Similarly, drilling into concrete resulted in differences 

of 10.5 dB(A) and 7.2 dB(A) between the pneumatic drill and the electric drill, and between the 

pneumatic drill with muffler and the electric drill, respectively. In conclusion, from an 

occupational noise exposure perspective, the acoustic performance of the electric drill, despite its 

slower penetration rates, overcomes the benefits of traditional pneumatic drills. 

9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The authors would like to thank Gary Roberts, Ron Key, and Rusty Lynn Howard for 

providing the drills and tools for the test. Thanks are also due to Patrick McElhinney for his 

support for setting up the test. 

10 REFERENCES 

1.	 E.R. Spencer, “Assessment of Equipment Operators' Noise Exposure in Western 

Underground Gold and Silver Mines”, 2009 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, (2009). 
2.	 J.I. Phillips, P.S. Heyns and G. Nelson, G., “Rock Drills used in South African Mines: a 

Comparative Study of Noise and Vibration Levels”, The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 

51(3), 305-310, (2007). 

3.	 A. Visnapuu and J. Jensen, J., “Noise Reduction of a Pneumatic Rock Drill”, United States 

Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation, RI8082, (1975). 

4.	 Title 30 CFR Part 62, U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, 

Information Resource Center, (2000-2005) 

Table 1 - Drill steel and drill bit specifications for the drills under test. 

Part 

Gardner Denver 

S83 

Hilti 

TE MD20 

Drill Steel: 

Length m (in) 1.524 (60) 1.524 (60) 

Diameter m (in) 0.0254 (1) 0.0222 (7/8) 

Cross Section Hexagonal Hexagonal 

Drill Bit: 

Type B&L POK Bit 8-Butt Bit 

Diameter 0.0349 (1 3/8) 0.0349 (1 3/8) 

Table 2 - Operator cumulative noise dose. 

Brand Model Configuration 

Concrete Granite 

Accumulated 

Dose 

(%/min) 

Time to Reach 

100 % Dose 

(min) 

Accumulated 

Dose 

(%/min) 

Time to Reach 

100 % Dose 

(min) 

Gardner Denver S83 Standard 4.63 21.58 5.38 18.58 

Gardner Denver S83 With Muffler 1.41 70.92 2.50 39.97 

Hilti TE 20MD Standard 0.57 174.48 0.85 118.13 

Table 3 - Penetration rate and maximum number of holes before reaching 100% dose. 

Brand Model Configuration 

Concrete Granite 

Penetration 

Rate 

(in/min) 

Number of holes 

before reaching 

100 % Dose (*) 

Penetration 

Rate 

(in/min) 

Number of holes 

before reaching 

100% Dose (*) 

Gardner Denver S83 Standard 23.5 10.6 12.8 5.0 

Gardner Denver S83 With Muffler 24.3 35.9 14.9 12.4 

Hilti TE 20MD Standard 14.8 53.8 9.9 24.3 

(*) For reference purposes, 48-in depth holes were used for this calculation. 
Fig. 1 - Drills under test. 

(a) Gardner Denver S83. (b) Gardner Denver S83 with muffler. 

(c) Hilti TE MD20. 

Drill Media (Granite) 

Microphone Array 

Drill Media (Concrete) 

Single field 

Dosimeter microphones 

Support bolted to 

the floor 

Fig. 2 - Experimental setup in the hemi-anechoic chamber for noise source identification, dose 

accumulation and single field microphone measurements. 
Fig. 3 - SPL during the drilling operation at three different locations. 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 111.5 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 106.3 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 98.6 dB(A) 

(a) At operator’s location (Concrete). 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 111.5 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 107.8 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 101.9 dB(A) 

(b) At operator’s location (Granite). 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 98.1 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 94.6 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 90.6 dB(A) 

(c) At 3.048-m from the operator (Concrete). 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 98.6 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 98.0 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 91.5 dB(A) 

(d) At 3.048-m from the operator (Granite). 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 94.9 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 91.2 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 87.8 dB(A) 

(e) At 6.096-m from the operator (Concrete). 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

1/3-Octave band center frequency (Hz) 

SPL dB (A)

S83: 95.2 dB(A) 

S83 w/ Muffler: 94.9 dB(A) 

TE MD20: 89.0 dB(A) 

(f) At 6.096-m from the operator (Granite). 
Fig. 4 - One-third octave band acoustic maps for two pneumatic drills (S83 and S83 with 

muffler), and an electric drill (TE MD20). 

dB

90

88

86

84


 

90
 

88
 

86
 

84
 

(a) S83 at 1600 Hz. 

dB

80

78

76

74


 

80
 

78
 

76
 

74
 

(b) S83 w/muffler at 1600 Hz. 

dB

78

76

74

72


 

78
 

76
 

74
 

72
 

(c) TE MD20 at 1600 Hz. 

dB

88

86

84

82


 

88
 

86
 

84
 

82
 

(d) S83 at 2000 Hz. 

dB

83

81

79

77


 

83
 

81
 

79
 

77
 

(e) S83 w/muffler at 2000 Hz. 

dB

74

72

70

68


 

74
 

72
 

70
 

68
 

(f) TE MD20 at 2000 Hz. 

dB

83

81

79

77


 

83
 

81
 

79
 

77
 

(g) S83 at 2500 Hz. 

dB

79

77

75

73


 

79
 

77
 

75
 

73
 

(h) S83 w/muffler at 2500 Hz. 

dB

79

77

75

73


 

79
 

77
 

75
 

73
 

(i) TE MD20 at 2500 Hz. 

dB

85

83

81

79


 

85
 

83
 

81
 

79
 

(j) S83 at 3150 Hz. 

dB

88

86

84

82


 

88
 

86
 

84
 

82
 

(k) S83 w/muffler at 3150 Hz. 

dB

81

79

77

75


 

81
 

79
 

77
 

75
 

(l) TE MD20 at 3150 Hz. 

dB

86

84

82

80


 

86
 

84
 

82
 

80
 

(m) S83 at 4000 Hz. 

dB

86

84

82

80


 

86
 

84
 

82
 

80
 

(n) S83 w/muffler at 4000 Hz. 

dB

78

76

74

72


 

78
 

76
 

74
 

72
 

(o) TE MD20 at 4000 Hz. 
% Dose 

180 

200 

S83 TE MD20 

160 

140 

120 

100 S83 with 

80 Muffler 

60 

40 

20 

0 

11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:30 12:45 13:00 

Time 

Fig. 5 - Cumulative dose for the three tested drills while drilling in concrete. 

30
 

25
 

Inch/minute 20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Concrete 

S83 S83 with muffler 

Granite 

TE MD20 

Fig. 6 - Penetration rate. 
Fig. 7 - Sound Power Level radiated by the drills. 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

120 

506380

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

One-third octave band center frequency (Hz) 

LwA (dBA) 

Hilti TE MD20: 112.4 dB(A) 

GD S83 with muffler: 119.6 dB(A) 

GD S83: 122.9 dB(A) 

(a) Concrete. 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

110 

120 

506380

100125160200250315400500630800

1000125016002000250031504000500063008000

10000 

One-third octave band center frequency (Hz) 

LwA (dBA) 

Hilti TE MD20: 115.3 dB(A) 

GD S83 with muffler: 120.1 dB(A) 

GD S83: 123.4 dB(A) 

(b) Granite.