A craft-project loudspeaker to serve as an educational demonstration

Moving-coil loudspeakers typify the interdisciplinary nature of acoustics: in order to reproduce sound, these devices employ principles of electricity, magnetism, mechanics, and acoustics. The widespread use of loudspeakers has made them a familiar and valuable opportunity to introduce students to acoustics. A low-cost loudspeaker project/demonstration is presented here that is built from scratch using common household items and craft supplies. A variety of educational topics may be illustrated with this device, making it appropriate for a wide range of academic levels.     

北极水声学研究的新进展和新动向

北极水声学作为水声学研究的一部分,起步要比达·芬奇所描述的声呐雏形晚很多年。第二次世界大战后北极水声学的研究开始受到发达国家(主要是美国)的重视。它的发展和研究重点带有明显的冷战烙印。冷战结束之后,随着北极持续变暖的趋势,北极及其毗邻海域的海洋水声环境受到特别的重视。环北极的8个国家组成排他性的北极理事会。我国政府于2018年1月26日发表北极政策白皮书,声明中国是近北极国家,是北极地区利益攸关方。本文介绍北极水声学研究的新进展,包括我国有关涉海单位近年来所做的科考和学术研究。指出,北极水声学的研究不局限于把传统水声学中的研究内容(如环境噪声、混响、传播等等)并行地在北极环境条件下加以重复探讨,而是要根据北极海洋环境的实际情况,进行有关领域的新研究。其中不乏传统浅海、深海水声学研究中所不具有的特色,如冰-水界面、冰下的半声道效应、冰盖下水下无人载器(UUV)的通信、定位及声呐对冰下环境的适应性研究等课题。      

Progresses and advances in Arctic underwater acoustics study

As a part of underwater acoustics, the study and development of Arctic Acoustics is later than underwater acoustics about several hundred years. After World War II, the study of Arctic Acoustics attracts many interests by some developed countries, especially U.S. and pre-Soviet Union. The research works obviously have some kinds of cold war brand. After the Cold War, with the gradual warming trend of Arctic area, the ocean acoustic environment in Arctic and its adjacent area have been considerably concerned. The 8 countries of Arctic rim organized exclusive "Arctic Council" in 1996. The white paper of "China Arctic Policy"was published in January 26, 2018, the Chinese government declared that China is a close Arctic country, and is the responsible stakeholder of Arctic interests. The new advances in Arctic research works axe introduced in this paper, including the results of scientific survey and studies about Arctic underwater acoustics of Chinese researchers. It is showed that the Arctic underwater acoustical research area is not only parallely copy the topics what traditional underwater acoustics covered, e.g. environment noise,reverberation,and propagation, but also the topics which is specifically based on the Arctic environment. Some of these research fields cannot be included in the traditional shallow water, deep water acoustics, e.g. the ice-water interface feature, ice covered semi-acoustic channel effect, the communication and navigation of UUV in the condition of under ice, and the adaptation of sonar technique, equipment in the ice-covered environment, etc.     

Structural-acoustic finite element analysis of the automobile passenger compartment: A review of current practice

This paper contains a brief review of the formulation of the finite element method for structural-acoustic analysis of an enclosed cavity, and illustrations are given of the application of this analytical method at General Motors Corporation to investigate the acoustics of the automobile passenger compartment. Low frequency noise in the passenger compartment (in approximately the 20–200 Hz frequency range) is of primary interest, and particularly that noise which is generated by the structural vibration of the wall panels of the compartment. The topics which are covered in the paper include the computation of acoustic modes and resonant frequencies of the passenger compartment, the effect of flexible wall panels on the cavity acoustics, the methods of direct and modal coupling of the structural and acoustic vehicle systems, and forced vibration analysis illustrating the techniques for computing panel-excited noise and for identifying critical panels around the passenger compartment. The capabilities of the finite element method are illustrated by applications to the production automobile, and experimental verifications of the various techniques are presented to illustrate the accuracy of the method.     

微穿孔板和小孔喷注——马大猷教授对声学的特殊贡献

微穿孔板吸声体是马大猷教授提出的一项特殊的设计技术,自上世纪80年代以来被广泛地应用在音质处理和噪声控制中。微穿孔板吸声体是一种无纤维的宽带吸声材料,它不仅能够应用在传统的建筑声学和噪声控制等领域中,更有意义的是它适用于高温、高速气流、高洁净、需要透明采光等一些极端条件下。当微穿孔板后面有一定的空腔时,它可以在低频的几个频程内具有很高的吸声系数。在喷注噪声控制理论方面,马教授根据小孔喷注噪声与其压力和直径的关系,根据人的听觉生理和心理特性,提出了在气流或者蒸汽出口的颈部处设计合适的小孔结构,可以大大减少气流噪声对人的干扰作用可听声频段内的声辐射,降噪量一般来说可以达到20~60 dBA的降噪量。这就是小孔喷注理论。本文回顾了马大猷教授在他学术生涯第二个春天里结出的这两颗硕果——微穿孔板和小孔喷注,关于微穿孔板在声场和声源噪声控制中的声学特性理论,主要回顾和讨论了微穿孔板结构的研究进展及其在噪声控制中的实际应用,以及小孔喷注噪声的主要能量转移到超声波频段内的物理概念,这一概念对现代喷注噪声控制的发展依然具有重要意义。      

Assessment model of classroom acoustics criteria for enhancing speech intelligibility and learning quality

In this paper, a new classroom acoustics assessment model (CAAM) based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for enhancing speech intelligibility and learning quality is proposed. The model is based on five main criteria that affect the learning process and related to classrooms acoustical properties. These include classroom specifications, noise sources inside and outside the classroom, teaching style, and vocal effort. The priority and weights of these major criteria along with their alternatives are identified using the views of students, staff, education consultants, and expertise by using a developed questionnaire, and the AHP methodology. This model can be considered as a helpful framework enabling universities decision makers to take effective decisions on classroom acoustics treatment issues. It also provides colleges’ higher authorities the suitable guidelines that help for determining necessary requirements that help to raise the quality and efficiency of the educational environment; in order to reach an excellent learning environment; and hence increasing students learning outcomes.     

Student design projects in applied acoustics

This paper describes a series of student projects which are intended to complement theoretical education in acoustics and engineering noise control with practical experience. The projects are also intended to enhance the students' ability to work in a team, to manage a project, and to present their results. The projects are carried out in close cooperation with industrial partners so that the students can get a taste of the professional life of noise control engineers. The organization of such a project, its execution, and some of the results from the most recent student project are presented as a demonstrative example. This latest project involved the creation of noise maps of a production hall, the acoustic analysis of a packaging machine, and the acoustic analysis of a spiral vibratory conveyor. Upon completion of the analysis, students then designed, applied, and verified some simple preliminary noise reduction measures to demonstrate the potential of these techniques.     

Arrival-time structure of the time-averaged ambient noise cross-correlation function in an oceanic waveguide

Coherent deterministic arrival times can be extracted from the derivative of the time-averaged ambient noise cross-correlation function between two receivers. These coherent arrival times are related to those of the time-domain Green's function between these two receivers and have been observed experimentally in various environments and frequency range of interest (e.g., in ultrasonics, seismology, or underwater acoustics). This nonintuitive result can be demonstrated based on a simple time-domain image formulation of the noise cross-correlation function, for a uniform distribution of noise sources in a Pekeris waveguide. This image formulation determines the influence of the noise-source distribution (in range and depth) as well as the dependence on the receiver bandwidth for the arrival-time structure of the derivative of the cross-correlation function. These results are compared with previously derived formulations of the ambient noise cross-correlation function. Practical implications of these results for sea experiments are also discussed.     

全国声学标准化技术委员会的发展与国家声学基础测量方法标准体系建设

首先回顾了全国声学标准化技术委员会自1980年成立以来,在国家声学标准制、修订方面所取得的一批重要的标准研究成果。经过全国声学领域历届委员和专家30年来的共同努力,截止2009年共制、修订声学方面国家标准166项次,形成了目前归口声标委管理的131项现行有效的国家标准,由此也建立了涵盖声学基础、噪声、建筑声学、超水声四大类标准的国家声学基础测量方法标准体系。这些声学基础测量方法标准体系与国家声环境质量、噪声排放等环保标准和工程建设标准、电声和音视频等标准共同构成了较为完整的国家声学标准体系。最后结合声标委今后要开展的标准工作,提出了进一步完善国家声学基础测量方法标准体系的细部构想,可以相信,将来随着这些标准的陆续出台,我国声学标准体系会更趋完善。      

Evaluation of acoustical conditions for speech communication in working elementary school classrooms

Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 41 working elementary school classrooms near Ottawa, Canada to obtain more representative and more accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. This paper describes the room acoustics characteristics and noise environment of 27 traditional rectangular classrooms from the 41 measured rooms. The purpose of the work was to better understand how to improve speech communication between teachers and students. The study found, that on average, the students experienced: teacher speech levels of 60.4 dB A, noise levels of 49.1 dB A, and a mean speech-to-noise ratio of 11 dB A during teaching activities. The mean reverberation time in the occupied classrooms was 0.41 s, which was 10% less than in the unoccupied rooms. The reverberation time measurements were used to determine the average absorption added by each student. Detailed analyses of early and late-arriving speech sounds showed these sound levels could be predicted quite accurately and suggest improved approaches to room acoustics design.     

Experimental investigation of the effects of the acoustical conditions in a simulated classroom on speech recognition and learning in children

The potential effects of acoustical environment on speech understanding are especially important as children enter school where students' ability to hear and understand complex verbal information is critical to learning. However, this ability is compromised because of widely varied and unfavorable classroom acoustics. The extent to which unfavorable classroom acoustics affect children's performance on longer learning tasks is largely unknown as most research has focused on testing children using words, syllables, or sentences as stimuli. In the current study, a simulated classroom environment was used to measure comprehension performance of two classroom learning activities: a discussion and lecture. Comprehension performance was measured for groups of elementary-aged students in one of four environments with varied reverberation times and background noise levels. The reverberation time was either 0.6 or 1.5 s, and the signal-to-noise level was either +10 or +7 dB. Performance is compared to adult subjects as well as to sentence-recognition in the same condition. Significant differences were seen in comprehension scores as a function of age and condition; both increasing background noise and reverberation degraded performance in comprehension tasks compared to minimal differences in measures of sentence-recognition.     

Determination of the sound energy level of a gunshot and its applications in room acoustics

In some cases an impulsive noise source such as a gunshot can be a preferred alternative when investigating building acoustics, including sound insulation measurements, when compared to conventional steady state noise sources. A gun equipped with blank cartridges is an impulsive noise source that is lightweight and small enough to be easily transported. The differences in the noise characteristics between individual cartridges for the same gun are usually small, so the impulsive source can be replicated to a high degree. This paper is focused on the practical application of the sound exposure levels produced by a gunshot with a known sound energy level in the rooms under investigation. In this way, the equipment and methods required by the conventional method are simplified significantly. Furthermore, reverberation times need not be measured, since the equivalent absorption area can be directly obtained from the measured sound exposure levels. Using Green’s theorem, the roles of the sound source and measuring microphone were exchanged, which simplified the determination of sound insulation as it was easier to change the position of the gun than the microphone. The results obtained using the impulsive noise source were in good agreement with those obtained using the conventional method. Above 100 Hz, their difference in any frequency band of interest was less than 1 dB.     

水下目标被动测距的一种新方法:利用波导不变量提取目标距离信息

水声学中波导不变量的研究是近30年来引人注目的课题之一。水下目标辐射噪声的直达波和海面、海底反射波之间的干涉现象中隐含有下水目标的距离信息。提取这种距离信息就为水下目标的被动测距提供了一种新的途径。理论分析和实际海试都证明,甚至单水听器的LOFAR(Low Frequency Analysis Record)图都隐含着目标的距离和运动信息。本文给出利用波导不变量提取目标距离信息的理论推导,证明了在形成干涉条纹的外界条件具备时,利用多个水听器构成的基阵也能以较大增益提供目标距离信息。虽然组成基阵的每一水听器出现干涉条纹的条件是有差异的。这种差异在波束成形时可以加以利用和补偿。本文提出的理论和部分仿真、海试结果为水下目标被动测距和目标识别提供了一种新的途径。      

A new method of passive ranging for underwater target:distance information extraction based on wave guide invariant

The study of wave guide invariant in underwater acoustics is one of attracted topics in recent 30 years.The interferences of direct wave and reflect wave from sea surface and sea bottom of underwater target radiated noise inherent the information of target distance.Extraction of these distance information will provide a possible new way in passive ranging for underwater target.The theoretical analysis and the results of at sea experiments show that the LOFAR(Low Frequency Analysis Record) figure inherently contains the range and moving information of passive acoustic sources,even in the situation that the receiver is only one single hydrophone.The theoretical analysis of extraction of target distance information by using wave guide invariant is presented in this paper.It is shown that,based on the interference striation pattern of target,the hydrophone array system is possible to extract the distance information with quite high array gain.Although the mathematical constrain conditions in forming interference striation pattern are different for individual array element,but it is proved that the differences of time delays between array elements can be used in compensation of beamforming.The theoretical analysis,system simulation and some results of at sea experiment show a new way in passive ranging and target recognition.     

Investigating the acoustics of a sample of open plan and enclosed Kindergarten classrooms in Australia

Open plan classrooms, where several class bases share the same space, have recently re-emerged in Australian primary schools. This study compared the acoustics of four different Kindergarten classrooms: an enclosed classroom with 25 students, a double classroom with 44 students, a linear fully open plan triple classroom with 91 students, and a semi-open plan K-6 classroom with 205 students. Ambient noise levels, intrusive noise levels, occupied background noise levels, and teacher’s speech levels were recorded during different activities. Room impulse responses using logarithmic sweeps were also recorded for different teaching scenarios. From these recordings, signal-to-noise ratios, speech transmission index scores, and reverberation times were calculated. The results revealed much higher intrusive noise levels in the two largest open plan classrooms, resulting in signal-to-noise ratios and speech transmission index scores to be well below those recommended in classrooms with students of this age. Additionally, occupied background noise levels in all classrooms were well above recommended levels. These results suggest noise in classrooms needs to be better controlled, and open plan classrooms are unlikely to be appropriate learning environments for young children due to their high intrusive noise levels. The impact of noise on children’s learning and teacher’s vocal health are discussed.     

环境噪声学进展

本文简要地回顾了30年来中国环境噪声学的发展，并从飞机噪声、地面运输噪声、环境噪声影响与评价以及工业噪声控制四个方面介绍了近年来环境噪声学的进展。     

从建筑声学到环境声学

本文简述环境声学的发展过程以及在厅堂音质、环境噪声和噪声控制方面的新世纪展望。     

Ray dynamics in long-range deep ocean sound propagation

Recent results relating to ray dynamics in ocean acoustics are reviewed. Attention is focused on long-range propagation in deep ocean environments. For this class of problems, the ray equations may be simplified by making use of a one-way formulation in which the range variable appears as the independent (timelike) variable. Topics discussed include integrable and nonintegrable ray systems, action-angle variables, nonlinear resonances and the KAM theorem, ray chaos, Lyapunov exponents, predictability, nondegeneracy violation, ray intensity statistics, semiclassical breakdown, wave chaos, and the connection between ray chaos and mode coupling. The Hamiltonian structure of the ray equations plays an important role in all of these topics.     

Subjective and objective assessment of acoustical and overall environmental quality in secondary school classrooms

A subjective survey on perceived environmental quality has been carried out on 51 secondary-school classrooms, some of which have been acoustically renovated, and acoustical measurements were carried out in eight of the 51 classrooms, these eight being representative of the different types of classrooms that are the subject of the survey. A questionnaire, which included items on overall quality and its single aspects such as acoustical, thermal, indoor air and visual quality, has been administered to 1006 students. The students perceived that acoustical and visual quality had the most influence on their school performance and, with the same dissatisfaction for acoustical, thermal and indoor air quality, they attributed more relevance, in the overall quality judgment, to the acoustical condition. Acoustical quality was correlated to speech comprehension, which was correlated to the speech transmission index, even though the index does not reflect all the aspects by which speech comprehension can be influenced. Acoustical satisfaction was lower in nonrenovated classrooms, and one of the most important consequences of poor acoustics was a decrease in concentration. The stronger correlation between average noise disturbance scores and L(A max) levels, more than L(Aeq) and L(A90), showed that students were more disturbed by intermittent than constant noise.