Scattering of plane acoustic waves by a transversely isotropic cylindrical shell—application to material characterization

Scattering of obliquely incident plane acoustic wave by an air-filled, transversely isotropic cylindrical shell immersed in water is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The normal mode expansion technique is employed for analyzing the scattering field, and then resonance modes of the shell appearing in modal scattering form functions are identified performing the resonance scattering analysis. Dispersion curves for Sholte-Stoneley, SH and Lamb waves are obtained and their characteristics are interpreted. Calculated backscattering and resonance spectra as well as dispersion curves are compared with those from ultrasonic experiments for two composite samples having the same nominal composition but fabricated under different conditions. Sensitive change of the dispersion curves is observed for both normal and oblique incidences, which demonstrates the feasibility of systematic inverse evaluation of damage or elastic constants of the composite shell using data from the acoustic scattering measurements.     

Noise effects of reducing traffic flow through a Spanish city

Towards the end of 1999, the building of one of the main communication routes in Spain was finished, the A-3 motorway, which connects Madrid and Valencia. So far, this road was running through the town Motilla de Palancar, province of Cuenca. The opening of the last section of the motorway on 3 December 1999, re-routes all the traffic passing through the town. This study makes a comparative of the noise levels before and after the opening of the motorway that goes through Motilla de Palancar.     

Influence of Data Acquisition Environment on Accuracy of Acoustic Voice Quality Measurements

Accuracy of acoustic voice analysis is influenced by the quality of recording. Lately, articles have suggested that soundcards perform equivalently to specialized professional-grade data acquisition (DA) systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of DA environment (DA system and microphone) on acoustic voice quality measurement (VQM) while balancing for gender, age, intersubject and intrasubject variability, and analysis software. More specifically, the relative performance of different hardware environments and the relationship between their technical characteristics and VQM performance was investigated. The discretization error and the effective dynamic range of the different DA environments were measured. We used 3 software systems to record and measure separately 2000 acoustic samples of sustained phonation for fundamental frequency, jitter, and shimmer. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed with these parameters as the dependent variables. The results of the study suggested that professional-grade DA hardware is strongly recommended to provide accurate and valid voice assessment. The fundamental frequency measurement differences across DA environments were highly correlated to the discretization error (r=1.00), whereas jitter and shimmer were highly correlated to the effective dynamic range of the DA environments (r=-0.68 and r=-0.86, respectively).     

Sonocrystallization of polycarbonate melts

In this paper, we showed the simplified continuous process to crystallize the polycarbonate (PC) melts using sonocrystallization which is based on ultrasonic cavitation and ‘hot spot’ theory. High power ultrasonic wave was introduced to crystallize the PC prepolymers which is generally used for solid‐state polymerization (SSP) to obtain the ultra‐high molecular weight PCs. The structure and properties of PC treated with ultrasonic wave such as torque changes and crystallinities were studied. The experimental results showed that ultrasonic wave could improve the crystallinities of PCs and sonication time was proportional to their crystallinity. This is attributed to the decrease of the specific volume and the resulting shrinkage is compensated by a flux of a polymer melt toward the crystallization front. Torque data were collected directly from the Haake internal mixer and crystallinities were evaluated from differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). This process is an environmentally benign process so that no additional solvents or treatments are needed and will be very useful in the conventional solid‐state process which is used industrially. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SJTU-1型医用超声诊断设备声输出测量系统的研制

本系统地研究了医用超声诊断设各声输出公布要求的国家标准GB16846—1997(idt.IEC61157—1992)中规定的主要指标的定义和测量方法，给出了相关的计算公式。介绍了为实施国标而研制的专用测量设备SJTU-1型医用超声设备声输出测量系统的工作原理、系统构成和技术性能。     

Ion chromatographic determination of salicylate in human serum with a bulk acoustic wave sensor as detector

Salicylate is a hydrolysis product of salicylate-containing drugs (such as aspirin) in patients' blood. Monitoring of this ion in blood is helpful for diagnosing of overdosage of these drugs. The present paper describes an ion chromatography (IC) method developed for determination of total salicylate in human serum, in which a hulk acoustic wave (BAW) sensor was used as detector; 0.5 mmoI/L sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃, pH 8.5) served as mobile phase. Interference in the determination was negligible. The method is simple, rapid, accurate, and precise. Serum salicylate was analyzed using both the proposed IC-BAW method and the classical Trinder spec-trophotometric method, and the results showed that the two method agreed well.     

Functional assessment of patients with spasmodic dysphonia

Assessment of function in patients with spasmodic dysphonia is necessary to confirm diagnosis, plan therapy, predict response, and assess effectiveness of treatment. This task is difficult because symptom severity fluctuates, the test environment is artificial, and the objective parameters used to measure vocal function may not adequately reflect the handicap experienced by the patient. Available methods for assessing these patients are reviewed and the utility of each considered, particularly in managing patients with botulinum toxin therapy. Assessment should include a battery of tests, including subjective perceptual ratings and direct physical measurements.     

Evaluating the Influence of Warmup on Singing Voice Quality Using Acoustic Measures

Vocal warmup is generally accepted as vital for singing performance. However, only a limited number of studies have evaluated this effect quantitatively. In this study, we evaluated the effect of vocal warmup on voice production, among young female singers, using a set of acoustic parameters. Warmup reduced frequency-perturbation (p < 0.001) and amplitude-perturbation values (p < 0.05). In addition, warmup increased singer's formant amplitude (p < 0.05) and improved noise-to-harmonic ratio (p < 0.05). Tone-matching accuracy, however, was not affected by warmup. The effect of vocal warmup on frequency-perturbation parameters was more evident among mezzo-soprano singers than it was among soprano singers. It was also more evident in the low pitch-range than in the higher pitch-ranges (p < 0.05). The results of this study provide valid support for the advantageous effect of vocal warmup on voice quality and present acoustic analysis as a valuable and sensitive tool for quantifying this effect.     

球状泡群内气泡的耦合振动

振动气泡形成辐射场影响其他气泡的运动, 故多气泡体系中气泡处于耦合振动状态. 本文在气泡群振动模型的基础上, 考虑气泡间耦合振动的影响, 得到了均匀球状泡群内振动气泡的动力学方程, 以此为基础分析了气泡的非线性声响应特征. 气泡间的耦合振动增加了系统对每个气泡的约束, 降低了气泡的自然共振频率, 增强了气泡的非线性声响应. 随着气泡数密度的增加, 振动气泡受到的抑制增强; 增加液体静压力同样可抑制泡群内气泡的振动, 且存在静压力敏感区(1–2 atm, 1 atm=1.01325×10⁵ Pa); 驱动声波对气泡振动影响很大, 随着声波频率的增加, 能够形成空化影响的气泡尺度范围变窄. 在同样的声条件、泡群尺寸以及气泡内外环境下, 初始半径小于5 μm 的气泡具有较强的声响应. 气泡耦合振动会削弱单个气泡的空化影响, 但可延长多气泡系统空化泡崩溃发生的时间间隔和增大作用范围, 整体空化效应增强.     

Investigation on interlaminar delamination tendency of multidirectional carbon fiber composites

In this investigation carbon fiber reinforced laminates with different orientation layups are prepared and studied under tensile loading condition. Multiple strain measurement techniques, namely, resistive strain gauges, embedded optical sensors and digital image correlation are used to analyze stress-strain behavior simultaneously through the thickness of composite materials, and to determine the sequence of failure in different plies. Inconsistencies of strains measured through different methods is correlated with the tendency for interlaminar delamination, therefore demonstrating the ability of multi-instrument approach to describe damage progress through the thickness of multidirectional laminates. Complementary analysis through acoustic emission methods reveals that the angle of off-axis surface plies can influence the sequence of failure under tensile loading condition, and damage monitoring capabilities of acoustic emission system is directly affected by delamination tendency of surface plies. Remarkably, the delayed failure of off-axis plies is shown to be related to reorientation of these layer towards loading direction using infrared thermography method.