Acoustic pressure losses in woven screen regenerators

In thermoacoustic travelling-wave engines and other Stirling cycle devices, good performance depends on the material of a regenerator being in intimate contact with the gas inside it, so that each particle of gas oscillates in temperature following the adjacent material as it is acoustically displaced. This requires that the passages are small enough for temperature waves to penetrate across the gas path with the frequencies of interest. One type of ‘regenerator’ that is commonly used for this purpose is composed of multiple layers of woven stainless steel mesh, laid on top of one another in random registration. Associated with the thermal penetration is a viscous loss of pressure and this must be quantified if efficient engines are to be designed.In the literature, reliance has been placed on the correlation of steady-flow loss data for these meshes, but for the coarser ones operating at frequencies greater than 28 Hz, the assumption of quasi steady-flow is dubious and direct acoustic measurements must be made. This paper reports acoustic pressure loss data for meshes with 34 and 75 wires per inch taken in two configurations of impedance tube, and finds that the dependence on velocity is the same as in steady-flow, but that there is indeed some enhancement of loss for frequencies above 40 Hz. (Separation of the mesh layers is probably responsible for the anomalously low loss coefficients that were recorded in one set of data.) It is shown that the acoustic pressure losses can be correlated in terms that give the acoustic impedance more directly than the friction factor correlations.     

A direct method for acoustic impedance measurement based on the measurement of electrical impedance of acoustic transmitter

A simple and straight forward method for acoustic impedance measurement is presented and evaluated. In this method a speaker is used as the signal source. The relationship between the electrical impedance of the speaker and its acoustical load is developed and studied. It is shown that the electrical current and voltage of the speaker relate to the acoustical pressure and volume velocity. The mechanical and acoustical impedances are therefore easily derived by measuring the electrical current and voltage of the circuit. The proposed method yield itself to the automatic computer measurement and can be used for the field and in situ measurements.Comparison of the measurement data with those from other methods proves the applicability and accuracy of the proposed method.     

声辐射阻测量系统设计及测量精度影响因素分析*

在噪声控制领域,声辐射阻是一个重要的声学变量,在产品的设计阶段,可以通过改变结构表面形状来改变结构的声辐射阻抗,从而达到降噪的目的。本文基于集中参数模型,设计了测量设备,搭建了实验测量系统,并通过对无限大障板上圆形活塞声源的声辐射阻的测量对影响实验测量结果的因素进行了研究,之后对消音器入口处辐射阻进行了测量。测量结果表明:该实验测量系统具有操作简单,测量方便快捷,测量结果精度高等特点,可用于确定结构表面声辐射阻矩阵。     

一种声发射信号方位角自适应监测算法*

四阶累积量可用于声发射信号处理,结合盲波束形成算法可对声发射信号的方位角进行估计。由于四阶累积量的计算量较大,采用迭代计算的思想,提出一种基于四阶累积量的自适应声发射信号方位角监测算法。与改进前的算法相比,自适应算法的计算复杂度和所需存贮空间均显著降低,可用于声发射信号的方位估计和监测。计算机仿真及实测数据分析均验证了算法的有效性。     

Compressibility-near-zero acoustic metamaterial

This letter theoretically analyzes and experimentally demonstrates a novel class of compressibility-near-zero (CNZ) acoustic metamaterials, achieved by using resonant-type metamaterials, namely the Helmholtz resonator. We first present a closed analytical formula for the effective compressibility of the proposed unit cell and then show that two frequencies exist which may support CNZ propagation. We demonstrate how the choice of the actual operating CNZ frequency depends on the properties of the host and finally experimentally verify CNZ propagation of acoustic waves.     

Correlation of VHI-10 to Voice Laboratory Measurements Across Five Common Voice Disorders

ObjectiveTo correlate change in Voice Handicap Index (VHI)-10 scores with corresponding voice laboratory measures across five voice disorders.Study DesignRetrospective study.MethodsOne hundred fifty patients aged >18 years with primary diagnosis of vocal fold lesions, primary muscle tension dysphonia-1, atrophy, unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP), and scar. For each group, participants with the largest change in VHI-10 between two periods (T_A and T_B) were selected. The dates of the VHI-10 values were linked to corresponding acoustic/aerodynamic and audio-perceptual measures. Change in voice laboratory values were analyzed for correlation with each other and with VHI-10.ResultsVHI-10 scores were greater for patients with UVFP than other disorders. The only disorder-specific correlation between voice laboratory measure and VHI-10 was average phonatory airflow in speech for patients with UVFP. Average airflow in repeated phonemes was strongly correlated with average airflow in speech (r = 0.75). Acoustic measures did not significantly change between time points.ConclusionsThe lack of correlations between the VHI-10 change scores and voice laboratory measures may be due to differing constructs of each measure; namely, handicap versus physiological function. Presuming corroboration between these measures may be faulty. Average airflow in speech may be the most ecologically valid measure for patients with UVFP. Although aerodynamic measures changed between the time points, acoustic measures did not. Correlations to VHI-10 and change between time points may be found with other acoustic measures.     

Acoustic emission source location in plates using wavelet analysis and cross time frequency spectrum

In this study, the theories of wavelet transform and cross-time frequency spectrum (CTFS) are used to locate AE source with frequency-varying wave velocity in plate-type structures. A rectangular array of four sensors is installed on the plate. When an impact is generated by an artificial AE source such as Hsu–Nielsen method of pencil lead breaking (PLB) at any position of the plate, the AE signals will be detected by four sensors at different times. By wavelet packet decomposition, a packet of signals with frequency range of 0.125–0.25 MHz is selected. The CTFS is calculated by the short-time Fourier transform of the cross-correlation between considered packets captured by AE sensors. The time delay is calculated when the CTFS reaches the maximum value and the corresponding frequency is extracted per this maximum value. The resulting frequency is used to calculate the group velocity of wave velocity in combination with dispersive curve. The resulted locating error shows the high precision of proposed algorithm.     

Analysis on accuracy improvement of rotor–stator rubbing localization based on acoustic emission beamforming method

This paper attempts to introduce an improved acoustic emission (AE) beamforming method to localize rotor–stator rubbing fault in rotating machinery. To investigate the propagation characteristics of acoustic emission signals in casing shell plate of rotating machinery, the plate wave theory is used in a thin plate. A simulation is conducted and its result shows the localization accuracy of beamforming depends on multi-mode, dispersion, velocity and array dimension. In order to reduce the effect of propagation characteristics on the source localization, an AE signal pre-process method is introduced by combining plate wave theory and wavelet packet transform. And the revised localization velocity to reduce effect of array size is presented. The accuracy of rubbing localization based on beamforming and the improved method of present paper are compared by the rubbing test carried on a test table of rotating machinery. The results indicate that the improved method can localize rub fault effectively.     

Controlling acoustic streaming in an ultrasonic heptagonal tweezers with application to cell manipulation

Acoustic radiation force has been demonstrated as a method for manipulating micron-scale particles, but is frequently affected by unwanted streaming. In this paper the streaming in a multi-transducer quasi-standing wave acoustic particle manipulation device is assessed, and found to be dominated by a form of Eckart streaming. The experimentally observed streaming takes the form of two main vortices that have their highest velocity in the region where the standing wave is established. A finite element model is developed that agrees well with experimental results, and shows that the Reynolds stresses that give rise to the fluid motion are strongest in the high velocity region. A technical solution to reduce the streaming is explored that entails the introduction of a biocompatible agar gel layer at the bottom of the chamber so as to reduce the fluid depth and volume. By this means, we reduce the region of fluid that experiences the Reynolds stresses; the viscous drag per unit volume of fluid is also increased. Particle Image Velocimetry data is used to observe the streaming as a function of agar-modified cavity depth. It was found that, in an optimised structure, Eckart streaming could be reduced to negligible levels so that we could make a sonotweezers device with a large working area of up to 13 mm × 13 mm.     

Use of emanation thermal analysis and evolved gas analysis in thermal study of zinc(II) benzoate complex compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the main factors involved in pollution control and global warming in industrialized nations. Various treatment methods involving incineration, adsorption, etc., were employed to reduce VOCs concentration. Various absorbents, such as activated carbon, zeolite, silica gel or alumina, and so on were broadly used to adsorb VOCs in various industrial applications. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was handled to analyze the thermal characteristics of absorbents. Typically, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used to evaluate the structure variation of absorbents under high temperature situations. In view of pollution control and loss prevention, versatility and analysis of recycled adsorbents are necessary and useful for various industrial applications.