An Experimental Investigation into the Acoustic Characteristics of Fluid-filled Porous Structures—A Simplified Model of the Human Skull Cancellous Structure

In nature, shape and structure evolve from the struggle for better performance. Often, biological structures combine multiple beneficial properties, making research into mimicking them very complex. Presented here is a summary of observations from a series of experiments performed on a material that closely resembles the human skull bone’s cancellous structure under acoustic loads. Transmission loss through flat and curved open-cell polyurethane foam samples is observed using air and water as the two interstitial fluids. Reduction in strength and stiffness caused by porosity can be recovered partially by filling the interstitial pores with a fluid. The test findings demonstrate the influence of the interstitial fluid on the mechanical characteristics of a porous structure in a quantitative manner. It is also demonstrated that the transmission loss does not depend only on the mass per unit area of the structure as predicted by acoustic mass law. Current tests also demonstrate that the transmission loss is more sensitive to the interstitial fluid than the shape and support conditions of the structures. Test observations thus support the concepts of “moisture-sensitivity of biological design” and the “law of hierarchy in natural design”.     

Parametric study on sound radiation from an infinite fluid-filled/semi-submerged cylindrical shell

This work presents the parametric study on the far-field sound pressure radiated from an infinite fluid-filled/semi-submerged cylindrical shell excited by a radial point load. Here, the exterior fluid is non-viscous, isotropic and irrotational coaxial flow. The formula of the radial velocity of the shell in wave-number domain is developed by using the wave-number domain approach (WDA). Then, the analytic expressions are derived for the far-field sound pressure radiating from the shell by using the same method presented in Salaün [Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 90 (1991) 2173]. The influences of parameters such as fluid velocity, structural damping, position of the force, and structural thickness on the far-field sound pressure are investigated. The sound pressure is shown to be very different from the one in the case of a fluid-filled/full-submerged cylindrical shell. Furthermore, it is shown that the pressure and the resonance frequency would increase with the fluid velocity increasing for downstream propagation. The reverse is true for upstream propagation. Moreover, the far-field sound pressure is related to the position and frequency of the excited force. In addition, the influences of structural damping and thickness are shown to be very important.     

The design and instrumentation of an experimental rig to investigate acoustic methods for the detection and location of underground piping systems

A major UK initiative, entitled ‘Mapping the Underworld’, is seeking to improve our capability of locating buried utility service infrastructure without resorting to extensive excavations. One of the four projects aims to develop and prove the efficacy of a multi-sensor device for remote buried utility service detection, location and, where possible, identification. An essential technology to be combined into the device is low-frequency acoustics, and suitable techniques for detecting buried infrastructure, in particular buried plastic water pipes, have been proposed. In order to develop and test these techniques, an experimental rig has been built. It is the design and instrumentation of this rig along with the rationale for the chosen design which is the main focus of this paper. Preliminary measurements have been made on the rig, to determine the most appropriate acoustic excitation method and to confirm that the rig is behaving as anticipated. The results of these investigations are also reported.     

Dynamic interaction of an eccentric multipole cylindrical radiator suspended in a fluid-filled borehole within a poroelastic formation

Acoustic radiation and the dynamic field induced by a cylindrical source of infinite extent, undergoing angularly periodic and axially-dependent harmonic surface vibrations, while eccentrically suspended in a fluid-filled cylindrical cavity embedded within a fluid-saturated porous elastic formation, are analyzed in an exact manner. This configuration, which is a realistic idealization of an acoustic logging tool suspended in a fluid-filled borehole within a permeable surrounding formation, is of practical importance with a multitude of possible applications in seismo-acoustics. The formulation utilizes the novel features of Biot dynamic theory of poroelasticity along with the translational addition theorem for cylindrical wave functions to obtain a closed-form series solution. The basic dynamic field quantities such as the resistive and the reactive components of the modal acoustic radiation impedance load on the source in addition to the radial and transverse stresses induced in the surrounding formation by an eccentric pulsating/oscillating cylinder in a water-filled borehole within a water-saturated Ridgefield sandstone medium are evaluated and discussed. Special attention is paid to the effects of source eccentricity, excitation frequency, and mode of surface oscillations on the modal impedance values and the dynamic stresses. Limiting cases are considered and good agreements with available solutions are obtained.     

FSI research in pipeline systems – A review of the literature

This paper provides a broad overview of the literature pertaining to the dynamic analysis of fluid-filled pipe systems considering fluid–structure interaction (FSI). Various types of models and simulation algorithms of different levels of sophistication are compared and their application range discussed. The effects of fluid parameters, structural properties, fluid–structure couplings and boundary conditions on the inherent and dynamic character of pipes conveying fluid are comprehensively compared and contrasted.     

Wave propagation modeling of fluid-filled pipes using hybrid analytical/two-dimensional finite element method

In this paper, a Hybrid Analytical/Two-Dimensional Finite Element Method (2-D HAFEM) is proposed to analyze wave propagation characteristics of fluid-filled, composite pipes. In the proposed method, a fluid-filled pipe with a constant cross-section is modeled by using a 2-D finite element approximation in the cross-sectional area while an analytical wave solution is assumed in the axial direction. Thus, it makes possible to use a small number of finite elements even for high frequency analyses in a computationally efficient manner. Both solid and fluid elements as well as solid–fluid interface boundary conditions are developed to model the cross-section of the fluid-filled pipe. In addition, an acoustical transfer function (ATF) approach based on the 2-D HAFEM formulation is suggested to analyze a pipe system assembled with multiple pipe sections with different cross-sections. An ATF matrix relating two sets of acoustic wave variables at the ends of each individual pipe section with a constant cross-section is first calculated and the total ATF matrix for the multi-sectional pipe system is then obtained by multiplying all individual ATF matrices. Therefore, the HAFEM-based ATF approach requires significantly low computational resources, in particular, when there are many pipe sections with a same cross-sectional shape since a single 2-D HAFEM model is needed for these pipe sections. For the validation of the proposed method, experimental and full 3-D FE modeling results are compared to the results obtained by using the HAFEM-based ATF procedure.     

Noncoaxial vibration of fluid-filled multi-walled carbon nanotubes

This paper is concerned with the free vibration of the fluid-filled multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with simply supported ends. Based on simplified Donnell’s cylindrical shell model and potential flow theory, the effect of internal fluid on the coupling vibration of the MWCNTs-fluid system is discussed in detail. The results show that the resonant frequencies are decreased due to the effect of the fluid, and the fluid has only a little influence on the associated amplitude ratio in MWCNTs corresponding to the natural resonant frequency (frequency of the innermost tube), while plays a significant role in the associated amplitude ratios corresponding to the intertube resonant frequency. For the natural resonant frequency, the vibration mode is coaxial. However, for the intertube resonant frequency, the system shows complex noncoaxial vibration, which plays a critical role in electronic and transport properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs).     

Waves in an elastic tube filled with a heterogeneous fluid of variable viscosity

By treating the artery as a prestressed thin elastic tube and the blood as an incompressible heterogeneous fluid with variable viscosity, we studied the propagation of weakly non-linear waves in such a composite medium through the use of reductive perturbation method. By assuming a variable density and a variable viscosity for blood in the radial direction we obtained the perturbed Korteweg-deVries equation as the evolution equation when the viscosity is of order of ε^3/2. We observed that the perturbed character is the combined result of the viscosity and the heterogeneity of the blood. A progressive wave type of solution is presented for the evolution equation and the result is discussed. The numerical results indicate that for a certain value of the density parameter sigma, the wave equation loses its dispersive character and the evolution equation degenerates. It is further shown that, for the perturbed KdV equation both the amplitude and the wave speed decay in the time parameter τ.     

Axisymmetric fluid-dominated wave in fluid-filled plastic pipes: Loading effects of surrounding elastic medium

Axisymmetric (n = 0) waves that propagate at low frequencies are of practical interest in the application of acoustic techniques for the detection of leaks in fluid-filled pipelines. A general expression for the fluid-dominated (s = 1) wavenumber is presented in a thin-walled fluid-filled pipe surrounded by an elastic medium. In this paper the analysis is extended to investigate the loading effects of surrounding medium on the low-frequency propagation characteristics of the s = 1 wave. The analytical model is subsequently applied to MDPE water pipes surrounding by three media, namely an air, water and soil. It is used to demonstrate explicitly the loading effects of surrounding medium, acting as a combination of mass, stiffness and radiation damping on the s = 1 wavenumber. Good agreement is achieved between the measurements and predictions. The theory with experimental validations provides the basis for improving acoustic leak detection methods in fluid-filled pipe systems.     

Acoustic radiation force of a solid elastic sphere immersed in a cylindrical cavity filled with ideal fluid

An expression for the acoustic radiation force function on a solid elastic spherical particle placed in an infinite rigid cylindrical cavity filled with an ideal fluid is deduced when the incident wave is a plane progressive wave propagated along the cylindrical axis. The acoustic radiation force of the spherical particle with different materials was computed to validate the theory. The simulation results demonstrate that the acoustic radiation force changes demonstrably because of the influence of the reflective acoustic wave from the cylindrical cavity. The sharp resonance peaks, which result from the resonance of the fluid-filled cylindrical cavity, appear at the same positions in the acoustic radiation force curve for the spherical particle with different radii and materials. Relative radius, which is the ratio of the sphere radius and the cylindrical cavity radius, has more influence on acoustic radiation force. Moreover, the negative radiation forces, which are opposite to the progressive directions of the plane wave, are observed at certain frequencies.