Nondestructive characterization of musical pillars of Mahamandapam of Vitthala Temple at Hampi, India

This paper presents the first scientific investigation on the musical pillars of the Vitthala Temple at Hampi, India. The solid stone columns in these pillars produce audible sound, when struck with a finger. Systematic investigations on the acoustic characteristics of the musical pillars of mahamandapam (great stage) of the Vitthala Temple have been carried out. The 11 most popular pillars that produce sounds of specific musical instruments are considered for the investigations. The sound produced from these 11 most popular musical pillars was recorded systematically and different nondestructive testing techniques such as low frequency ultrasonic testing, impact echo testing, and in situ metallography were employed on the musical columns of these pillars. The peak frequencies in the amplitude spectrum of the sound produced from various columns in these pillars are correlated with the dimensional measurements and ultrasonic velocity determined using impact echo technique. The peak frequencies obtained experimentally have been found to have excellent correlation with the calculated flexural frequencies based on the dimensional measurements and ultrasonic velocities of the columns.     

Ultrasound production by the long haired rat of Australia (Rattus Villosissimus)

The ultrasonic vocalizations produced by the long haired Australian rat Rattus villosissimus, during agonistic behaviour were investigated using a commercial ultrasonic receiver with earphones, a microphone and storage oscilloscope, and a tape recorder and sonograph. The rats were found to produce one audible call with ultrasonic components up to 64 kHz, the limit of the detecting apparatus used, and one pure ultrasound. Suggestions are made as to their behavioural significance.     

Ultrasonic airborne insertion loss measurements at normal incidence (L)

Transmission loss and insertion loss measurements of building materials at audible frequencies are commonly made using plane wave tubes or as a panel between reverberant rooms. These measurements provide information for noise isolation control in architectural acoustics and in product development. Airborne ultrasonic sound transmission through common building materials has not been fully explored. Technologies and products that utilize ultrasonic frequencies are becoming increasingly more common, hence the need to conduct such measurements. This letter presents preliminary measurements of the ultrasonic insertion loss levels for common building materials over a frequency range of 28-90 kHz using continuous-wave excitation.     

骨导超声听觉感知进展与研究*

骨导超声听觉感知是超声振动通过头骨传导产生听觉感知的一种特殊现象。本文首先介绍了骨导超声听觉感知研究领域的国内外发展现状,在此基础上设计了一套骨导超声听觉感知测试系统,并完成了系统的软、硬件平台实现。利用该系统,分别对听力正常和听力障碍被试者进行了主观测试,围绕单频超声感知效果及单频可听声、汉语语音由超声载波调制后的感知效果开展研究,比较了多种不同调制方式下的主观感知效果,并分析了空气传导声对实验结果的影响。     

Effect of the ultrasonic emitter on the distortion performance of the parametric array loudspeaker

The parametric array loudspeaker (PAL) is a type of directional loudspeaker that utilizes the nonlinear acoustic effect to create the audible sound in an ultrasonic beam. Due to this unusual sound principle, it is inevitable that nonlinear distortion is incurred in the sound transmission of the PAL. Numerous modulation methods aiming to reduce the nonlinear distortion have been developed on the basis of the Berktay’s far-field solution, but they often perform in an unexpected manner. The degraded practical performance has been credited to the inaccuracy of the Berktay’s far-field solution. In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of the ultrasonic emitter on the distortion performance of the PAL and suggest that the Berktay’s far-field solution remains to be a good model equation.     

An alternative method to measure the on-axis difference-frequency sound in a parametric loudspeaker without using an acoustic filter

The self-demodulation characteristic of finite-amplitude ultrasonic sound waves can be applied with parametric loudspeaker to reproduce audible sound with highly directivity. But measuring the difference-frequency sound is still a problem due to the spurious sound generated as a result of nonlinearity caused by the product of the primary waves at the receiving system. In this paper, based on the phase-cancellation method and the Gaussian beam expansion technique, an alternative method is proposed to measure the on-axis difference-frequency sound accurately without using any traditional acoustic filter, where the spurious sound can be greatly reduced or even eliminated. The proposed method is more suitable for the case where the piston source in the parametric loudspeaker comprises multiple small piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) and each transducer element in the array may have different frequency response. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed both by simulations and experiments.     

On preprocessing techniques for bandlimited parametric loudspeakers

The self-demodulation property of finite-amplitude ultrasonic waves can be applied with parametric loudspeaker to produce audible sound. A special characteristic of the reproduced sound waves using parametric loudspeaker is its high directivity. However, the demodulated signal from parametric loudspeaker suffers from high distortion. To reduce the distortion in the demodulated signal, preprocessing of the modulating signal is usually employed. To determine the effectiveness of the preprocessing technique, an important practical constraint on the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer of the parametric loudspeaker should be accounted. In this paper, we shall discuss a class of preprocessing techniques that is based on quadrature amplitude modulation. As compared to the conventional preprocessing methods used with bandlimited ultrasonic transducer, the demodulated signal from our proposed preprocessing techniques exhibits lower distortion.     

Audible Threshold of Early Reflections with Different Orientations and Delays

Early reflection is an important component in an enclosed sound field. Due to the precedence effect, the early reflection may not be the dominant factor in sound source localization; however, it still has obvious influences on spatial position, loudness, timbre, and etc. Till now, there have sparse studies on evaluation of the audible threshold of early reflections with lacking of general and quantitative results. This work investigated the audible threshold of early reflection with a simplified sound field model under various experimental conditions including the combination of eight incidence angles and five time delays. Three-down-one-up adaptive strategy with three-interval three-alternative forced-choice (3I-3AFC) paradigm was used due to its efficiency and robustness. Results indicate that (1) the audible threshold of early reflections decreases monotonically with increasing time delay relative to the direct sound. Furthermore, a linear equation between early reflection threshold and time delay is established with correlation coefficient higher than 0.9; (2) When the direct sound and the reflection locate in the same half-plane, the audible threshold of early reflections decreases with increasing angle deviation between the direct sound and the reflection. Moreover, a front-back symmetry of early reflection threshold is observed for stimuli below 5 kHz; (3) Considerable variations in early reflection threshold are found among individuals, especially at large angle deviation and time delay of early reflections relative to the direct sound.     

Analysis of car door closing sound quality

The perception of the noise coming from a car’s door closure has been analyzed, the focus being put on the image of the quality of the car that the listener can have in mind while hearing the sound. Different experiments have been realized: a free sorting experiment for reducing the number of stimuli without any loss of generality, paired comparisons with similarity and preference ratings and, finally, free verbalizations analysis. The results have agreed on the importance of two timbre parameters, the frequency balance of the sound and its cleanness (only one temporal event should be audible). In particular, even if loudness had appeared as the most important sound feature in previously published studies, it did not in this one; the reason is probably that previous studies had focused on annoyance creating by sounds.In a more general way, this study has proved the stability of the perceptual space derived from two different methods: a multi-dimensional analysis of similarity ratings and the analysis of free verbalizations.     

Information contained in the radiating ultrasound during ultrasonic welding

During ultrasonic welding, unnecessary ultrasound together with audible sound is radiated into the air. Audible sound is noisy and uncomfortable, and ultrasound may have bed effects on adjacent equipment. However, it is considered that these sounds potentially contain useful information such as welding state. This article reports the relationship between radiated ultrasound and the change of the welding state during ultrasonic welding. It is known that the welding state can be presumed from the change of the mechanical load impedance, which can be calculated from resonant frequency, motional voltage and the driving current of the vibrating system for the welder when a constant-velocity motional-feedback power oscillator is used. In this study, radiated ultrasound picked up with a microphone and an amplifier is recorded and analyzed with a personal computer. Analyzed results are compared with the change of the mechanical load impedance that is also calculated from the recorded data of the resonant frequency, motional voltage and the driving current of the vibrating system for the welding. Experiments were made on the ultrasonic welding of plastic rods. The relationship between the parameters of radiated ultrasound and the electrical parameters of the vibrating system were compared. The peak amplitude of the radiated ultrasound and the mechanical impedance versus time were very similar. It is shown in this study that radiated ultrasound contains lots of useful information.     

Acoustic emission of a cutting process

The cutting process of aluminium alloy, on a turner's lathe, was characterized by spectral analysis of the sound emitted by the process. In the audible frequency range, the spectrum was found to be discrete while in the ultrasonic range it appeared to be continuous. The influence of the relevant cutting parameters on the spectral distribution are presented and a qualitative explanation of the corresponding effects is given. The possibility of using acoustic emission analysis to evaluate the sharpness of a cutting tool is shown to be hardly realizable.     

Behavioral avoidance threshold level of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for a continuous 50 kHz pure tone

The use of ultrasonic sounds in alarms for gillnets may be advantageous, but the deterring effects of ultrasound on porpoises are not well understood. Therefore a harbor porpoise in a large floating pen was subjected to a continuous 50 kHz pure tone with a source level of 122+/-3 dB (re 1 microPa, rms). When the test signal was switched on during test periods, the animal moved away from the sound source. Its respiration rate was similar to that during baseline periods, when the sound was switched off. The behavior of the porpoise was related to the sound pressure level distribution in the pen. The sound level at the animal's average swimming location during the test periods was approximately 107+/-3 dB (re 1 microPa, rms). The avoidance threshold sound pressure level for a continuous 50 kHz pure tone for this porpoise, in the context of this study, is estimated to be 108+/-3 dB (re 1 microPa, rms). This study demonstrates that porpoises may be deterred from an area by high frequency sounds that are not typically audible to fish and pinnipeds and would be less likely masked by ambient noise.     

Dynamic Superposition and Levitation Capability of Two Confronting Ultrasonic Waves

The superposition dynamics of two confronting ultrasonic waves and their levitation capability for centimeter-sized thin disks are investigated by numerical analyses and validated by experiments. The sound pressure simulation reveals that two opposite ultrasonic waves provide a more effective standing-wave field than a single ultrasonic wave when the diameter of disk-shaped object approaches the wavelength scale. The dynamic superposition of two confronting beams facilitates the acoustic levitation of the clay disk and aluminum disk with diameters of 0.97 and 0.90. The acoustic radiation forces exerting on these thin disks are measured experimentally, which exhibit a better levitation stability for the centimeter-sized thin disks. The equilibrium levitation positions of the two disks are located near the sound pressure node, and the maximum acoustic radiation pressure on their surfaces is less than one percent of the maximum sound pressure.     

A simple method to detect audible echoes in room acoustical design

A simple method to detect audible echoes is proposed as an objective criterion for room acoustics. This method evaluates the perceptibility of sound reflections that are generated by an impulsive sound source and identifies from reflectograms harmful reflections perceived as echoes. Particularly with this method, the masking effect of reverberation is taken into consideration, which cannot be treated sufficiently by the existing objective criteria. The applicability to room acoustical design is verified by evaluating the impulse responses measured in real halls where audible echoes occurred. It is shown that the proposed method detects audible echoes at an accuracy of more than 90% and would be suitable for practical use.     

Directivity pattern of neurosurgical endoscopic ultrasonic probes

The objective of this paper is to present recent investigations in characteristics of the sound field generated by neurosurgical endoscopic ultrasonic probes (NEUPs) for minimally invasive surgery. The importance of this information has been investigated and discussed taking into account following facts: 1. According to the International Standard IEC 61847:1998 basic acoustical output characteristics of ultrasonic surgical equipment is declared for and measured in an acoustical free field. The standard generally treats the ultrasonic probe as an omnidirectional point source of the zero order (monopole source). 2. In real conditions, operations with NEUPs are performed within the acoustical near field. Having in mind that the cavitational and hydrodynamic effects are dominant, two theoretical boundary conditions can be present. The first one takes place when operations are performed near the "soft" acoustical boundary (tissue/air), and the second one is near the "rigid" acoustical boundary (tissue/bone). Reflections of sound waves from boundaries have influence on the characteristics of the ultrasonic probe (transducer) and on the sound field. In such cases spherical waves of the first and second order are generated. Directivity of sound sources takes shape in the far field and is easier to measure there. On the basis of measured directivity patterns, the influence of different operational conditions (immersion depth of the probe tip, boundary type, acoustical impedance of the medium etc.) on the radiated sound power and spatial distribution of the sound pressure can be estimated.     

Spatio-temporal filter bank for visualizing audible sound field by Schlieren method

Visualization of sound field using optical techniques is a powerful tool for understanding acoustical behaviors. It uses light waves to examine the acoustical quantities without disturbing the sound information of the field under investigation. Schlieren imaging is an optical method that uses a camera to visualize the density of transparent media. As it uses a single shot to capture the information without scanning, it can observe both reproducible and non-reproducible sound field. Conventionally, the Schlieren system is applied to high-pressure ultrasound and shock waves. However, since the density variation of air caused by the audible sound field is very small, this method was not applicable for visualizing these fields. In this paper, a spatio-temporal filter bank is proposed to overcome this problem. As the sound is a very specific signal, the spatio-temporal spectrum (in two-dimensional space and time) of the audible sound is concentrated in a specific region. The spatio-temporal filter bank is designed for extracting the sound field information in the specific region and removing noise. The results indicate that the visibility of the sound fields is enhanced by using the proposed method.     

A QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF ELASTIC WAVE IN SOLID BY STROBOSCOPIC PHOTOELASTICITY

We have developed a method for visually measuring and evaluating stresses emitted from an ultrasonic probe into a model solid similar to the actual material, by using image-processing techniques and stroboscopic photoelasticity. The visualization of wave stress (sound pressure) distribution can be achieved by synthesizing two photoelastic pictures, in which the directions of the principal axes of linear polariscopes are different by 45 degrees. The sound pressure field generated by commercial ultrasonic probes was measured by using the proposed method.     

Scraping sounds and disgusting noises

Thirty-four horrible sounds have been examined in an Internet-based psychoacoustic experiment. This paper presents the results for the scraping and disgusting noises used. It is not understood why some humans find certain scraping noises, such as the sound of fingernails being scraped down a blackboard, so terrible. In this experiment, the variations in ratings with age, gender and location are examined. The results for one of the scraping sounds is consistent with the hypothesis suggested by others, that the response comes from a vestigial reflex related to the warning cries of monkeys. But this was not true for the actual recording of the fingernails scraping down a blackboard. An alternative hypothesis that the response is related to an audio-haptic interaction was tested and results indicated that this idea warrants further investigation. Other possible causes of the response, drawing on work concerning dissonance, are tentatively suggested. The disgusting sounds examined included the worst sound found in the experiment, the sound of someone vomiting. However, none of the disgusting sounds tested promoted responses consistent with a ‘disgust reaction’ based purely on survival instincts. Cultural factors might be important in our response to the disgusting sounds, with the influence of manners and etiquette being suggested as a possible factor.     

基于声音传感器的多普勒测速实验探究

以可闻声波为实验声源,利用自己搭建的实验装置,采用光电门和多普勒两种方式测量小车的运动速度,该装置在有较强噪声干扰的情况下,仍可获得较高测量精度。     

声纹的变压器放电与机械故障诊断研究

变压器中的一些放电和机械故障会产生异常声,可用于故障检测.据此,该文提出基于可听声的变压器放电和机械故障诊断方法.针对机械故障声与变压器本体噪声特征相似易混淆的问题,提出改进小波包-BP神经网络算法,与传统小波包-BP神经网络算法相比声音识别率提高了5.7％.为提高声音识别系统的泛化性,提出基于梅尔对数频谱和卷积神经网...