Active attenuation of noise: The Chelsea dipole

Methods of active attenuation of noise, that is to cancel the noise from a source by the addition of further noise, include the method of destructive interference. A number of configurations of active attenuators are possible and a new system which originated in work at Chelsea College has been developed further. This system employs two spaced secondary sources in a duct energized in antiphase, with the microphone situated centrally between them. The radiation from the secondary sources cancels at the microphone, which, ideally, responds only to the travelling wave in the duct. The microphone output is phase shifted by 90° and then amplitude compensated by a transfer function $\text{1}\text{2}$ sin ($\text{kl}\text{2}$) before being fed to the secondary sources, in order to bring its downstream radiation into antiphase with the travelling noise wave. There is radiation both upstream and downstream from the secondary sources, but the microphone is isolated from the resulting upstream standing waves and time delays are not required, unlike the systems employing the microphone remote from the attenuator. The action of the attenuator has been investigated on pure tones and bands of noise with a range of attenuator centre frequencies.     

壁面分布次级声源对管道中高阶模式声波的有源控制

针对管道中高阶模式声波的有源控制问题,探究了管道壁面布放次级声源的控制机制。首先根据管道声场模式理论和有源控制准则,推导了无限长管道内次级声源激励声场实现控制的必要条件,然后论证了次级声源沿管道壁面分布的可控性,并提出将空间分布离散化后的控制策略;最后通过数值仿真验证了沿壁面分布的有效性。结果表明,当次级声源在管道壁面的周向分布满足空间采样定律且沿轴向分布具有足够长度时,可以取得显著的有源控制效果.      

The effect of an air flow on a single side branch helmholtz resonator in a circular duct

A single side branch Helmholtz resonator has been tested in a circular duct in which both sound and an air flow could be passed in the same direction. The sound input was broad band and the transfer function across the resonator was determined by using two microphones and a cross-correlation analysis technique in which the broad band sound input was cross-correlated with each microphone signal in turn. The fundamental resonant frequency, as obtained from the transfer function of the resonator, was found to increase with increasing flow velocities in the duct. It was possible for the entire mass end correction of the orifice of the resonator to be eliminated by the flow. The higher natural frequencies of the resonator were not affected as much by the air flow.     

Investigation of spherical loudspeaker arrays for local active control of sound

Active control of sound can be employed globally to reduce noise levels in an entire enclosure, or locally around a listener's head. Recently, spherical loudspeaker arrays have been studied as multiple-channel sources for local active control of sound, presenting the fundamental theory and several active control configurations. In this paper, important aspects of using a spherical loudspeaker array for local active control of sound are further investigated. First, the feasibility of creating sphere-shaped quiet zones away from the source is studied both theoretically and numerically, showing that these quiet zones are associated with sound amplification and poor system robustness. To mitigate the latter, the design of shell-shaped quiet zones around the source is investigated. A combination of two spherical sources is then studied with the aim of enlarging the quiet zone. The two sources are employed to generate quiet zones that surround a rigid sphere, investigating the application of active control around a listener's head. A significant improvement in performance is demonstrated in this case over a conventional headrest-type system that uses two monopole secondary sources. Finally, several simulations are presented to support the theoretical work and to demonstrate the performance and limitations of the system.     

Impulse propagation in the nocturnal boundary layer: analysis of the geometric component

On clear dry nights over flat land, a temperature inversion and stable nocturnal wind jet lead to an acoustic duct in the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere. An impulsive signal propagating in such a duct is received at long ranges from the source as an extended wave train consisting of a series of weakly dispersed distinct arrivals followed by a strongly dispersed low-frequency tail. The leading distinct arrivals have been previously shown to be well modeled by geometric acoustics. In this paper, the geometric acoustics approximation for the leading arrivals is investigated. Using the solutions of the eikonal and transport equations, travel times, amplitudes, and caustic structures of the distinct arrivals have been determined. The time delay between and relative amplitudes of the direct-refracted and single ground reflection arrivals have been investigated as parameters for an inversion scheme. A two parameter quadratic approximation to the effective sound speed profile has been fit and found to be in strong agreement with meteorological measurements from the time of propagation.     

Sound attenuation in acoustically lined curved ducts in the absence of fluid flow

A study has been made of the sound attenuation in a lined curved duct with rectangular cross-section. In this study, the derivation of the eigenvalue equation was based on the continuity of the normal component of the particle displacement and the matching of the acoustic pressure on the acoustic lining surface. The sound attenuation was calculated by using the acoustic energy expression for the waves propagating in a curved duct. For a given duct geometry and known acoustic lining impedances, a computer program was developed to solve for the eigenvalues and to obtain the sound attenuation of the propagating waves in the lined curved duct. It was found that in the case studied here the fundamental mode was least attenuated. The total sound attenuation was calculated on the assumption that the amplitudes for all propagating waves were equal at a given frequency. Effects of aspect ratio, bend angle and the acoustic impedance on the sound attenuation were investigated in the present work.     

A theoretical and experimental investigation of sound intensity distribution within a splitter silencer

Results are presented of an investigation into the sound intensity distribution in a ventilation duct splitter silencer subject to plane waves incident in the axial direction, under conditions of zero flow. A theory is developed which accounts for the generation of nonplane fields at the cross-sectional discontinuities of the duct-silencer-duct system. A local reaction model of the splitter material is employed, and analytical solutions and numerical results are presented for the sound intensity distribution within the silencer. Experiments were conducted to measure the distribution of sound intensity in a silencer subject to incident plane waves. The conventional cross-spectral method of measuring sound intensity could not be used because of the practical difficulties in manoeuvring the two-microphone assembly through the narrow air passage and obtaining measurements at positions close to the wall of the splitters. Instead, a modified cross-spectral method was devised which employs only one microphone for measurement. In this method, the transfer functions between the loudspeaker input signal and the microphone output signal were measured at an array of microphone positions within the air passages of the silencer. The divergence equation for sound intensity was employed to infer transverse intensity distributions from the computed axial distribution. Reasonable qualitative agreement is obtained between theoretical and observed sound intensity distribution, but the local reaction model of the splitter is found not to be satisfactory at the lower frequencies.     

Temporal coherence of acoustic signals in a fluctuating ocean

Temporal coherence of acoustic signals propagating in a fluctuating ocean is important for many practical applications and has been studied intensively experimentally. However, only a few theoretical formulations of temporal coherence exist. In the present paper, a three-dimensional (3D) modal theory of sound propagation in a fluctuating ocean is used to derive closed-form equations for the spatial-temporal coherence function of a broadband signal. The theory is applied to the analysis of the temporal coherence of a monochromatic signal propagating in an ocean perturbed by linear internal waves obeying the Garrett-Munk (G-M) spectral model. In particular, the temporal coherence function is calculated for propagation ranges up to 10(4) km and for five sound frequencies: 12, 25, 50, 75, and 100 Hz. Then, the dependence of the coherence time (i.e., the value of the time lag at which the temporal coherence decreases by a factor of e) on range and frequency is studied. The results obtained are compared with experimental data and predictions of the path-integral theory.     

The dominant role of low-frequency interaural time differences in sound localization.

Two experiments are described in which listeners judge the apparent directions of virtual sound sources-headphone-presented sounds that are processed in order to simulate free-field sounds. Previous results suggest that when the cues to sound direction are preserved by the simulation, the apparent directions of virtual sources are nearly the same as the apparent directions of real free-field sources. In the experiments reported here, the interaural phase relations in the processing algorithms are manipulated in order to produce stimuli in which the interaural time difference cues signal one direction and interaural intensity and pinna cues signal another direction. The apparent directions of these conflicting cue stimuli almost always follow the interaural time cue, as long as the wideband stimuli include low frequencies. With low frequencies removed from the stimuli, the dominance of interaural time difference disappears, and apparent direction is determined primarily by interaural intensity difference and pinna cues.     

Magnetoacoustic effect in non-degenerate semiconductors

The effect of ultrasonic waves propagating at an angle ? relative to the direction of a magnetic field in nondegenerate semiconductors such as n-type InSb has been studied by using a quantum treatment which is valid at high frequencies and in strong magnetic fields. Numerical results show that both the absorption coefficient and the change in the sound velocity depend on the direction of the propagation of ultrasonic waves relative to the magnetic field.     

次级源近场和管壁弹性对充液管路有源消声性能的影响EI北大核心CSCD

建立了含次级源结构的充液直管有源消声系统数值模型,重点分析了声激励下次级源近场和管壁弹性对有源消声性能的影响。结果表明:次级源近场为非均匀声场,误差点位于该区域时部分频点控制效果较差甚至放大,而处于声场均匀区域时可使降噪量提高10 dB以上,增加误差点数量可使绝大多数频点的降噪量提高5 dB以上;管壁弹性使次级源与管壁间的耦合较强,非对称分布的次级源容易激起管壁振动,导致降噪谷值的出现,采用对称分布的次级源可显著提升控制效果;增加次级源数量能够提高系统的有源无源复合控制效果,但使得管内声场变得复杂,多次级源模型的有源消声效果随频率升高而有所降低。     

Application of cylindrical near-field acoustical holography to the visualization of aeroacoustic sources

The purpose of this study was to develop methods for visualizing the sound radiation from aeroacoustic sources in order to identify their source strength distribution, radiation patterns, and to quantify the performance of noise control solutions. Here, cylindrical Near-field Acoustical Holography was used for that purpose. In a practical holographic measurement of sources comprising either partially correlated or uncorrelated subsources, it is necessary to use a number of reference microphones so that the sound field on the hologram surface can be decomposed into mutually incoherent partial fields before holographic projection. In this article, procedures are described for determining the number of reference microphones required when visualizing partially correlated aeroacoustic sources; performing source nonstationarity compensation; and applying regularization. The procedures have been demonstrated by application to a ducted fan. Holographic tests were performed to visualize the sound radiation from that source in its original form. The system was then altered to investigate the effect of two modifications on the fan's sound radiation pattern: first, leaks were created in the fan and duct assembly, and second, sound absorbing material was used to line the downstream duct section. Results in all three cases are shown at the blade passing frequency and for a broadband noise component. In the absence of leakage, both components were found to exhibit a dipole-like radiation pattern. Leakage was found to have a strong influence on the directivity of the blade passing tone. The increase of the flow resistance caused by adding the acoustical lining resulted in a nearly symmetric reduction of sound radiation.     

无次级通道建模有源噪声控制算法的实验研究

以管道中有源噪声控制为实验平台,基于ADSP21161N数字信号处理评估板实现了本文作者早先提出的不需要次级通道建模的基于LMS方法的四方向搜索型有源控制算法,并给出了该算法在实际应用中收敛系数的选取原则。针对单频和多频噪声的实验结果表明,前人两方向搜索型有源控制算法在大部分频率上都能收敛,但在次级通道相位为±90°的频率不能收敛,而本文作者所提出的四方向变收敛系数搜索型算法,在所有频率都能快速收敛。     

Optical processing with twin ultrasonic light modulators

A collinear optical heterodyne system with twin ultrasonic light modulators (ULM) is considered within the Raman-Nath regime. The zeroth order beam of light emerging from the first ULM enters the second ULM and splits into the diffraction spectrum with the frequencies shifted by integral multiples of the driving sound frequency. For the purpose of photomixing, the positive or negative first order beam in this spectrum can be superposed on the first order beam of light from the first ULM which passes through the second ULM without deflection, and comes to the same location as the other. Experimental verification is successfully carried out by producing a beat signal of light with a difference frequency between two sound frequencies. It is demonstrated analytically that a convolution or correlation function between two time varying signals can be obtained, according to whether the beat signal of light has the sum or difference frequency of the two driving sound frequencies. The sum or difference frequency can be generated as one of the sound waves proceeds in the same or reverse direction as the other.     

Active noise control in ducts: some physical insights

The mechanisms of active noise control in a duct are examined. Acoustical measurements are used to determine directly the acoustic power flow associated with both primary and secondary sources as a function of secondary to primary source strength ratio and volume velocity relative phase angles. A complete analytical model is also developed which allows calculation of individual source power flows and total downstream power flow as a function of source strengths and relative phase angles for finite size sources. It is evaluated for monopole and dual secondary source arrangements, but can be extended easily to any number of secondary sources. The model considers a finite size primary source in the plane of the duct cross section and evaluates the effect that the secondary sources have on the primary source power output. Measurements of individual source output powers and total downstream acoustic powers agree well with theoretical predictions. It is demonstrated that, for the monopole system, sound attenuation is achieved primarily by suppression of the primary source acoustic power output, with a little remaining power being absorbed by the secondary source. For the dual secondary source system, it is shown that the power is primarily absorbed by the secondary sources, but that, at phase and amplitude values slightly different to optimum, noise reduction is achieved by a combination of energy absorption and primary source power suppression. The analysis also demonstrates the dependence of the achievable noise reduction on secondary source size and location with respect to the primary source.     

A theoretical study of passive control of duct noise using panels of varying compliance.

It is theoretically demonstrated that, in a duct, a substantial amount of sound energy can be transferred to flexural waves on a finite wall panel when the upstream portion of the panel is made to couple strongly with sound. The flexural wave then loses its energy either through radiating reflection sound waves or by internal friction. The effectiveness of the energy transfer and damping is greatly enhanced if the panel has a gradually decreasing in vacuo wave speed, which, in this study, is achieved by using a tapered membrane under tension. A high noise attenuation rate is possible with the usual viscoelastic materials such as rubber. The transmission loss has a broadband spectrum, and it offers an alternative to conventional duct lining where a smooth air passage is desired and nonacoustical considerations, such as chemical contamination or cost of operation maintenance, are important. Another advantage of the tapered panel is that, at very low frequencies, typically 5% of the first cut-on frequency of the duct, sound reflection occurs over the entire panel length. This supplements the inevitable drop in sound absorption coefficient, and a high transmission loss may still be obtained at very low frequencies.     

Design and experimental tests of active control barriers for low-frequency stationary noise reduction in urban outdoor environment

Active noise control (ANC) techniques are based on the emission of an antiphase signal in order to cancel the noise produced by a primary source. ANC has been successfully applied especially for reducing noise in confined environments, such as headphones and ducts. In this study, we present an application of ANC concepts to the design of an anti-noise barrier for an outdoor environment and its experimental testing. Even though passive techniques are effective in noise reduction at middle-high frequencies, they become less efficient at low frequencies (below 300 Hz) due to the limited dimensions of commonly deployable barriers. In this paper, we analyze the properties of a low-cost active noise system able to efficiently operate on stationary, almost pure-tone, low-frequency noise, such as that produced by electrical transformers and reactors in power and transformation plants. A prototype has been implemented and on-the-field experimental tests have been carried out. The results (confirmed also by numerical simulations) demonstrate a remarkable efficiency in the far field, with a reduction up to 15 dB with respect to the absence of the ANC system.     

Near-field acoustic characteristics of screech jet exhausted from a nozzle with a hard reflecting plate

The standing wave in the near field of the screech jet exhausted from a nozzle with a hard plate works on the jet flow as the forcing wave by the location of a reflecting plate, and then jet flow is considered to be changed. Moreover, the reflector location from the nozzle changes the sound pressure contours of the near field. Intensity maps of the screech tone which indicate the propagation to the jet axial direction or the radial direction of the jet by the presence of the reflector plate have not been explored. In the present paper, acoustic characteristics in the near field of the screech tone with the reflecting plate are studied using an optical wave microphone, which can measure the sound propagating for both vertical and horizontal directions to the jet axis. As a result, the standing wave in the near field of the screech jet with the reflector has two types: One is the standing wave between the hydrodynamic pressure fluctuation propagating jet downstream and the sound pressure propagating upstream, and the other is the standing wave by the difference between the wavelength of the sound wave and the wavelength at the place close to the jet.     

Infrasonic sound pressure in dwellings at the Helmholtz resonance actuated by environmental noise and vibration

The Helmholtz resonator effect of a room with an open window or ventilation duct has been studied theoretically and experimentally. The effect results in a sound pressure buildup at infrasonic frequencies. For comparison, the frequencies of the standing-wave room resonances are above the infrasonic range for residential dwellings. The relations between the sound pressure inside a room and outside (environmental) sound pressure or vibration acceleration have been calculated for the third-octave frequency band incorporating the Helmholtz resonance frequency. The experiment on a small-scale model illustrated the Helmholtz resonator effect caused by environmental vibration.     

A compound secondary source for active noise radiation control

Based on the analysis of active noise control system with multi-channel monopole secondary sources, a kind of compound secondary source is proposed in this paper. The proposed compound secondary source consists of two closely located monopole sources with their distance much smaller than a wavelength. The characteristics of the compound source are analyzed, and the performances of the active noise control system with the compound secondary sources on the monopole primary sound field and sound radiated by a plate are investigated both numerically and experimentally. It has been found that the proposed compound secondary sources control system can provide higher noise reduction for free field noise radiation control with the same number of control channels. It is shown that the better performance in noise reduction of the compound secondary sources control system is mainly due to the directivity of the secondary sources where the energy radiation pattern of the compound sources is similar to that of the primary sources.