The reflection of acoustical transients from fibrous absorptive surfaces

An investigation into the reflection of acoustical transients from a surface of Fibreglass has been carried out, with an electrical spark used as the transient noise source. The Fibreglass was backed by chipboard. The transient field was measured for various source and receiver positions above the surface. A computer simulation of the experiments, with both spherical and plane wave modelling of the reflection process, proved to be adequate to predict the sound field for source and receiver geometries where the angle of incidence of the wave was less than about 60 degrees. In these simulations surfaces of both local reaction and extended reaction were investigated.     

The concept of cyclic sound intensity and its application to acoustical imaging

This paper demonstrates how to take advantage of the cyclostationarity property of engine signals to define a new acoustical quantity, the cyclic sound intensity, which displays the instantaneous flux of acoustical energy in the angle-frequency domain during an average engine cycle. This quantity is attractive in that it possesses the ability of being instantaneous and averaged at the same time, thus reconciling two conflicting properties into a rigourous and unambiguous framework. Cyclic sound intensity is a rich concept with several original ramifications. Among other things, it returns a unique decomposition into instantaneous active and reactive parts. Associated to acoustical imaging techniques, it allows the construction of sound radiation movies that evolve within the engine cycle and whose each frame is a sound intensity map calculated at a specific time - or crankshaft angle - in the engine cycle. This enables the accurate localisation of sources in space, in frequency and in time (crankshaft angle). Furthermore, associated to cyclic Wiener filtering, this methodology makes it possible to decompose the overall radiated sound into several noise source contributions whose cyclic sound intensities can then be analysed independently.     

Measurement of the flow and its vibration in Japanese traditional bamboo flute using the dynamic PIV

All wind instruments produce sound due to the vibration of air inside of the instrument. In the case of a trumpet or a clarinet, the mouth or a reed helps to generate variable tones. In the case of a flute, there is no mechanical vibration. Additional detail about the flow and the sound vibration inside and outside of the flute are investigated in order to understand the mechanism of the wind instrument and to aid in the manufacture of quality instruments. In this report, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute was investigated experimentally. The dynamic PIV technique was applied to measure the vibration. Two kinds of experiments were performed. Argon-gas flow containing an oil mist as tracer particles both inside and outside the bamboo flute was measured using a high frequency pulse laser. The periodical flow near a hole of the bamboo flute was successfully measured. The flow was found to go into and out from the flute and the balance of a mass flow rate and the averaged velocity were almost zero at the hole. Then, the flow in the bamboo flute was visualized when a human played the instrument, using a CW-laser and water-mist as the tracer. It was discovered that the two instructors had unique methods for playing the flue instrument.     

Experimental examination of vortex-sound generation in an organ pipe: A proposal of jet vortex-layer formation model

Aero-dynamical models of sound generation in an organ pipe driven by a thin jet are investigated through an experimental examination of the vortex-sound theory. An important measurement requirement (acoustic cross-flow as an irrotational potential flow reciprocating sinusoidally) from the vortex-sound theory is carefully realized when the pipe is driven with low blowing pressures of about 60 Pa (jet velocities of about 10 m/s). Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is applied to measure the jet velocity and the acoustic cross-flow velocity over the mouth area at the same phase by quickly switching the jet drive and the loudspeaker-horn drive. The vorticity of the jet flow field and the associated acoustic generation term are evaluated from the measurement data. It is recognized that the model of the “jet vortex-layer formation” is more relevant to the sound production than the vortex-shedding model. The acoustic power is dominantly generated by the flow–acoustic interaction near the edge, where the acoustic cross-flow velocity takes larger magnitudes. The acoustic generation formula on the vortex sound cannot deny the conventional acoustical volume-flow model because of the in-phase relation satisfied between the acoustic pressure at the mouth and the acoustic volume flow into the pipe. The vortex layers formed along both sides of the jet act as the source of an accelerating force (through the “acceleration unbalance”) with periodically alternating direction to oscillate the jet flow and to reinforce the acoustic cross-flow at the pipe mouth.     

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.     

A one-step patch near-field acoustical holography procedure

When performing holography measurements over a limited area of a source, the hologram pressure typically remains finite at the edge of the measurement aperture. Patch near-field acoustical holography (NAH) has been developed specifically to mitigate the effects related to that windowing. In iterative patch NAH, the source distribution is reconstructed in two steps: first, the partially measured sound field is extended iteratively, and then the extended pressure is projected onto the source surface by using conventional NAH procedures. In the present work, a one-step procedure for performing that combined task is described. In this approach, the acoustical property to be reconstructed on a surface of interest is related to the partially measured pressure on the hologram surface in terms of sampling and bandlimiting matrices, and the reconstructed result is obtained by finding the regularized least squares solution of the latter relation; a procedure for determining the cutoff wave number of the bandlimiting matrix without a priori knowledge of the signal bandwidth is suggested. The proposed procedure was validated by using a synthetic sound field created by a point-driven, simply supported plated.     

A quality of parametric wave phase conjugation of ultrasound

The criterion, known from optics, of wave phase conjugation quality is accommodated for acoustical experiment. An incident focused sound beam at 5 MHz is propagated towards a supercritical magnetoelastic conjugator through an introduced random phase layer, and the conjugate beam propagates backwards through the layer to the source. 1D and 2D distributions of wave field are measured for the conjugate beam of finite amplitude using a membrane hydrophone. The maximum sound intensity of 640 W/cm2 and acoustic power of 4 W are registered in the focal maximum of the conjugate wave. The quality of WPC is calculated from the ratio between the power in the central maximum and the total power of the conjugate beam. The method is applied to compare two operation modes of a supercritical parametric conjugator. It is shown that in the linear mode the conjugator provides higher quality than in the nonlinear (0.54 compared to 0.24).     

An image source computer model for room acoustics analysis and electroacoustic simulation

A computer program for the determination of the impulse response of rooms, using the mirror image method, has been developed. It is intended for acoustical planning of auditoria and the simulation of sound fields. The computer also generates the necessary information for the automatic mixer, delay unit and reverberation unit, which makes it possible to change sound field simulations in a short time.The program allows arbitrary room shapes to be analyzed by representing curved surfaces with plane approximations. The program also calculates energy time gaps, radiation angles and angles of incidence for the investigated source and receiver positions. The absorption coefficients of the reflecting surfaces are also taken into account. The source and the receiver may be positioned anywhere in the room. Compared with other programs described in the literature, this program yields more information, necessary particularly for electroacoustic room acoustics simulation and acoustical planning.     

Development of a hybrid computer model for simulating the complicated virtual sound field in enclosures

A hybrid computer model, SOFIS, has been developed for the simulation of an enclosed virtual sound field in an arbitrary shaped enclosure. It can be used to calculate the impulse response and acoustical parameters of different positions in a virtual enclosure. This paper describes the way in which SOFIS models the sound source, the receiver and the sound propagation throughout the enclosed space with curved surfaces or barriers. A phase tracing method and the calculation of acoustic indexes are also discussed in this paper.     

声学二维平面周期结构的吸声性能建模

声学周期结构兼具优化室内声场环境,节约建筑吸声材料的特性而在现代建筑中广泛使用。针对二维平面周期结构的声场优化特性,建立了一种吸声系数计算模型。首先,根据边界条件理论推导了吸声系数的线性方程组,继而通过数值分析方法进行求解,最后在驻波管和混响室中分别进行实验验证。实验结果表明,测量的吸声系数和理论计算曲线吻合良好,该模型可以准确测算二维平面周期结构的吸声系数。同时分析表明:在平面周期结构中,相同吸声材料面积情况下,吸声材料占比越大,吸声效果越好;在相同吸声材料面积和占比情况下,材料边缘长度越长,高频段吸声效果越好;随着材料边缘长度的减少,边缘效应影响减弱。      

A mathematical model for a single screen barrier in open-plan offices

In open-plan offices, single screen barriers are widely used to separate individual workplaces as a means of improving acoustical privacy. In this paper, a general model for calculating the insertion loss of a single screen barrier in the presence of a floor and a ceiling is developed using the image source technique. In addition to the acoustical properties of the floor and ceiling, this model also takes the sound absorption of the screen, the sound transmission through the screen and the interference between the sound waves into account. This model is able to separate the contribution of reflected sound and diffracted sound from the total sound pressure level at the receiving point, which can help indicate how best to improve the acoustical design of an open office. The mean differences between the predicted 1/3 octave band insertion loss values behind the screen and the corresponding measured results are within 2 dB.     

Mechanism and calculation of the niche effect in airborne sound transmission

The goal is to interpret and calculate the "niche effect" for the airborne sound transmission through a specimen mounted inside an aperture in the wall between the source and receiving reverberation rooms. The low-frequency sound insulation is known to be worse for the specimen placed at the center than for the specimen mounted at either edge of the aperture. As shown, the aperture with a tested specimen can be simulated at low frequencies as a triple partition where the middle element is the specimen and the role of the edge leaves is played by the air masses entrained at the aperture edges. With a centrally located specimen, such a triple system is symmetric and has two main natural frequencies close together. In this case, the resonant transmission is higher than for the edge arrangement simulated as a double system with one natural frequency. Analogous resonant phenomena are known to reduce the low-frequency transmission loss for symmetric triple windows or solid walls with identical air gaps and lightweight boards on both sides. The theoretical results obtained for the mechanical and acoustical models are in a good agreement with the experimental data.     

Computer software for identification of noise source and automatic noise measurement

A new computational system for the environmental noise measurement and analysis has been developed. The system consists of binaural microphones, a laptop PC, and analysing software. A target noise is recorded automatically depending on the specified background noise level, and the acoustical parameters are calculated simultaneously. These functions allow for precise field measurements. The system is equipped with a template-matching algorithm for the identification of noise source. This function was implemented to avoid the effect of an interrupting sound such as voice and wind blowing during a measurement. Noise analyses in this system are based on the model of human auditory system. In addition to the time-series data of sound level, the important acoustical parameters of noise source are extracted from the running autocorrelation function (ACF) and the inter-aural cross-correlation function (IACF). It has been found that those parameters are strongly related to the auditory primary sensations and spatial sensations. Evaluation of the environmental noise based on these functions is another feature of this system. This paper describes the effectiveness of the ACF and the IACF analysis for analysing acoustical properties of noise and for evaluating the subjective response to noise.     

Acoustic and dynamic mechanical properties of a polyurethane rubber

Acoustical and dynamic mechanical measurements were carried out on a commercial polyurethane rubber, DeSoto PR1547. The sound speed and attenuation were measured over the range from 12.5 to 75 kHz and 3.9 to 33.6 degrees C. Shear modulus was measured from 10(-4) to 2 Hz and -36 to 34 degrees C. The peak heights of the shear loss tangent varied with temperature, demonstrating thermorheological complexity. At higher temperatures, time-temperature superpositioning could be applied, with the shift factors following the Williams-Landel-Ferry equation. From the combined acoustical and mechanical measurements, values for the dynamic bulk modulus were determined. Moreover, superposition of the bulk modulus data was achieved using the shift factors determined from the dynamic mechanical shear measurements. Finally, this work illustrates the capability and the working rules of acoustical measurements in a small tank.     

Interaction of Transonic Edge Dislocations with Self-interstitial Loop

The interaction of transonic edge dislocations with a sessile self-interstitial dislocation loop (SIL) in BCC tungsten is investigated using atomistic Molecular Dynamics method. The moving velocity of the transonic edge dislocations is higher than the transverse sound wave velocity. It was found that SIL has a strong pinning effect to the moving edge dislocations. The SIL was eventually annihilated through forming jogs on the moving edge dislocations. A transonic edge dislocation can be stopped by SIL at the pinning point, and then the resulting jogs could move above the sound barrier afterwards under high shear.     

声纳导流罩吸声障板声学特性的研究

本文研究内容属于舰艇声兼容性技术研究的一部分。应用声学软件SYSNOISE计算了,声纳定向发射时某试验用声纳导流罩及尾部吸声障板的声场特性,同时进行相同工况的水下模型试验。计算结果与试验结果吻合良好,说明应用声学软件对声纳声场进行计算是一种可行的方法,有可能推广至其他的水下模型的声场计算。结果数据反映了吸声障板对声纳定向发射时声场的影响,为舰艇总体声纳导流罩内吸声障板的结构设计、声兼容设计提供依据。     

Orthogonal acoustical factors of a sound field in a bamboo forest.

To investigate the acoustical quality of a sound field in a bamboo forest, acoustical measurements were conducted to obtain orthogonal acoustical factors of the sound field. These results are compared with previous results for a sound field in an ordinary forest [H. Sakai, S. Sato, and Y. Ando, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1491-1497 (1998)]. The IACC, which is defined as a maximum value of the normalized interaural cross-correlation function between signals at the ears, was 0.07 (4 kHz) and 0.16 (2 kHz) at positions 20 and 40 m from the source, respectively. These values are much better than those in the previously investigated forest. The measured subsequent reverberation time Tsub was up to 1.5 s in the frequency range above 1 kHz at the position 40 m from the source. For certain music sources with higher frequency components, therefore, sound fields in a bamboo forest have excellent acoustic properties.     

水下等离子体声源的冲击波负压特性

基于修正的Rayleigh气泡脉动方程对水下等离子体声源放电产生的 强声冲击波的传播过程进行了分析; 利用Euler方程作为控制方程组, 建立了水下等离子体声源的聚束声场模型, 通过仿真计算获得的传播云图对冲击波负压的形成机理进行了直观的理论分析. 结果表明: 经过聚能反射罩反射汇聚得到的聚束波在反射稀疏波和水的惯性作用下, 聚束波周围水域产生了拉伸, 形成负压区, 如果拉伸力大于水的抗拉上限, 就会使得水中形成不连续现象, 即出现空化气泡; 此外聚能罩边缘处产生的衍射波进一步加剧了负压的产生, 边缘衍射波最终与拉伸波叠加, 使冲击波负压达到最大值; 通过对比仿真波形和实验波形, 从而验证和进一步揭示了冲击波负压的形成原因. 研究结果对认识水下冲击波的传播规律和进一步改进等离子体声源的设计具有指导意义. 关键词： 等离子体声源 冲击波负压 聚束声场模型 气泡     

Perceptual validation of virtual room acoustics: Sound localisation and speech understanding

The reliability of algorithms for room acoustic simulations has often been confirmed on the basis of the verification of predicted room acoustical parameters. This paper presents a complementary perceptual validation procedure consisting of two experiments, respectively dealing with speech intelligibility, and with sound source front–back localisation.The evaluated simulation algorithm, implemented in software ODEON®, is a hybrid method that is based on an image source algorithm for the prediction of early sound reflection and on ray-tracing for the later part, using a stochastic scattering process with secondary sources. The binaural room impulse response (BRIR) is calculated from a simulated room impulse response where information about the arriving time, intensity and spatial direction of each sound reflection is collected and convolved with a measured Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF). The listening stimuli for the speech intelligibility and localisation tests are auralised convolutions of anechoic sound samples with measured and simulated BRIRs.Perception tests were performed with human subjects in two acoustical environments, i.e. an anechoic and reverberant room, by presenting the stimuli to subjects in a natural way, and via headphones by using two non-individualized HRTFs (artificial head and hearing aids placed on the ears of the artificial head) of both a simulated and a real room.Very good correspondence is found between the results obtained with simulated and measured BRIRs, both for speech intelligibility in the presence of noise and for sound source localisation tests. In the anechoic room an increase in speech intelligibility is observed when noise and signal are presented from sources located at different angles. This improvement is not so evident in the reverberant room, with the sound sources at 1-m distance from the listener. Interestingly, the performance of people for front–back localisation is better in the reverberant room than in the anechoic room.The correlation between people’s ability for sound source localisation on one hand, and their ability for recognition of binaurally received speech in reverberation on the other hand, is found to be weak.