An assessment of the high frequency boundary element and Rayleigh integral approximations

This paper revisits the popular Rayleigh integral approximation and also considers a second approximation, the high frequency boundary element method, which is similar to the Rayleigh integral. The Rayleigh integral approximation under consideration is enhanced so that only the elements visible to a particular point in the field are used to calculate the sound pressure at that point. It is demonstrated how both the Rayleigh integral and high frequency boundary element method are approximations to the boundary integral equation so that similarities between the two methods are recognized. Several test cases were conducted in order to assess and compare both methods. The first set of test cases was the pulsating and oscillating sphere. Both methods were then compared on more applied examples including a running engine, construction cab, and transmission housing. It was concluded that though both methods can reliably predict the sound power for some problems, the high frequency boundary element method is the more robust.     

A fast automatic calibration system for a sound level meter in an anechoic room

A fast automatic calibration system for a sound level meter in an anechoic environment has been developed. The precise and fast generation of the constant frequency-independent acoustic pressure field and reduction of digital voltmeter readout to sound pressure level were achieved by a newly designed software algorithm, assuming the system linearity. The performance test justified the assumed linearity, and showed that the searching speed was sufficiently fast within the small error limit.     

Organic-Inorganic Insulating Coatings Based on Sol-Gel Technology

The approach for improving bending strength of temperature-resistant flexible ceramic electric insulating coatings prepared by sol-gel processing is considered. Starting suspensions, based on both tetraethoxysilane (TEOS)-derived modified sols and highly dispersed fillers such as Cr₂O₃, are used to deposit the coatings on metals and alloys. Some polymers and organic substances are tested as additives for improving flexibility of the ceramic coatings. The results of study of both bending strength and electrical strength of flexible hybrid organic-inorganic insulation formed on a nichrome wire are discussed. The data obtained on the chemical and phase structure of the coatings, which have been heat treated at temperatures from 95 to 1100°C, using DSC as well as X-ray scattering techniques are presented.     

Assessing the effect of a barrier between two rooms subjected to low frequency sound using the boundary element method

The boundary element method (BEM) has been used to compute the acoustic wave propagation through a single vertical panel, which separates two rooms, made of concrete, when one of the rooms is excited by a steady-state, spatially sinusoidal, harmonic line load pressure at low frequencies. This work focuses on how the connection of the panel to the ceiling affects the acoustic insulation provided by the wall. Perfect double-fixed partitions and acoustic barrier-type structures with differently-sized gaps between the ceiling and the barrier are studied. The BEM model is formulated in the frequency domain and takes the air-solid interaction fully into account. Insulation dips are localised in the frequency domain and identified with dips associated with both the wall's natural dynamic vibration modes and with those associated with the air in the rooms. The influence of the wall's thickness on acoustic insulation is also analysed. The computed results obtained with the acoustic barrier type structure are compared with those obtained by a rigid model. The importance of the rooms' surface conditions is assessed, modelling the rooms with cork.     

Sound field of a baffled sound source covered by an anisotropic rigid-porous material

A theoretical approach for the sound field of a piston sound source covered by a finite thickness layer of anisotropic rigid-porous material is presented. The formulation is an extension of the method worked out by Amedin et al. [Sound field of a baffled piston source covered by a porous medium layer. J Acoust Soc Am 1995;98(3):1757]. First, in the present study the sound field of a point source is described by cylindrical waves. Then, with the proper boundary conditions, the sound pressure radiated from a piston source covered by a layer of anisotropic porous material can be calculated. The effects of frequency and bulk density of material on the sound propagation in an anisotropic porous material are studied. Finally, the effect of anisotropy is discussed.     

An error estimate on a Galerkin method for modeling heat and moisture transfer in fibrous insulation

We propose a Galerkin finite element method for numerically modeling the process of heat and moisture transfer in porous clothing assemblies, which takes into account radiative heat transfer and sorption of water vapor into the fibers of the medium. We prove an optimal‐order error estimate for the finite element method in energy norm. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2008     

Robust tracking of moving sound source using scaled unscented particle filter

Tracking an active sound source involves the modeling of non-linear non-Gaussian systems. To address this problem, this paper proposed scaled unscented particle filter (SUPF) algorithm for tracking moving sound source. The particle filter part of the SUPF provides the general probabilistic framework to handle non-linear non-Gaussian systems, and the scaled unscented Kalman filter (SUKF) part of the SUPF generates better proposal distributions by taking into account the most recent observation. Meanwhile, models used in SUPF algorithm were also explored for the sound source motion, observation and the likelihood of the sound source location in the light of the Langevin process. Compared with the conventional PF approach, the simulated results demonstrated that the SUPF algorithm had superior tracking performance.     

重复率气体火花开关绝缘恢复特性的实验研究

 在自行设计的气体火花开关上，利用双脉冲回路，对纳秒脉冲作用下N₂和H₂的绝缘恢复特性进行了实验研究。结果表明，在静态不吹气情况下，H₂的绝缘恢复时间明显比N₂短。在吹气情况下，适当的气流速度即可使绝缘恢复时间明显缩短。     

Neural control of vocalization: Respiratory and emotional influences

Previous research has shown that a region of the midbrain, the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), is critical for vocalization. In this review, we describe the results of previous investigations in which we sought to find out how PAG neurons integrate the activity and precise timing of respiratory, laryngeal, and oral muscle activity for natural-sounding vocalization using the technique of excitatory amino acid microinjections in cats. In these studies, all surgical procedures were carried out under deep anaesthesia. In the precollicular decerebrate cat two general types of vocalization, classified as voiced and unvoiced, could be evoked by exciting neurons in the lateral part of the intermediate part of the PAG. The patterns of evoked electromyographic activity were strikingly similar to previously reported patterns of human muscle activity. Coordinated patterns of activity were evoked with just-threshold excitation leading to the conclusion that patterned muscle activity corresponding to the major categories of voiced and voiceless sound production are represented in the PAG. In a parallel series of human and animal experiments, we also determined that the speech and vocalization respiratory patterns are integrated and coordinated with afferent signals related to lung volume. These data have led to the proposal of a new hypothesis for the neural control of vocalization: that the PAG is a crucial brain site for mammalian voice production, not only in the production of emotional or involuntary sounds, but also as a generator of specific respiratory and laryngeal motor patterns essential for human speech and song     

瓦斯煤尘爆炸火焰光谱的实验研究

本文概述了瓦斯煤尘爆炸火焰光谱实验研究的重要性,我们在弱爆炸和探测器小视场角的条件下,利用自己研制的多波道仪,在一端开口的Φ200cm×2900cm大型管道里,得到了CH4、空气和煤尘的混合物在不同状态下,特征波长λ等于0.8875、1.000、1.505、2.801和4.346微米(μ)的绝对辐射强度及其有关的变化规律,对结果进行了分析讨论,并与国外实验结果进行了对比,根据测量λ=4.346μ绝对辐射强度和我们选择的黑体辐射模型,获得了爆炸火焰的温度,该项研究不仅在工业中具有重要意义,而且对燃烧和化学动力学的研究也具有参考价值。