Volume 129, Issue 3, March 2011
Index of content:
- GENERAL LINEAR ACOUSTICS 
129(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3531804View Description Hide Description
An investigation has been undertaken into acoustic iridescence, exploring how a device can be constructed which alter sound waves, in a similar way to structures in nature that act on light to produce optical iridescence. The main construction had many thin perforated sheets spaced half a wavelength apart for a specified design frequency. The sheets create the necessary impedance discontinuities to create backscattered waves, which then interfere to create strongly reflected sound at certain frequencies. Predictions and measurements show a set of harmonics, evenly spaced in frequency, for which sound is reflected strongly. And the frequency of these harmonics increases as the angle of observation gets larger, mimicking the iridescence seen in natural optical systems. Similar to optical systems, the reflections become weaker for oblique angles of reflection. A second construction was briefly examined which exploited a metamaterial made from elements and inclusions which were much smaller than the wavelength. Boundary element method predictions confirmed the potential for creating acoustic iridescence from layers of such a material.
129(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3531815View Description Hide Description
A systematic study of noise barriers based on sonic crystals made of cylinders that use recycled materials like absorbing component is reported here. The barriers consist of only three rows of perforated metal shells filled with rubber crumb. Measurements of reflectance and transmittance by these barriers are reported. Their attenuation properties result from a combination of sound absorption by the rubber crumb and reflection by the periodic distribution of scatterers. It is concluded that the porous cylinders can be used as building blocks whose physical parameters can be optimized in order to design efficient barriers adapted to different noisy environments.
A real-time plane-wave decomposition algorithm for characterizing perforated liners damping at multiple mode frequencies129(2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3533724View Description Hide Description
Perforated liners with a narrow frequency range are widely used as acoustic dampers to stabilize combustion systems. When the frequency of unstable modes present in the combustion system is within the effective frequency range, the liners can efficiently dissipate acoustic waves. The fraction of the incident waves being absorbed (known as power absorption coefficient) is generally used to characterize the liners damping. To estimate it, plane waves either side of the liners need to be decomposed and characterized. For this, a real-time algorithm is developed. Emphasis is being placed on its ability to online decompose plane waves at multiple mode frequencies. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated first in a numerical model with two unstable modes. It is then experimentally implemented in an acoustically driven pipe system with a lined section attached. The acoustic damping of perforated liners is continuously characterized in real-time. Comparison is then made between the results from the algorithm and those from the short-time fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based techniques, which are typically used in industry. It was found that the real-time algorithm allows faster tracking of the liners damping, even when the forcing frequency was suddenly changed.