Jet Noise Reduction

This paper describes the use of a spectrally-based “nonlinearity indicator” to complement ordinary spectral analysis of jet noise propagation data. The indicator, which involves the cross spectrum between the temporal acoustic pressure and the square of the acoustic pressure, stems directly from ensemble averaging the generalized Burgers equation. The indicator is applied to unheated model-scale jet noise from subsonic and supersonic nozzles. The results demonstrate how the indicator can be used to interpret the evolution of power spectra in the transition from the geometric near to far field. Geometric near-field and nonlinear effects can be distinguished from one another, thus lending additional physical insight into the propagation.

The sources of jet noise have been investigated through the use of near-field array measurements. An understanding of spatial coherence properties in the jet near field leads to insight about source composition. A metric called coherence length is a useful tool for summarizing near-field coherence information. Near-field coherence lengths are presented in this work for a full-scale jet, which show that jet noise is composed of two distinct components: (1) highly spatially coherent, low-frequency, large-scale turbulent structures and (2) high-frequency fine-scale turbulence with very low spatial coherence. The spatial extent and coherence of jet noise sources support the use of near-field acoustical holography as a viable jet-noise-source imaging technique.

Active structural acoustic control has been an area of research and development for over two decades with an interest in searching for an "optimal" error quantity. Current error quantities typically require the use of either a large number of transducers distributed across the entire structure, or a distributed shaped sensor, such as polyvinylidene difluoride. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a control objective function for flat, simply-supported plates that is based on transverse and angular velocity components combined into a single composite structural velocity quantity, termed V-comp. Although multiple transducers are used, they are concentrated at a single location to eliminate the need for transducers spanning most or all of the structure. When used as the objective function in an active control situation, squared V-comp attenuates the acoustic radiation over a large range of frequencies. The control of squared V-comp is compared to other objective functions including squared velocity, volume velocity, and acoustic energy density. The analysis presented indicates that benefits of this objective function include control of radiation from numerous structural modes, control largely independent of sensor location, and need to measure V-comp at a single location and not distributed measurements across the entire structure. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3699264]

One design for three-dimensional multimicrophone probes is the four-microphone orthogonal design consisting of one microphone at an origin position with the other three microphones equally spaced along the three coordinate axes. Several distinct processing methods have been suggested for the estimation of active acoustic intensity with the orthogonal probe; however, the relative merits of each method have not been thoroughly studied. This comparative study is an investigation of the errors associated with each method. Considered are orthogonal probes consisting of matched point sensor microphones both freely suspended and embedded on the surface of a rigid sphere. Results are given for propagating plane-wave fields for all angles of incidence. It is shown that the lowest error for intensity magnitude results from having the microphones in a sphere and using just one microphone for the pressure estimate. For intensity direction, the lowest error results from having the microphones in a sphere and using Taylor approximations to estimate the particle velocity and pressure. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.3692242]

Exploding hydrogen-oxygen balloons are popular chemistry demonstrations. Although initial research experimentally quantified potential hearing risk via analysis of peak levels [K. L. Gee et al., J. Chem. Educ. 87, 1039-1044 (2010)], further waveform and spectral analyses have been conducted to more fully characterize these impulsive noise sources. While hydrogen-only balloons produce inconsistent reactions and relatively low, variable levels, stoichiometrically mixed hydrogen-oxygen balloons produce consistent high-amplitude noise waveforms. Preliminary consideration is also given to the potential use of these exploding balloons in architectural acoustics applications. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America

This paper presents a physical demonstration of an audio-range line array used to teach interference of multiple sources in a classroom or laboratory exercise setting. Software has been developed that permits real-time control and steering of the array. The graphical interface permits a user to vary the frequency, the angular response by phase shading, and reduce sidelobes through amplitude shading. An inexpensive, eight-element loudspeaker array has been constructed to test the control program. Directivity measurements of this array in an anechoic chamber and in a large classroom are presented. These measurements have good agreement with theoretical directivity predictions, thereby allowing its use as a quantitative learning tool for advanced students as well as a qualitative demonstration of arrays in other settings. Portions of this paper are directed toward educators who may wish to implement a similar demonstration for their advanced undergraduate or graduate level course in acoustics. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3676723]