Treatment of early and late reflections in a hybrid computer model for room acoustics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Naylor, Graham

1992-01-01

The ODEON computer model for acoustics in large rooms is intended for use both in design (by predicting room acoustical indices quickly and easily) and in research (by forming the basis of an auralization system and allowing study of various room acoustical phenomena). These conflicting demands...... preclude the use of both ``pure'' image source and ``pure'' particle tracing methods. A hybrid model has been developed, in which rays discover potential image sources up to a specified order. Thereafter, the same ray tracing process is used in a different way to rapidly generate a dense reverberant decay...

Acoustical Design Guidelines for Living Rooms for Adults with intellectual Disabilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saher, K.

2013-01-01

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of building design tools on acoustical quality parameters in living rooms for adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) and develop acoustical design guidelines for architects. This study is specifically concerned with the validation of

Improved algorithms and methods for room sound-field prediction by acoustical radiosity in arbitrary polyhedral rooms

Science.gov (United States)

Nosal, Eva-Marie; Hodgson, Murray; Ashdown, Ian

2004-08-01

This paper explores acoustical (or time-dependent) radiosity-a geometrical-acoustics sound-field prediction method that assumes diffuse surface reflection. The literature of acoustical radiosity is briefly reviewed and the advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. A discrete form of the integral equation that results from meshing the enclosure boundaries into patches is presented and used in a discrete-time algorithm. Furthermore, an averaging technique is used to reduce computational requirements. To generalize to nonrectangular rooms, a spherical-triangle method is proposed as a means of evaluating the integrals over solid angles that appear in the discrete form of the integral equation. The evaluation of form factors, which also appear in the numerical solution, is discussed for rectangular and nonrectangular rooms. This algorithm and associated methods are validated by comparison of the steady-state predictions for a spherical enclosure to analytical solutions.

Factors Affecting Acoustics and Speech Intelligibility in the Operating Room: Size Matters.

Science.gov (United States)

McNeer, Richard R; Bennett, Christopher L; Horn, Danielle Bodzin; Dudaryk, Roman

2017-06-01

Noise in health care settings has increased since 1960 and represents a significant source of dissatisfaction among staff and patients and risk to patient safety. Operating rooms (ORs) in which effective communication is crucial are particularly noisy. Speech intelligibility is impacted by noise, room architecture, and acoustics. For example, sound reverberation time (RT60) increases with room size, which can negatively impact intelligibility, while room objects are hypothesized to have the opposite effect. We explored these relationships by investigating room construction and acoustics of the surgical suites at our institution. We studied our ORs during times of nonuse. Room dimensions were measured to calculate room volumes (VR). Room content was assessed by estimating size and assigning items into 5 volume categories to arrive at an adjusted room content volume (VC) metric. Psychoacoustic analyses were performed by playing sweep tones from a speaker and recording the impulse responses (ie, resulting sound fields) from 3 locations in each room. The recordings were used to calculate 6 psychoacoustic indices of intelligibility. Multiple linear regression was performed using VR and VC as predictor variables and each intelligibility index as an outcome variable. A total of 40 ORs were studied. The surgical suites were characterized by a large degree of construction and surface finish heterogeneity and varied in size from 71.2 to 196.4 m (average VR = 131.1 [34.2] m). An insignificant correlation was observed between VR and VC (Pearson correlation = 0.223, P = .166). Multiple linear regression model fits and β coefficients for VR were highly significant for each of the intelligibility indices and were best for RT60 (R = 0.666, F(2, 37) = 39.9, P the size and contents of an OR can predict a range of psychoacoustic indices of speech intelligibility. Specifically, increasing OR size correlated with worse speech intelligibility, while increasing amounts of OR contents

A room acoustical computer model for industrial environments - the model and its verification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Claus Lynge; Foged, Hans Torben

1998-01-01

This paper presents an extension to the traditional room acoustic modelling methods allowing computer modelling of huge machinery in industrial spaces. The program in question is Odeon 3.0 Industrial and Odeon 3.0 Combined which allows the modelling of point sources, surface sources and line...... of an omnidirectional sound source and a microphone. This allows the comparison of simulated results with the ones measured in real rooms. However when simulating the acoustic environment in industrial rooms, the sound sources are often far from being point like, as they can be distributed over a large space...

Evaluating the auralization of a small room in a virtual sound environment using objective room acoustic measures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahrens, Axel; Marschall, Marton; Dau, Torsten

2016-01-01

To study human auditory perception in realistic environments, loudspeaker-based reproduction techniques have recently become state-of-the-art. To evaluate the accuracy of a simulation-based room auralization of a small room, objective measures, such as early-decay-time (EDT), reverberation time...... of the room. The auralizations were generated using the loudspeaker-based room auralization toolbox (LoRA; Favrot and Buchholz, 2010) and reproduced in a 64-channel loudspeaker array, set up in an anechoic chamber. Differences between the objective measures evaluated in the real and the virtual room were......, clarity, interaural cross-correlation (IACC), and the speech transmission index were measured in an IEC listening room for 28 source-receiver combinations. The room was then modeled in the room acoustics software ODEON, and the same objective measures were also evaluated for the auralized version...

Integrating Real-Time Room Acoustics Simulation into a CAD Modeling Software to Enhance the Architectural Design Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sönke Pelzer

2014-04-01

Full Text Available For architects, real-time 3D visual rendering of CAD-models is a valuable tool. The architect usually perceives the visual appearance of the building interior in a natural and realistic way during the design process. Unfortunately this only emphasizes the role of the visual appearance of a building, while the acoustics often remain disregarded. Controlling the room acoustics is not integrated into most architects’ workflows—due to a lack of tools. The present contribution describes a newly developed plug-in for adding an adequate 3D-acoustics feedback to the architect. To present intuitively the acoustical effect of the current design project, the plug-in uses real-time audio rendering and 3D-reproduction. The room acoustics of the design can be varied by modifying structural shapes as well as by changing the material selection. In addition to the audio feedback, also a visualization of important room acoustics qualities is provided by displaying color-coded maps inside the CAD software.

Diffraction and diffusion in room acoustics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rindel, Jens Holger; Rasmussen, Birgit

1996-01-01

Diffraction and diffusion are two phenomena that are both related to the wave nature of sound. Diffraction due to the finite size of reflecting surfaces and the design of single reflectors and reflector arrays are discussed. Diffusion is the result of scattering of sound reflected from surfaces...... that are not plane but curved or irregular. The importance of diffusion has been demonstrated in concert halls. Methods for the design of diffusing surfaces and the development of new types of diffusers are reviewed. Finally, the importance of diffraction and diffusion in room acoustic computer models is discussed....

Room acoustic enhancement in a small hall with very low natural reverberation time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gade, Anders Christian

1996-01-01

natural combinations of room acoustic properties. Consequently, the natural reverberation time in a newly opened 350 seat multipurpose hall in Denmark was designed as low as 0.7 sec. Two different reverberation enhancement systems were considered and tested in the hall. The objective and subjective...... testing results are reported and compared with previous results obtained in another small hall supplied with a similar enhancement system. The results concerning 'realism' are also compared with acoustic properties found in 'natural' halls of different sizes and reverberation times.......In small multipurpose halls to be equipped with electronic reverberation enhancement systems, selecting a very low natural reverberation time is advantageous for several reasons. It will 1) reduce the risk of feedback, 2) increase the possible range of room acoustic variation and 3) allow for more...

An acoustic on-chip goniometer for room temperature macromolecular crystallography.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, C G; Axford, D; Edwards, A M J; Gildea, R J; Morris, R H; Newton, M I; Orville, A M; Prince, M; Topham, P D; Docker, P T

2017-12-05

This paper describes the design, development and successful use of an on-chip goniometer for room-temperature macromolecular crystallography via acoustically induced rotations. We present for the first time a low cost, rate-tunable, acoustic actuator for gradual in-fluid sample reorientation about varying axes and its utilisation for protein structure determination on a synchrotron beamline. The device enables the efficient collection of diffraction data via a rotation method from a sample within a surface confined droplet. This method facilitates efficient macromolecular structural data acquisition in fluid environments for dynamical studies.

Ultrasonic acoustic levitation for fast frame rate X-ray protein crystallography at room temperature

OpenAIRE

Soichiro Tsujino; Takashi Tomizaki

2016-01-01

Increasing the data acquisition rate of X-ray diffraction images for macromolecular crystals at room temperature at synchrotrons has the potential to significantly accelerate both structural analysis of biomolecules and structure-based drug developments. Using lysozyme model crystals, we demonstrated the rapid acquisition of X-ray diffraction datasets by combining a high frame rate pixel array detector with ultrasonic acoustic levitation of protein crystals in liquid droplets. The rapid spinn...

Ultrasonic acoustic levitation for fast frame rate X-ray protein crystallography at room temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujino, Soichiro; Tomizaki, Takashi

2016-05-01

Increasing the data acquisition rate of X-ray diffraction images for macromolecular crystals at room temperature at synchrotrons has the potential to significantly accelerate both structural analysis of biomolecules and structure-based drug developments. Using lysozyme model crystals, we demonstrated the rapid acquisition of X-ray diffraction datasets by combining a high frame rate pixel array detector with ultrasonic acoustic levitation of protein crystals in liquid droplets. The rapid spinning of the crystal within a levitating droplet ensured an efficient sampling of the reciprocal space. The datasets were processed with a program suite developed for serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX). The structure, which was solved by molecular replacement, was found to be identical to the structure obtained by the conventional oscillation method for up to a 1.8-Å resolution limit. In particular, the absence of protein crystal damage resulting from the acoustic levitation was carefully established. These results represent a key step towards a fully automated sample handling and measurement pipeline, which has promising prospects for a high acquisition rate and high sample efficiency for room temperature X-ray crystallography.

Listeners' expectation of room acoustical parameters based on visual cues

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Daniel L.

. The addressed visual makeup of the performer included: (1) an actual video of the performance, (2) a surrogate image of the performance, for example a loudspeaker's image reproducing the performance, (3) no visual image of the performance (empty room), or (4) a multi-source visual stimulus (actual video of the performance coupled with two images of loudspeakers positioned to the left and right of the performer). For this experiment, perceived auditory events of sound were measured in terms of two subjective spatial metrics: Listener Envelopment (LEV) and Apparent Source Width (ASW) These metrics were hypothesized to be dependent on the visual imagery of the presented performance. Data was also collected by participants matching direct and reverberant sound levels for the presented audio-visual scenes. In the final experiment, participants judged spatial expectations of an ensemble of musicians presented in the five physical spaces from Experiment 1. Supporting data was accumulated in two stages. First, participants were given an audio-visual matching test, in which they were instructed to align the auditory width of a performing ensemble to a varying set of audio and visual cues. In the second stage, a conjoint analysis design paradigm was explored to extrapolate the relative magnitude of explored audio-visual factors in affecting three assessed response criteria: Congruency (the perceived match-up of the auditory and visual cues in the assessed performance), ASW and LEV. Results show that both auditory and visual factors affect the collected responses, and that the two sensory modalities coincide in distinct interactions. This study reveals participant resiliency in the presence of forced auditory-visual mismatch: Participants are able to adjust the acoustic component of the cross-modal environment in a statistically similar way despite randomized starting values for the monitored parameters. Subjective results of the experiments are presented along with objective

[Acoustic conditions in open plan office - Application of technical measures in a typical room].

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulski, Witold

2018-03-09

Noise in open plan offices should not exceed acceptable levels for the hearing protection. Its major negative effects on employees are nuisance and impediment in execution of work. Specific technical solutions should be introduced to provide proper acoustic conditions for work performance. Acoustic evaluation of a typical open plan office was presented in the article published in "Medycyna Pracy" 5/2016. None of the rooms meets all the criteria, therefore, in this article one of the rooms was chosen to apply different technical solutions to check the possibility of reaching proper acoustic conditions. Acoustic effectiveness of those solutions was verified by means of digital simulation. The model was checked by comparing the results of measurements and calculations before using simulation. The analyzis revealed that open plan offices supplemented with signals for masking speech signals can meet all the required criteria. It is relatively easy to reach proper reverberation time (i.e., sound absorption). It is more difficult to reach proper values of evaluation parameters determined from A-weighted sound pressure level (SPLA) of speech. The most difficult is to provide proper values of evaluation parameters determined from speech transmission index (STI). Finally, it is necessary (besides acoustic treatment) to use devices for speech masking. The study proved that it is technically possible to reach proper acoustic condition. Main causes of employees complaints in open plan office are inadequate acoustic work conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to apply specific technical solutions - not only sound absorbing suspended ceiling and high acoustic barriers, but also devices for speech masking. Med Pr 2018;69(2):153-165. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Importance of Including the Acoustic Medium in Rooms on the Transmission Path between Source and Receiver Rooms within a Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Lars; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Dickow, Kristoffer Ahrens

2011-01-01

Low-frequency noise is a potential nuisance to inhabitants in lightweight building structures. Hence, development of efficient and accurat methods for prediction of noice in such buildings is important. The aim of this paper is to assess the necessity of including the acoustic medium in rooms along...

Speech intelligibility for normal hearing and hearing-impaired listeners in simulated room acoustic conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arweiler, Iris; Dau, Torsten; Poulsen, Torben

Speech intelligibility depends on many factors such as room acoustics, the acoustical properties and location of the signal and the interferers, and the ability of the (normal and impaired) auditory system to process monaural and binaural sounds. In the present study, the effect of reverberation...... on spatial release from masking was investigated in normal hearing and hearing impaired listeners using three types of interferers: speech shaped noise, an interfering female talker and speech-modulated noise. Speech reception thresholds (SRT) were obtained in three simulated environments: a listening room......, a classroom and a church. The data from the study provide constraints for existing models of speech intelligibility prediction (based on the speech intelligibility index, SII, or the speech transmission index, STI) which have shortcomings when reverberation and/or fluctuating noise affect speech...

Reliability of estimating the room volume from a single room impulse response

OpenAIRE

Kuster, M.

2008-01-01

The methods investigated for the room volume estimation are based on geometrical acoustics, eigenmode, and diffuse field models and no data other than the room impulse response are available. The measurements include several receiver positions in a total of 12 rooms of vastly different sizes and acoustic characteristics. The limitations in identifying the pivotal specular reflections of the geometrical acoustics model in measured room impulse responses are examined both theoretically and expe...

Parametric Room Acoustic workflows with real-time acoustic simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parigi, Dario

2017-01-01

The paper investigates and assesses the opportunities that real-time acoustic simulation offer to engage in parametric acoustics workflow and to influence architectural designs from early design stages......The paper investigates and assesses the opportunities that real-time acoustic simulation offer to engage in parametric acoustics workflow and to influence architectural designs from early design stages...

Finite volume method room acoustic simulations integrated into the architectural design process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pind Jörgensson, Finnur Kári; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Engsig-Karup, Allan Peter

2017-01-01

with the architectural design from the earliest design stage, as a part of a holistic design process. A new procedure to integrate room acoustics into architectural design is being developed in a Ph.D. project, with the aim of promoting this early stage holistic design process. This project aims to develop a new hybrid...

Assessment of vocal intensity in lecturers depending on acoustic properties of lecture rooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Witold Mikulski

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Lombard’s effect increases the level of vocal intensity in the environment, in which noise occurs. This article presents the results of the author’s own study of vocal intensity level and A-weighted sound pressure level of background noise during normal lectures. The aim of the study was to define whether above-mentioned parameters depend on acoustic properties of rooms (classrooms or lecture rooms and to define how many lectors speak with raised voice. Material and Methods: The study was performed in a group of 50 teachers and lecturers in 10 classrooms with cubature of 160–430 m3 and reverberation time of 0.37–1.3 s (group A consisted of 3 rooms which fulfilled, group B consisted of 3 rooms which almost fulfilled and group C consisted of 4 rooms which did not fulfill criteria based on reverberation time (maximum permissible value is 0.6–0.8 s according to PN-B-02151-4:2015. Criteria of raising voice were based on vocal intensity level (maximum value: 65 dB according to EN ISO 9921:2003. The values of above-mentioned parameters were determined from modes of A-weighted sound pressure level distributions during lectures. Results: Great differentiation of vocal intensity level between lectors was found. In classrooms of group A lectors were not using raised voice, in group B – 21%, and in group C – 60% of lectors were using raised voice. Conclusions: It was observed that acoustic properties of classrooms (defined by reverberation time exert their effect on lecturer’s vocal intensity level (i.e., raising voice, which may contribute to the increased risk of vocal tract illnesses. The occurrence of Lombard’s effect in groups of teachers and lecturers, conducting lectures in rooms, was evidenced. Med Pr 2015;66(4:487–496

Microenvironments in swine farrowing rooms: the thermal, lighting, and acoustic environments of sows and piglets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela Munhoz Morello

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: The present research hypothesized that the thermal, lighting and acoustic environments in commercial swine farrowing rooms vary over time and from crate to crate. This study was conducted on 27 replicates in two commercial farrowing rooms in North Central Indiana, each equipped with 60 farrowing crates. Temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, sound intensity, and air velocity were continuously monitored and estimated for each crate at the sow level, for 48 h post-farrowing, which is usually a critical period for piglet survivability. Average daily temperature for all the crates in Room 1 was 24.1 ± 2.0 °C, 1.0 °C lower (p < 0.05 than in Room 2. Although the overall mean temperature was similar between rooms and seasons, frequency distribution diagrams revealed that the proportion of time spent within distinct limits of mean daily temperature ranged from 15.0 °C to 28.0 °C and varied substantially between rooms and seasons. Similar results were found for all variables measured in this study. Differences in temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, air velocity, and sound intensity in crates were as high as 9.6 °C, 57 %, 3,847.3 Lx, 0.87 m s–1, and 38.7 dBC, respectively, in the same farrowing room when measured at the same instant. The results of the present research indicate that aspects that go beyond the physical environment of the sows, such as thermal, lighting, and acoustic environment can vary substantially over time and between crates of automatically climate controlled farrowing rooms. These differences should be taken into consideration in production setting and research.

Noise disturbance in open-plan study environments: a field study on noise sources, student tasks and room acoustic parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Braat-Eggen, P Ella; van Heijst, Anne; Hornikx, Maarten; Kohlrausch, Armin

2017-09-01

The aim of this study is to gain more insight in the assessment of noise in open-plan study environments and to reveal correlations between noise disturbance experienced by students and the noise sources they perceive, the tasks they perform and the acoustic parameters of the open-plan study environment they work in. Data were collected in five open-plan study environments at universities in the Netherlands. A questionnaire was used to investigate student tasks, perceived sound sources and their perceived disturbance, and sound measurements were performed to determine the room acoustic parameters. This study shows that 38% of the surveyed students are disturbed by background noise in an open-plan study environment. Students are mostly disturbed by speech when performing complex cognitive tasks like studying for an exam, reading and writing. Significant but weak correlations were found between the room acoustic parameters and noise disturbance of students. Practitioner Summary: A field study was conducted to gain more insight in the assessment of noise in open-plan study environments at universities in the Netherlands. More than one third of the students was disturbed by noise. An interaction effect was found for task type, source type and room acoustic parameters.

Low frequency sound field control in rectangular listening rooms using CABS (Controlled Acoustic Bass System) will also reduce sound transmission to neighbor rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal; Celestinos, Adrian

2011-01-01

Sound reproduction is often taking place in small and medium sized rectangular rooms. As rectangular rooms have 3 pairs of parallel walls the reflections at especially low frequencies will cause up to 30 dB spatial variations of the sound pressure level in the room. This will take place not only...... at resonance frequencies, but more or less at all frequencies. A time based room correction system named CABS (Controlled Acoustic Bass System) has been developed and is able to create a homogeneous sound field in the whole room at low frequencies by proper placement of multiple loudspeakers. A normal setup...... from the rear wall, and thereby leaving only the plane wave in the room. With a room size of (7.8 x 4.1 x 2.8) m. it is possible to prevent modal frequencies up to 100 Hz. An investigation has shown that the sound transmitted to a neighbour room also will be reduced if CABS is used. The principle...

The Effect of Objective Room Acoustic Parameters on Auditory Steady-State Responses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zapata Rodriguez, Valentina; M. Harte, James; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2016-01-01

-state responses (ASSR), recorded in a sound field is a promising technology to verify the hearing aid fitting. The test involves the presentation of the auditory stimuli via a loudspeaker, unlike the usual procedure of delivering via insert earphones. Room reverberation clearly may significantly affect...... the features of the stimulus important for eliciting a strong electrophysiological response, and thus complicate its detection. This study investigates the effect of different room acoustic conditions on recorded ASSRs via an auralisation approach using insert earphones. Fifteen normal-hearing listeners were...... tested using narrow-band (NB) CE-Chirps centered at the octave-bands of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 kHz. These stimuli were convolved with impulse responses of three rooms simulated using a Green’s function approach to recreate different sound-field conditions. Comparisons with the unmodified stimuli...

Tutorial on architectural acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Neil; Talaske, Rick; Bistafa, Sylvio

2002-11-01

This tutorial is intended to provide an overview of current knowledge and practice in architectural acoustics. Topics covered will include basic concepts and history, acoustics of small rooms (small rooms for speech such as classrooms and meeting rooms, music studios, small critical listening spaces such as home theatres) and the acoustics of large rooms (larger assembly halls, auditoria, and performance halls).

Experimental Acoustic Evaluation of an Auditorium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Dana Ţopa

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a case history: the acoustical analysis of a rectangular auditorium. The following acoustical parameters were evaluated: early decay time, reverberation time, clarity, definition, and center time. The excitation signal was linear sweep sine and additional analysis was carried out: peak-to-noise ratio, reverberation time for empty and occupied room, standard deviation of acoustical parameters, diffusion, and just noticeable differences analysis. Conclusions about room’s destination and modeling were drawn in the end.

Predicting and auralizing acoustics in classrooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Claus Lynge

2005-01-01

Although classrooms have fairly simple geometries, this type of room is known to cause problems when trying to predict their acoustics using room acoustics computer modeling. Some typical features from a room acoustics point of view are: Parallel walls, low ceilings (the rooms are flat), uneven...

Controlled Acoustic Bass System (CABS) A Method to Achieve Uniform Sound Field Distribution at Low Frequencies in Rectangular Rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Celestinos, Adrian; Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal

2008-01-01

The sound field produced by loudspeakers at low frequencies in small- and medium-size rectangular listening rooms is highly nonuniform due to the multiple reflections and diffractions of sound on the walls and different objects in the room. A new method, called controlled acoustic bass system (CA......-frequency range. CABS has been simulated and measured in two different standard listening rooms with satisfactory results....

A novel method for perceptual assessment of small room acoustics using rapid sensory analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplanis, Neofytos; Bech, Søren; Lokki, Tapio

2016-01-01

presented with auralized sound over a loudspeaker array and followed a rapid sensory analysis protocol. The elicited attributes and ratings are analyzed and possible links to the acoustical properties of these spaces are discussed. [This study is a part of Marie Curie Network on Dereverberation...

Influence of Diffusivity in Room on its Acoustic Response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Šumarac Pavlović

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Diffusivity is a geometrical feature of the room which is proportional to the dimension of relief on its interior surfaces. This paper presents the results of analysis which investigates the correlation between diffusivity in a room and parameters calculated from a recorded impulse response. The analysis was performed using a specially prepared physical model of a parallelepipedic room with different combinations of flat and diffusive interior surfaces.

HOSPITAL SOUNDSCAPE: ACOUSTICS EVALUATION IN NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU ROOM OF A NATIONAL HOSPITAL IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SARWONO R. Sugeng Joko

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Acoustics comfort in a room is one of the most important building physics aspect that should be observed. in public spaces like hospital, especially in an intensive care unit such as NICU. Researches on the acoustic conditions of NICU in Indonesia are still limited. The acoustical study conducted in this research is using objective, subjective, and simulation methods based on soundscape concept with the concern on the nurse’s perception. This research was conducted at a national hospital in Jakarta. According to National Standardization Agency of Indonesia (SNI and World Health Organization (WHO, the suitable sound pressure level (SPL for noise in patient’s room is 35 dBA. From the study, it was found that the equivalent SPL value exceeded the standard. Soundscape in NICU can be improve with the addition of curtain on the incubator’s side, installation of glass partition, and ceiling absorber in the nurse station area. The result of simulation showed that the SPL in the room decreased with average value 8.9 dBA for sound source alarm ventilator and 8.2 dBA for sound source medical officer conversations. And the speech transmission index (STI increased from “bad” to “good” range became “fair” to “excellent” range.

Low frequency sound field control for loudspeakers in rectangular rooms using CABS (Controlled Acoustical Bass System)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal; Celestinos, Adrian

2010-01-01

Rectangular rooms are the most common shape for sound reproduction, but at low frequencies the reflections from the boundaries of the room cause large spatial variations in the sound pressure level.  Variations up to 30 dB are normal, not only at the room modes, but basically at all frequencies....... As sound propagates in time, it seems natural that the problems can best be analyzed and solved in the time domain. A time based room correction system named CABS (Controlled Acoustical Bass System) has been developed for sound reproduction in rectangular listening rooms. It can control the sound...... sound field in the whole room, and short impulse response.  In a standard listening room (180 m3) only 4 loudspeakers are needed, 2 more than a traditional stereo setup. CABS is controlled by a developed DSP system. The time based approached might help with the understanding of sound field control...

Time Delay Estimation in Room Acoustic Environments: An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benesty Jacob

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Time delay estimation has been a research topic of significant practical importance in many fields (radar, sonar, seismology, geophysics, ultrasonics, hands-free communications, etc.. It is a first stage that feeds into subsequent processing blocks for identifying, localizing, and tracking radiating sources. This area has made remarkable advances in the past few decades, and is continuing to progress, with an aim to create processors that are tolerant to both noise and reverberation. This paper presents a systematic overview of the state-of-the-art of time-delay-estimation algorithms ranging from the simple cross-correlation method to the advanced blind channel identification based techniques. We discuss the pros and cons of each individual algorithm, and outline their inherent relationships. We also provide experimental results to illustrate their performance differences in room acoustic environments where reverberation and noise are commonly encountered.

Panel acoustic contribution analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Sean F; Natarajan, Logesh Kumar

2013-02-01

Formulations are derived to analyze the relative panel acoustic contributions of a vibrating structure. The essence of this analysis is to correlate the acoustic power flow from each panel to the radiated acoustic pressure at any field point. The acoustic power is obtained by integrating the normal component of the surface acoustic intensity, which is the product of the surface acoustic pressure and normal surface velocity reconstructed by using the Helmholtz equation least squares based nearfield acoustical holography, over each panel. The significance of this methodology is that it enables one to analyze and rank relative acoustic contributions of individual panels of a complex vibrating structure to acoustic radiation anywhere in the field based on a single set of the acoustic pressures measured in the near field. Moreover, this approach is valid for both interior and exterior regions. Examples of using this method to analyze and rank the relative acoustic contributions of a scaled vehicle cabin are demonstrated.

Consideration of Wall Reflection and Diffraction in the Room Acoustic Prediction Using the Phased Beam Tracing Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2007-01-01

of the applicability of the geometrical methods to mid frequency. Several studies on this method have demonstrated a good possibility to analyze the sound field in an enclosure at mid frequency. In this study, further considerations on wall reflection and diffraction have been investigated. The main suggestions...... of representing the negative real part was discussed. The PBTM result shows a good agreement with the measurement especially in the early part of impulse response and at mid frequency. The new method of ii binaural simulation for the PBTM was suggested. The peculiar feature of frequency domain calculation......The geometrical acoustics methods have been used to simulate the acoustics of rooms at high frequencies whereas the wave based methods have been devoted to calculate the low frequency response. The modified method, so called phased geometrical acoustics technique, was suggested for the extension...

Perceptual effects in auralization of virtual rooms

Science.gov (United States)

Kleiner, Mendel; Larsson, Pontus; Vastfjall, Daniel; Torres, Rendell R.

2002-05-01

By using various types of binaural simulation (or ``auralization'') of physical environments, it is now possible to study basic perceptual issues relevant to room acoustics, as well to simulate the acoustic conditions found in concert halls and other auditoria. Binaural simulation of physical spaces in general is also important to virtual reality systems. This presentation will begin with an overview of the issues encountered in the auralization of room and other environments. We will then discuss the influence of various approximations in room modeling, in particular, edge- and surface scattering, on the perceived room response. Finally, we will discuss cross-modal effects, such as the influence of visual cues on the perception of auditory cues, and the influence of cross-modal effects on the judgement of ``perceived presence'' and the rating of room acoustic quality.

Development and validation of a combined phased acoustical radiosity and image source model for predicting sound fields in rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marbjerg, Gerd Høy; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2015-01-01

A model, combining acoustical radiosity and the image source method, including phase shifts on reflection, has been developed. The model is denoted Phased Acoustical Radiosity and Image Source Method (PARISM), and it has been developed in order to be able to model both specular and diffuse...... radiosity by regarding the model as being stochastic. Three methods of implementation are proposed and investigated, and finally, recommendations are made for their use. Validation of the image source method is done by comparison with finite element simulations of a rectangular room with a porous absorber...

Speaker comfort and increase of voice level in lecture rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunskog, Jonas; Gade, Anders Christian; Bellester, G P

2008-01-01

Teachers often suffer health problems or tension related to their voice. These problems may be related to there working environment, including room acoustics of the lecture rooms which forces them to stress their voices. The present paper describes a first effort in finding relationships between...... were also measured in the rooms and subjective impressions from about 20 persons who had experience talking in these rooms were collected as well. Analysis of the data revealed significant differences in the sound power produced by the speaker in the different rooms. It was also found...

Binaural room simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Lehnert, H.; Blauert, Jens; Pompetzki, W.

1991-01-01

In every-day listening the auditory event perceived by a listener is determined not only by the sound signal that a sound emits but also by a variety of environmental parameters. These parameters are the position, orientation and directional characteristics of the sound source, the listener's position and orientation, the geometrical and acoustical properties of surfaces which affect the sound field and the sound propagation properties of the surrounding fluid. A complete set of these parameters can be called an Acoustic Environment. If the auditory event perceived by a listener is manipulated in such a way that the listener is shifted acoustically into a different acoustic environment without moving himself physically, a Virtual Acoustic Environment has been created. Here, we deal with a special technique to set up nearly arbitrary Virtual Acoustic Environments, the Binaural Room Simulation. The purpose of the Binaural Room Simulation is to compute the binaural impulse response related to a virtual acoustic environment taking into account all parameters mentioned above. One possible way to describe a Virtual Acoustic Environment is the concept of the virtual sound sources. Each of the virtual sources emits a certain signal which is correlated but not necessarily identical with the signal emitted by the direct sound source. If source and receiver are non moving, the acoustic environment becomes a linear time-invariant system. Then, the Binaural Impulse Response from the source to a listener' s eardrums contains all relevant auditory information related to the Virtual Acoustic Environment. Listening into the simulated environment can easily be achieved by convolving the Binaural Impulse Response with dry signals and representing the results via headphones.

Acoustic analysis of a piping system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misra, A.S.; Vijay, D.K.

1996-01-01

Acoustic pulsations in the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, a 881 MW CANDU, primary heat transport piping system caused fuel bundle failures under short term operations. The problem was successfully analyzed using the steady-state acoustic analysis capability of the ABAQUS program. This paper describes in general, modelling of low amplitude acoustic pulsations in a liquid filled piping system using ABAQUS. The paper gives techniques for estimating the acoustic medium properties--bulk modulus, fluid density and acoustic damping--and modelling fluid-structure interactions at orifices and elbows. The formulations and techniques developed are benchmarked against the experiments given in 3 cited references. The benchmark analysis shows that the ABAQUS results are in excellent agreement with the experiments

Tipping point analysis of ocean acoustic noise

Science.gov (United States)

Livina, Valerie N.; Brouwer, Albert; Harris, Peter; Wang, Lian; Sotirakopoulos, Kostas; Robinson, Stephen

2018-02-01

We apply tipping point analysis to a large record of ocean acoustic data to identify the main components of the acoustic dynamical system and study possible bifurcations and transitions of the system. The analysis is based on a statistical physics framework with stochastic modelling, where we represent the observed data as a composition of deterministic and stochastic components estimated from the data using time-series techniques. We analyse long-term and seasonal trends, system states and acoustic fluctuations to reconstruct a one-dimensional stochastic equation to approximate the acoustic dynamical system. We apply potential analysis to acoustic fluctuations and detect several changes in the system states in the past 14 years. These are most likely caused by climatic phenomena. We analyse trends in sound pressure level within different frequency bands and hypothesize a possible anthropogenic impact on the acoustic environment. The tipping point analysis framework provides insight into the structure of the acoustic data and helps identify its dynamic phenomena, correctly reproducing the probability distribution and scaling properties (power-law correlations) of the time series.

Tipping point analysis of ocean acoustic noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. N. Livina

2018-02-01

Full Text Available We apply tipping point analysis to a large record of ocean acoustic data to identify the main components of the acoustic dynamical system and study possible bifurcations and transitions of the system. The analysis is based on a statistical physics framework with stochastic modelling, where we represent the observed data as a composition of deterministic and stochastic components estimated from the data using time-series techniques. We analyse long-term and seasonal trends, system states and acoustic fluctuations to reconstruct a one-dimensional stochastic equation to approximate the acoustic dynamical system. We apply potential analysis to acoustic fluctuations and detect several changes in the system states in the past 14 years. These are most likely caused by climatic phenomena. We analyse trends in sound pressure level within different frequency bands and hypothesize a possible anthropogenic impact on the acoustic environment. The tipping point analysis framework provides insight into the structure of the acoustic data and helps identify its dynamic phenomena, correctly reproducing the probability distribution and scaling properties (power-law correlations of the time series.

Acoustics an introduction

CERN Document Server

Kuttruff, Heinrich

2006-01-01

This definitive textbook provides students with a comprehensive introduction to acoustics. Beginning with the basic physical ideas, Acoustics balances the fundamentals with engineering aspects, applications and electroacoustics, also covering music, speech and the properties of human hearing. The concepts of acoustics are exposed and applied in:room acousticssound insulation in buildingsnoise controlunderwater sound and ultrasoundScientifically thorough, but with mathematics kept to a minimum, Acoustics is the perfect introduction to acoustics for students at any level of mechanical, electrical or civil engineering courses and an accessible resource for architects, musicians or sound engineers requiring a technical understanding of acoustics and their applications.

Numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response for watermelon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yong Sul; Yang, Dong Hoon; Choi, Young Jae; Bae, Tas Joo; So, Chul Ho; Lee, Yun Ho

2002-01-01

In this study, we conducted both analysis on impact pulse signal and acoustic impulse response method using numerical analysistic finite element method. Considering its velocity, density, Young's Modulus, and Poisson's Ratio, we extracted featured parameters and compared both results of analysis on impact pulse signal and numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response then we found the feature of generated acoustic sound signal by way of numerical analysis varying featured parameters and consequently intended to extract feature indices influenced on its internal maturity through analysis of acoustic impulse response. As we analyzed impact pulse signal and extracted featured parameters concerned with evaluation of its ripeness, we found the plausibility of progress on nondestructive evaluation of ripeness and adoption of numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response.

Numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response for watermelon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yong Sul; Yang, Dong Hoon; Choi, Young Jae; Bae, Tas Joo; So, Chul Ho [Dongshin University, Naju (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Yun Ho [Korea Inspection and Engineering CO.,LTD., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2002-11-15

In this study, we conducted both analysis on impact pulse signal and acoustic impulse response method using numerical analysistic finite element method. Considering its velocity, density, Young's Modulus, and Poisson's Ratio, we extracted featured parameters and compared both results of analysis on impact pulse signal and numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response then we found the feature of generated acoustic sound signal by way of numerical analysis varying featured parameters and consequently intended to extract feature indices influenced on its internal maturity through analysis of acoustic impulse response. As we analyzed impact pulse signal and extracted featured parameters concerned with evaluation of its ripeness, we found the plausibility of progress on nondestructive evaluation of ripeness and adoption of numerical analysis on acoustic impulse response.

Vibro-acoustic analysis of composite plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarigül, A S; Karagözlü, E

2014-01-01

Vibro-acoustic analysis plays a vital role on the design of aircrafts, spacecrafts, land vehicles and ships produced from thin plates backed by closed cavities, with regard to human health and living comfort. For this type of structures, it is required a coupled solution that takes into account structural-acoustic interaction which is crucial for sensitive solutions. In this study, coupled vibro-acoustic analyses of plates produced from composite materials have been performed by using finite element analysis software. The study has been carried out for E-glass/Epoxy, Kevlar/Epoxy and Carbon/Epoxy plates with different ply angles and numbers of ply. The effects of composite material, ply orientation and number of layer on coupled vibro-acoustic characteristics of plates have been analysed for various combinations. The analysis results have been statistically examined and assessed

Vibro-acoustic analysis of composite plates

Science.gov (United States)

Sarigül, A. S.; Karagözlü, E.

2014-03-01

Vibro-acoustic analysis plays a vital role on the design of aircrafts, spacecrafts, land vehicles and ships produced from thin plates backed by closed cavities, with regard to human health and living comfort. For this type of structures, it is required a coupled solution that takes into account structural-acoustic interaction which is crucial for sensitive solutions. In this study, coupled vibro-acoustic analyses of plates produced from composite materials have been performed by using finite element analysis software. The study has been carried out for E-glass/Epoxy, Kevlar/Epoxy and Carbon/Epoxy plates with different ply angles and numbers of ply. The effects of composite material, ply orientation and number of layer on coupled vibro-acoustic characteristics of plates have been analysed for various combinations. The analysis results have been statistically examined and assessed.

Virtual reflections in electronic acoustic architecture

Science.gov (United States)

van Munster, Bjorn

2005-09-01

In the era of the ancient Greeks and Byzantines, the first attempts for increasing reverberation time are noted. In the 1950s, the Ambiophonic system accomplished this by means of an electronic device, for the first time. The early systems only increased the reverberation time by delaying the picked-up reverberation. With the introduction of multichannel feedback-based systems, the reverberation level also could be increased. Later, it was understood that it was important to also fill in the missing reflections, address reflection density, frequency dependence, etc. This resulted in the development of the SIAP concept. Current DSP technology led to the development of a processor whereby density, length, level, and the frequency content can be controlled for different areas in the same room or different rooms, leading to the concept of the acoustic server. electronic acoustic architecture has become the current state-of-the-art approach for solving acoustic deficiencies in, among others, rehearsal rooms, theaters, churches, and multipurpose venues. Incorporation of complementary passive acoustic solutions provides an optimum solution for all room problems. This paper discusses the utilization of virtual reflections in the new approach of electronic acoustic architecture for different environments. Measurements performed in the Sejong Performing Arts Centre, Seoul, South Korea, show the power of this approach.

Assessment of reverberation time by two measurement systems for room electromagnetics analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bamba, Aliou; Joseph, Wout; Plets, David

2011-01-01

A closed room environment is viewed as a lossy cavity, characterized by possibly a line of sight (LOS) component and diffuse scattering parts from walls and internal obstacles. A theory used in acoustics and reverberation chambers is applied for the electromagnetics case, and main issues related...

Subjective rating and objective evaluation of the acoustic and indoor climate conditions in video conferencing rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauervig-Jørgensen, Charlotte; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Toftum, Jørn

2017-01-01

Today, face-to-face meetings are frequently replaced by video conferences in order to reduce costs and carbon footprint related to travels and to increase the company efficiency. Yet, complaints about the difficulty of understanding the speech of the participants in both rooms of the video...... conference occur. The aim of this study is to find out the main causes of difficulties in speech communication. Correlation studies between subjective perceptions were conducted through questionnaires and objective acoustic and indoor climate parameters related to video conferencing. Based on four single...

Experimental and numerical comparison of absorption optimization in small rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wincentz, Jakob Nygård; Garcia, Julian Martinez-Villalba; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2016-01-01

the Schroeder frequency. This project investigates experimentally changes in the room acoustic parameters by altering the positioning and orientation of porous materials in a small room, which are compared with finite element method (FEM) simulations. FEM is able to take into account the exact room geometry......, boundary conditions, and phase information providing accuracy at low frequencies. Good agreements are found between measurements and simulations, confirming that FEM can be used as a design tool for optimizing absorption and acoustic parameters in small rooms...

A consideration on physical tuning for acoustical coloration in recording studio

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Yasushi

2003-04-01

Coloration due to particular architectural shapes and dimension or less surface absorption has been mentioned as an acoustical defect in recording studio. Generally interference among early reflected sounds arriving within 10 ms in delay after the direct sound produces coloration by comb filter effect over mid- and high-frequency sounds. In addition, less absorbed room resonance modes also have been well known as a major component for coloration in low-frequency sounds. Small size in dimension with recording studio, however, creates difficulty in characterization associated with wave acoustics behavior, that make acoustical optimization more difficult than that of concert hall acoustics. There still remains difficulty in evaluating amount of coloration as well as predicting its acoustical characteristics in acoustical modeling and in other words acoustical tuning technique during construction is regarded as important to optimize acoustics appropriately to the function of recording studio. This paper presents a example of coloration by comb filtering effect and less damped room modes in typical post-processing recording studio. And acoustical design and measurement technique will be presented for adjusting timbre due to coloration based on psycho-acoustical performance with binaural hearing and room resonance control with line array resonator adjusted to the particular room modes considered.

Materials of acoustic analysis: sustained vowel versus sentence.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Kyung Ray; Chung, Sung Min; Park, Hae Sang; Kim, Han Su

2012-09-01

Sustained vowel is a widely used material of acoustic analysis. However, vowel phonation does not sufficiently demonstrate sentence-based real-life phonation, and biases may occur depending on the test subjects intent during pronunciation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between the results of acoustic analysis using each material. An individual prospective study. Two hundred two individuals (87 men and 115 women) with normal findings in videostroboscopy were enrolled. Acoustic analysis was done using the speech pattern element acquisition and display program. Fundamental frequency (Fx), amplitude (Ax), contact quotient (Qx), jitter, and shimmer were measured with sustained vowel-based acoustic analysis. Average fundamental frequency (FxM), average amplitude (AxM), average contact quotient (QxM), Fx perturbation (CFx), and amplitude perturbation (CAx) were measured with sentence-based acoustic analysis. Corresponding data of the two methods were compared with each other. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 12.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL) software was used for statistical analysis. FxM was higher than Fx in men (Fx, 124.45 Hz; FxM, 133.09 Hz; P=0.000). In women, FxM seemed to be lower than Fx, but the results were not statistically significant (Fx, 210.58 Hz; FxM, 208.34 Hz; P=0.065). There was no statistical significance between Ax and AxM in both the groups. QxM was higher than Qx in men and women. Jitter was lower in men, but CFx was lower in women. Both Shimmer and CAx were higher in men. Sustained vowel phonation could not be a complete substitute for real-time phonation in acoustic analysis. Characteristics of acoustic materials should be considered when choosing the material for acoustic analysis and interpreting the results. Copyright © 2012 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Prediction of room acoustical parameters (A)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gade, Anders Christian

1991-01-01

-averaged acoustical data. The results are presented in the form of linear, multiple regression formulas that may be used to predict the values of the newer measures of level, clarity, spaciousness, and musicians' conditions on the orchestra platform in halls with given RT and geometry....

Room acoustic transition time based on reflection overlap

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Brunskog, Jonas; Jacobsen, Finn

2010-01-01

A transition time is defined based on the temporal overlap of reflected pulses in room impulse responses. Assuming specular reflections only, the temporal distance between adjacent reflections, which is proportional to the volume of a room, is compared with the characteristic width of a pulse at ...... in a room with nonuniform absorption and furniture than in a room that satisfies the underlying assumptions....

Room acoustic transition time based on reflection overlap

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Brunskog, Jonas; Jacobsen, Finn

2013-01-01

A transition time is defined based on the temporal overlap of reflected pulses in room impulse responses. Assuming specular reflections only, the temporal distance between adjacent reflections, which is proportional to the volume of a room, is compared with the characteristic width of a pulse at ...... in a room with nonuniform absorption and furniture than in a room that satisfies the underlying assumptions....

Auralization of airborne sound insulation including the influence of source room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rindel, Jens Holger

2006-01-01

The paper describes a simple and acoustically accurate method for the auralization of airborne sound insulation between two rooms by means of a room acoustic simulation software (ODEON). The method makes use of a frequency independent transparency of the transmitting surface combined...... with a frequency dependent power setting of the source in the source room. The acoustic properties in terms of volume and reverberation time as well as the area of the transmitting surface are all included in the simulation. The user only has to select the position of the source in the source room and the receiver...... of the transmitting surface is used for the simulation of sound transmission. Also the reduced clarity of the auralization due to the reverberance of the source room is inherent in the method. Currently the method is restricted to transmission loss data in octave bands....

Examination of the Measurement of Absorption Using the Reverberant Room Method for Highly Absorptive Acoustic Foam

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, William O.; McNelis, Anne M.; Chris Nottoli; Eric Wolfram

2015-01-01

The absorption coefficient for material specimens are needed to quantify the expected acoustic performance of that material in its actual usage and environment. The ASTM C423-09a standard, "Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption and Sound Absorption Coefficients by the Reverberant Room Method" is often used to measure the absorption coefficient of material test specimens. This method has its basics in the Sabine formula. Although widely used, the interpretation of these measurements are a topic of interest. For example, in certain cases the measured Sabine absorption coefficients are greater than 1.0 for highly absorptive materials. This is often attributed to the diffraction edge effect phenomenon. An investigative test program to measure the absorption properties of highly absorbent melamine foam has been performed at the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories. This paper will present and discuss the test results relating to the effect of the test materials' surface area, thickness and edge sealing conditions. A follow-on paper is envisioned that will present and discuss the results relating to the spacing between multiple piece specimens, and the mounting condition of the test specimen.

Evaluation of Sound Quality, Boominess and Boxiness in Small Rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weisser, Adam; Rindel, Jens Holger

2006-01-01

ratings. The classical bass ratio definitions showed poor correlation with all subjective ratings. The overall sound quality ratings gave different results for speech and music. For speech the preferred mean RT should be as low as possible, whereas for music there was found a preferred range between 0......The acoustics of small rooms has been studied with emphasis on sound quality, boominess and boxiness when the rooms are used for speech or music. Seven rooms with very different characteristics have been used for the study. Subjective listening tests were made using binaural recordings...... of reproduced speech and music. The test results were compared with a large number of objective acoustic parameters based on the frequency-dependent reverberation times measured in the rooms. This has led to the proposal of three new acoustic parameters, which have shown high correlation with the subjective...

The influence of the directivity of musical instruments in a room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otondo, Felipe; Rindel, Jens Holger

2004-01-01

Measurements of the directivity of musical instruments are presented as part of the study of the influence of their representation in room acoustic simulations and auralizations. Pairs of measured and averaged directivities have been used both for room simulation comparisons and as a basis...... for listening experiments with auralizations. Room simulation results show a clear influence of the changes in the representation directivity on the distribution of acoustical parameters in the room. The results of the listening experiments with auralizations show that some changes produced by directivity...

Criteria of choosing building structures for rooftop boiler rooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plotnikov Artyom

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates parameters of noise and vibration distribution in the territory of residential area depending on the structural materials and power of independent heat supply systems. Rooftop boiler rooms are decentralized heat supply systems in buildings. Today, residential areas are strongly affected by noise and vibrations. Adverse effects are isolated by buildings materials, protective shields and floating floors. Rooftop boiler rooms located in Tyumen city were investigated within this research. Structures of rooftop boiler rooms were analyzed. Acoustic analysis results and the parameters of equivalent continuous sound level are presented. An option for improvement of rooftop boiler rooms structures is suggested. Comparison of capital investments in construction and installation activities is carried out. Conclusion on capital investments required for noise protection is made.

Challenges and solutions for realistic room simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Begault, Durand R.

2002-05-01

Virtual room acoustic simulation (auralization) techniques have traditionally focused on answering questions related to speech intelligibility or musical quality, typically in large volumetric spaces. More recently, auralization techniques have been found to be important for the externalization of headphone-reproduced virtual acoustic images. Although externalization can be accomplished using a minimal simulation, data indicate that realistic auralizations need to be responsive to head motion cues for accurate localization. Computational demands increase when providing for the simulation of coupled spaces, small rooms lacking meaningful reverberant decays, or reflective surfaces in outdoor environments. Auditory threshold data for both early reflections and late reverberant energy levels indicate that much of the information captured in acoustical measurements is inaudible, minimizing the intensive computational requirements of real-time auralization systems. Results are presented for early reflection thresholds as a function of azimuth angle, arrival time, and sound-source type, and reverberation thresholds as a function of reverberation time and level within 250-Hz-2-kHz octave bands. Good agreement is found between data obtained in virtual room simulations and those obtained in real rooms, allowing a strategy for minimizing computational requirements of real-time auralization systems.

Response Analysis Of Payload Fairing Due To Acoustic Excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annu Cherian

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract During flight missions launch vehicles are subjected to a severe dynamic pressure loading aero-acoustic and structure-borne excitations of various circumstances which can endanger the survivability of the payload and the vehicles electronic equipment and consequently the success of the mission. The purpose of the fairing is to protect the satellite from damage during launch until deployment in space. Both the structural and acoustic loads are significant during the first few minutes of a launch and have the potential to damage the payload. This paper describes the analysis of mechanical structure and the inner acoustic cavity of the payload fairing subjected to acoustic field. The vibro-acoustic behaviour of the fairing is analyzed using Statistical Energy Analysis SEA Model. The software VA One is used for the statistical energy analysis of launch vehicle payload fairing due to acoustic excitation.

Estimating surface acoustic impedance with the inverse method.

Science.gov (United States)

Piechowicz, Janusz

2011-01-01

Sound field parameters are predicted with numerical methods in sound control systems, in acoustic designs of building and in sound field simulations. Those methods define the acoustic properties of surfaces, such as sound absorption coefficients or acoustic impedance, to determine boundary conditions. Several in situ measurement techniques were developed; one of them uses 2 microphones to measure direct and reflected sound over a planar test surface. Another approach is used in the inverse boundary elements method, in which estimating acoustic impedance of a surface is expressed as an inverse boundary problem. The boundary values can be found from multipoint sound pressure measurements in the interior of a room. This method can be applied to arbitrarily-shaped surfaces. This investigation is part of a research programme on using inverse methods in industrial room acoustics.

Fast rendering of scanned room geometries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Søren Krarup; Markovic, Milos; Hammershøi, Dorte

2014-01-01

Room acoustics are rendered in Virtual Realities based on models of the real world. These are typically rather coarse representations of the true geometry resulting in room impulse responses with a lack of natural detail. This problem can be overcome by using data scanned by sensors, such as e...

Validity and reliability of acoustic analysis of respiratory sounds in infants

Science.gov (United States)

Elphick, H; Lancaster, G; Solis, A; Majumdar, A; Gupta, R; Smyth, R

2004-01-01

Objective: To investigate the validity and reliability of computerised acoustic analysis in the detection of abnormal respiratory noises in infants. Methods: Blinded, prospective comparison of acoustic analysis with stethoscope examination. Validity and reliability of acoustic analysis were assessed by calculating the degree of observer agreement using the κ statistic with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: 102 infants under 18 months were recruited. Convergent validity for agreement between stethoscope examination and acoustic analysis was poor for wheeze (κ = 0.07 (95% CI, –0.13 to 0.26)) and rattles (κ = 0.11 (–0.05 to 0.27)) and fair for crackles (κ = 0.36 (0.18 to 0.54)). Both the stethoscope and acoustic analysis distinguished well between sounds (discriminant validity). Agreement between observers for the presence of wheeze was poor for both stethoscope examination and acoustic analysis. Agreement for rattles was moderate for the stethoscope but poor for acoustic analysis. Agreement for crackles was moderate using both techniques. Within-observer reliability for all sounds using acoustic analysis was moderate to good. Conclusions: The stethoscope is unreliable for assessing respiratory sounds in infants. This has important implications for its use as a diagnostic tool for lung disorders in infants, and confirms that it cannot be used as a gold standard. Because of the unreliability of the stethoscope, the validity of acoustic analysis could not be demonstrated, although it could discriminate between sounds well and showed good within-observer reliability. For acoustic analysis, targeted training and the development of computerised pattern recognition systems may improve reliability so that it can be used in clinical practice. PMID:15499065

Baffling or Baffled: Improve Your Acoustics.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdoo, Frank B.

1981-01-01

Presents techniques for evaluating the acoustics (reverberation time, and standing waves and resonance phenomena) of a band performance room. Gives instructions for building and placing inexpensive baffles (free-standing, portable sound barriers) to correct room defects. (SJL)

Integrating acoustic analysis in the architectural design process using parametric modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peters, Brady

2011-01-01

This paper discusses how parametric modeling techniques can be used to provide architectural designers with a better understanding of the acoustic performance of their designs and provide acoustic engineers with models that can be analyzed using computational acoustic analysis software. Architects......, acoustic performance can inform the geometry and material logic of the design. In this way, the architectural design and the acoustic analysis model become linked....

Acoustic design by topology optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dühring, Maria Bayard; Jensen, Jakob Søndergaard; Sigmund, Ole

2008-01-01

To bring down noise levels in human surroundings is an important issue and a method to reduce noise by means of topology optimization is presented here. The acoustic field is modeled by Helmholtz equation and the topology optimization method is based on continuous material interpolation functions...... in the density and bulk modulus. The objective function is the squared sound pressure amplitude. First, room acoustic problems are considered and it is shown that the sound level can be reduced in a certain part of the room by an optimized distribution of reflecting material in a design domain along the ceiling...

Objective approach for analysis of noise source characteristics and acoustic conditions in noisy computerized embroidery workrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Aliabadi, Mohsen; Golmohammadi, Rostam; Mansoorizadeh, Muharram

2014-03-01

It is highly important to analyze the acoustic properties of workrooms in order to identify best noise control measures from the standpoint of noise exposure limits. Due to the fact that sound pressure is dependent upon environments, it cannot be a suitable parameter for determining the share of workroom acoustic characteristics in producing noise pollution. This paper aims to empirically analyze noise source characteristics and acoustic properties of noisy embroidery workrooms based on special parameters. In this regard, reverberation time as the special room acoustic parameter in 30 workrooms was measured based on ISO 3382-2. Sound power quantity of embroidery machines was also determined based on ISO 9614-3. Multiple linear regression was employed for predicting reverberation time based on acoustic features of the workrooms using MATLAB software. The results showed that the measured reverberation times in most of the workrooms were approximately within the ranges recommended by ISO 11690-1. Similarity between reverberation time values calculated by the Sabine formula and measured values was relatively poor (R (2) = 0.39). This can be due to the inaccurate estimation of the acoustic influence of furniture and formula preconditions. Therefore, this value cannot be considered representative of an actual acoustic room. However, the prediction performance of the regression method with root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.23 s and R (2) = 0.69 is relatively acceptable. Because the sound power of the embroidery machines was relatively high, these sources get the highest priority when it comes to applying noise controls. Finally, an objective approach for the determination of the share of workroom acoustic characteristics in producing noise could facilitate the identification of cost-effective noise controls.

Exposure and materiality of the secondary room and its impact on the impulse response of coupled-volume concert halls

Science.gov (United States)

Ermann, Michael; Johnson, Marty

2005-06-01

How does sound decay when one room is partially exposed to another (acoustically coupled)? More specifically, this research aims to quantify how operational and design decisions impact sound fields in the design of concert halls with acoustical coupling. By adding a second room to a concert hall, and designing doors to control the sonic transparency between the two rooms, designers can create a new, coupled acoustic. Concert halls use coupling to achieve a variable, longer, and distinct reverberant quality for their musicians and listeners. For this study a coupled-volume shoebox concert hall is conceived with a fixed geometric volume, form, and primary-room sound absorption. Aperture size and secondary-room sound absorption levels are established as variables. Statistical analysis of sound decay in this simulated hall suggests a highly sensitive relationship between the double-sloped condition and (1) architectural composition, as defined by the aperture size exposing the chamber and (2) materiality, as defined by the sound absorptance in the coupled volume. The theoretical, mathematical predictions are compared with coupled-volume concert hall field measurements and guidelines are suggested for future designs of coupled-volume concert halls.

Topology optimization applied to room acoustic problems and surface acoustic wave devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dühring, Maria Bayard; Sigmund, Ole; Jensen, Jakob Søndergaard

can be minimized either by distribution of reflecting material in a design domain along the ceiling or by distribution of absorbing and reflecting material along all the walls for both 2D and 3D problems. It is also shown how the method can be used to design sound barriers. The main part...... in order to optimize more complicated SAW structures such as acoustic horns which focus the SAWs to a small area. [1] M. P. Bendsøe, O. Sigmund, “Topology optimization, theory, methods and applications”, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2nd edition, (2003). ISBN 3-540-42992-1. [2] J. S. Jensen......, Berlin, (2000). ISBN 3-540-67232-X. [5] M. M. de Lima Jr and P. V. Santos, “Modulation of photonic structures by surface acoustic waves”, Rep. Prog. Phys., 68 1639-1701 (2005)...

Handbook of Engineering Acoustics

CERN Document Server

Möser, Michael

2013-01-01

This book examines the physical background of engineering acoustics, focusing on empirically obtained engineering experience as well as on measurement techniques and engineering methods for prognostics. Its goal is not only to describe the state of art of engineering acoustics but also to give practical help to engineers in order to solve acoustic problems. It deals with the origin, the transmission and the methods of the abating different kinds of air-borne and structure-borne sounds caused by various mechanisms – from traffic to machinery and flow-induced sound. In addition the modern aspects of room and building acoustics, as well as psychoacoustics and active noise control, are covered.

Auralisations with loudspeaker arrays from a phased combination of the image source method and acoustical radiosity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marbjerg, Gerd Høy

2017-01-01

In order to create a simulation tool that is well-suited for small rooms with low diffusion and highly absorbing ceilings, a new room acoustic simulation tool has been developed that combines a phased version of the image source with acoustical radiosity and that considers the angle dependence...... impulse response, because more directional information is available with acoustical radiosity. Small rooms with absorbing surfaces are tested, because this is the room type that PARISM is particularly useful for....

A survey of acoustic conditions and noise levels in secondary school classrooms in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Shield, Bridget; Conetta, Robert; Dockrell, Julie; Connolly, Daniel; Cox, Trevor; Mydlarz, Charles

2015-01-01

An acoustic survey of secondary schools in England has been undertaken. Room acoustic parameters and background noise levels were measured in 185 unoccupied spaces in 13 schools to provide information on the typical acoustic environment of secondary schools. The unoccupied acoustic and noise data were correlated with various physical characteristics of the spaces. Room height and the amount of glazing were related to the unoccupied reverberation time and therefore need to be controlled to reduce reverberation to suitable levels for teaching and learning. Further analysis of the unoccupied data showed that the introduction of legislation relating to school acoustics in England and Wales in 2003 approximately doubled the number of school spaces complying with current standards. Noise levels were also measured during 274 lessons to examine typical levels generated during teaching activities in secondary schools and to investigate the influence of acoustic design on working noise levels in the classroom. Comparison of unoccupied and occupied data showed that unoccupied acoustic conditions affect the noise levels occurring during lessons. They were also related to the time spent in disruption to the lessons (e.g., students talking or shouting) and so may also have an impact upon student behavior in the classroom.

Experimental and numerical comparison of absorption optimization in small rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wincentz, Jakob Nygård; Garcia, Julian Martinez-Villalba; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2016-01-01

A vast majority of modern music is recorded and produced in small control room environments of volumes of around 50 m3 . Several problems occur when controlling the room acoustics of such small spaces. First, the room modes will produce strong peaks and dips particularly at lower frequencies......, and even in the sweet spot position the listening experience can be easily deteriorated. Second, when designing or refurbishing small rooms it is hard to adequately predict the reverberation time by using Sabine’s formula due to highly non-diffuse conditions and using a statistical approach below......, boundary conditions, and phase information providing accuracy at low frequencies. Good agreements are found between measurements and simulations, confirming that FEM can be used as a design tool for optimizing absorption and acoustic parameters in small rooms...

Auralizations with loudspeaker arrays from a phased combination of the image source method and acoustical radiosity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marbjerg, Gerd Høy; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2017-01-01

In order to create a simulation tool that is well-suited for small rooms with low diffusion and highly absorbing ceilings, a new room acoustic simulation tool has been developed that combines a phased version of the image source with acoustical radiosity and that considers the angle dependence...... of the PARISM impulse response, because more directional information is available with acoustical radiosity. Small rooms with absorbing surfaces are tested, because this is the room type that PARISM is particularly useful for....

Odeon, a design tool for auditorium acoustics, noise control and loudspeaker systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Claus Lynge

2001-01-01

The ODEON software was originally developed for prediction of auditorium acoustics. However current editions of the software are not limited to these fields, but also allow prediction in rooms such as churches and mosques, interior noise control, design of room acoustics and sound distribution...

Development and validation of a combined phased acoustical radiosity and image source model for predicting sound fields in rooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Marbjerg, Gerd; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Nilsson, Erling

2015-09-01

A model, combining acoustical radiosity and the image source method, including phase shifts on reflection, has been developed. The model is denoted Phased Acoustical Radiosity and Image Source Method (PARISM), and it has been developed in order to be able to model both specular and diffuse reflections with complex-valued and angle-dependent boundary conditions. This paper mainly describes the combination of the two models and the implementation of the angle-dependent boundary conditions. It furthermore describes how a pressure impulse response is obtained from the energy-based acoustical radiosity by regarding the model as being stochastic. Three methods of implementation are proposed and investigated, and finally, recommendations are made for their use. Validation of the image source method is done by comparison with finite element simulations of a rectangular room with a porous absorber ceiling. Results from the full model are compared with results from other simulation tools and with measurements. The comparisons of the full model are done for real-valued and angle-independent surface properties. The proposed model agrees well with both the measured results and the alternative theories, and furthermore shows a more realistic spatial variation than energy-based methods due to the fact that interference is considered.

Acoustics of a Music Venue/Bar—A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramani Ramakrishnan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available A vacant unit, once used by a Portuguese Deli, was converted to a bar/music room in Toronto. The unit was divided into two spaces along its north-south axis. The western portion was designed as a music room that would provide a performance space from a solo artist to a Jazz combo to a small rock band. The eastern part was designed as a regular bar/dining area. The plan also called for a microbrewery unit at the back of the unit. The bar music can be loud, while the music room can be pianissimo to forte depending on the type of performance. The acoustical design aspects are critical for the music room. In addition, the acoustical separation between the two spaces is equally important. The music room/bar is currently in use. The design results are compared to actual field measurements. The results showed that the music venue performed satisfactorily. The acoustical separation between the music venue and the bar/restaurant was better than expected other than an installation deficiency of the south side sound lock doors. The background sound along the northern portion was NC-35 or less. However, the southern portion’s background sound exceeded NC-35 due to the hissing of the return air grille. The acoustical design and the performance results of the music venue-bar/restaurant are presented in this paper.

Acoustic conditions in open plan offices – Pilot test results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Witold Mikulski

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The main source of noise in open plan office are conversations. Office work standards in such premises are attained by applying specific acoustic adaptation. This article presents the results of pilot tests and acoustic evaluation of open space rooms. Material and Methods: Acoustic properties of 6 open plan office rooms were the subject of the tests. Evaluation parameters, measurement methods and criterial values were adopted according to the following standards: PN-EN ISO 3382- 3:2012, PN-EN ISO 3382-2:2010, PN-B-02151-4:2015-06 and PN-B-02151-3:2015-10. Results: The reverberation time was 0.33– 0.55 s (maximum permissible value in offices – 0.6 s; the criterion was met, sound absorption coefficient in relation to 1 m2 of the room’s plan was 0.77–1.58 m2 (minimum permissible value – 1.1 m2; 2 out of 6 rooms met the criterion, distraction distance was 8.5–14 m (maximum permissible value – 5 m; none of the rooms met the criterion, A-weighted sound pressure level of speech at a distance of 4 m was 43.8–54.7 dB (maximum permissible value – 48 dB; 2 out of 6 rooms met the criterion, spatial decay rate of the speech was 1.8–6.3 dB (minimum permissible value – 7 dB; none of the rooms met the criterion. Conclusions: Standard acoustic treatment, containing sound absorbing suspended ceiling, sound absorbing materials on the walls, carpet flooring and sound absorbing workplace barriers, is not sufficient. These rooms require specific advanced acoustic solutions. Med Pr 2016;67(5:653–662

Classroom acoustics in public schools: A case study

Science.gov (United States)

Loro, Carmen P.; Zannin, Paulo T.

2004-05-01

The acoustic quality of a standard classroom (Standard 23) of the public school system in the city of Curitiba has been evaluated. This standard has a central circulation aisle with two classrooms in each side. Each room has windows to the outside and to the internal aisle. Additionally, the aisle has a 6-m-high zenithal skylight, together composing the building's main lighting and ventilation system. But, Standard 23 lacks acoustic quality of the classrooms. In order to assay this, measurements have been performed under several conditions, using the Building Acoustics System of Bruel & Kjaer. The measured reverberation time (RT) of the four classrooms for a frequency of 500 Hz was: 1.65 s (empty classroom), 1.15 s (20 students in the room), and 0.76 s (40 students). According to WHO recommendations, the ideal RT in classrooms should be around 0.6 s. DIN 18041 establishes an RT between 0.8 and 1.0 s, to allow for adequate intelligibility. Background noise in an empty room was 63.3 dB (A), above the limit established by the Brazilian standard of acoustic comfort: 40 dB (A). The reaction of students and teachers has indicated that the main source of acoustic discomfort is the noise generated by the neighboring classrooms.

Some Sound Advice or a Short Course in School Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

McCandless, David

1977-01-01

The two major areas of acoustical problems are room acoustics and noise control. Some parameters of these areas are identified to illustrate that the best acoustical solutions occur in comprehensive planning at the very beginning of a project. (Author/MLF)

Spin Seebeck effect and ballistic transport of quasi-acoustic magnons in room-temperature yttrium iron garnet films

Science.gov (United States)

Noack, Timo B.; Musiienko-Shmarova, Halyna Yu; Langner, Thomas; Heussner, Frank; Lauer, Viktor; Heinz, Björn; Bozhko, Dmytro A.; Vasyuchka, Vitaliy I.; Pomyalov, Anna; L’vov, Victor S.; Hillebrands, Burkard; Serga, Alexander A.

2018-06-01

We studied the transient behavior of the spin current generated by the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE) in a set of platinum-coated yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films of different thicknesses. The LSSE was induced by means of pulsed microwave heating of the Pt layer and the spin currents were measured electrically using the inverse spin Hall effect in the same layer. We demonstrate that the time evolution of the LSSE is determined by the evolution of the thermal gradient triggering the flux of thermal magnons in the vicinity of the YIG/Pt interface. These magnons move ballistically within the YIG film with a constant group velocity, while their number decays exponentially within an effective propagation length. The ballistic flight of the magnons with energies above 20 K is a result of their almost linear dispersion law, similar to that of acoustic phonons. By fitting the time-dependent LSSE signal for different film thicknesses varying by almost an order of magnitude, we found that the effective propagation length is practically independent of the YIG film thickness. We consider this fact as strong support of a ballistic transport scenario—the ballistic propagation of quasi-acoustic magnons in room temperature YIG.

Acoustical Properties of Contemporary Mosques

OpenAIRE

Karaman Özgül Yılmaz; Güzel Neslihan Onat

2017-01-01

Religious buildings are important for many communities because of their representation of different beliefs. In such structures, the sense of individuality or unity & togetherness are created according to variable worship activities; these different uses have also different acoustical requirements. In order to create the desired feeling in the space at the required time, rooms should be evaluated in terms of acoustical conditions.

Topology optimization for acoustic problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dühring, Maria Bayard

2006-01-01

In this paper a method to control acoustic properties in a room with topology optimization is presented. It is shown how the squared sound pressure amplitude in a certain part of a room can be minimized by distribution of material in a design domain along the ceiling in 2D and 3D. Nice 0-1 designs...

Acoustic analysis of warp potential of green ponderosa pine lumber

Science.gov (United States)

Xiping Wang; William T. Simpson

2005-01-01

This study evaluated the potential of acoustic analysis as presorting criteria to identify warp-prone boards before kiln drying. Dimension lumber, 38 by 89 mm (nominal 2 by 4 in.) and 2.44 m (8 ft) long, sawn from open-grown small-diameter ponderosa pine trees, was acoustically tested lengthwise at green condition. Three acoustic properties (acoustic speed, rate of...

Agorá Acoustics - Effects of arcades on the acoustics of public squares

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paini, Dario; Gade, Anders Christian; Rindel, Jens Holger

2005-01-01

This paper is part of a PhD work, dealing with the acoustics of the public squares (‘Agorá Acoustics’), especially when music (amplified or not) is played. Consequently, our approach will be to evaluate public squares using the same set of acoustics concepts for subjective evaluation and objective...... measurements as applied for concert halls and theatres. In this paper the acoustical effects of arcades will be studied, in terms of reverberation (EDT and T30), clarity (C80), intelligibility (STI) and other acoustical parameters. For this purpose, also the theory of coupled rooms is applied and compared...... with results. An acoustic modelling program, ODEON 7.0, was used for this investigation. Three different sizes of public squares were considered. In order to evaluate the ‘real’ effects of the arcades on the open square, models of all three squares were designed both with and without arcades. The sound source...

Virtual Acoustics: Evaluation of Psychoacoustic Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Begault, Durand R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Current virtual acoustic displays for teleconferencing and virtual reality are usually limited to very simple or non-existent renderings of reverberation, a fundamental part of the acoustic environmental context that is encountered in day-to-day hearing. Several research efforts have produced results that suggest that environmental cues dramatically improve perceptual performance within virtual acoustic displays, and that is possible to manipulate signal processing parameters to effectively reproduce important aspects of virtual acoustic perception in real-time. However, the computational resources for rendering reverberation remain formidable. Our efforts at NASA Ames have been focused using a several perceptual threshold metrics, to determine how various "trade-offs" might be made in real-time acoustic rendering. This includes both original work and confirmation of existing data that was obtained in real rather than virtual environments. The talk will consider the importance of using individualized versus generalized pinnae cues (the "Head-Related Transfer Function"); the use of head movement cues; threshold data for early reflections and late reverberation; and consideration of the necessary accuracy for measuring and rendering octave-band absorption characteristics of various wall surfaces. In addition, a consideration of the analysis-synthesis of the reverberation within "everyday spaces" (offices, conference rooms) will be contrasted to the commonly used paradigm of concert hall spaces.

A comparison of partially specular radiosity and ray tracing for room acoustics modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Beamer, C. Walter; Muehleisen, Ralph T.

2005-04-01

Partially specular (PS) radiosity is an extended form of the general radiosity method. Acoustic radiosity is a form of bulk transfer of radiant acoustic energy. This bulk transfer is accomplished through a system of energy balance equations that relate the bulk energy transfer of each surface in the system to all other surfaces in the system. Until now acoustic radiosity has been limited to modeling only diffuse surface reflection. The new PS acoustic radiosity method can model all real surface types, diffuse, specular and everything in between. PS acoustic radiosity also models all real source types and distributions, not just point sources. The results of the PS acoustic radiosity method are compared to those of well known ray tracing programs. [Work supported by NSF.

Acoustical Properties of Contemporary Mosques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karaman Özgül Yılmaz

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Religious buildings are important for many communities because of their representation of different beliefs. In such structures, the sense of individuality or unity & togetherness are created according to variable worship activities; these different uses have also different acoustical requirements. In order to create the desired feeling in the space at the required time, rooms should be evaluated in terms of acoustical conditions.

Acoustics in Halls for Speech and Music

Science.gov (United States)

Gade, Anders C.

This chapter deals specifically with concepts, tools, and architectural variables of importance when designing auditoria for speech and music. The focus will be on cultivating the useful components of the sound in the room rather than on avoiding noise from outside or from installations, which is dealt with in Chap. 11. The chapter starts by presenting the subjective aspects of the room acoustic experience according to consensus at the time of writing. Then follows a description of their objective counterparts, the objective room acoustic parameters, among which the classical reverberation time measure is only one of many, but still of fundamental value. After explanations on how these parameters can be measured and predicted during the design phase, the remainder of the chapter deals with how the acoustic properties can be controlled by the architectural design of auditoria. This is done by presenting the influence of individual design elements as well as brief descriptions of halls designed for specific purposes, such as drama, opera, and symphonic concerts. Finally, some important aspects of loudspeaker installations in auditoria are briefly touched upon.

The role of classroom acoustics on vocal intensity regulation and speakers’ comfort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David

Teachers are one of the professional groups with the highest risk of suffering from voice disorders. Teachers point out classroom acoustics among the potential hazards affecting their vocal health, together with air dryness, background noise, and other environmental factors. The present project has...... investigated the relationships between the classroom acoustic condition and teachers’ voice, focusing on their vocal intensity, and between the classroom acoustic condition and the sensation of acoustic comfort for a speaker. In the presence of low background noise levels, teachers were found to adjust...... their vocal intensity according to the room gain or voice support of the classroom, which are equivalent objective measures that quantify the amplification of one’s own voice in a room due to the reflections at the room boundaries. Most of the vocal intensity variation among classrooms was due to differences...

Outdoor Acoustics as a General Discipline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Karsten Bo

1999-01-01

A tutorial paper exploring the characteristics of sound outdoors. Outdoor acoustics is contrasted to room acoustics. A number of important aspects of outdoor acoustics are exemplified and theoretical approaches are outlined. These are influence of ground impedance, influence of weather, screening...... to the application in question. In this way results providing a certain level of accuracy are obtained using methods which are balanced with the accuracy of the input data. Advanced measurement techniques are looked into and suggestions for future research are made...

Status reports on developments and applications of acoustic emission analysis. Lectures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The 25 lectures give a survey of the field of acoustic emission analysis. After a state-of-the-art report, the 4 new SE regulations of the DGZfP are presented which will standardize the applications of acoustic emission analysis. Acoustic emission sources and signal processing, including 3D detection, are discussed in 5 papers. After this, the practical applications of acoustic emission analysis are discussed in detail: Testing of gas tanks, inspection of storage container bottoms, reinforced concrete (3D analysis during extension testing), polymer-impregnated concrete, glass (testing up to 90 MHz), ceramics (thermoshock behaviour), fibre-reinforced plastics (4 contributions), PVD films, rock (analysis of workability and structure), glued joints between metals, monitoring of laser beam welding, metal cutting, and drying of cut wood. (orig.) [de

Acoustical case studies of three green buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Siebein, Gary; Lilkendey, Robert; Skorski, Stephen

2005-04-01

Case studies of 3 green buildings with LEED certifications that required extensive acoustical retrofit work to become satisfactory work environments for their intended user groups will be used to define areas where green building design concepts and acoustical design concepts require reconciliation. Case study 1 is an office and conference center for a city environmental education agency. Large open spaces intended to collect daylight through clerestory windows provided large, reverberant volumes with few acoustic finishes that rendered them unsuitable as open office space and a conference room/auditorium. Case Study 2 describes one of the first gold LEED buildings in the southeast whose primary design concepts were so narrowly focused on thermal and lighting issues that they often worked directly against basic acoustical requirements resulting in sound levels of NC 50-55 in classrooms and faculty offices, crosstalk between classrooms and poor room acoustics. Case study 3 is an environmental education and conference center with open public areas, very high ceilings, and all reflective surfaces made from wood and other environmentally friendly materials that result in excessive loudness when the building is used by the numbers of people which it was intended to serve.

Pilot study: Exposure and materiality of the secondary room and its impact in the impulse response of coupled-volume concert halls

Science.gov (United States)

Ermann, Michael; Johnson, Marty E.

2002-05-01

What does one room sound like when it is partially exposed to another (acoustically coupled)? More specifically, this research aims to quantify how operational and design decisions impact aural impressions in the design of concert halls with acoustical coupling. By adding a second room to a concert hall, and designing doors to control the sonic transparency between the two rooms, designers can create a new, coupled acoustic. Concert halls use coupling to achieve a variable, longer, and distinct reverberant quality for their musicians and listeners. For this study, a coupled-volume shoebox concert hall was conceived with a fixed geometric volume, form, and primary-room sound absorption. Aperture size and secondary-room sound-absorption levels were established as variables. Statistical analysis of sound decay in this simulated hall suggests a highly sensitive relationship between the double-sloped condition and (1) Architectural composition, as defined by the aperture size exposing the chamber and (2) Materiality, as defined by the sound absorbance in the coupled volume. Preliminary calculations indicate that the double-sloped sound decay condition only appears when the total aperture area is less than 1.5% of the total shoebox surface area and the average absorption coefficient of the coupled volume is less than 0.07.

Acoustic analysis in Mudejar-Gothic churches: experimental results.

Science.gov (United States)

Galindo, Miguel; Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara

2005-05-01

This paper describes the preliminary results of research work in acoustics, conducted in a set of 12 Mudejar-Gothic churches in the city of Seville in the south of Spain. Despite common architectural style, the churches feature individual characteristics and have volumes ranging from 3947 to 10 708 m3. Acoustic parameters were measured in unoccupied churches according to the ISO-3382 standard. An extensive experimental study was carried out using impulse response analysis through a maximum length sequence measurement system in each church. It covered aspects such as reverberation (reverberation times, early decay times), distribution of sound levels (sound strength); early to late sound energy parameters derived from the impulse responses (center time, clarity for speech, clarity, definition, lateral energy fraction), and speech intelligibility (rapid speech transmission index), which all take both spectral and spatial distribution into account. Background noise was also measured to obtain the NR indices. The study describes the acoustic field inside each temple and establishes a discussion for each one of the acoustic descriptors mentioned by using the theoretical models available and the principles of architectural acoustics. Analysis of the quality of the spaces for music and speech is carried out according to the most widespread criteria for auditoria.

Acoustic analysis in Mudejar-Gothic churches: Experimental results

Science.gov (United States)

Galindo, Miguel; Zamarreño, Teófilo; Girón, Sara

2005-05-01

This paper describes the preliminary results of research work in acoustics, conducted in a set of 12 Mudejar-Gothic churches in the city of Seville in the south of Spain. Despite common architectural style, the churches feature individual characteristics and have volumes ranging from 3947 to 10 708 m3. Acoustic parameters were measured in unoccupied churches according to the ISO-3382 standard. An extensive experimental study was carried out using impulse response analysis through a maximum length sequence measurement system in each church. It covered aspects such as reverberation (reverberation times, early decay times), distribution of sound levels (sound strength); early to late sound energy parameters derived from the impulse responses (center time, clarity for speech, clarity, definition, lateral energy fraction), and speech intelligibility (rapid speech transmission index), which all take both spectral and spatial distribution into account. Background noise was also measured to obtain the NR indices. The study describes the acoustic field inside each temple and establishes a discussion for each one of the acoustic descriptors mentioned by using the theoretical models available and the principles of architectural acoustics. Analysis of the quality of the spaces for music and speech is carried out according to the most widespread criteria for auditoria. .

Building Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, James

This chapter summarizes and explains key concepts of building acoustics. These issues include the behavior of sound waves in rooms, the most commonly used rating systems for sound and sound control in buildings, the most common noise sources found in buildings, practical noise control methods for these sources, and the specific topic of office acoustics. Common noise issues for multi-dwelling units can be derived from most of the sections of this chapter. Books can be and have been written on each of these topics, so the purpose of this chapter is to summarize this information and provide appropriate resources for further exploration of each topic.

Acoustic Emission Analysis Applet (AEAA) Software

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Charles T.; Roth, Don J.

2013-01-01

NASA Glenn Research and NASA White Sands Test Facility have developed software supporting an automated pressure vessel structural health monitoring (SHM) system based on acoustic emissions (AE). The software, referred to as the Acoustic Emission Analysis Applet (AEAA), provides analysts with a tool that can interrogate data collected on Digital Wave Corp. and Physical Acoustics Corp. software using a wide spectrum of powerful filters and charts. This software can be made to work with any data once the data format is known. The applet will compute basic AE statistics, and statistics as a function of time and pressure (see figure). AEAA provides value added beyond the analysis provided by the respective vendors' analysis software. The software can handle data sets of unlimited size. A wide variety of government and commercial applications could benefit from this technology, notably requalification and usage tests for compressed gas and hydrogen-fueled vehicles. Future enhancements will add features similar to a "check engine" light on a vehicle. Once installed, the system will ultimately be used to alert International Space Station crewmembers to critical structural instabilities, but will have little impact to missions otherwise. Diagnostic information could then be transmitted to experienced technicians on the ground in a timely manner to determine whether pressure vessels have been impacted, are structurally unsound, or can be safely used to complete the mission.

Spatial Hearing with Incongruent Visual or Auditory Room Cues

Science.gov (United States)

Gil-Carvajal, Juan C.; Cubick, Jens; Santurette, Sébastien; Dau, Torsten

2016-11-01

In day-to-day life, humans usually perceive the location of sound sources as outside their heads. This externalized auditory spatial perception can be reproduced through headphones by recreating the sound pressure generated by the source at the listener’s eardrums. This requires the acoustical features of the recording environment and listener’s anatomy to be recorded at the listener’s ear canals. Although the resulting auditory images can be indistinguishable from real-world sources, their externalization may be less robust when the playback and recording environments differ. Here we tested whether a mismatch between playback and recording room reduces perceived distance, azimuthal direction, and compactness of the auditory image, and whether this is mostly due to incongruent auditory cues or to expectations generated from the visual impression of the room. Perceived distance ratings decreased significantly when collected in a more reverberant environment than the recording room, whereas azimuthal direction and compactness remained room independent. Moreover, modifying visual room-related cues had no effect on these three attributes, while incongruent auditory room-related cues between the recording and playback room did affect distance perception. Consequently, the external perception of virtual sounds depends on the degree of congruency between the acoustical features of the environment and the stimuli.

Analysis of room transfer function and reverberant signal statistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georganti, Eleftheria; Mourjopoulos, John; Jacobsen, Finn

2008-01-01

For some time now, statistical analysis has been a valuable tool in analyzing room transfer functions (RTFs). This work examines existing statistical time-frequency models and techniques for RTF analysis (e.g., Schroeder's stochastic model and the standard deviation over frequency bands for the RTF...... magnitude and phase). RTF fractional octave smoothing, as with 1-slash 3 octave analysis, may lead to RTF simplifications that can be useful for several audio applications, like room compensation, room modeling, auralisation purposes. The aim of this work is to identify the relationship of optimal response...... and the corresponding ratio of the direct and reverberant signal. In addition, this work examines the statistical quantities for speech and audio signals prior to their reproduction within rooms and when recorded in rooms. Histograms and other statistical distributions are used to compare RTF minima of typical...

Combination of acoustical radiosity and the image source method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koutsouris, Georgios I; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2013-01-01

A combined model for room acoustic predictions is developed, aiming to treat both diffuse and specular reflections in a unified way. Two established methods are incorporated: acoustical radiosity, accounting for the diffuse part, and the image source method, accounting for the specular part...

Acoustic phonons in the hexagonal perovskite CsNiCl3 around the Gamma-point

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Visser, D.; Monteith, A.R.; Rønnow, H.M.

2000-01-01

The acoustic phonon dispersion curves of the hexagonal perovskite CsNiCl3 were measured at room temperature in the vicinity of the Gamma-point along the [0 0 1] and [1 1 0] directions. The derived velocity of sound values for the longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonons are compared with the ......The acoustic phonon dispersion curves of the hexagonal perovskite CsNiCl3 were measured at room temperature in the vicinity of the Gamma-point along the [0 0 1] and [1 1 0] directions. The derived velocity of sound values for the longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonons are compared...

Acoustic comfort in high-school classrooms for students and teachers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.E. Puglisi; L.C. Cantor Cutiva (Lady Catherine); L. Pavese; A. Castellana; M. Bona; S. Fasolis; V. Lorenzatti; A. Carullo; A. Burdor; F. Bronuzzi; A. Astolfi

2015-01-01

textabstractThis work focuses on the evaluation of acoustical quality in high-school classrooms through in-field measurements and self-reports. Two school buildings that differ in location and typology, were considered. In-field measurements included sound insulation, room acoustics and

Acoustic analysis of trill sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhananjaya, N; Yegnanarayana, B; Bhaskararao, Peri

2012-04-01

In this paper, the acoustic-phonetic characteristics of steady apical trills--trill sounds produced by the periodic vibration of the apex of the tongue--are studied. Signal processing methods, namely, zero-frequency filtering and zero-time liftering of speech signals, are used to analyze the excitation source and the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract system, respectively. Although it is natural to expect the effect of trilling on the resonances of the vocal tract system, it is interesting to note that trilling influences the glottal source of excitation as well. The excitation characteristics derived using zero-frequency filtering of speech signals are glottal epochs, strength of impulses at the glottal epochs, and instantaneous fundamental frequency of the glottal vibration. Analysis based on zero-time liftering of speech signals is used to study the dynamic resonance characteristics of vocal tract system during the production of trill sounds. Qualitative analysis of trill sounds in different vowel contexts, and the acoustic cues that may help spotting trills in continuous speech are discussed.

Perception of Reverberation in Small Rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplanis, Neofytos; Bech, Søren; Jensen, Søren Holdt

summarises the current literature following a top-down approach. It identifies the perceptual aspects of reverberation and attempts to establish links to physical measures, focussing on small rooms. Results indicate that the current acoustical metrics often have limited correlation to the perceptual...

Acoustic Performance of a Real-Time Three-Dimensional Sound-Reproduction System

Science.gov (United States)

Faller, Kenneth J., II; Rizzi, Stephen A.; Aumann, Aric R.

2013-01-01

The Exterior Effects Room (EER) is a 39-seat auditorium at the NASA Langley Research Center and was built to support psychoacoustic studies of aircraft community noise. The EER has a real-time simulation environment which includes a three-dimensional sound-reproduction system. This system requires real-time application of equalization filters to compensate for spectral coloration of the sound reproduction due to installation and room effects. This paper describes the efforts taken to develop the equalization filters for use in the real-time sound-reproduction system and the subsequent analysis of the system s acoustic performance. The acoustic performance of the compensated and uncompensated sound-reproduction system is assessed for its crossover performance, its performance under stationary and dynamic conditions, the maximum spatialized sound pressure level it can produce from a single virtual source, and for the spatial uniformity of a generated sound field. Additionally, application examples are given to illustrate the compensated sound-reproduction system performance using recorded aircraft flyovers

A Meta-Analysis: Acoustic Measurement of Roughness and Breathiness

Science.gov (United States)

v. Latoszek, Ben Barsties; Maryn, Youri; Gerrits, Ellen; De Bodt, Marc

2018-01-01

Purpose: Over the last 5 decades, many acoustic measures have been created to measure roughness and breathiness. The aim of this study is to present a meta-analysis of correlation coefficients (r) between auditory-perceptual judgment of roughness and breathiness and various acoustic measures in both sustained vowels and continuous speech. Method:…

Acoustic Analysis of Voice in Singers: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Gunjawate, Dhanshree R.; Ravi, Rohit; Bellur, Rajashekhar

2018-01-01

Purpose: Singers are vocal athletes having specific demands from their voice and require special consideration during voice evaluation. Presently, there is a lack of standards for acoustic evaluation in them. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the available literature on the acoustic analysis of voice in singers. Method: A…

Scattering from objects and surfaces in room acoustical simulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marbjerg, Gerd Høy; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2016-01-01

been implemented in the simulation tool PARISM (Phased Acoustical Radiosity and Image Source Method). Scattering from objects and surfaces is likely to be strongly frequency dependent and the frequency dependence can depend on their sizes, shapes and structure. The importance of the frequency...

On Architectural Acoustics Design using Computer Simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Anne Marie Due; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2004-01-01

The acoustical quality of a given building, or space within the building, is highly dependent on the architectural design. Architectural acoustics design has in the past been based on simple design rules. However, with a growing complexity in the architectural acoustic and the emergence of potent...... room acoustic simulation programs it is now possible to subjectively analyze and evaluate acoustic properties prior to the actual construction of a facility. With the right tools applied, the acoustic design can become an integrated part of the architectural design process. The aim of the present paper...... this information is discussed. The conclusion of the paper is that the application of acoustical simulation programs is most beneficial in the last of three phases but that an application of the program to the two first phases would be preferable and possible with an improvement of the interface of the program....

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Acoustic Environments with Binaural Psycho-Acoustical Considerations for IoT-Based Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Segura-Garcia, Jaume; Navarro-Ruiz, Juan Miguel; Perez-Solano, Juan J; Montoya-Belmonte, Jose; Felici-Castell, Santiago; Cobos, Maximo; Torres-Aranda, Ana M

2018-02-26

Sound pleasantness or annoyance perceived in urban soundscapes is a major concern in environmental acoustics. Binaural psychoacoustic parameters are helpful to describe generic acoustic environments, as it is stated within the ISO 12913 framework. In this paper, the application of a Wireless Acoustic Sensor Network (WASN) to evaluate the spatial distribution and the evolution of urban acoustic environments is described. Two experiments are presented using an indoor and an outdoor deployment of a WASN with several nodes using an Internet of Things (IoT) environment to collect audio data and calculate meaningful parameters such as the sound pressure level, binaural loudness and binaural sharpness. A chunk of audio is recorded in each node periodically with a microphone array and the binaural rendering is conducted by exploiting the estimated directional characteristics of the incoming sound by means of DOA estimation. Each node computes the parameters in a different location and sends the values to a cloud-based broker structure that allows spatial statistical analysis through Kriging techniques. A cross-validation analysis is also performed to confirm the usefulness of the proposed system.

A Review of Acoustic Consideration in Public and Multifunctional ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It has been shown that acoustics in buildings depend mainly on the type and use of the buildings, therefore acoustic criteria and design parameters in public and multifunctional buildings should be such that it takes into consideration the room reverberation time, background noise and sound isolation to enhance speech ...

Validation of a loudspeaker-based room auralization system using speech intelligibility measures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Favrot, Sylvain Emmanuel; Buchholz, Jörg

2009-01-01

A novel loudspeaker-based room auralization (LoRA) system has been proposed to generate versatile and realistic virtual auditory environments (VAEs) for investigating human auditory perception. This system efficiently combines modern room acoustic models with loudspeaker auralization using either...

Principles of musical acoustics

CERN Document Server

Hartmann, William M

2013-01-01

Principles of Musical Acoustics focuses on the basic principles in the science and technology of music. Musical examples and specific musical instruments demonstrate the principles. The book begins with a study of vibrations and waves, in that order. These topics constitute the basic physical properties of sound, one of two pillars supporting the science of musical acoustics. The second pillar is the human element, the physiological and psychological aspects of acoustical science. The perceptual topics include loudness, pitch, tone color, and localization of sound. With these two pillars in place, it is possible to go in a variety of directions. The book treats in turn, the topics of room acoustics, audio both analog and digital, broadcasting, and speech. It ends with chapters on the traditional musical instruments, organized by family. The mathematical level of this book assumes that the reader is familiar with elementary algebra. Trigonometric functions, logarithms and powers also appear in the book, but co...

Room acoustics for the aged.

Science.gov (United States)

Plomp, R; Duquesnoy, A J

1980-12-01

This article deals with the combined effects of noise and reverberation on the speech-reception threshold for sentences. It is based on a series of current investigations on: (1) the modulation-transfer function as a measure of speech intelligibility in rooms, (2) the applicability of this concept to hearing-impaired persons, and (3) hearing loss for speech in quiet and in noise as a function of age. It is shown that, generally, in auditoria, classrooms, etc. the reverberation time T, acceptable for normal-hearing listeners, has to be reduced to (0.75)DT in order to be acceptable for elderly subjects with a hearing loss of D dB for speech in noise; for listening conditions as in lounges, restaurants, etc. the corresponding value is (0.82)DT.

Virtual environment display for a 3D audio room simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Chapin, William L.; Foster, Scott

1992-06-01

Recent developments in virtual 3D audio and synthetic aural environments have produced a complex acoustical room simulation. The acoustical simulation models a room with walls, ceiling, and floor of selected sound reflecting/absorbing characteristics and unlimited independent localizable sound sources. This non-visual acoustic simulation, implemented with 4 audio ConvolvotronsTM by Crystal River Engineering and coupled to the listener with a Poihemus IsotrakTM, tracking the listener's head position and orientation, and stereo headphones returning binaural sound, is quite compelling to most listeners with eyes closed. This immersive effect should be reinforced when properly integrated into a full, multi-sensory virtual environment presentation. This paper discusses the design of an interactive, visual virtual environment, complementing the acoustic model and specified to: 1) allow the listener to freely move about the space, a room of manipulable size, shape, and audio character, while interactively relocating the sound sources; 2) reinforce the listener's feeling of telepresence into the acoustical environment with visual and proprioceptive sensations; 3) enhance the audio with the graphic and interactive components, rather than overwhelm or reduce it; and 4) serve as a research testbed and technology transfer demonstration. The hardware/software design of two demonstration systems, one installed and one portable, are discussed through the development of four iterative configurations. The installed system implements a head-coupled, wide-angle, stereo-optic tracker/viewer and multi-computer simulation control. The portable demonstration system implements a head-mounted wide-angle, stereo-optic display, separate head and pointer electro-magnetic position trackers, a heterogeneous parallel graphics processing system, and object oriented C++ program code.

A Phonemic and Acoustic Analysis of Hindko Oral Stops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haroon Ur RASHID

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Hindko is an Indo-Aryan language that is mainly spoken in Khyber Pukhtoonkhaw province of Pakistan. This work aims to identify the oral stops of Hindko and determine the intrinsic acoustic cues for them. The phonemic analysis is done with the help of minimal pairs and phoneme distribution in contrastive environments which reveals that Hindko has twelve oral stops with three way series. The acoustic analysis of these segments shows that intrinsically voice onset time (VOT, closure duration and burst are reliable and distinguishing cues of stops in Hindko.

A combination of the acoustic radiosity and the image source method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koutsouris, Georgios I.; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2012-01-01

A combined model for room acoustic predictions is developed, aiming to treat both diffuse and specular reflections in a unified way. Two established methods are incorporated: acoustical radiosity, accounting for the diffuse part, and the image source method, accounting for the specular part...

The acoustic design of the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Rusell

2002-11-01

In this paper the acoustic design of the separate buildings housing the school of music, school of drama, and school of dance that opened in 1996 will be described. Spaces that JHA designed included practice rooms, studios, rehearsal rooms, black box, and concert hall. Details of room acoustic treatments, sound isolation measures, and venturi air flow will be illustrated. An overview of the entire project will also include the 500 seat multipurpose theater (with variable absorption systems) and the Alla Magna. Differences between the American and Mexican styles of consulting, importing of materials, installation, and commissioning will also be discussed.

Dynamic response analysis of an aircraft structure under thermal-acoustic loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, H; Li, H B; Zhang, W; Wu, Z Q; Liu, B R

2016-01-01

Future hypersonic aircraft will be exposed to extreme combined environments includes large magnitude thermal and acoustic loads. It presents a significant challenge for the integrity of these vehicles. Thermal-acoustic test is used to test structures for dynamic response and sonic fatigue due to combined loads. In this research, the numerical simulation process for the thermal acoustic test is presented, and the effects of thermal loads on vibro-acoustic response are investigated. To simulate the radiation heating system, Monte Carlo theory and thermal network theory was used to calculate the temperature distribution. Considering the thermal stress, the high temperature modal parameters are obtained with structural finite element methods. Based on acoustic finite element, modal-based vibro-acoustic analysis is carried out to compute structural responses. These researches are very vital to optimum thermal-acoustic test and structure designs for future hypersonic vehicles structure (paper)

Methods for Room Acoustic Analysis and Synthesis using a Monopole-Dipole Microphone Array

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, J. S.; Begault, Durand R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

In recent work, a microphone array consisting of an omnidirectional microphone and colocated dipole microphones having orthogonally aligned dipole axes was used to examine the directional nature of a room impulse response. The arrival of significant reflections was indicated by peaks in the power of the omnidirectional microphone response; reflection direction of arrival was revealed by comparing zero-lag crosscorrelations between the omnidirectional response and the dipole responses to the omnidirectional response power to estimate arrival direction cosines with respect to the dipole axes.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Urban Acoustic Environments with Binaural Psycho-Acoustical Considerations for IoT-Based Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaume Segura-Garcia

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sound pleasantness or annoyance perceived in urban soundscapes is a major concern in environmental acoustics. Binaural psychoacoustic parameters are helpful to describe generic acoustic environments, as it is stated within the ISO 12913 framework. In this paper, the application of a Wireless Acoustic Sensor Network (WASN to evaluate the spatial distribution and the evolution of urban acoustic environments is described. Two experiments are presented using an indoor and an outdoor deployment of a WASN with several nodes using an Internet of Things (IoT environment to collect audio data and calculate meaningful parameters such as the sound pressure level, binaural loudness and binaural sharpness. A chunk of audio is recorded in each node periodically with a microphone array and the binaural rendering is conducted by exploiting the estimated directional characteristics of the incoming sound by means of DOA estimation. Each node computes the parameters in a different location and sends the values to a cloud-based broker structure that allows spatial statistical analysis through Kriging techniques. A cross-validation analysis is also performed to confirm the usefulness of the proposed system.

Multinodal control room envelope model used for habitability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumberg, W.M.; Gore, D.E.

1995-01-01

This work analyzes the habitability of the control room envelope (CRE) during an off-normal ventilation system condition. The most limiting design basis accident utilized for this analysis is the postulated loss-of-coolant accident. The off-normal condition assumes two rooms within the CRE are at pressures that are lower than adjoining rooms outside the CRE. This pressure differential allows unfiltered in-leakage to enter the CRE through the doors and penetrations in these rooms. This paper quantifies the maximum unfiltered in-leakage

Acoustic evaluation and adjustment of an open-plan office through architectural design and noise control.

Science.gov (United States)

Passero, Carolina Reich Marcon; Zannin, Paulo Henrique Trombetta

2012-11-01

Arranging office space into a single open room offers advantages in terms of easy exchange of information and interaction among coworkers, but reduces privacy and acoustic comfort. Thus, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the acoustic quality of a real open-plan office and to propose changes in the room to improve the acoustic conditioning of this office. The computational model of the office under study was calibrated based on RT and STI measurements. Predictions were made of the RT and STI, which generated the radius of distraction r(D), and the rate of spatial decay of sound pressure levels per distance doubling DL(2) in the real conditions of the office and after modifications of the room. The insertion of dividers between work stations and an increase in the ceiling's sound absorption improved the acoustic conditions in the office under study. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

The effect of human activity noise on the acoustic quality in open plan office

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dehlbæk, Tania Stenholt; Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Brunskog, Jonas

2016-01-01

A disadvantage of open plan offices is the noise annoyance. Noise problems in open plan offices have been dealt with in several studies, and standards have been set up. Still, what has not been taken into account is the effect of human activity noise on acoustic conditions. In this study......, measurements of the general office noise levels and the room acoustic conditions according to ISO 3382-3 have been carried out in five open plan offices. Probability density functions of the sound pressure level have been obtained, and the human activity noise has been identified. Results showed a decrease...... in STI-values including the human activity noise compared to STI-values including only technical background noise as the standard recommends. Furthermore, at 500 Hz a regression analysis showed that the density of people in an room, absorption area, reverberation time as well as the ISO 3382-3 parameter...

Acoustic and wind speed data analysis as an environmental issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitson, R.J.; MacKinnon, A.

1995-01-01

This paper examines how the output from a cup anemometer, used for wind speed measurement, can be recorded on magnetic tape and analysed using instrumentation normally employed to measure acoustic data. The purpose of this being to allow true simultaneous analysis of acoustic and wind speed data. NEL's NWTC (National Wind Turbine Centre) Anemometer Calibration Facility is used to compare pulsed and analogue outputs from a typical anemometer to the data obtained from a pitot/static tube for a range of different wind speeds. The usefulness of 1/24- and 1/12-octave analysis is examined and accuracy limits are derived for the 'acoustic' approach to wind speed measurement. The allowable positions for anemometer locations are also discussed with reference to currently available standards and recommended practices. (Author)

Optimizing acoustical conditions for speech intelligibility in classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wonyoung

High speech intelligibility is imperative in classrooms where verbal communication is critical. However, the optimal acoustical conditions to achieve a high degree of speech intelligibility have previously been investigated with inconsistent results, and practical room-acoustical solutions to optimize the acoustical conditions for speech intelligibility have not been developed. This experimental study validated auralization for speech-intelligibility testing, investigated the optimal reverberation for speech intelligibility for both normal and hearing-impaired listeners using more realistic room-acoustical models, and proposed an optimal sound-control design for speech intelligibility based on the findings. The auralization technique was used to perform subjective speech-intelligibility tests. The validation study, comparing auralization results with those of real classroom speech-intelligibility tests, found that if the room to be auralized is not very absorptive or noisy, speech-intelligibility tests using auralization are valid. The speech-intelligibility tests were done in two different auralized sound fields---approximately diffuse and non-diffuse---using the Modified Rhyme Test and both normal and hearing-impaired listeners. A hybrid room-acoustical prediction program was used throughout the work, and it and a 1/8 scale-model classroom were used to evaluate the effects of ceiling barriers and reflectors. For both subject groups, in approximately diffuse sound fields, when the speech source was closer to the listener than the noise source, the optimal reverberation time was zero. When the noise source was closer to the listener than the speech source, the optimal reverberation time was 0.4 s (with another peak at 0.0 s) with relative output power levels of the speech and noise sources SNS = 5 dB, and 0.8 s with SNS = 0 dB. In non-diffuse sound fields, when the noise source was between the speaker and the listener, the optimal reverberation time was 0.6 s with

Vibro-acoustic modeling and analysis of a coupled acoustic system comprising a partially opened cavity coupled with a flexible plate

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Shuangxia; Su, Zhu; Jin, Guoyong; Liu, Zhigang

2018-01-01

This paper is concerned with the modeling and solution method of a three-dimensional (3D) coupled acoustic system comprising a partially opened cavity coupled with a flexible plate and an exterior field of semi-infinite size, which is ubiquitously encountered in architectural acoustics and is a reasonable representation of many engineering occasions. A general solution method is presented to predict the dynamic behaviors of the three-dimensional (3D) acoustic coupled system, in which the displacement of the plate and the sound pressure in the cavity are respectively constructed in the form of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional modified Fourier series with several auxiliary functions introduced to ensure the uniform convergence of the solution over the entire solution domain. The effect of the opening is taken into account via the work done by the sound pressure acting at the coupling aperture that is contributed from the vibration of particles on the acoustic coupling interface and on the structural-acoustic coupling interface. Both the acoustic coupling between finite cavity and exterior field and the structural-acoustic coupling between flexible plate and interior acoustic field are considered in the vibro-acoustic modeling of the three-dimensional acoustic coupled acoustic system. The dynamic responses of the coupled structural-acoustic system are obtained using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure based on the energy expressions for the coupled system. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method are validated through numerical examples and comparison with results obtained by the boundary element analysis. Furthermore, the influence of the opening and the cavity volume on the acoustic behaviors of opened cavity system is studied.

Spatial Hearing with Incongruent Visual or Auditory Room Cues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gil Carvajal, Juan Camilo; Cubick, Jens; Santurette, Sébastien

2016-01-01

In day-to-day life, humans usually perceive the location of sound sources as outside their heads. This externalized auditory spatial perception can be reproduced through headphones by recreating the sound pressure generated by the source at the listener’s eardrums. This requires the acoustical...... the recording and playback room did affect distance perception. Consequently, the external perception of virtual sounds depends on the degree of congruency between the acoustical features of the environment and the stimuli....

A numerical study on acoustic behavior in gas turbine combustor with acoustic resonator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, I Sun; Sohn, Chae Hoon

2005-01-01

Acoustic behavior in gas turbine combustor with acoustic resonator is investigated numerically by adopting linear acoustic analysis. Helmholtz-type resonator is employed as acoustic resonator to suppress acoustic instability passively. The tuning frequency of acoustic resonator is adjusted by varying its length. Through harmonic analysis, acoustic-pressure responses of chamber to acoustic excitation are obtained and the resonant acoustic modes are identified. Acoustic damping effect of acoustic resonator is quantified by damping factor. As the tuning frequency of acoustic resonator approaches the target frequency of the resonant mode to be suppressed, mode split from the original resonant mode to lower and upper modes appears and thereby complex patterns of acoustic responses show up. Considering mode split and damping effect as a function of tuning frequency, it is desirable to make acoustic resonator tuned to broad-band frequencies near the maximum frequency of those of the possible upper modes

Studying Room Acoustics using a Monopole-Dipole Microphone Array

Science.gov (United States)

Begault, Durand R.; Abel, Jonathan S.; Gills, Stephen R. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

The use of a soundfield microphone for examining the directional nature of a room impulse response was reported recently. By cross-correlating monopole and co-located dipole microphone signals aligned with left-right, up-down, and front-back axes, a sense of signal direction of arrival is revealed. The current study is concerned with the array's ability to detect individual reflections and directions of arrival, as a function of the cross-correlation window duration. If is window is too long, weak reflections are overlooked; if too short, spurious detections result. Guidelines are presented for setting the window width according to perceptual criteria. Formulas are presented describing the accuracy with which direction of arrival can be estimated as a function of room specifics and measurement noise. The direction of arrival of early reflections is more accurately determined than that of later reflections which are quieter and more numerous. The transition from a fairly directional sound field at the beginning of the room impulse response to a uni-directional diffuse field is examined. Finally, it is shown that measurements from additional dipole orientations can significantly improve the ability to detect reflections and estimate their directions of arrival.

Room design for high-performance electron microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muller, David A.; Kirkland, Earl J.; Thomas, Malcolm G.; Grazul, John L.; Fitting, Lena; Weyland, Matthew

2006-01-01

Aberration correctors correct aberrations, not instabilities. Rather, as spatial resolution improves, a microscope's sensitivity to room environment becomes more noticeable, not less. Room design is now an essential part of the microscope installation process. Previously ignorable annoyances like computer fans, desk lamps and that chiller in the service corridor now may become the limiting factors in the microscopes performance. We discuss methods to quantitatively characterize the instrument's response to magnetic, mechanical, acoustical and thermal disturbances and thus predict the limits that the environment places on imaging and spectroscopy

Electrical circuit modeling and analysis of microwave acoustic interaction with biological tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Fei; Zheng, Qian; Zheng, Yuanjin

2014-05-01

Numerical study of microwave imaging and microwave-induced thermoacoustic imaging utilizes finite difference time domain (FDTD) analysis for simulation of microwave and acoustic interaction with biological tissues, which is time consuming due to complex grid-segmentation and numerous calculations, not straightforward due to no analytical solution and physical explanation, and incompatible with hardware development requiring circuit simulator such as SPICE. In this paper, instead of conventional FDTD numerical simulation, an equivalent electrical circuit model is proposed to model the microwave acoustic interaction with biological tissues for fast simulation and quantitative analysis in both one and two dimensions (2D). The equivalent circuit of ideal point-like tissue for microwave-acoustic interaction is proposed including transmission line, voltage-controlled current source, envelop detector, and resistor-inductor-capacitor (RLC) network, to model the microwave scattering, thermal expansion, and acoustic generation. Based on which, two-port network of the point-like tissue is built and characterized using pseudo S-parameters and transducer gain. Two dimensional circuit network including acoustic scatterer and acoustic channel is also constructed to model the 2D spatial information and acoustic scattering effect in heterogeneous medium. Both FDTD simulation, circuit simulation, and experimental measurement are performed to compare the results in terms of time domain, frequency domain, and pseudo S-parameters characterization. 2D circuit network simulation is also performed under different scenarios including different sizes of tumors and the effect of acoustic scatterer. The proposed circuit model of microwave acoustic interaction with biological tissue could give good agreement with FDTD simulated and experimental measured results. The pseudo S-parameters and characteristic gain could globally evaluate the performance of tumor detection. The 2D circuit network

A sensitivity analysis of the WIPP disposal room model: Phase 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Labreche, D.A.; Beikmann, M.A. [RE/SPEC, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Osnes, J.D. [RE/SPEC, Inc., Rapid City, SD (United States); Butcher, B.M. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1995-07-01

The WIPP Disposal Room Model (DRM) is a numerical model with three major components constitutive models of TRU waste, crushed salt backfill, and intact halite -- and several secondary components, including air gap elements, slidelines, and assumptions on symmetry and geometry. A sensitivity analysis of the Disposal Room Model was initiated on two of the three major components (waste and backfill models) and on several secondary components as a group. The immediate goal of this component sensitivity analysis (Phase I) was to sort (rank) model parameters in terms of their relative importance to model response so that a Monte Carlo analysis on a reduced set of DRM parameters could be performed under Phase II. The goal of the Phase II analysis will be to develop a probabilistic definition of a disposal room porosity surface (porosity, gas volume, time) that could be used in WIPP Performance Assessment analyses. This report documents a literature survey which quantifies the relative importance of the secondary room components to room closure, a differential analysis of the creep consolidation model and definition of a follow-up Monte Carlo analysis of the model, and an analysis and refitting of the waste component data on which a volumetric plasticity model of TRU drum waste is based. A summary, evaluation of progress, and recommendations for future work conclude the report.

Acoustic Analysis of Nasal Vowels in Monguor Language

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hanbin

2017-09-01

The purpose of the study is to analyze the spectrum characteristics and acoustic features for the nasal vowels [ɑ˜] and [ɔ˜] in Monguor language. On the base of acoustic parameter database of the Monguor speech, the study finds out that there are five main zero-pole pairs appearing for the nasal vowel [ɔ˜] and two zero-pole pairs appear for the nasal vowel [ɔ˜]. The results of regression analysis demonstrate that the duration of the nasal vowel [ɔ˜] or the nasal vowel [ɔ˜] can be predicted by its F1, F2 and F3 respectively.

NFL Films music scoring stage and control room space

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Russ; Schrag, Richard C.; Ridings, Jason J.

2003-04-01

NFL Films' new 200,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters is home to an orchestral scoring stage used to record custom music scores to support and enhance their video productions. Part of the 90,000 sq. ft. of sound critical technical space, the music scoring stage and its associated control room are at the heart of the audio facilities. Driving the design were the owner's mandate for natural light, wood textures, and an acoustical environment that would support small rhythm sections, soloists, and a full orchestra. Being an industry leader in cutting-edge video and audio formats, the NFLF required that the technical spaces allow the latest in technology to be continually integrated into the infrastructure. Never was it more important for a project to hold true to the adage of ``designing from the inside out.'' Each audio and video space within the facility had to stand on its own with regard to user functionality, acoustical accuracy, sound isolation, noise control, and monitor presentation. A detailed look at the architectural and acoustical design challenges encountered and the solutions developed for the performance studio and the associated control room space will be discussed.

Man and room climate. The importance of thermal comfort; Der Mensch und das Raumklima. Zur Bedeutung der thermischen Behaglichkeit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoefte, Klaus [Uponor Academy, Ochtrup (Germany)

2009-07-01

Room climate has become increasingly important during the past few decades as humans spend about 90 percent of their time inside rooms. Influencing factors are acoustics, lighting, air quality and thermal room climate. The contribution focuses on thermal room climate and room air quality which are the most important of these factors. (orig.)

Coating adherence in galvanized steel assessed by acoustic emission wavelet analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallego, Antolino; Gil, Jose F.; Vico, Juan M.; Ruzzante, Jose E.; Piotrkowski, Rosa

2005-01-01

Coating-substrate adherence in galvanized steel is evaluated by acoustic emission wavelet analysis in scratch tests on hot-dip galvanized samples. The acoustic emission results are compared with optical and electron microscopy observations in order to understand coating features related to adherence and to establish criteria aimed at improving the manufacture process

Acoustic Levitation Containerless Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Whymark, R. R.; Rey, C. A.

1985-01-01

This research program consists of the development of acoustic containerless processing systems with applications in the areas of research in material sciences, as well as the production of new materials, solid forms with novel and unusual microstructures, fusion target spheres, and improved optical fibers. Efforts have been focused on the containerless processing at high temperatures for producing new kinds of glasses. Also, some development has occurred in the areas of containerlessly supporting liquids at room temperature, with applications in studies of fluid dynamics, potential undercooling of liquids, etc. The high temperature area holds the greatest promise for producing new kinds of glasses and ceramics, new alloys, and possibly unusual structural shapes, such as very uniform hollow glass shells for fusion target applications. High temperature acoustic levitation required for containerless processing has been demonstrated in low-g environments as well as in ground-based experiments. Future activities include continued development of the signals axis acoustic levitator.

Low frequency sound reproduction in irregular rooms using CABS (Control Acoustic Bass System)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Celestinos, Adrian; Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal

2011-01-01

of an irregular room model using the FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) method has been presented. CABS has been simulated in the irregular room model. Measurements of CABS in a real irregular room have been performed. The performance of CABS was affected by the irregular shape of the room due to the corner...

Linear Stability Analysis of an Acoustically Vaporized Droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Siddiqui, Junaid; Qamar, Adnan; Samtaney, Ravi

2015-11-01

Acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) is a phase transition phenomena of a superheat liquid (Dodecafluoropentane, C5F12) droplet to a gaseous bubble, instigated by a high-intensity acoustic pulse. This approach was first studied in imaging applications, and applicable in several therapeutic areas such as gas embolotherapy, thrombus dissolution, and drug delivery. High-speed imaging and theoretical modeling of ADV has elucidated several physical aspects, ranging from bubble nucleation to its subsequent growth. Surface instabilities are known to exist and considered responsible for evolving bubble shapes (non-spherical growth, bubble splitting and bubble droplet encapsulation). We present a linear stability analysis of the dynamically evolving interfaces of an acoustically vaporized micro-droplet (liquid A) in an infinite pool of a second liquid (liquid B). We propose a thermal ADV model for the base state. The linear analysis utilizes spherical harmonics (Ynm, of degree m and order n) and under various physical assumptions results in a time-dependent ODE of the perturbed interface amplitudes (one at the vapor/liquid A interface and the other at the liquid A/liquid B interface). The perturbation amplitudes are found to grow exponentially and do not depend on m. Supported by KAUST Baseline Research Funds.

A survey analysis of acoustic trauma related to MR scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakai, Toshiharu; Kamiya, Naoki; Sone, Michihiko; Muranaka, Hiroyuki; Tsuchihashi, Toshio; Yamada, Naoki; Yamaguchi, Sachiko

2012-01-01

The maximum limit of MR scanner noise and necessity of ear protection is defined in the IEC standard (IEC60601-2-33) of MR safety. With improvements in MR scanner performance, pulse sequences generating higher scanning noise have been used clinically. In this study, we investigated the factors significantly related to potential acoustic trauma cases (PATC) after MR examinations. To consider the future direction for MR safety and prevention of acoustic trauma, issues related to noise generation by MR scanners and acoustic trauma were systematically reviewed. A statistical analysis was performed using the data set from a survey (n=974) conducted in 2010 by the Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (JSMRM) safety committee. Hierarchical clustering analysis was used to extract the characteristics of the responders. With this classification as a reference, tests of independence and a residual analysis were employed to evaluate the factors related to PATC. No significant relationship was observed between the ear protection policy and the incidence or the reported outcome of PATC. While the two main clusters out of the six clusters extracted were associated with who reported the PATC and the confirmation process of the acoustic noise level of MR scanners, no cluster was associated with the frequency of PATC. An absence of PATC was significantly less reported (p=0.03) and more PATC was reported (p=0.04) by facilities with 3T MR systems. Although the total frequency was 4 cases, it should be noted that persistent hearing disturbances are a possible consequence of MR examinations. Neither the condition of the subjects nor the ear protection method was significantly related to the probability of PATC, suggesting the difficulty of predicting the potential risk of acoustic trauma. It is recommended to more systematically follow up PATC cases and clarify the risk factors. (author)

Diagnostic value of voice acoustic analysis in assessment of occupational voice pathologies in teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Fiszer, Marta; Kotylo, Piotr; Sliwinska-Kowalska, Mariola

2006-01-01

It has been shown that teachers are at risk of developing occupational dysphonia, which accounts for over 25% of all occupational diseases diagnosed in Poland. The most frequently used method of diagnosing voice diseases is videostroboscopy. However, to facilitate objective evaluation of voice efficiency as well as medical certification of occupational voice disorders, it is crucial to implement quantitative methods of voice assessment, particularly voice acoustic analysis. The aim of the study was to assess the results of acoustic analysis in 66 female teachers (aged 40-64 years), including 35 subjects with occupational voice pathologies (e.g., vocal nodules) and 31 subjects with functional dysphonia. The acoustic analysis was performed using the IRIS software, before and after a 30-minute vocal loading test. All participants were subjected also to laryngological and videostroboscopic examinations. After the vocal effort, the acoustic parameters displayed statistically significant abnormalities, mostly lowered fundamental frequency (Fo) and incorrect values of shimmer and noise to harmonic ratio. To conclude, quantitative voice acoustic analysis using the IRIS software seems to be an effective complement to voice examinations, which is particularly helpful in diagnosing occupational dysphonia.

Synthesis of Room Impulse Responses for Variable Source Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Kunkemoeller

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Every acoustic source, e.g. a speaker, a musical instrument or a loudspeaker, generally has a frequency dependent characteristic radiation pattern, which is preeminent at higher frequencies. Room acoustic measurements nowadays only account for omnidirectional source characteristics. This motivates a measurement method that is capable of obtaining room impulse responses for these specific radiation patterns by using a superposition approach of several measurements with technically well-defined sound sources. We propose a method based on measurements with a 12-channel independentlydriven dodecahedron loudspeaker array rotated by an automatically controlled turntable.Radiation patterns can be efficiently described with the use of spherical harmonics representation. We propose a method that uses this representation for the spherical loudspeaker array used for the measurements and the target radiation pattern to be used for the synthesis.We show validating results for a deterministic test sound source inside in a small lecture hall.

Pattern recognition methods for acoustic emission analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doctor, P.G.; Harrington, T.P.; Hutton, P.H.

1979-07-01

Models have been developed that relate the rate of acoustic emissions to structural integrity. The implementation of these techniques in the field has been hindered by the noisy environment in which the data must be taken. Acoustic emissions from noncritical sources are recorded in addition to those produced by critical sources, such as flaws. A technique is discussed for prescreening acoustic events and filtering out those that are produced by noncritical sources. The methodology that was investigated is pattern recognition. Three different pattern recognition techniques were applied to a data set that consisted of acoustic emissions caused by crack growth and acoustic signals caused by extraneous noise sources. Examination of the acoustic emission data presented has uncovered several features of the data that can provide a reasonable filter. Two of the most valuable features are the frequency of maximum response and the autocorrelation coefficient at Lag 13. When these two features and several others were combined with a least squares decision algorithm, 90% of the acoustic emissions in the data set were correctly classified. It appears possible to design filters that eliminate extraneous noise sources from flaw-growth acoustic emissions using pattern recognition techniques

Use of task analysis in control room evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, K.C.

1981-01-01

Responding to recently formulated regulatory requirements, the BWR Owners' Group, working in conjunction with General Electric, has formulated a method for performing human factors design reviews of nuclear power plant control rooms. This process incorporates task analyses to analyze operational aspects of panel layout and design. Correlation of operator functions defined by emergency procedures against required controls and displays has proven successful in identifying instrumentation required in the control room to adequately respond to transient conditions, and in evaluating the effectiveness of panel design and physical arrangement. Extensions of the analysis have provided information on operator response paths, frequency of use of instruments, and control room layout. The techniques used were based on a need to identify primary controls and indications required by the operator in performing each step of the applicable procedure. The relative locations of these instruments were then analyzed for information on the adequacy of the control room design for those conditions

Acoustical contribution calculation and analysis of compressor shell based on acoustic transfer vector method

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaol; Guo, Bei; Tuo, Jinliang; Zhou, Ruixin; Lu, Yang

2017-08-01

Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to the noise reduction of household refrigerator compressor. This paper established a sound field bounded by compressor shell and ISO3744 standard field points. The Acoustic Transfer Vector (ATV) in the sound field radiated by a refrigerator compressor shell were calculated which fits the test result preferably. Then the compressor shell surface is divided into several parts. Based on Acoustic Transfer Vector approach, the sound pressure contribution to the field points and the sound power contribution to the sound field of each part were calculated. To obtain the noise radiation in the sound field, the sound pressure cloud charts were analyzed, and the contribution curves in different frequency of each part were acquired. Meanwhile, the sound power contribution of each part in different frequency was analyzed, to ensure those parts where contributes larger sound power. Through the analysis of acoustic contribution, those parts where radiate larger noise on the compressor shell were determined. This paper provides a credible and effective approach on the structure optimal design of refrigerator compressor shell, which is meaningful in the noise and vibration reduction.

Intensity of noise in the classroom and analysis of acoustic emissions in schoolchildren

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almeida Filho, Nelson de

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss is a sensorineural hearing loss, usually bilateral, irreversible and progressive with time of exposure. As the noise made by children in school may be considered detrimental, the study looks of their occurrence in Taubaté's schools. Objective: To determine if students are exposed to noise intensity affecting the cochlea, define the profile of these schoolchildren, demonstrating the occurrence of changes in cochlear activity following exposure to noise in a day of class. Method: Study's way prospective transversal cross sectional cut with 28 elementary school students in the first half of 2009. Questionnaires for assessing preexisting cochlear damage . Evaluation of cochlear function by analysis of acoustic emissions evoked distortion product, made before the students come into class and immediately after the end of these. Measurement of noise inside the classrooms and recreation areas during the interval. Results: 57.1% accused some hearing loss in the examinations before class. By day's end, 04 girls and 03 boys had worsened in relation of the first examination. The noise reached levels higher than recommended at the three class rooms. The largest number of students with worsening, belong to the class room with higher noise level. The noise during the intervals is also excessive. Conclusions: The noise in this school is above the limit. 42.85% of students who had experienced worsening had school performance inadequate. 25% had worse after noise exposure in a school day.

Evaluation of a Loudspeaker-Based Virtual Acoustic Environment for Investigating sound-field auditory steady-state responses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zapata-Rodriguez, Valentina; Marbjerg, Gerd Høy; Brunskog, Jonas

2017-01-01

Measuring sound-field auditory steady-state responses (ASSR) is a promising new objective clinical procedure for hearing aid fitting validation, particularly for infants who cannot respond to behavioral tests. In practice, room acoustics of non-anechoic test rooms can heavily influence the audito...... tool PARISM (Phased Acoustical Radiosity and Image Source Method) and validated through measurements. This study discusses the limitations of the system and the potential improvements needed for a more realistic sound-field ASSR simulation....

Acoustic signal analysis in the creeping discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamiya, T; Sonoda, Y; Tsuda, R; Ebihara, K; Ikegami, T

2008-01-01

We have previously succeeded in measuring the acoustic signal due to the dielectric barrier discharge and discriminating the dominant frequency components of the acoustic signal. The dominant frequency components appear over 20kHz of acoustic signal by the dielectric barrier discharge. Recently surface discharge control technology has been focused from practical applications such as ozonizer, NO X reactors, light source or display. The fundamental experiments are carried to examine the creeping discharge using the acoustic signal. When the high voltage (6kV, f = 10kHz) is applied to the electrode, the discharge current flows and the acoustic sound is generated. The current, voltage waveforms of creeping discharge and the sound signal detected by the condenser microphone are stored in the digital memory scope. In this scheme, Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) is applied to discriminate the acoustic sound of the micro discharge and the dominant frequency components are studied. CWT results of sound signal show the frequency spectrum of wideband up to 100kHz. In addition, the energy distributions of acoustic signal are examined by CWT

Dry sand as a specialized layer to improve the acoustic insulation between rooms one above another

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Díaz, C.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This work presents and analyses the experimental field results of the sound insulation from airborne and impact noise of the horizontal separating elements commonly used in the past, in which a uniform layer of sand was placed on top of the floor construction to serve as a base for the ceramic tiling. The results of the acoustic measurements show that when there is an intermediate layer of sand in the horizontal separating element between rooms, the sound insulation is greater than would be obtained with other construction systems with equal mass per unit area, where the floor is joined rigidly to the floor construction. The effect on the sound insulation between the rooms produced by this layer of sand placed between the floor construction and the tiling is that of a cushioning layer, and demonstrates that this type of structure acts as a floating floor.En este trabajo se exponen y se analizan los resultados experimentales in situ del aislamiento acústico a ruido aéreo y a ruido de impactos de elementos de separación horizontales, habituales hace años, en los que sobre el forjado se coloca una capa uniforme de arena que sirve de asiento al suelo cerámico. Los resultados de las mediciones acústicas muestran que, cuando en el elemento de separación horizontal entre los recintos hay una capa intermedia de arena, el aislamiento acústico es mejor que el que se obtendría con otros sistemas constructivos de igual masa por unidad de superficie, con el suelo unido rígidamente al forjado. El efecto de la capa de arena colocada entre el forjado y el suelo, en el aislamiento acústico entre los recintos, es el de una capa amortiguadora, que hace que este tipo de suelo pueda considerarse como flotante.

Natural variations of vocal effort and comfort in simulated acoustic environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David; Brunskog, Jonas

2010-01-01

acoustic conditions, artificially generated by electroacoustic means. The vocal intensity decreased with the objective parameter support, which quantifies the amount of sound reflections provided by the room at the talker‟s ears,relative to the direct sound, at a rate of -0.21 dB/dB. The reading pace......Many teachers suffer from voice problems related to the use of their voices in the working environment. The noise generated by students and external sound sources (like traffic noise or neighboring classrooms) is a major problem, as it leads to an increased vocal effort. In the absence of high...... levels of background noise, the room has also an effect on the talker‟s voice. In order to quantify the relative importance of the acoustic environment on the vocal demands for teachers, a laboratory investigation was carried out. Thirteen teachers had to read a text aloud under ten different room...

Subjective evaluation of restaurant acoustics in a virtual sound environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Nicolaj Østergaard; Marschall, Marton; Santurette, Sébastien

2016-01-01

Many restaurants have smooth rigid surfaces made of wood, steel, glass, and concrete. This often results in a lack of sound absorption. Such restaurants are notorious for high sound noise levels during service that most owners actually desire for representing vibrant eating environments, although...... surveys report that noise complaints are on par with poor service. This study investigated the relation between objective acoustic parameters and subjective evaluation of acoustic comfort at five restaurants in terms of three parameters: noise annoyance, speech intelligibility, and privacy. At each...... location, customers filled out questionnaire surveys, acoustic parameters were measured, and recordings of restaurant acoustic scenes were obtained with a 64-channel spherical array. The acoustic scenes were reproduced in a virtual sound environment (VSE) with 64 loudspeakers placed in an anechoic room...

Analysis of the acoustic sound in MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wada, Tetsuro; Hara, Akira; Kusakari, Jun; Yoshioka, Hiroshi; Niitsu, Mamoru; Itai, Yuji [Tsukuba Univ., Ibaraki (Japan). Inst. of Clinical Medicine; Ase, Yuji

1999-04-01

The noise level and power spectra of the acoustic sound exposed during the examination of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) using a MRI scanner (Philips Gyroscan 1.5 T) were measured at the position of the human auricle. The overall noise levels on T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images with Spin Echo were 105 dB and 98 dB, respectively. The overall noise level on T2-weighted images with Turbo Spin Echo was 110 dB. Fourier analysis revealed energy peaks ranging from 225 to 325 Hz and a steep high frequency cutoff for each pulse sequence. The MRI noise was not likely to cause permanent threshold shift. However, because of the inter-subject variation in susceptibility to acoustic trauma and to exclude the anxiety in patients, ear protectors were recommended for all patients during MRI testing. (author)

Brief report: pulmonary auscultation in the operating room: a prospective randomized blinded trial comparing electronic and conventional stethoscopes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Clement; Falzone, Elisabeth; Verret, Catherine; Pasquier, Pierre; Leclerc, Thomas; Donat, Nicolas; Jost, Daniel; Mérat, Stephane; Maurice, Guillaume de Saint; Lenoir, Bernard; Auroy, Yves; Tourtier, Jean-Pierre

2013-09-01

We compared the subjective quality of pulmonary auscultation between 2 acoustic stethoscopes (Holtex Ideal® and Littmann Cardiology III®) and an electronic stethoscope (Littmann 3200®) in the operating room. A prospective double-blind randomized study with an evaluation during mechanical ventilation was performed in 100 patients. After each examination, the listeners using a numeric scale (0-10) rated the quality of auscultation. Auscultation quality was compared in patients among stethoscopes with a multilevel mixed-effects linear regression with random intercept (operator effect), adjusted on significant factors in univariate analysis. A significant difference was defined as P auscultation were performed. The quality of auscultation was rated 8.2 ± 1.6 for the electronic stethoscope, 7.4 ± 1.8 for the Littmann Cardiology III, and 4.6 ± 1.8 for the Holtex Ideal. Compared with Holtex Ideal, auscultation quality was significantly higher with other stethoscopes (P auscultation quality was significantly higher with Littmann 3200 electronic stethoscope (β = 0.9 [95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.3]). An electronic stethoscope can provide a better quality of pulmonary auscultation than acoustic stethoscopes in the operating room, yet with a magnitude of improvement marginally higher than that provided with a high performance acoustic stethoscope. Whether this can translate into a clinically relevant benefit requires further studies.

Responsive acoustic surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peters, Brady; Tamke, Martin; Nielsen, Stig Anton

2011-01-01

Acoustic performance is defined by the parameter of reverberation time; however, this does not capture the acoustic experience in some types of open plan spaces. As many working and learning activities now take place in open plan spaces, it is important to be able to understand and design...... for the acoustic conditions of these spaces. This paper describes an experimental research project that studied the design processes necessary to design for sound. A responsive acoustic surface was designed, fabricated and tested. This acoustic surface was designed to create specific sonic effects. The design...... was simulated using custom integrated acoustic software and also using Odeon acoustic analysis software. The research demonstrates a method for designing space- and sound-defining surfaces, defines the concept of acoustic subspace, and suggests some new parameters for defining acoustic subspaces....

Development of a pressure based room acoustic model using impedance descriptions of surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marbjerg, Gerd Høy; Brunskog, Jonas; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

2013-01-01

absorption coefficient, thus retaining the phase and the angle dependence. The approach of the proposed model will be to calculate the pressure impulse response using a combination of the image source method and acoustic radiosity. The image source method will account for the specular reflections...... and acoustic radiosity will account for the diffuse reflections. This paper presents the motivation for the new model in the form of results in literature, which show the importance of retaining the angle dependence and phase information in reflections along with simple examples of angle dependent reflection...

Modal analysis and cut-off conditions of multichannel surface-acoustic-waveguide structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffel, G; Golan, G; Ruschin, S; Seidman, A; Croitoru, N

1988-01-01

Multichannel guides for surface acoustic waves can improve the efficiency of SAW (surface acoustic-wave) devices significantly. Focusing, steering, and modulating the propagating acoustical modes can be achieved similarly to optical waveguided devices. A general formulation is presented for the analysis of the lateral waveguiding properties of Rayleigh modes in surfaces loaded with deposited strips of different materials. General expressions are obtained for the number of modes and cutoff conditions in these structures. As examples of applications, a simple directional coupler and an electrically controlled coupler are proposed.

Pressure potential and stability analysis in an acoustical noncontact transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J.; Liu, C. J.; Zhang, W. J.

2017-01-01

Near field acoustic traveling wave is one of the most popular principles in noncontact manipulations and transportations. The stability behavior is a key factor in the industrial applications of acoustical noncontact transportation. We present here an in-depth analysis of the transportation stability of a planar object levitated in near field acoustic traveling waves. To more accurately describe the pressure distributions on the radiation surface, a 3D nonlinear traveling wave model is presented. A closed form solution is derived based on the pressure potential to quantitatively calculate the restoring forces and moments under small disturbances. The physical explanations of the effects of fluid inertia and the effects of non-uniform pressure distributions are provided in detail. It is found that a vibration rail with tapered cross section provides more stable transportation than a rail with rectangular cross section. The present study sheds light on the issue of quantitative evaluation of stability in acoustic traveling waves and proposes three main factors that influence the stability: (a) vibration shape, (b) pressure distribution and (c) restoring force/moment. It helps to provide a better understanding of the physics behind the near field acoustic transportation and provide useful design and optimization tools for industrial applications.

Acoustic analysis with vocal loading test in occupational voice disorders: outcomes before and after voice therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kotyło, Piotr; Politański, Piotr; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2008-01-01

To assess the usefulness of acoustic analysis with vocal loading test for evaluating the treatment outcomes in occupational voice disorders. Fifty-one female teachers with dysphonia were examined (Voice Handicap Index--VHI, laryngovideostroboscopy and acoustic analysis with vocal loading) before and after treatment. The outcomes of teachers receiving vocal training (group I) were referred to outcomes of group II receiving only voice hygiene instructions. The results of subjective assessment (VHI score) and objective evaluation (acoustic analysis) improved more significantly in group I than in group II. The post-treatment examination revealed a decreased percentage of subjects with deteriorated jitter parameters after vocal loading, particularly in group I. Acoustic analysis with vocal loading test can be a helpful tool in the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment efficacy in occupational dysphonia.

Multi-objective room acoustic optimization of timber folded plate structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov, Rasmus; Parigi, Dario; Damkilde, Lars

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the application of multi-objective optimization in the design of timber folded plate structures in the scope of the architectural design process. Considering contrasting objectives of structural displacement, early decay time (EDT), clarity (C50) and sound strength (G......), the methodology applied in two benchmarks tests, encompasses both structural and acoustic performance when determining folding characteristics and directionality of surfaces in a timber folded plate structure....

Analysis of enhanced modal damping ratio in porous materials using an acoustic-structure interaction model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kook, Junghwan; Jensen, Jakob Søndergaard

2014-01-01

The aim of this paper is to investigate the enhancement of the damping ratio of a structure with embedded microbeam resonators in air-filled internal cavities. In this context, we discuss theoretical aspects in the framework of the effective modal damping ratio (MDR) and derive an approximate...... relation expressing how an increased damping due to the acoustic medium surrounding the microbeam affect the MDR of the macrobeam. We further analyze the effect of including dissipation of the acoustic medium by using finite element (FE) analysis with acoustic-structure interaction (ASI) using a simple...... phenomenological acoustic loss model. An eigenvalue analysis is carried out to demonstrate the improvement of the damping characteristic of the macrobeam with the resonating microbeam in the lossy air and the results are compared to a forced vibration analysis for a macrobeam with one or multiple embedded...

High transmission acoustic focusing by impedance-matched acoustic meta-surfaces

KAUST Repository

Al Jahdali, Rasha

2016-01-19

Impedance is an important issue in the design of acoustic lenses because mismatched impedance is detrimental to real focusing applications. Here, we report two designs of acoustic lenses that focus acoustic waves in water and air, respectively. They are tailored by acoustic meta-surfaces, which are rigid thin plates decorated with periodically distributed sub-wavelength slits. Their respective building blocks are constructed from the coiling-up spaces in water and the layered structures in air. Analytic analysis based on coupled-mode theory and transfer matrix reveals that the impedances of the lenses are matched to those of the background media. With these impedance-matched acoustic lenses, we demonstrate the acoustic focusing effect by finite-element simulations.

High transmission acoustic focusing by impedance-matched acoustic meta-surfaces

KAUST Repository

Al Jahdali, Rasha; Wu, Ying

2016-01-01

Impedance is an important issue in the design of acoustic lenses because mismatched impedance is detrimental to real focusing applications. Here, we report two designs of acoustic lenses that focus acoustic waves in water and air, respectively. They are tailored by acoustic meta-surfaces, which are rigid thin plates decorated with periodically distributed sub-wavelength slits. Their respective building blocks are constructed from the coiling-up spaces in water and the layered structures in air. Analytic analysis based on coupled-mode theory and transfer matrix reveals that the impedances of the lenses are matched to those of the background media. With these impedance-matched acoustic lenses, we demonstrate the acoustic focusing effect by finite-element simulations.

Statistical analysis of acoustic characteristics of Tibetan Lhasa dialect speech emotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Dandan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper makes a quantitative analysis and comparison on the continuous speech emotion of Lhasa Tibetan in the four basic emotional patterns (happy, surprise, sad, neutral pitch, energy and time length by experimental phonetics and the linear statistical research methods, found that there is a positive correlation between the Lhasa Tibetan emotional speech and pitch, energy and duration, etc. And the pitch, energy and duration of negative emotion acoustic parameters are bigger than positive emotion, on this basis, drawing the Lhasa Tibetan speech emotion acoustic feature patterns. Compared with the Chinese language and the Tibetan, even though both have the tone prosodic features, they also have significant differences in the acoustic characteristics of the speech emotion.

Using acoustic analysis to presort warp-prone ponderosa pine 2 by 4s before kiln-drying

Science.gov (United States)

Xiping Wang; William T. Simpson

2006-01-01

This study evaluated the potential of acoustic analysis as presorting criteria to identify warp-prone boards before kiln-drying. Dimension lumber, 38 by 89 mm (nominal 2 by 4 in.) and 2.44 m (8 it) long, sawn from open-grown small-diameter ponderosa pine trees, was acoustically tested lengthwise at green condition. Three acoustic properties (acoustic speed, rate of...

Function analysis and function assignment of NPP advanced main control room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Mingguang; Xu Jijun

2001-01-01

The author addresses the requirements of function analysis and function assignment, which should be carried out in the design of main control room in nuclear power plant according to the design research of advanced main control room, then states its contents, functions, importance and necessity as well as how to implement these requirements and how to do design verification and validation in the design of advanced main control room of nuclear power plant

Analysis of acoustic data from the PFR SGU condition monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowley, R.; Airey, J.

1990-01-01

This paper gives an outline description of an acoustic monitoring system which has been installed on the SGU of the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at Dounreay with the objective of giving early warning of any change in noise output which could be related to potentially damaging vibrations within the units. Data obtained from this PFR monitoring system is playing an important part in the development of acoustic instrumentation for leak detection although this had not been the primary objective of this particular installation. The PFR has three secondary circuits each containing an evaporator, a superheater and a reheater giving a total of nine SGUs. Although the design of the units is different from that intended for EFR, the measurements provide a valuable source of information on the character and amplitude of acoustic background noise in operational steam generator units. The vibration monitoring system uses the waveguides originally installed during reactor commissioning for leak detection studies. Twelve acoustic waveguides are fitted to the shell of each of the units. The superheaters and reheaters have three waveguides at each of four axial levels, while the evaporators have four waveguides at each of three axial levels. In addition the evaporators have a small number of waveguides attached to the top flange of the unit. Each waveguide is fitted with an accelerometer to record the acoustic signal from the SGU. Tape recordings of the acoustic noise from each unit are made on a regular basis and the tapes analysed on an automated analysis system which has been developed to extract and store in a database about 20 characteristic features from the data. The paper gives examples of the background noise from the SGU. The data demonstrates the use of location techniques to identify prominent acoustic source. 8 figs

Nuclear power plant control room task analysis. Pilot study for pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barks, D.B.; Kozinsky, E.J.; Eckel, S.

1982-05-01

The purposes of this nuclear plant task analysis pilot study: to demonstrate the use of task analysis techniques on selected abnormal or emergency operation events in a nuclear power plant; to evaluate the use of simulator data obtained from an automated Performance Measurement System to supplement and validate data obtained by traditional task analysis methods; and to demonstrate sample applications of task analysis data to address questions pertinent to nuclear power plant operational safety: control room layout, staffing and training requirements, operating procedures, interpersonal communications, and job performance aids. Five data sources were investigated to provide information for a task analysis. These sources were (1) written operating procedures (event-based); (2) interviews with subject matter experts (the control room operators); (3) videotapes of the control room operators (senior reactor operators and reactor operators) while responding to each event in a simulator; (4) walk-/talk-throughs conducted by control room operators for each event; and (5) simulator data from the PMS

Assessment of impact of acoustic and nonacoustic parameters on performance and well-being

Science.gov (United States)

Mellert, Volker; Weber, Reinhard; Nocke, Christian

2004-05-01

It is of interest to estimate the influence of the environment in a specific work place area on the performance and well-being of people. Investigations have been carried out for the cabin environment of an airplane and for class rooms. Acoustics is only one issue of a variety of environmental factors, therefore the combined impact of temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting, vibration, etc. on human perception is the subject of psychophysical research. Methods for the objective assessment of subjective impressions have been developed for applications in acoustics for a long time, e.g., for concert hall acoustics, noise evaluation, and sound design. The methodology relies on questionnaires, measurement of acoustic parameters, ear-related signal processing and analysis, and on correlation of the physical input with subjective output. Methodology and results are presented from measurements of noise and vibration, temperature and humidity in aircraft simulators, and of reverberation, coloring, and lighting in a primary school, and of the environmental perception. [The work includes research with M. Klatte, A. Schick from the Psychology Department of Oldenburg University, and M. Meis from Hoerzentrum Oldenburg GmbH and with the European Project HEACE (for partners see www.heace.org).

Status reports on the development and application of acoustic emission analysis. Proceedings; Statusberichte zur Entwicklung und Anwendung der Schallemissionsanalyse. Beitraege

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-01

This proceedings-CD comprises 20 papers presented at the 17. Kolloquium Schallemission (Acoustic Emission Colloquium) at Bad Schandau. The following subjects were discussed: 1. Acoustic emission analysis of tensile tests on standard test specimens of different wood materials; 2. Application of pattern recognition methods for damage analyses of fibre-reinforced plastics; 3. Acoustic emission analysis for measuring crack growth in finned armor steel under dynamic load; 4. Acoustic emission analysis with zonal sound location: Test objects, test results and evaluation of acoustic emission signals; 5. Acoustic emission analysis in overall fatigue testing of a wind rotor blade; 6. Laboratory methods for assessing the sensitivity of acoustic emission sensors; 7. Acoustic emission analysis in burst tests of cast aluminium casings; 8. Visualization of acoustic emission localizations; 9. Threshold-independent and complete recording of characteristics and wave forms of transient and continuous acoustic emission; 10. Characterization of wide-band acoustic emission sensors; 11. Handling of large data volumes in acoustic emission analysis, a contribution to the development of algorithms; 12. Acoustic emission analysis and ultrasonic analysis for the characterization of crack networks in saline rock. One of the papers is available as a separate record in this database. [German] Diese Tagungs-CD enthaelt 20 Vortraege, die auf dem 17. Kolloquium Schallemission in Bad Schandau gehalten wurden. Die Themen waren: 1. Schallemissionsanalyse von Zugversuchen an Standardpruefkoerpern aus unterschiedlichen Holzwerkstoffen; 2. Anwendung von Mustererkennungsverfahren zur Schadensanalyse in faserverstaerkten Kunststoffen; 3. Anwendung der Schallemissionsanalyse zur Ermittlung des Risswachstums bei schwingender Beanspruchung von geripptem Bewehrungsstahl; 4. Schallemissionspruefung mit zonaler Ortung Pruefobjekte, Pruefergebnisse und Nachbewertung von Schallemissionssignalen; 5

Speaker-Oriented Classroom Acoustics Design Guidelines in the Context of Current Regulations in European Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David; Brunskog, Jonas; Rasmussen, Birgit

2014-01-01

Most European countries have regulatory requirements or guidelines for reverberation time in classrooms which have the goal of enhancing speech intelligibility and reducing noise levels in schools. At the same time, school teachers suffer frequently from voice problems due to high vocal load...... experienced at work. With the aim of improving working conditions for teachers, this article presents guidelines for classroom acoustics design that meet simultaneously criteria of vocal comfort and speech intelligibility, which may be of use in future discussions for updating regulatory requirements...... in classroom acoustics. Two room acoustic parameters are shown relevant for a speaker: the voice support, linked to vocal effort, and the decay time derived from an oral-binaural impulse response, linked to vocal comfort. Theoretical prediction models for room-averaged values of these parameters are combined...

Surface Acoustic Wave Monitor for Deposition and Analysis of Ultra-Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Hines, Jacqueline H. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A surface acoustic wave (SAW) based thin film deposition monitor device and system for monitoring the deposition of ultra-thin films and nanomaterials and the analysis thereof is characterized by acoustic wave device embodiments that include differential delay line device designs, and which can optionally have integral reference devices fabricated on the same substrate as the sensing device, or on a separate device in thermal contact with the film monitoring/analysis device, in order to provide inherently temperature compensated measurements. These deposition monitor and analysis devices can include inherent temperature compensation, higher sensitivity to surface interactions than quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) devices, and the ability to operate at extreme temperatures.

An analysis of beam parameters on proton-acoustic waves through an analytic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kipergil, Esra Aytac; Erkol, Hakan; Kaya, Serhat; Gulsen, Gultekin; Unlu, Mehmet Burcin

2017-06-21

It has been reported that acoustic waves are generated when a high-energy pulsed proton beam is deposited in a small volume within tissue. One possible application of proton-induced acoustics is to get real-time feedback for intra-treatment adjustments by monitoring such acoustic waves. A high spatial resolution in ultrasound imaging may reduce proton range uncertainty. Thus, it is crucial to understand the dependence of the acoustic waves on the proton beam characteristics. In this manuscript, firstly, an analytic solution for the proton-induced acoustic wave is presented to reveal the dependence of the signal on the beam parameters; then it is combined with an analytic approximation of the Bragg curve. The influence of the beam energy, pulse duration and beam diameter variation on the acoustic waveform are investigated. Further analysis is performed regarding the Fourier decomposition of the proton-acoustic signals. Our results show that the smaller spill time of the proton beam upsurges the amplitude of the acoustic wave for a constant number of protons, which is hence beneficial for dose monitoring. The increase in the energy of each individual proton in the beam leads to the spatial broadening of the Bragg curve, which also yields acoustic waves of greater amplitude. The pulse duration and the beam width of the proton beam do not affect the central frequency of the acoustic wave, but they change the amplitude of the spectral components.

Acoustics and Hearing

CERN Document Server

Damaske, Peter

2008-01-01

When one listens to music at home, one would like to have an acoustic impression close to that of being in the concert hall. Until recently this meant elaborate multi-channelled sound systems with 5 or more speakers. But head-related stereophony achieves the surround-sound effect in living rooms with only two loudspeakers. By virtue of their slight directivity as well as an electronic filter the limitations previously common to two-speaker systems can be overcome and this holds for any arbitrary two-channel recording. The book also investigates the question of how a wide and diffuse sound image can arise in concert halls and shows that the quality of concert halls decisively depends on diffuse sound images arising in the onset of reverberation. For this purpose a strong onset of reverberation is modified in an anechoic chamber by electroacoustic means. Acoustics and Hearing proposes ideas concerning signal processing in the auditory system that explain the measured results and the resultant sound effects plea...

Vibro-Acoustic Numerical Analysis for the Chain Cover of a Car Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrico Armentani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this work, a vibro-acoustic numerical and experimental analysis was carried out for the chain cover of a low powered four-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine, belonging to the FPT (FCA Power Train family called SDE (Small Diesel Engine. By applying a methodology used in the acoustic optimization of new FPT engine components, firstly a finite element model (FEM of the engine was defined, then a vibration analysis was performed for the whole engine (modal analysis, and finally a forced response analysis was developed for the only chain cover (separated from the overall engine. The boundary conditions applied to the chain cover were the accelerations experimentally measured by accelerometers located at the points of connection among chain cover, head cover, and crankcase. Subsequently, a boundary element (BE model of the only chain cover was realized to determine the chain cover noise emission, starting from the previously calculated structural vibrations. The numerical vibro-acoustic outcomes were compared with those experimentally observed, obtaining a good correlation. All the information thus obtained allowed the identification of those critical areas, in terms of noise generation, in which to undertake necessary improvements.

Operating room management and operating room productivity: the case of Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Maresi; Berry-Stölzle, Thomas; Schleppers, Alexander

2008-09-01

We examine operating room productivity on the example of hospitals in Germany with independent anesthesiology departments. Linked to anesthesiology group literature, we use the ln(Total Surgical Time/Total Anesthesiologists Salary) as a proxy for operating room productivity. We test the association between operating room productivity and different structural, organizational and management characteristics based on survey data from 87 hospitals. Our empirical analysis links improved operating room productivity to greater operating room capacity, appropriate scheduling behavior and management methods to realign interests. From this analysis, the enforcing jurisdiction and avoiding advance over-scheduling appear to be the implementable tools for improving operating room productivity.

Control room philosophy: Principles of control room design and control room work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skriver, Jan; Ramberg, Jasmine; Allwin, Pernilla

2006-01-01

In order to provide insights for improvement of work in control rooms several factors have to be considered. Knowledge of principles including control room philosophies will guide the recommended improvements. In addition to knowledge about specific principles an advantage for an organization can be an understanding of similarities and policies used in other high risk industry. The report has been developed on the basis of a document analysis of international standards and other guiding documents. (NUREG 0711, ISO 11064, ISO 6385, IEC 60964). In addition to the document analysis which has strived to compare the documents to see similarities in important principals, experience from working with control room design, modifications and evaluations in other high risk industries has pervaded the report. Important principles have been identified which are recommended to be included in a control room philosophy. Many of these are similar to the principles identified in the international standards. An additional principal which is regarded as important is the utilization of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which can be used as a measure to target preventative means. Further more it is critical that the control room philosophy is easy to access and comprehend for all users. One of the challenges that remain after having developed a control room philosophy is how to utilize it in the daily work situation. It is vital that the document remains as a living document, guiding the continual improvement of the control room in the various life cycle stages

Acoustic assessment of speech privacy curtains in two nursing units

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Diana S.; Miller-Klein, Erik T.

2016-01-01

Hospitals have complex soundscapes that create challenges to patient care. Extraneous noise and high reverberation rates impair speech intelligibility, which leads to raised voices. In an unintended spiral, the increasing noise may result in diminished speech privacy, as people speak loudly to be heard over the din. The products available to improve hospital soundscapes include construction materials that absorb sound (acoustic ceiling tiles, carpet, wall insulation) and reduce reverberation rates. Enhanced privacy curtains are now available and offer potential for a relatively simple way to improve speech privacy and speech intelligibility by absorbing sound at the hospital patient's bedside. Acoustic assessments were performed over 2 days on two nursing units with a similar design in the same hospital. One unit was built with the 1970s’ standard hospital construction and the other was newly refurbished (2013) with sound-absorbing features. In addition, we determined the effect of an enhanced privacy curtain versus standard privacy curtains using acoustic measures of speech privacy and speech intelligibility indexes. Privacy curtains provided auditory protection for the patients. In general, that protection was increased by the use of enhanced privacy curtains. On an average, the enhanced curtain improved sound absorption from 20% to 30%; however, there was considerable variability, depending on the configuration of the rooms tested. Enhanced privacy curtains provide measureable improvement to the acoustics of patient rooms but cannot overcome larger acoustic design issues. To shorten reverberation time, additional absorption, and compact and more fragmented nursing unit floor plate shapes should be considered. PMID:26780959

Acoustic assessment of speech privacy curtains in two nursing units.

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Diana S; Miller-Klein, Erik T

2016-01-01

Hospitals have complex soundscapes that create challenges to patient care. Extraneous noise and high reverberation rates impair speech intelligibility, which leads to raised voices. In an unintended spiral, the increasing noise may result in diminished speech privacy, as people speak loudly to be heard over the din. The products available to improve hospital soundscapes include construction materials that absorb sound (acoustic ceiling tiles, carpet, wall insulation) and reduce reverberation rates. Enhanced privacy curtains are now available and offer potential for a relatively simple way to improve speech privacy and speech intelligibility by absorbing sound at the hospital patient's bedside. Acoustic assessments were performed over 2 days on two nursing units with a similar design in the same hospital. One unit was built with the 1970s' standard hospital construction and the other was newly refurbished (2013) with sound-absorbing features. In addition, we determined the effect of an enhanced privacy curtain versus standard privacy curtains using acoustic measures of speech privacy and speech intelligibility indexes. Privacy curtains provided auditory protection for the patients. In general, that protection was increased by the use of enhanced privacy curtains. On an average, the enhanced curtain improved sound absorption from 20% to 30%; however, there was considerable variability, depending on the configuration of the rooms tested. Enhanced privacy curtains provide measureable improvement to the acoustics of patient rooms but cannot overcome larger acoustic design issues. To shorten reverberation time, additional absorption, and compact and more fragmented nursing unit floor plate shapes should be considered.

Acoustic assessment of speech privacy curtains in two nursing units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana S Pope

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Hospitals have complex soundscapes that create challenges to patient care. Extraneous noise and high reverberation rates impair speech intelligibility, which leads to raised voices. In an unintended spiral, the increasing noise may result in diminished speech privacy, as people speak loudly to be heard over the din. The products available to improve hospital soundscapes include construction materials that absorb sound (acoustic ceiling tiles, carpet, wall insulation and reduce reverberation rates. Enhanced privacy curtains are now available and offer potential for a relatively simple way to improve speech privacy and speech intelligibility by absorbing sound at the hospital patient′s bedside. Acoustic assessments were performed over 2 days on two nursing units with a similar design in the same hospital. One unit was built with the 1970s′ standard hospital construction and the other was newly refurbished (2013 with sound-absorbing features. In addition, we determined the effect of an enhanced privacy curtain versus standard privacy curtains using acoustic measures of speech privacy and speech intelligibility indexes. Privacy curtains provided auditory protection for the patients. In general, that protection was increased by the use of enhanced privacy curtains. On an average, the enhanced curtain improved sound absorption from 20% to 30%; however, there was considerable variability, depending on the configuration of the rooms tested. Enhanced privacy curtains provide measureable improvement to the acoustics of patient rooms but cannot overcome larger acoustic design issues. To shorten reverberation time, additional absorption, and compact and more fragmented nursing unit floor plate shapes should be considered.

Acoustic analysis after radiotherapy in T1 vocal cord carcinoma: a new approach to the analysis of voice quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rovirosa, Angeles; Martinez-Celdran, Eugenio; Ortega, Alicia; Ascaso, Carlos; Abellana, Rosa; Velasco, Mercedes; Bonet, Montserrat; Herrera, Carmen; Casas, Francesc; Francisco, Rosa Maria; Arenas, Meritxell; Hernandez, Victor; Sanchez-Reyes, Alberto; Leon, Concha; Traserra, Jordi; Biete, Albert

2000-01-01

Purpose: The study of acoustic voice parameters (fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio) in extended vowel production, oral reading of a standard paragraph, spontaneous speech and a song in irradiated patients for Tis-T1 vocal cord carcinoma. Methods and Materials: Eighteen male patients irradiated for Tis-T1 vocal cord carcinoma and a control group of 31 nonirradiated subjects of the same age were included in a study of acoustic voice analysis. The control group had been rigorously selected for voice quality and the irradiated group had previous history of smoking in two-thirds of the cases and a vocal cord biopsy. Radiotherapy patients were treated with a 6MV Linac receiving a total dose of 66 Gy, 2 Gy/day, with median treatment areas of 28 cm 2 . Acoustic voice analysis was performed 1 year after radiotherapy, the voice of patients in extended vowel production, oral reading of a standard paragraph, spontaneous speech, and in a song was tape registered and analyzed by a Kay Elemetric's Computerized Speech Lab (model CSL no. 4300). Fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio were obtained in each case. Mann Whitney analysis was used for statistical tests. Results: The irradiated group presented higher values of fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio. Mann-Whitney analysis showed significant differences for fundamental frequency and jitter in vowel production, oral reading, spontaneous speech, and song. Shimmer only showed differences in vowel production and harmonics-to-noise ratio in oral reading and song. Conclusions: In our study only fundamental frequency and jitter showed significant increased values to the control group in all the acoustic situations. Sustained vowel production showed the worst values of the acoustic parameters in comparison with the other acoustic situations. This study seems to suggest that more work should be done in this field

Low frequency sound field enhancement system for rectangular rooms, using multiple loudspeakers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Celestinos, Adrian

2007-01-01

The scope of this PhD dissertation is within the performance of loudspeakers in rooms at low frequencies. The research concentrates on the improvement of the sound level distribution in rooms produced by loudspeakers at low frequencies. The work focuses on seeing the problem acoustically...... and solving it in the time domain. Loudspeakers are the last link in the sound reproduction chain, and they are typically placed in small or medium size rooms. When low frequency sound is radiated by a loudspeaker the sound level distribution along the room presents large deviations. This is due...... to the multiple reflection of sound at the rigid walls of the room. This may cause level differences of up to 20 dB in the room. Some of these deviations are associated with the standing waves, resonances or anti resonances of the room. The understanding of the problem is accomplished by analyzing the behavior...

An objective measure for the sensitivity of room impulse response and its link to a diffuse sound field

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prislan, Rok; Brunskog, Jonas; Jacobsen, Finn

2014-01-01

This study is relevant to acoustic measurements in reverberation rooms such as measurements of sound transmission, sound absorption, and sound power levels of noise sources. The study presents a quantitative measure for the diffuseness in a room, which is first introduced theoretically and sub...

Vibro-acoustics

CERN Document Server

Nilsson, Anders

2015-01-01

This three-volume book gives a thorough and comprehensive presentation of vibration and acoustic theories. Different from traditional textbooks which typically deal with some aspects of either acoustic or vibration problems, it is unique of this book to combine those two correlated subjects together. Moreover, it provides fundamental analysis and mathematical descriptions for several crucial phenomena of Vibro-Acoustics which are quite useful in noise reduction, including how structures are excited, energy flows from an excitation point to a sound radiating surface, and finally how a structure radiates noise to a surrounding fluid. Many measurement results included in the text make the reading interesting and informative. Problems/questions are listed at the end of each chapter and the solutions are provided. This will help the readers to understand the topics of Vibro-Acoustics more deeply. The book should be of interest to anyone interested in sound and vibration, vehicle acoustics, ship acoustics and inter...

Airborne chemistry: acoustic levitation in chemical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Santesson, Sabina; Nilsson, Staffan

2004-04-01

This review with 60 references describes a unique path to miniaturisation, that is, the use of acoustic levitation in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry applications. Levitation of small volumes of sample by means of a levitation technique can be used as a way to avoid solid walls around the sample, thus circumventing the main problem of miniaturisation, the unfavourable surface-to-volume ratio. Different techniques for sample levitation have been developed and improved. Of the levitation techniques described, acoustic or ultrasonic levitation fulfils all requirements for analytical chemistry applications. This technique has previously been used to study properties of molten materials and the equilibrium shape()and stability of liquid drops. Temperature and mass transfer in levitated drops have also been described, as have crystallisation and microgravity applications. The airborne analytical system described here is equipped with different and exchangeable remote detection systems. The levitated drops are normally in the 100 nL-2 microL volume range and additions to the levitated drop can be made in the pL-volume range. The use of levitated drops in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry offers several benefits. Several remote detection systems are compatible with acoustic levitation, including fluorescence imaging detection, right angle light scattering, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Applications include liquid/liquid extractions, solvent exchange, analyte enrichment, single-cell analysis, cell-cell communication studies, precipitation screening of proteins to establish nucleation conditions, and crystallisation of proteins and pharmaceuticals.

Acoustic radiosity for computation of sound fields in diffuse environments

Science.gov (United States)

Muehleisen, Ralph T.; Beamer, C. Walter

2002-05-01

The use of image and ray tracing methods (and variations thereof) for the computation of sound fields in rooms is relatively well developed. In their regime of validity, both methods work well for prediction in rooms with small amounts of diffraction and mostly specular reflection at the walls. While extensions to the method to include diffuse reflections and diffraction have been made, they are limited at best. In the fields of illumination and computer graphics the ray tracing and image methods are joined by another method called luminous radiative transfer or radiosity. In radiosity, an energy balance between surfaces is computed assuming diffuse reflection at the reflective surfaces. Because the interaction between surfaces is constant, much of the computation required for sound field prediction with multiple or moving source and receiver positions can be reduced. In acoustics the radiosity method has had little attention because of the problems of diffraction and specular reflection. The utility of radiosity in acoustics and an approach to a useful development of the method for acoustics will be presented. The method looks especially useful for sound level prediction in industrial and office environments. [Work supported by NSF.

Measurement and prediction of voice support and room gain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David; Brunskog, Jonas; Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka

2012-01-01

and good acoustical quality lies in the range between 14 and 9 dB, whereas the room gain is in the range between 0.2 and 0.5 dB. The prediction model for voice support describes the measurements in the classrooms with a coefficient of determination of 0.84 and a standard deviation of 1.2 dB....

Analysis of acoustic emission during abrasive waterjet machining of sheet metals

Science.gov (United States)

Mokhtar, Nazrin; Gebremariam, MA; Zohari, H.; Azhari, Azmir

2018-04-01

The present paper reports on the analysis of acoustic emission (AE) produced during abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining process. This paper focuses on the relationship of AE and surface quality of sheet metals. The changes in acoustic emission signals recorded by the mean of power spectral density (PSD) via covariance method in relation to the surface quality of the cut are discussed. The test was made using two materials for comparison namely aluminium 6061 and stainless steel 304 with five different feed rates. The acoustic emission data were captured by Labview and later processed using MATLAB software. The results show that the AE spectrums correlated with different feed rates and surface qualities. It can be concluded that the AE is capable of monitoring the changes of feed rate and surface quality.

Dose field research of analysis room for in-hospital neutron irradiator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zizhu; Song Mingzhe; Li Wei; Chen Jun; Yang Yong; Li Yiguo

2012-01-01

Neutron equivalent dose rate and y ray dose rate inside the analysis room of the in-hospital neutron irradiator (IHNI) and outdoor were measured. The results show that γ ray dose rate inside the analysis room exceeds calculation value many times and γ/ ray dose rate outdoor is higher than supervision region dose limit of 7.5 μSv/h. According to the measurement results and the Monte Carlo simulation, the following shielding plan was adopted. Lead shielding with thickness of 16 cm was installed on the wall, which faces the neutron beam, to shield γ ray, and lithium polyethylene plate with thickness of l cm was installed on all the wall (not including ceiling and floor) to shield scattering neutron. After shielding transformation, the highest γ ray dose rate point inside the analysis room decreased 277 times, the neutron equivalent dose rate decreased 5.8 times, and the outdoor γ/ray dose rate decreased nearly 90 times. (authors)

Internal stress analysis by acoustic polarimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rouge, Jean; Robert, Andre

The associated improvements of acoustics and electronics allow the field of applications relative to the ultrasonic methods to be extended to the non destructive control of materials and structures. Thus, the acoustical polarimetry is a new method allowing the measurement in orientation and intensity of residual or induced internal stresses in metals or other materials [fr

Acoustic levitation: recent developments and emerging opportunities in biomaterials research.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Richard J K; Benmore, Chris J; Tumber, Sonia K; Tailor, Amit N; Rey, Charles A; Taylor, Lynne S; Byrn, Stephen R

2012-04-01

Containerless sample environments (levitation) are useful for study of nucleation, supercooling, and vitrification and for synthesis of new materials, often with non-equilibrium structures. Elimination of extrinsic nucleation by container walls extends access to supercooled and supersaturated liquids under high-purity conditions. Acoustic levitation is well suited to the study of liquids including aqueous solutions, organics, soft materials, polymers, and pharmaceuticals at around room temperature. This article briefly reviews recent developments and applications of acoustic levitation in materials R&D. Examples of experiments yielding amorphous pharmaceutical materials are presented. The implementation and results of experiments on supercooled and supersaturated liquids using an acoustic levitator at a high-energy X-ray beamline are described.

Acoustic design of open plan schools and comparison of requirements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller Petersen, Claus; Rasmussen, Birgit

2012-01-01

between groups and satisfac¬tory speech intelligibility internally in groups. This paper describes the newest Danish requirements and recommendations for such open plan areas and presents the design, measurements and subjective evaluation of two newer Danish schools. According to the users, the general...... conditions at both schools are satisfactory due to both optimized acoustical conditions and teaching methods adapted to the special open environment. The results from room acoustical modelling, verification measurements and questionnaire survey are presented and evaluated in relation to the newest Danish...

Carbon nanotubes/ceria composite layers deposited on surface acoustic wave devices for gas detection at room temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David, M., E-mail: marjorie.david@univ-tln.fr [Universite du Sud Toulon, Var, IM2NP, UMR CNRS 6242, BP 20132. F 83 957 LA GARDE (France); Arab, M.; Martino, C. [Universite du Sud Toulon, Var, IM2NP, UMR CNRS 6242, BP 20132. F 83 957 LA GARDE (France); Delmas, L. [SENSeOR, Sophia Antipolis, 06250 Mougins (France); Guinneton, F.; Gavarri, J.-R. [Universite du Sud Toulon, Var, IM2NP, UMR CNRS 6242, BP 20132. F 83 957 LA GARDE (France)

2012-05-01

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor on ATquartz piezoelectric substrate has been designed and fabricated. Test devices were based on asynchronous single-port resonators operating near the 434-MHz-centered industrial, scientific, and medical band. Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Ceria (MWNTs/CeO{sub 2}) nanocomposites were used as sensitive layers. The MWNTs were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition method and coated with nanosized ceria oxide. The composites were deposited on SAW quartz resonator using air-brush technique. MWNTs/CeO{sub 2} nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron and atomic force microscopy. The sensor responses were tested under acetone (C{sub 3}H{sub 5}OH) and ethanol (C{sub 2}H{sub 5}OH) gases. The output signal was done by S{sub 11} parameter of the SAW device and was monitored using a network analyzer. Frequency changes were observed under acetone and ethanol vapors. These changes depended on the surface conductivity of the nanocomposites deposited on the sensor. The single-port SAW gas sensor coated with the MWNTs/CeO{sub 2} presented the highest sensitivity in the case of acetone vapor interacting with these layers, with a frequency shift of 200 kHz at room temperature.

Department of Cybernetic Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

The development of the theory, instrumentation and applications of methods and systems for the measurement, analysis, processing and synthesis of acoustic signals within the audio frequency range, particularly of the speech signal and the vibro-acoustic signal emitted by technical and industrial equipments treated as noise and vibration sources was discussed. The research work, both theoretical and experimental, aims at applications in various branches of science, and medicine, such as: acoustical diagnostics and phoniatric rehabilitation of pathological and postoperative states of the speech organ; bilateral ""man-machine'' speech communication based on the analysis, recognition and synthesis of the speech signal; vibro-acoustical diagnostics and continuous monitoring of the state of machines, technical equipments and technological processes.

Computational simulation in architectural and environmental acoustics methods and applications of wave-based computation

CERN Document Server

Sakamoto, Shinichi; Otsuru, Toru

2014-01-01

This book reviews a variety of methods for wave-based acoustic simulation and recent applications to architectural and environmental acoustic problems. Following an introduction providing an overview of computational simulation of sound environment, the book is in two parts: four chapters on methods and four chapters on applications. The first part explains the fundamentals and advanced techniques for three popular methods, namely, the finite-difference time-domain method, the finite element method, and the boundary element method, as well as alternative time-domain methods. The second part demonstrates various applications to room acoustics simulation, noise propagation simulation, acoustic property simulation for building components, and auralization. This book is a valuable reference that covers the state of the art in computational simulation for architectural and environmental acoustics.  

Acoustic emission analysis coupled with thermogravimetric experiments dedicated to high temperature corrosion studies on metallic alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serris, Eric; Al Haj, Omar; Peres, Veronique; Cournil, Michel; Kittel, Jean; Grosjean, Francois; Ropital, Francois

2014-01-01

High temperature corrosion of metallic alloys (like iron, nickel, zirconium alloys) can damage equipment of many industrial fields (refinery, petrochemical, nuclear..). Acoustic emission (AE) is an interesting method owing to its sensitivity and its non-destructive aspect to quantify the level of damage in use of these alloys under various environmental conditions. High temperature corrosive phenomena create stresses in the materials; the relaxation by cracks of these stresses can be recorded and analyzed using the AE system. The goal of our study is to establish an acoustic signals database which assigns the acoustic signals to the specific corrosion phenomena. For this purpose, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is coupled with acoustic emission (AE) devices. The oxidation of a zirconium alloy, zircaloy-4, is first studied using thermogravimetric experiment coupled to acoustic emission analysis at 900 C. An inward zirconium oxide scale, preliminary dense, then porous, grow during the isothermal isobaric step. The kinetic rate increases significantly after a kinetic transition (breakaway). This acceleration occurs with an increase of acoustic emission activity. Most of the acoustic emission bursts are recorded after the kinetic transition. Acoustic emission signals are also observed during the cooling of the sample. AE numerical treatments (using wavelet transform) completed by SEM microscopy characterizations allows us to distinguish the different populations of cracks. Metal dusting represents also a severe form of corrosive degradation of metal alloy. Iron metal dusting corrosion is studied by AE coupled with TGA at 650 C under C 4 H 10 + H 2 + He atmosphere. Acoustic emission signals are detected after a significant increase of the sample mass.

Auralization fundamentals of acoustics, modelling, simulation, algorithms and acoustic virtual reality

CERN Document Server

Vorlander, Michael

2007-01-01

"Auralization" is the technique of creation and reproduction of sound on the basis of computer data. With this tool is it possible to predict the character of sound signals which are generated at the source and modified by reinforcement, propagation and transmission in systems such as rooms, buildings, vehicles or other technical devices. This book is organized as a comprehensive collection of the basics of sound and vibration, acoustic modelling, simulation, signal processing and audio reproduction. Implementations of the auralization technique are described using examples drawn from various fields in acoustic’s research and engineering, architecture, sound design and virtual reality.

Multichannel active control of random noise in a small reverberant room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laugesen, Søren; Elliott, Stephen J.

1993-01-01

An algorithm for multichannel adaptive IIR (infinite impulse response) filtering is presented and applied to the active control of broadband random noise in a small reverberant room. Assuming complete knowledge of the primary noise, the theoretically optimal reductions of acoustic energy are init...... with the primary noise field generated by a panel excited by a loudspeaker in an adjoining room. These results show that far better performances are provided by IIR and FIR filters when the primary source has a lightly damped dynamic behavior which the active controller must model...

Control room habitability Analysis and Testing for Wolsong Unit 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, J. B. [KHNP Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

In response to this recommendation, KHNP has established CRH program and performed tracer gas in leakage tests. These activities are described herein including the emergency ventilation system analysis, acceptance criteria calculation for the test and Control Room Envelope (CRE) discrimination, and the results of the tracer gas tests are presented. CRH analysis including unfiltered in leakage tests according to the methodology in ASTM E741 was performed for Wolsong Unit 1. The results show that the integrity of the control room of Wolsong Unit 1 is in good condition to maintain the reactor in a safe condition under accident conditions, which complies with the US NRC regulatory guides 1.78, 1.196 and 1.197.

Active low frequency sound field control in a listening room using CABS (Controlled Acoustic Bass System) will also reduce the sound transmitted to neighbour rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal; Celestinos, Adrian

2012-01-01

Sound in rooms and transmission of sound between rooms gives the biggest problems at low frequencies. Rooms with rectangular boundaries have strong resonance frequencies and will give big spatial variations in sound pressure level (SPL) in the source room, and an increase in SPL of 20 dB at a wall...... Bass System) is a time based room correction system for reproduced sound using loudspeakers. The system can remove room modes at low frequencies, by active cancelling the reflection from at the rear wall to a normal stereo setup. Measurements in a source room using CABS and in two neighbour rooms have...... shown a reduction in sound transmission of up to 10 dB at resonance frequencies and a reduction at broadband noise of 3 – 5 dB at frequencies up to 100 Hz. The ideas and understanding of the CABS system will also be given....

ACEMAN (II): a PDP-11 software package for acoustic emission analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobias, A.

1976-01-01

A powerful, but easy-to-use, software package (ACEMAN) for acoustic emission analysis has been developed at Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories. The system is based on a PDP-11 minicomputer with 24 K of memory, an RK05 DISK Drive and a Tektronix 4010 Graphics terminal. The operation of the system is described in detail in terms of the functions performed in response to the various command mnemonics. The ACEMAN software package offers many useful facilities not found on other acoustic emission monitoring systems. Its main features, many of which are unique, are summarised. The ACEMAN system automatically handles arrays of up to 12 sensors in real-time operation during which data are acquired, analysed, stored on the computer disk for future analysis and displayed on the terminal if required. (author)

Project Ancient Acoustics Part 1 of 4 : a method for accurate impulse response measurements in large open air theatres

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hak, C.C.J.M.; Hoekstra, N.; Nicolai, B.; Wenmaekers, R.H.C.

2016-01-01

Selecting an appropriate method for measuring ‘normal’ indoor concert hall acoustics is always a trade-off between time, stimulus type, number of measurements and measurement quality. For ISO 3382 room acoustic parameters to be derived accurately from impulse responses, this tradeoff aims at a

Spectral analysis methods for vehicle interior vibro-acoustics identification

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini Fouladi, Mohammad; Nor, Mohd. Jailani Mohd.; Ariffin, Ahmad Kamal

2009-02-01

Noise has various effects on comfort, performance and health of human. Sound are analysed by human brain based on the frequencies and amplitudes. In a dynamic system, transmission of sound and vibrations depend on frequency and direction of the input motion and characteristics of the output. It is imperative that automotive manufacturers invest a lot of effort and money to improve and enhance the vibro-acoustics performance of their products. The enhancement effort may be very difficult and time-consuming if one relies only on 'trial and error' method without prior knowledge about the sources itself. Complex noise inside a vehicle cabin originated from various sources and travel through many pathways. First stage of sound quality refinement is to find the source. It is vital for automotive engineers to identify the dominant noise sources such as engine noise, exhaust noise and noise due to vibration transmission inside of vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to find the vibro-acoustical sources of noise in a passenger vehicle compartment. The implementation of spectral analysis method is much faster than the 'trial and error' methods in which, parts should be separated to measure the transfer functions. Also by using spectral analysis method, signals can be recorded in real operational conditions which conduce to more consistent results. A multi-channel analyser is utilised to measure and record the vibro-acoustical signals. Computational algorithms are also employed to identify contribution of various sources towards the measured interior signal. These achievements can be utilised to detect, control and optimise interior noise performance of road transport vehicles.

Sinusoidal Representation of Acoustic Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Masaaki

Sinusoidal representation of acoustic signals has been an important tool in speech and music processing like signal analysis, synthesis and time scale or pitch modifications. It can be applicable to arbitrary signals, which is an important advantage over other signal representations like physical modeling of acoustic signals. In sinusoidal representation, acoustic signals are composed as sums of sinusoid (sine wave) with different amplitudes, frequencies and phases, which is based on the timedependent short-time Fourier transform (STFT). This article describes the principles of acoustic signal analysis/synthesis based on a sinusoid representation with focus on sine waves with rapidly varying frequency.

Determination of acoustical transfer functions using an impulse method

Science.gov (United States)

MacPherson, J.

1985-02-01

The Transfer Function of a system may be defined as the relationship of the output response to the input of a system. Whilst recent advances in digital processing systems have enabled Impulse Transfer Functions to be determined by computation of the Fast Fourier Transform, there has been little work done in applying these techniques to room acoustics. Acoustical Transfer Functions have been determined for auditoria, using an impulse method. The technique is based on the computation of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of a non-ideal impulsive source, both at the source and at the receiver point. The Impulse Transfer Function (ITF) is obtained by dividing the FFT at the receiver position by the FFT of the source. This quantity is presented both as linear frequency scale plots and also as synthesized one-third octave band data. The technique enables a considerable quantity of data to be obtained from a small number of impulsive signals recorded in the field, thereby minimizing the time and effort required on site. As the characteristics of the source are taken into account in the calculation, the choice of impulsive source is non-critical. The digital analysis equipment required for the analysis is readily available commercially.

A pilot study on acoustic regulations for schools – Comparison between selected countries in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Birgit; Guigou-Carter, Catherine

2016-01-01

of descriptors and limit values for acoustic requirements. The paper includes examples of acoustic regulations for schools, including specific sound insulation requirements on airborne and impact sound insulation, limit values for noise from traffic and from service equipment and in addition on reverberation......Acoustic regulations for schools exist in most countries in Europe, the main reasons being improving learning conditions for pupils and work conditions for teachers. As a pilot study, comparison between requirements in selected countries in Europe has been carried out. The findings show a diversity...... time for class rooms. Furthermore, the discrepancies between countries are being discussed and some priorities for adjusting acoustic regulations in some countries indicated....

Throughput Analysis on 3-Dimensional Underwater Acoustic Network with One-Hop Mobile Relay

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Xuefeng; Fan, Jiasheng; Guan, Quansheng; Ji, Fei; Yu, Hua

2018-01-01

Underwater acoustic communication network (UACN) has been considered as an essential infrastructure for ocean exploitation. Performance analysis of UACN is important in underwater acoustic network deployment and management. In this paper, we analyze the network throughput of three-dimensional randomly deployed transmitter–receiver pairs. Due to the long delay of acoustic channels, complicated networking protocols with heavy signaling overhead may not be appropriate. In this paper, we consider only one-hop or two-hop transmission, to save the signaling cost. That is, we assume the transmitter sends the data packet to the receiver by one-hop direct transmission, or by two-hop transmission via mobile relays. We derive the closed-form formulation of packet delivery rate with respect to the transmission delay and the number of transmitter–receiver pairs. The correctness of the derivation results are verified by computer simulations. Our analysis indicates how to obtain a precise tradeoff between the delay constraint and the network capacity. PMID:29337911

Throughput Analysis on 3-Dimensional Underwater Acoustic Network with One-Hop Mobile Relay.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Xuefeng; Chen, Fangjiong; Fan, Jiasheng; Guan, Quansheng; Ji, Fei; Yu, Hua

2018-01-16

Underwater acoustic communication network (UACN) has been considered as an essential infrastructure for ocean exploitation. Performance analysis of UACN is important in underwater acoustic network deployment and management. In this paper, we analyze the network throughput of three-dimensional randomly deployed transmitter-receiver pairs. Due to the long delay of acoustic channels, complicated networking protocols with heavy signaling overhead may not be appropriate. In this paper, we consider only one-hop or two-hop transmission, to save the signaling cost. That is, we assume the transmitter sends the data packet to the receiver by one-hop direct transmission, or by two-hop transmission via mobile relays. We derive the closed-form formulation of packet delivery rate with respect to the transmission delay and the number of transmitter-receiver pairs. The correctness of the derivation results are verified by computer simulations. Our analysis indicates how to obtain a precise tradeoff between the delay constraint and the network capacity.

The sound power emitted by a source of low acoustic impedance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Finn; Verholt, Lars M.

1998-01-01

Several authors have maintained that a source of low acoustic impedance (which includes standardised reference sources of the aerodynamic type) would radiate less than the free field power in a reverberation room. However, neither computer simulations nor experiments have confirmed this assertion....

Numerical analysis of the resonance mechanism of the lumped parameter system model for acoustic mine detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Chi; Zhou Yu-Qiu; Shen Gao-Wei; Wu Wen-Wen; Ding Wei

2013-01-01

The method of numerical analysis is employed to study the resonance mechanism of the lumped parameter system model for acoustic mine detection. Based on the basic principle of the acoustic resonance technique for mine detection and the characteristics of low-frequency acoustics, the ''soil-mine'' system could be equivalent to a damping ''mass-spring'' resonance model with a lumped parameter analysis method. The dynamic simulation software, Adams, is adopted to analyze the lumped parameter system model numerically. The simulated resonance frequency and anti-resonance frequency are 151 Hz and 512 Hz respectively, basically in agreement with the published resonance frequency of 155 Hz and anti-resonance frequency of 513 Hz, which were measured in the experiment. Therefore, the technique of numerical simulation is validated to have the potential for analyzing the acoustic mine detection model quantitatively. The influences of the soil and mine parameters on the resonance characteristics of the soil—mine system could be investigated by changing the parameter setup in a flexible manner. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Analysis of acoustic emission data for bearings subject to unbalance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rapinder Sawhney

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Acoustic Emission (AE is an effective nondestructive method for investigating the behavior of materials under stress. In recent decades, AE applications in structural health monitoring have been extended to other areas such as rotating machineries and cutting tools. This research investigates the application of acoustic emission data for unbalance analysis and detection in rotary systems. The AE parameter of interest in this study is a discrete variable that covers the significance of count, duration and amplitude of AE signals. A statistical model based on Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP regression is proposed to handle over-dispersion and excess zeros of the counting data. The ZIP model indicates that faulty bearings can generate more transient wave in the AE waveform. Control charts can easily detect the faulty bearing using the parameters of the ZIP model. Categorical data analysis based on generalized linear models (GLM is also presented. The results demonstrate the significance of the couple unbalance.

Interaction of Acoustic Waves with a Cryogenic Nitrogen Jet at Sub- and Supercritical Pressures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Chehroudi, B

2001-01-01

To better understand the nature of the interaction between acoustic waves and liquid fuel jets in rocket engines, cryogenic liquid nitrogen is injected into a room temperature high-pressure chamber...

Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech: A potential biomarker for schizophrenia.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rapcan, Viliam

2010-11-01

Currently, there are no established objective biomarkers for the diagnosis or monitoring of schizophrenia. It has been previously reported that there are notable qualitative differences in the speech of schizophrenics. The objective of this study was to determine whether a quantitative acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may be a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. In this study, 39 schizophrenic patients and 18 controls were digitally recorded reading aloud an emotionally neutral text passage from a children\\'s story. Temporal, energy and vocal pitch features were automatically extracted from the recordings. A classifier based on linear discriminant analysis was employed to differentiate between controls and schizophrenic subjects. Processing the recordings with the algorithm developed demonstrated that it is possible to differentiate schizophrenic patients and controls with a classification accuracy of 79.4% (specificity=83.6%, sensitivity=75.2%) based on speech pause related parameters extracted from recordings carried out in standard office (non-studio) environments. Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may represent a potential tool for the objective analysis in schizophrenia.

DARHT Multi-intelligence Seismic and Acoustic Data Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stevens, Garrison Nicole [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Van Buren, Kendra Lu [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Hemez, Francois M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-07-21

The purpose of this report is to document the analysis of seismic and acoustic data collected at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory for robust, multi-intelligence decision making. The data utilized herein is obtained from two tri-axial seismic sensors and three acoustic sensors, resulting in a total of nine data channels. The goal of this analysis is to develop a generalized, automated framework to determine internal operations at DARHT using informative features extracted from measurements collected external of the facility. Our framework involves four components: (1) feature extraction, (2) data fusion, (3) classification, and finally (4) robustness analysis. Two approaches are taken for extracting features from the data. The first of these, generic feature extraction, involves extraction of statistical features from the nine data channels. The second approach, event detection, identifies specific events relevant to traffic entering and leaving the facility as well as explosive activities at DARHT and nearby explosive testing sites. Event detection is completed using a two stage method, first utilizing signatures in the frequency domain to identify outliers and second extracting short duration events of interest among these outliers by evaluating residuals of an autoregressive exogenous time series model. Features extracted from each data set are then fused to perform analysis with a multi-intelligence paradigm, where information from multiple data sets are combined to generate more information than available through analysis of each independently. The fused feature set is used to train a statistical classifier and predict the state of operations to inform a decision maker. We demonstrate this classification using both generic statistical features and event detection and provide a comparison of the two methods. Finally, the concept of decision robustness is presented through a preliminary analysis where

Error analysis by means of acoustic holography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kutzner, J.; Wuestenberg, H.

1976-01-01

The possilbilities to use the acoustical holography in nondestructive testing are discussed. Although compared to optical holography the image quality of acoustical holography is reduced this technique can give important informations about the shape of defects. Especially in nondestructive testing of thick walled components no alternative exists until now. (orig.) [de

Acoustic absorption of natural gas compression facility enclosures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lassen, P.; Wong, G. [Noise Management Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2009-07-01

Noise sources at gas compressor facilities include the enclosure/building housing a gas engine and compressor, the ventilation openings, doors and windows for the enclosure, the engine air intake and exhaust, and a cooler. Accurate predictions of the noise levels inside the enclosure, the breakout noise from open windows and doors and ventilation, as well as the transmission through the walls, is necessary in order to determine cost effective noise mitigation for the facility. In order to accurately predict the sound breakout from these facilities it is necessary to know the acoustic absorption of the interior of these equipment enclosures. Although the acoustic absorption data of the wall systems may be available, the absorption attributable to the non-enclosure surfaces, the equipment and fittings, is not usually known and is difficult to predict. Since piping, instrumentation and mechanical equipment often take on a typical arrangement, shape, volumetric density and material composition, it is useful to know the typical acoustic absorption attributable to these items. In this study, reverberation time (RT) measurements were taken at 2 decommissioned gas compressor facilities in order to determine the absorption characteristics of the enclosure. The RT was measured according to ASTM C423-02a. The overall absorption coefficient of a compressor enclosure with a solid liner was found to be similar to that of steel decking. Fittings within the enclosure did not increase the high frequency absorption of the enclosure. It was concluded that room modes, structural vibrations, and fittings may serve to increase the effective absorption at frequencies below 630 Hz. Because of the small dimensions of the enclosure, low-frequency response of the room affected the reliability of the data below 160Hz. Structural vibration of the enclosure was investigated, and may considerably influence the noise breakout from the enclosure apart from the interior acoustical considerations. 4

Acoustic absorption of natural gas compression facility enclosures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lassen, P.; Wong, G.

2009-01-01

Noise sources at gas compressor facilities include the enclosure/building housing a gas engine and compressor, the ventilation openings, doors and windows for the enclosure, the engine air intake and exhaust, and a cooler. Accurate predictions of the noise levels inside the enclosure, the breakout noise from open windows and doors and ventilation, as well as the transmission through the walls, is necessary in order to determine cost effective noise mitigation for the facility. In order to accurately predict the sound breakout from these facilities it is necessary to know the acoustic absorption of the interior of these equipment enclosures. Although the acoustic absorption data of the wall systems may be available, the absorption attributable to the non-enclosure surfaces, the equipment and fittings, is not usually known and is difficult to predict. Since piping, instrumentation and mechanical equipment often take on a typical arrangement, shape, volumetric density and material composition, it is useful to know the typical acoustic absorption attributable to these items. In this study, reverberation time (RT) measurements were taken at 2 decommissioned gas compressor facilities in order to determine the absorption characteristics of the enclosure. The RT was measured according to ASTM C423-02a. The overall absorption coefficient of a compressor enclosure with a solid liner was found to be similar to that of steel decking. Fittings within the enclosure did not increase the high frequency absorption of the enclosure. It was concluded that room modes, structural vibrations, and fittings may serve to increase the effective absorption at frequencies below 630 Hz. Because of the small dimensions of the enclosure, low-frequency response of the room affected the reliability of the data below 160Hz. Structural vibration of the enclosure was investigated, and may considerably influence the noise breakout from the enclosure apart from the interior acoustical considerations. 4

Differences in directional sound source behavior and perception between assorted computer room models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vigeant, Michelle C.; Wang, Lily M.; Rindel, Jens Holger

2004-01-01

considering reverberation time. However, for the three other parameters evaluated (sound pressure level, clarity index and lateral fraction), the changing diffusivity of the room does not diminish the importance of the directivity. The study therefore shows the importance of considering source directivity......Source directivity is an important input variable when using room acoustic computer modeling programs to generate auralizations. Previous research has shown that using a multichannel anechoic recording can produce a more natural sounding auralization, particularly as the number of channels...

Differences in directional sound source behavior and perception between assorted computer room models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vigeant, M. C.; Wang, L. M.; Rindel, Jens Holger

2004-01-01

time. However, for the three other parameters evaluated (sound-pressure level, clarity index, and lateral fraction), the changing diffusivity of the room does not diminish the importance of the directivity. The study therefore shows the importance of considering source directivity when using computer......Source directivity is an important input variable when using room acoustic computer modeling programs to generate auralizations. Previous research has shown that using a multichannel anechoic recording can produce a more natural sounding auralization, particularly as the number of channels...

Calculation of Appropriate Minimum Size of Isolation Rooms based on Questionnaire Survey of Experts and Analysis on Conditions of Isolation Room Use

Science.gov (United States)

Won, An-Na; Song, Hae-Eun; Yang, Young-Kwon; Park, Jin-Chul; Hwang, Jung-Ha

2017-07-01

After the outbreak of the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic, issues were raised regarding response capabilities of medical institutions, including the lack of isolation rooms at hospitals. Since then, the government of Korea has been revising regulations to enforce medical laws in order to expand the operation of isolation rooms and to strengthen standards regarding their mandatory installation at hospitals. Among general and tertiary hospitals in Korea, a total of 159 are estimated to be required to install isolation rooms to meet minimum standards. For the purpose of contributing to hospital construction plans in the future, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of experts and analysed the environment and devices necessary in isolation rooms, to determine their appropriate minimum size to treat patients. The result of the analysis is as follows: First, isolation rooms at hospitals are required to have a minimum 3,300mm minor axis and a minimum 5,000mm major axis for the isolation room itself, and a minimum 1,800mm minor axis for the antechamber where personal protective equipment is donned and removed. Second, the 15 ㎡-or-larger standard for the floor area of isolation rooms will have to be reviewed and standards for the minimum width of isolation rooms will have to be established.

Acoustics flow analysis in circular duct using sound intensity and dynamic mode decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weyna, S

2014-01-01

Sound intensity generation in hard-walled duct with acoustic flow (no mean-flow) is treated experimentally and shown graphically. In paper, numerous methods of visualization illustrating the vortex flow (2D, 3D) can graphically explain diffraction and scattering phenomena occurring inside the duct and around open end area. Sound intensity investigation in annular duct gives a physical picture of sound waves in any duct mode. In the paper, modal energy analysis are discussed with particular reference to acoustics acoustic orthogonal decomposition (AOD). The image of sound intensity fields before and above 'cut-off' frequency region are found to compare acoustic modes which might resonate in duct. The experimental results show also the effects of axial and swirling flow. However acoustic field is extremely complicated, because pressures in non-propagating (cut-off) modes cooperate with the particle velocities in propagating modes, and vice versa. Measurement in cylindrical duct demonstrates also the cut-off phenomenon and the effect of reflection from open end. The aim of experimental study was to obtain information on low Mach number flows in ducts in order to improve physical understanding and validate theoretical CFD and CAA models that still may be improved.

Recent Improvements to the Acoustical Testing Laboratory at the NASA Glenn Research Center

Science.gov (United States)

Podboy, Devin M.; Mirecki, Julius H.; Walker, Bruce E.; Sutliff, Daniel L.

2014-01-01

The Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL) consists of a 27 by 23 by 20 ft (height) convertible hemi/anechoic chamber and separate sound-attenuating test support enclosure. Absorptive fiberglass wedges in the test chamber provide an anechoic environment down to 100 Hz. A spring-isolated floor system affords vibration isolation above 3 Hz. These specifications, along with very low design background levels, enable the acquisition of accurate and repeatable acoustical measurements on test articles that produce very low sound pressures. Removable floor wedges allow the test chamber to operate in either a hemi-anechoic or anechoic configuration, depending on the size of the test article and the specific test being conducted. The test support enclosure functions as a control room during normal operations. Recently improvements were accomplished in support of continued usage of the ATL by NASA programs including an analysis of the ultra-sonic characteristics. A 3 dimensional traverse system inside the chamber was utilized for acquiring acoustic data for these tests. The traverse system drives a linear array of 13, 1/4"-microphones spaced 3" apart (36" span). An updated data acquisition system was also incorporated into the facility.

Acoustic Analysis and Design of the E-STA MSA Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Bittinger, Samantha A.

2016-01-01

The Orion European Service Module Structural Test Article (E-STA) Acoustic Test was completed in May 2016 to verify that the European Service Module (ESM) can withstand qualification acoustic environments. The test article required an aft closeout to simulate the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Stage Adapter (MSA) cavity, however, the flight MSA design was too cost-prohibitive to build. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) had 6 months to design an MSA Simulator that could recreate the qualification prediction MSA cavity sound pressure level to within a reasonable tolerance. This paper summarizes the design and analysis process to arrive at a design for the MSA Simulator, and then compares its performance to the final prediction models created prior to test.

Acoustic phonon dispersion of CoSi2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiss, L.; Rumyantsev, A.Yu.; Ivanov, A.S.

1985-01-01

The acoustical phonon dispersion curves of CoSi 2 are measured at room temperature along the main symmetry directions by means of coherent one-phonon scattering of thermal neutrons. The dispersion curves are compared with those of Ge, Si, and the fluorite structure types as CaF 2 and UO 2 . From the slope of the phonon dispersion curves at the GAMMA-point the elastic constants have been obtained

A Correlated Study of the Response of a Satellite to Acoustic Radiation Using Statistical Energy Analysis and Acoustic Test Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

CAP, JEROME S.; TRACEY, BRIAN

1999-01-01

Aerospace payloads, such as satellites, are subjected to vibroacoustic excitation during launch. Sandia's MTI satellite has recently been certified to this environment using a combination of base input random vibration and reverberant acoustic noise. The initial choices for the acoustic and random vibration test specifications were obtained from the launch vehicle Interface Control Document (ICD). In order to tailor the random vibration levels for the laboratory certification testing, it was necessary to determine whether vibration energy was flowing across the launch vehicle interface from the satellite to the launch vehicle or the other direction. For frequencies below 120 Hz this issue was addressed using response limiting techniques based on results from the Coupled Loads Analysis (CLA). However, since the CLA Finite Element Analysis FEA model was only correlated for frequencies below 120 Hz, Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) was considered to be a better choice for predicting the direction of the energy flow for frequencies above 120 Hz. The existing SEA model of the launch vehicle had been developed using the VibroAcoustic Payload Environment Prediction System (VAPEPS) computer code[1]. Therefore, the satellite would have to be modeled using VAPEPS as well. As is the case for any computational model, the confidence in its predictive capability increases if one can correlate a sample prediction against experimental data. Fortunately, Sandia had the ideal data set for correlating an SEA model of the MTI satellite--the measured response of a realistic assembly to a reverberant acoustic test that was performed during MTI's qualification test series. The first part of this paper will briefly describe the VAPEPS modeling effort and present the results of the correlation study for the VAPEPS model. The second part of this paper will present the results from a study that used a commercial SEA software package[2] to study the effects of in-plane modes and to evaluate

Estimation of the thermal neutron flux in a PET cyclotron room via radioactive analysis of the bolts of a wall socket in the room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogata, Y.; Ishigure, N.; Mochizuki, S.; Ito, K.; Hatano, K.; Abe, J.; Miyahara, H.; Masumoto, K.; Nakamura, H.; Matsumura, H.

2008-01-01

Full text: Since positron emission nuclides for PET (Positron Emission Tomography) have short half-lives, they are mainly produced by on-site cyclotrons. Significant amounts of neutrons are generated together with the operating of the cyclotron, and then materials in the room are activated. To quantify the neutron flux density will lead the prediction of the extent of the activation. We tried to estimate the neutron flux of the room via the radioactive analysis of bolts in the room. The cyclotron (Cypris HM-18, Sumitomo Heavy Industry) is able to accelerate protons and deuterons up to 18 and 10 MeV, respectively. The routine charge current is 20μA. The cyclotron is housed in a room with 1 m thickness concrete wall. A couple of bolts of a wall socket were removed to investigate the components and the radioactivities, which were analyzed by fluorescent X-ray spectroscopy and by gamma-ray spectroscopy, respectively. We compared the neutron flux estimated by the bolts analysis with the results measured by the gold foil activation method. The weight sum of the bolts was 1.257 g. They were made of nickel plated brass, and predominantly consisted of Cu (63%) and Zn (34%). Four nuclides, 69m Zn, 65 Zn, 64 Cu, and 60 Co, were detected in the bolts. The activity of 64 Cu half-life of 12.7 h, led the last few days history of neutron flux, and the activity of 65 Zn, 244 d, led the last few years history. The analysis of the bolts activity estimated the thermal neutron flux at 4∼6x10 5 cm -2 s -1 . This figure agreed with the value, 6∼9x10 5 cm -2 s -1 , computed from the activated gold foil near the bolts. Bolts are quite generally installed in such a room. Therefore, the radioactive analysis of the bolts leads convenient and effective estimation of neutron flux there. Consequently, the radioactive analysis of the bolts in the cyclotron room allowed us to estimate the neutron flux in the room. (author)

Acoustic analysis and mood classification of pain-relieving music.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Don; Beveridge, Scott; Mitchell, Laura A; MacDonald, Raymond A R

2011-09-01

Listening to preferred music (that which is chosen by the participant) has been shown to be effective in mitigating the effects of pain when compared to silence and a variety of distraction techniques. The wide range of genre, tempo, and structure in music chosen by participants in studies utilizing experimentally induced pain has led to the assertion that structure does not play a significant role, rather listening to preferred music renders the music "functionally equivalent" as regards its effect upon pain perception. This study addresses this assumption and performs detailed analysis of a selection of music chosen from three pain studies. Music analysis showed significant correlation between timbral and tonal aspects of music and measurements of pain tolerance and perceived pain intensity. Mood classification was performed using a hierarchical Gaussian Mixture Model, which indicated the majority of the chosen music expressed contentment. The results suggest that in addition to personal preference, associations with music and the listening context, emotion expressed by music, as defined by its acoustical content, is important to enhancing emotional engagement with music and therefore enhances the level of pain reduction and tolerance. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Intelligent acoustic data fusion technique for information security analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ying; Tang, Yize; Lu, Wenda; Wang, Zhongfeng; Wang, Zepeng; Zhang, Luming

2017-08-01

Tone is an essential component of word formation in all tonal languages, and it plays an important role in the transmission of information in speech communication. Therefore, tones characteristics study can be applied into security analysis of acoustic signal by the means of language identification, etc. In speech processing, fundamental frequency (F0) is often viewed as representing tones by researchers of speech synthesis. However, regular F0 values may lead to low naturalness in synthesized speech. Moreover, F0 and tone are not equivalent linguistically; F0 is just a representation of a tone. Therefore, the Electroglottography (EGG) signal is collected for deeper tones characteristics study. In this paper, focusing on the Northern Kam language, which has nine tonal contours and five level tone types, we first collected EGG and speech signals from six natural male speakers of the Northern Kam language, and then achieved the clustering distributions of the tone curves. After summarizing the main characteristics of tones of Northern Kam, we analyzed the relationship between EGG and speech signal parameters, and laid the foundation for further security analysis of acoustic signal.

Signal analysis of acoustic and flow-induced vibrations of BWR main steam line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Espinosa-Paredes, G., E-mail: gepe@xanum.uam.mx [División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, México, D.F. 09340 (Mexico); Prieto-Guerrero, A. [División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, México, D.F. 09340 (Mexico); Núñez-Carrera, A. [Comisión Nacional de Seguridad Nuclear y Salvaguardias, Doctor Barragán 779, Col. Narvarte, México, D.F. 03020 (Mexico); Vázquez-Rodríguez, A. [División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, México, D.F. 09340 (Mexico); Centeno-Pérez, J. [Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas Unidad Profesional “Adolfo López Mateos”, Av. IPN, s/n, México, D.F. 07738 (Mexico); Espinosa-Martínez, E.-G. [Departamento de Sistemas Energéticos, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F. 04510 (Mexico); and others

2016-05-15

Highlights: • Acoustic and flow-induced vibrations of BWR are analyzed. • BWR performance after extended power uprate is considered. • Effect of acoustic side branches (ASB) is analyzed. • The ASB represents a reduction in the acoustic loads to the steam dryer. • Methodology developed for simultaneous analyzing the signals in the MSL. - Abstract: The aim of this work is the signal analysis of acoustic waves due to phenomenon known as singing in Safety Relief Valves (SRV) of the main steam lines (MSL) in a typical BWR5. The acoustic resonance in SRV standpipes and fluctuating pressure is propagated from SRV to the dryer through the MSL. The signals are analyzed with a novel method based on the Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (M-EMD). The M-EMD algorithm has the potential to find common oscillatory modes (IMF) within multivariate data. Based on this fact, we implement the M-EMD technique to find the oscillatory mode in BWR considering the measurements obtained collected by the strain gauges located around the MSL. These IMF, analyzed simultaneously in time, allow obtaining an estimation of the effects of the multiple-SRV in the MSL. Two scenarios are analyzed: the first is the signal obtained before the installation of the acoustic dampers (ASB), and the second, the signal obtained after installation. The results show the effectiveness of the ASB to damp the strong resonances when the steam flow increases, which represents an important reduction in the acoustic loads to the steam dryer.

Signal analysis of acoustic and flow-induced vibrations of BWR main steam line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinosa-Paredes, G.; Prieto-Guerrero, A.; Núñez-Carrera, A.; Vázquez-Rodríguez, A.; Centeno-Pérez, J.; Espinosa-Martínez, E.-G.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Acoustic and flow-induced vibrations of BWR are analyzed. • BWR performance after extended power uprate is considered. • Effect of acoustic side branches (ASB) is analyzed. • The ASB represents a reduction in the acoustic loads to the steam dryer. • Methodology developed for simultaneous analyzing the signals in the MSL. - Abstract: The aim of this work is the signal analysis of acoustic waves due to phenomenon known as singing in Safety Relief Valves (SRV) of the main steam lines (MSL) in a typical BWR5. The acoustic resonance in SRV standpipes and fluctuating pressure is propagated from SRV to the dryer through the MSL. The signals are analyzed with a novel method based on the Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (M-EMD). The M-EMD algorithm has the potential to find common oscillatory modes (IMF) within multivariate data. Based on this fact, we implement the M-EMD technique to find the oscillatory mode in BWR considering the measurements obtained collected by the strain gauges located around the MSL. These IMF, analyzed simultaneously in time, allow obtaining an estimation of the effects of the multiple-SRV in the MSL. Two scenarios are analyzed: the first is the signal obtained before the installation of the acoustic dampers (ASB), and the second, the signal obtained after installation. The results show the effectiveness of the ASB to damp the strong resonances when the steam flow increases, which represents an important reduction in the acoustic loads to the steam dryer.

Contribution of in situ acoustic emission analysis coupled with thermogravimetry to study zirconium alloy oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al Haj, O.; Peres, V.; Serris, E.; Cournil, M.; Grosjean, F.; Kittel, J.; Ropital, F.

2015-01-01

Zirconium alloy (zircaloy-4) corrosion behavior under oxidizing atmosphere at high temperature was studied using thermogravimetric experiment associated with acoustic emission analysis. Under a mixture of oxygen and air in helium, an acceleration of the corrosion is observed due to the detrimental effect of nitrogen which produces zirconium nitride. The kinetic rate increases significantly after a kinetic transition (breakaway). This acceleration is accompanied by an acoustic emission (AE) activity. Most of the acoustic emission bursts were recorded after the kinetic transition or during the cooling of the sample. Acoustic emission signals analysis allows us to distinguish different populations of cracks in the ZrO 2 layer. These cracks have also been observed by SEM on post mortem cross section of oxidized samples and by in-situ microscopy observations on the top surface of the sample during oxidation. The numerous small convoluted thin cracks observed deeper in the zirconia scale are not detected by the AE technique. From these studies we can conclude that mechanisms as irreversible mechanisms, as cracks initiation and propagation, generate AE signals

Theoretical analysis of leaky surface acoustic waves of point-focused acoustic lens and some experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Isao; Suzuki, Yoshiaki; Ogura, Yukio; Katakura, Kageyoshi

1997-01-01

When a point-focused acoustic lens in the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) is faced to test specimen and defocused to some extent, two effective echoes can be obtained. One is the echo of longitudinal wave, which is normally incident upon the specimen of an on-axis beam in the central region of the lens and is reflected normal to the lens surface, hence detected by the transducer. The other is of leaky surface acoustic waves(LSAW), which are mode converted front a narrow beam of off-axis longitudinal wave, then propagate across the surface of the specimen and reradiate at angles normal to the lens surface, thus detected by the transducer. These two echoes are either interfered or separated with each other depending ell the defocused distance. It turned out theoretically that the LSAW have a narrow focal spot in the central region of the point-focused acoustic lens, whose size is approximately 40% of the LSAW wavelength. On top of that, a wavelength of LSAW is about 50% short as that of longitudinal wave. So, It is expected that high resolution images can be obtained provided LSAW are used in the scanning acoustic microscope.

Accuracy of Dynamic and Acoustic Analysis of Lightweight Panel Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Dickow, Kristoffer Ahrens; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard

2012-01-01

in such buildings is important. In the lowfrequency range, prediction of sound and vibration in building structures may be achieved by finite-element analysis (FEA). The aim of this paper is to compare the two commercial codes ABAQUS and ANSYS for FEA of an acoustic-structural coupling in a timber lightweight panel...

Aperture size, materiality of the secondary room and listener location: Impact on the simulated impulse response of a coupled-volume concert hall

Science.gov (United States)

Ermann, Michael; Johnson, Marty E.; Harrison, Byron W.

2003-04-01

By adding a second room to a concert hall, and designing doors to control the sonic transparency between the two rooms, designers can create a new, coupled acoustic. Concert halls use coupling to achieve a variable, longer and distinct reverberant quality for their musicians and listeners. For this study, a coupled-volume concert hall based on an existing performing arts center is conceived and computer-modeled. It has a fixed geometric volume, form and primary-room sound absorption. Ray-tracing software simulates impulse responses, varying both aperture size and secondary-room sound absorption level, across a grid of receiver (listener) locations. The results are compared with statistical analysis that suggests a highly sensitive relationship between the double-sloped condition and the architecture of the space. This line of study aims to quantitatively and spatially correlate the double-sloped condition with (1) aperture size exposing the chamber, (2) sound absorptance in the coupled volume, and (3) listener location.

Uncertainty Analysis of In leakage Test for Pressurized Control Room Envelop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, J. B. [KHNP Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

In leakage tests for control room envelops(CRE) of newly constructed nuclear power plants are required to prove the control room habitability. Results of the in leakage tests should be analyzed using an uncertainty analysis. Test uncertainty can be an issue if the test results for pressurized CREs show low in leakage. To have a better knowledge of the test uncertainty, a statistical model for the uncertainty analysis is described here and a representative uncertainty analysis of a sample in leakage test is presented. A statistical method for analyzing the uncertainty of the in leakage test is presented here and a representative uncertainty analysis of a sample in leakage test was performed. By using the statistical method we can evaluate the test result with certain level of significance. This method can be more helpful when the difference of the two mean values of the test result is small.

Uncertainty Analysis of In leakage Test for Pressurized Control Room Envelop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J. B.

2013-01-01

In leakage tests for control room envelops(CRE) of newly constructed nuclear power plants are required to prove the control room habitability. Results of the in leakage tests should be analyzed using an uncertainty analysis. Test uncertainty can be an issue if the test results for pressurized CREs show low in leakage. To have a better knowledge of the test uncertainty, a statistical model for the uncertainty analysis is described here and a representative uncertainty analysis of a sample in leakage test is presented. A statistical method for analyzing the uncertainty of the in leakage test is presented here and a representative uncertainty analysis of a sample in leakage test was performed. By using the statistical method we can evaluate the test result with certain level of significance. This method can be more helpful when the difference of the two mean values of the test result is small

An experimental analysis of fracture mechanisms by acoustic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

rupture under monotonic loading in tensile test of a carbon ... respectively the longitudinal, transversal and ..... (1) location of acoustic output source, (2) Sensors and acoustic source position for 4 channel position,. O(x,y) ..... Due to multiple.

Health monitoring of Ceramic Matrix Composites from waveform-based analysis of Acoustic Emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maillet Emmanuel

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs are anticipated for use in the hot section of aircraft engines. Their implementation requires the understanding of the various damage modes that are involved and their relation to life expectancy. Acoustic Emission (AE has been shown to be an efficient technique for monitoring damage evolution in CMCs. However, only a waveform-based analysis of AE can offer the possibility to validate and precisely examine the recorded AE data with a view to damage localization and identification. The present work fully integrates wave initiation, propagation and acquisition in the analysis of Acoustic Emission waveforms recorded at various sensors, therefore providing more reliable information to assess the relation between Acoustic Emission and damage modes. The procedure allows selecting AE events originating from damage, accurate determination of their location as well as the characterization of effects of propagation on the recorded waveforms. This approach was developed using AE data recorded during tensile tests on carbon/carbon composites. It was then applied to melt-infiltrated SiC/SiC composites.

Acoustics, information, and communication memorial volume in honor of Manfred R. Schroeder

CERN Document Server

Sessler, Gerhard

2015-01-01

This book explores the life and scientific legacy of Manfred Schroeder through personal reflections, scientific essays, and Schroeder’s own memoirs. Reflecting the wide range of Schroeder’s activities, the first part of the book contains thirteen articles written by his colleagues and former students. Topics discussed include his early, pioneering contributions to the understanding of statistical room acoustics and to the measurement of reverberation time; his introduction of digital signal processing methods into acoustics; his use of ray tracing methods to study sound decay in rooms; and his achievements in echo and feedback suppression and in noise reduction. Other chapters cover his seminal research in speech processing including the use of predictive coding to reduce audio bandwidth which led to various code-excited linear prediction schemes, today used extensively for speech coding. Several chapters discuss Schroeder’s work in low-peak factor signals, number theory, and maximum-length sequences wi...

Applying Acoustical and Musicological Analysis to Detect Brain Responses to Realistic Music: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Trusbak Haumann

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Music information retrieval (MIR methods offer interesting possibilities for automatically identifying time points in music recordings that relate to specific brain responses. However, how the acoustical features and the novelty of the music structure affect the brain response is not yet clear. In the present study, we tested a new method for automatically identifying time points of brain responses based on MIR analysis. We utilized an existing database including brain recordings of 48 healthy listeners measured with electroencephalography (EEG and magnetoencephalography (MEG. While we succeeded in capturing brain responses related to acoustical changes in the modern tango piece Adios Nonino, we obtained less reliable brain responses with a metal rock piece and a modern symphony orchestra musical composition. However, brain responses might also relate to the novelty of the music structure. Hence, we added a manual musicological analysis of novelty in the musical structure to the computational acoustic analysis, obtaining strong brain responses even to the rock and modern pieces. Although no standardized method yet exists, these preliminary results suggest that analysis of novelty in music is an important aid to MIR analysis for investigating brain responses to realistic music.

Acoustic cloaking and transformation acoustics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Huanyang; Chan, C T

2010-01-01

In this review, we give a brief introduction to the application of the new technique of transformation acoustics, which draws on a correspondence between coordinate transformation and material properties. The technique is formulated for both acoustic waves and linear liquid surface waves. Some interesting conceptual devices can be designed for manipulating acoustic waves. For example, we can design acoustic cloaks that make an object invisible to acoustic waves, and the cloak can either encompass or lie outside the object to be concealed. Transformation acoustics, as an analog of transformation optics, can go beyond invisibility cloaking. As an illustration for manipulating linear liquid surface waves, we show that a liquid wave rotator can be designed and fabricated to rotate the wave front. The acoustic transformation media require acoustic materials which are anisotropic and inhomogeneous. Such materials are difficult to find in nature. However, composite materials with embedded sub-wavelength resonators can in principle be made and such 'acoustic metamaterials' can exhibit nearly arbitrary values of effective density and modulus tensors to satisfy the demanding material requirements in transformation acoustics. We introduce resonant sonic materials and Helmholtz resonators as examples of acoustic metamaterials that exhibit resonant behaviour in effective density and effective modulus. (topical review)

Sonochemistry and the acoustic bubble

CERN Document Server

Grieser, Franz; Enomoto, Naoya; Harada, Hisashi; Okitsu, Kenji; Yasui, Kyuichi

2015-01-01

Sonochemistry and the Acoustic Bubble provides an introduction to the way ultrasound acts on bubbles in a liquid to cause bubbles to collapse violently, leading to localized 'hot spots' in the liquid with temperatures of 5000° celcius and under pressures of several hundred atmospheres. These extreme conditions produce events such as the emission of light, sonoluminescence, with a lifetime of less than a nanosecond, and free radicals that can initiate a host of varied chemical reactions (sonochemistry) in the liquid, all at room temperature. The physics and chemistry behind the p

Analysis of the conical piezoelectric acoustic emission transducer

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Červená, Olga; Hora, Petr

2008-01-01

Roč. 2, č. 1 (2008), s. 13-24 ISSN 1802-680X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA101/06/1689 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : acoustic emission * conical transducer * FEM Subject RIV: BI - Acoustics

Acoustic Seaglider: PhilSea10 Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-13

and (simple) Kalman filtering techniques will be explored to utilize the unique time-space sound speed sampling of the Seagliders to generate snapshots... temperature and salinity were deployed (Figure 1). General objectives of the experiment are to understand the acoustic propagation in the...an acoustic recording system (ARS) to record the moored source transmissions, as well as temperature , salinity and pressure sensors (from which

Investigation of the validity of radiosity for sound-field prediction in cubic rooms

Science.gov (United States)

Nosal, Eva-Marie; Hodgson, Murray; Ashdown, Ian

2004-12-01

This paper explores acoustical (or time-dependent) radiosity using predictions made in four cubic enclosures. The methods and algorithms used are those presented in a previous paper by the same authors [Nosal, Hodgson, and Ashdown, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116(2), 970-980 (2004)]. First, the algorithm, methods, and conditions for convergence are investigated by comparison of numerous predictions for the four cubic enclosures. Here, variables and parameters used in the predictions are varied to explore the effect of absorption distribution, the necessary conditions for convergence of the numerical solution to the analytical solution, form-factor prediction methods, and the computational requirements. The predictions are also used to investigate the effect of absorption distribution on sound fields in cubic enclosures with diffusely reflecting boundaries. Acoustical radiosity is then compared to predictions made in the four enclosures by a ray-tracing model that can account for diffuse reflection. Comparisons are made of echograms, room-acoustical parameters, and discretized echograms. .

Advanced Active Acoustics Lab (AAAL)

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Advanced Active Acoustics Lab (AAAL) is a state-of-the-art Undersea Warfare (USW) acoustic data analysis facility capable of both active and passive underwater...

Analysis of acoustic data from UK sodium/water reaction test facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowley, R.; Mcknight, J.A.; Airey, J.

1990-01-01

This paper describes acoustic measurements made during a number of sodium/water reaction experiments in the UK. The tests have included water and steam injections through both realistic (fatigue crack) defects and machined orifices and have covered a range of experimental conditions including those appropriate to the inlet and outlet regions of the EFR steam generators. Injection rates were typically in the range 0.1 to 30 g/s. Where possible, gas injections were also included in the test programme for comparison, since it is anticipated that a practical SGU acoustic leak detection system would include a facility for gas injections to allow system calibration, and to confirm transmission properties within the SGU. The test sections were instrumented with accelerometers on waveguides and in some cases included an under-sodium microphone situated about 300mm above the reaction zone. Tape recordings were made during the tests and used for detailed analysis off-line, although an audible output from one of the acoustic channels was used to monitor the progress of the injections and provide information for the rig operators. A comparison of the signal amplitudes measured during the experiments with typical reactor background noise was made and an estimate of the detection sensitivity of an acoustic monitoring system was deduced. 3 refs, 5 figs, 1 tab

Preliminary study of acoustic analysis for evaluating speech-aid oral prostheses: Characteristic dips in octave spectrum for comparison of nasality.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yen-Liang; Hung, Chao-Ho; Chen, Po-Yueh; Chen, Wei-Chang; Hung, Shih-Han

2015-10-01

Acoustic analysis is often used in speech evaluation but seldom for the evaluation of oral prostheses designed for reconstruction of surgical defect. This study aimed to introduce the application of acoustic analysis for patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) due to oral surgery and rehabilitated with oral speech-aid prostheses. The pre- and postprosthetic rehabilitation acoustic features of sustained vowel sounds from two patients with VPI were analyzed and compared with the acoustic analysis software Praat. There were significant differences in the octave spectrum of sustained vowel speech sound between the pre- and postprosthetic rehabilitation. Acoustic measurements of sustained vowels for patients before and after prosthetic treatment showed no significant differences for all parameters of fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonics ratio, formant frequency, F1 bandwidth, and band energy difference. The decrease in objective nasality perceptions correlated very well with the decrease in dips of the spectra for the male patient with a higher speech bulb height. Acoustic analysis may be a potential technique for evaluating the functions of oral speech-aid prostheses, which eliminates dysfunctions due to the surgical defect and contributes to a high percentage of intelligible speech. Octave spectrum analysis may also be a valuable tool for detecting changes in nasality characteristics of the voice during prosthetic treatment of VPI. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Acoustical Imaging

CERN Document Server

Akiyama, Iwaki

2009-01-01

The 29th International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging was held in Shonan Village, Kanagawa, Japan, April 15-18, 2007. This interdisciplinary Symposium has been taking place every two years since 1968 and forms a unique forum for advanced research, covering new technologies, developments, methods and theories in all areas of acoustics. In the course of the years the volumes in the Acoustical Imaging Series have developed and become well-known and appreciated reference works. Offering both a broad perspective on the state-of-the-art in the field as well as an in-depth look at its leading edge research, this Volume 29 in the Series contains again an excellent collection of seventy papers presented in nine major categories: Strain Imaging Biological and Medical Applications Acoustic Microscopy Non-Destructive Evaluation and Industrial Applications Components and Systems Geophysics and Underwater Imaging Physics and Mathematics Medical Image Analysis FDTD method and Other Numerical Simulations Audience Researcher...

Acoustofluidics 13: Analysis of acoustic streaming by perturbation methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadhal, S S

2012-07-07

In this Part 13 of the tutorial series "Acoustofluidics--exploiting ultrasonic standing waves forces and acoustic streaming in microfluidic systems for cell and particle manipulation," the streaming phenomenon is presented from an analytical standpoint, and perturbation methods are developed for analyzing such flows. Acoustic streaming is the phenomenon that takes place when a steady flow field is generated by the absorption of an oscillatory field. This can happen either by attenuation (quartz wind) or by interaction with a boundary. The latter type of streaming can also be generated by an oscillating solid in an otherwise still fluid medium or vibrating enclosure of a fluid body. While we address the first kind of streaming, our focus is largely on the second kind from a practical standpoint for application to microfluidic systems. In this Focus article, we limit the analysis to one- and two-dimensional problems in order to understand the analytical techniques with examples that most-easily illustrate the streaming phenomenon.

Graphical Acoustic Liner Design and Analysis Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Howerton, Brian M. (Inventor); Jones, Michael G. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

An interactive liner design and impedance modeling tool comprises software utilized to design acoustic liners for use in constrained spaces, both regularly and irregularly shaped. A graphical user interface allows the acoustic channel geometry to be drawn in a liner volume while the surface impedance calculations are updated and displayed in real-time. A one-dimensional transmission line model may be used as the basis for the impedance calculations.

Graphical analysis of electron inertia induced acoustic instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karmakar, P.K.; Deka, U.; Dwivedi, C.B.

2005-01-01

Recently, the practical significance of the asymptotic limit of m e /m i →0 for electron density distribution has been judged in a two-component plasma system with drifting ions. It is reported that in the presence of drifting ions with drift speed exceeding the ion acoustic wave speed, the electron inertial delay effect facilitates the resonance coupling of the usual fluid ion acoustic mode with the ion-beam mode. In this contribution the same instability is analyzed by graphical and numerical methods. This is to note that the obtained dispersion relation differs from those of the other known normal modes of low frequency ion plasma oscillations and waves. This is due to consideration of electron inertial delay in derivation of the dispersion relation of the ion acoustic wave fluctuations. Numerical calculations of the dispersion relation and wave energy are carried out to depict the graphical appearance of poles and positive-negative energy modes. It is found that the electron inertia induced ion acoustic wave instability arises out of linear resonance coupling between the negative and positive energy modes. Characterization of the resonance nature of the instability in Mach number space for different wave numbers of the ion acoustic mode is presented

Uncertainty analysis for parameters of CFAST in the main control room fire scenario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Wanhong; Guo, Yun; Peng, Changhong [Univ. of Science and Technology of China No. 96, Anhui (China). School of Nuclear Science and Technology

2017-07-15

The fire accident is one of important initial events in the nuclear power plant. Moreover, the fire development process is extremely difficult and complex to predict accurately. As a result, the plant internal fire accidents have become one of the most realistic threat on the safety of the nuclear power plants. The main control room contains all the control and monitoring equipment that operators need. Once it is on fire, hostile environments would greatly impact on the safety of human operations. Therefore, fire probability safety analysis on the main control room has become a significant task. By using CFAST and Monte Carlo sampling method as a tool for fire modeling to simulate main control room on fire, we can examine uncertainty analysis for the important parameters of CFAST.

Time based room correction system for low frequencies using multiple loudspeakers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal; Celestinos, Adrian

2007-01-01

  Improving sound from loudspeakers in a room is a big issue. We are facing a rather complicated and serious problem, as one can experience very big variations in sound pressure level - up to 30 dB - in a room, especially at low frequencies. An innovative way of looking at the problem in the time......-domain by the construction of a finite-difference time-domain approximation program (FDTD) has lead to a novel and simple solution also working in the time-domain called Controlled Acoustically Bass System (CABS). Working in the time-domain CABS includes additional cancelling loudspeakers at the back wall in order to remove...

Computational analysis of acoustic transmission through periodically perforated interfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rohan E.

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of the paper is to demonstrate the homogenization approach applied to modelling the acoustic transmission on perforated interfaces embedded in the acoustic fluid. We assume a layer, with periodically perforated obstacles, separating two half-spaces filled with the fluid. The homogenization method provides limit transmission conditions which can be prescribed at the homogenized surface representing the "limit" interface. The conditions describe relationship between jump of the acoustic pressures and the transversal acoustic velocity, on introducing the "in-layer pressure" which describes wave propagation in the tangent directions with respect to the interface.This approach may serve as a relevant tool for optimal design of devices aimed at attenuation of the acoustic waves, such as the engine exhaust mufflers or other structures fitted with sieves and grillages. We present numerical examples of wave propagation in a muffler-like structure illustrating viability of the approach when complex 3D geometries of the interface perforation are considered.

Towards Predicting Room Acoustical Effects on Sound-Field ASSR from Stimulus Modulation Power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zapata Rodriguez, Valentina; Laugesen, Søren; Jeong, Cheol-Ho

) is considered. Instead of using insert earphones to deliver the stimuli, as is customary, the auditory signals are reproduced from a loudspeaker placed in front of the subject, so as to include the hearing aid in the transmission path. Loudspeaker presentation of the stimulus can lower its effective modulation...... properties of the measurement room has not been considered. The present work explores the relation between the stimulus modulation power and the ASSR amplitude in a simulated sound-field ASSR data set with varying reverberation time. Three rooms were simulated using the Green's function approach...

Experimental Research in Operation Management in Engine Room by using Language Sentiment/Opinion Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitris Papachristos

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper argues for the necessity of a combination MMR methods (questionnaire, interview and sentiment/opinion techniques to personal satisfaction analysis at the maritime and training education and proposes a generic, but practical research approach for this purpose. The proposed approach concerns the personal satisfaction evaluation of Engine Room simulator systems and combines the speech recording (sentiment/opinion analysis for measuring emotional user responses with usability testing (SUS tool. The experimental procedure presented here is a primary effort to research the emotion analysis (satisfaction of the users-students in Engine Room Simulators. Finally, the ultimate goal of this research is to find and test the critical factors that influence the educational practice and user’s satisfaction of Engine Room Simulator Systems and the ability to conduct full-time system control by the marine crew.

Robotic vehicle uses acoustic sensors for voice detection and diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Stuart H.; Scanlon, Michael V.

2000-07-01

An acoustic sensor array that cues an imaging system on a small tele- operated robotic vehicle was used to detect human voice and activity inside a building. The advantage of acoustic sensors is that it is a non-line of sight (NLOS) sensing technology that can augment traditional LOS sensors such as visible and IR cameras. Acoustic energy emitted from a target, such as from a person, weapon, or radio, will travel through walls and smoke, around corners, and down corridors, whereas these obstructions would cripple an imaging detection system. The hardware developed and tested used an array of eight microphones to detect the loudest direction and automatically setter a camera's pan/tilt toward the noise centroid. This type of system has applicability for counter sniper applications, building clearing, and search/rescue. Data presented will be time-frequency representations showing voice detected within rooms and down hallways at various ranges. Another benefit of acoustics is that it provides the tele-operator some situational awareness clues via low-bandwidth transmission of raw audio data for the operator to interpret with either headphones or through time-frequency analysis. This data can be useful to recognize familiar sounds that might indicate the presence of personnel, such as talking, equipment, movement noise, etc. The same array also detects the sounds of the robot it is mounted on, and can be useful for engine diagnostics and trouble shooting, or for self-noise emanations for stealthy travel. Data presented will characterize vehicle self noise over various surfaces such as tiles, carpets, pavement, sidewalk, and grass. Vehicle diagnostic sounds will indicate a slipping clutch and repeated unexpected application of emergency braking mechanism.

Classroom acoustics and intervention strategies to enhance the learning environment

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Christal

The classroom environment can be an acoustically difficult atmosphere for students to learn effectively, sometimes due in part to poor acoustical properties. Noise and reverberation have a substantial influence on room acoustics and subsequently intelligibility of speech. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA, 1995) developed minimal standards for noise and reverberation in a classroom for the purpose of providing an adequate listening environment. A lack of adherence to these standards may have undesirable consequences, which may lead to poor academic performance. The purpose of this capstone project is to develop a protocol to measure the acoustical properties of reverberation time and noise levels in elementary classrooms and present the educators with strategies to improve the learning environment. Noise level and reverberation will be measured and recorded in seven, unoccupied third grade classrooms in Lincoln Parish in North Louisiana. The recordings will occur at six specific distances in the classroom to simulate teacher and student positions. The recordings will be compared to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association standards for noise and reverberation. If discrepancies are observed, the primary investigator will serve as an auditory consultant for the school and educators to recommend remediation and intervention strategies to improve these acoustical properties. The hypothesis of the study is that the classroom acoustical properties of noise and reverberation will exceed the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association standards; therefore, the auditory consultant will provide strategies to improve those acoustical properties.

Modeling ground vehicle acoustic signatures for analysis and synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haschke, G.; Stanfield, R.

1995-01-01

Security and weapon systems use acoustic sensor signals to classify and identify moving ground vehicles. Developing robust signal processing algorithms for this is expensive, particularly in presence of acoustic clutter or countermeasures. This paper proposes a parametric ground vehicle acoustic signature model to aid the system designer in understanding which signature features are important, developing corresponding feature extraction algorithms and generating low-cost, high-fidelity synthetic signatures for testing. The authors have proposed computer-generated acoustic signatures of armored, tracked ground vehicles to deceive acoustic-sensored smart munitions. They have developed quantitative measures of how accurately a synthetic acoustic signature matches those produced by actual vehicles. This paper describes parameters of the model used to generate these synthetic signatures and suggests methods for extracting these parameters from signatures of valid vehicle encounters. The model incorporates wide-bandwidth and narrow- bandwidth components that are modulated in a pseudo-random fashion to mimic the time dynamics of valid vehicle signatures. Narrow- bandwidth feature extraction techniques estimate frequency, amplitude and phase information contained in a single set of narrow frequency- band harmonics. Wide-bandwidth feature extraction techniques estimate parameters of a correlated-noise-floor model. Finally, the authors propose a method of modeling the time dynamics of the harmonic amplitudes as a means adding necessary time-varying features to the narrow-bandwidth signal components. The authors present results of applying this modeling technique to acoustic signatures recorded during encounters with one armored, tracked vehicle. Similar modeling techniques can be applied to security systems

Understanding acoustics an experimentalist’s view of acoustics and vibration

CERN Document Server

Garrett, Steven L

2017-01-01

This textbook provides a unified approach to acoustics and vibration suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate courses on vibration and fluids. The book includes thorough treatment of vibration of harmonic oscillators, coupled oscillators, isotropic elasticity, and waves in solids including the use of resonance techniques for determination of elastic moduli. Drawing on 35 years of experience teaching introductory graduate acoustics at the Naval Postgraduate School and Penn State, the author presents a hydrodynamic approach to the acoustics of sound in fluids that provides a uniform methodology for analysis of lumped-element systems and wave propagation that can incorporate attenuation mechanisms and complex media. This view provides a consistent and reliable approach that can be extended with confidence to more complex fluids and future applications. Understanding Acoustics opens with a mathematical introduction that includes graphing and statistical uncertainty, followed by five chap...

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ACOUSTIC WAVE PARAMETERS NEAR SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabello-Soares, M. Cristina; Bogart, Richard S.; Scherrer, Philip H.

2016-01-01

In order to quantify the influence of magnetic fields on acoustic mode parameters and flows in and around active regions, we analyze the differences in the parameters in magnetically quiet regions nearby an active region (which we call “nearby regions”), compared with those of quiet regions at the same disk locations for which there are no neighboring active regions. We also compare the mode parameters in active regions with those in comparably located quiet regions. Our analysis is based on ring-diagram analysis of all active regions observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) during almost five years. We find that the frequency at which the mode amplitude changes from attenuation to amplification in the quiet nearby regions is around 4.2 mHz, in contrast to the active regions, for which it is about 5.1 mHz. This amplitude enhacement (the “acoustic halo effect”) is as large as that observed in the active regions, and has a very weak dependence on the wave propagation direction. The mode energy difference in nearby regions also changes from a deficit to an excess at around 4.2 mHz, but averages to zero over all modes. The frequency difference in nearby regions increases with increasing frequency until a point at which the frequency shifts turn over sharply, as in active regions. However, this turnover occurs around 4.9 mHz, which is significantly below the acoustic cutoff frequency. Inverting the horizontal flow parameters in the direction of the neigboring active regions, we find flows that are consistent with a model of the thermal energy flow being blocked directly below the active region.

Machine Fault Detection Based on Filter Bank Similarity Features Using Acoustic and Vibration Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio Holguín-Londoño

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Vibration and acoustic analysis actively support the nondestructive and noninvasive fault diagnostics of rotating machines at early stages. Nonetheless, the acoustic signal is less used because of its vulnerability to external interferences, hindering an efficient and robust analysis for condition monitoring (CM. This paper presents a novel methodology to characterize different failure signatures from rotating machines using either acoustic or vibration signals. Firstly, the signal is decomposed into several narrow-band spectral components applying different filter bank methods such as empirical mode decomposition, wavelet packet transform, and Fourier-based filtering. Secondly, a feature set is built using a proposed similarity measure termed cumulative spectral density index and used to estimate the mutual statistical dependence between each bandwidth-limited component and the raw signal. Finally, a classification scheme is carried out to distinguish the different types of faults. The methodology is tested in two laboratory experiments, including turbine blade degradation and rolling element bearing faults. The robustness of our approach is validated contaminating the signal with several levels of additive white Gaussian noise, obtaining high-performance outcomes that make the usage of vibration, acoustic, and vibroacoustic measurements in different applications comparable. As a result, the proposed fault detection based on filter bank similarity features is a promising methodology to implement in CM of rotating machinery, even using measurements with low signal-to-noise ratio.

Control room philosophy: Principles of control room design and control room work; Kontrollrumsfilosofi: Principer foer kontrollrumsutformning och kontrollrumsarbete

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skriver, Jan; Ramberg, Jasmine; Allwin, Pernilla [Scandpower Risk Management AB, Uppsala (Sweden)

2006-01-15

In order to provide insights for improvement of work in control rooms several factors have to be considered. Knowledge of principles including control room philosophies will guide the recommended improvements. In addition to knowledge about specific principles an advantage for an organization can be an understanding of similarities and policies used in other high risk industry. The report has been developed on the basis of a document analysis of international standards and other guiding documents. (NUREG 0711, ISO 11064, ISO 6385, IEC 60964). In addition to the document analysis which has strived to compare the documents to see similarities in important principals, experience from working with control room design, modifications and evaluations in other high risk industries has pervaded the report. Important principles have been identified which are recommended to be included in a control room philosophy. Many of these are similar to the principles identified in the international standards. An additional principal which is regarded as important is the utilization of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which can be used as a measure to target preventative means. Further more it is critical that the control room philosophy is easy to access and comprehend for all users. One of the challenges that remain after having developed a control room philosophy is how to utilize it in the daily work situation. It is vital that the document remains as a living document, guiding the continual improvement of the control room in the various life cycle stages.

Experimental and Numerical analysis of Metallic Bellow for Acoustic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Panchwadkar, Amit A.; Awasare, Pradeep J., Dr.; Ingle, Ravidra B., Dr.

2017-08-01

Noise will concern about the work environment of industry. Machinery environment has overall noise which interrupts communication between the workers. This problem of miscommunication and health hazard will make sense to go for noise attenuation. Modification in machine setup may affect the performance of it. Instead of that, Helmholtz resonator principle will be a better option for noise reduction along the transmission path. Resonator has design variables which gives resonating frequency will help us to confirm the frequency range. This paper deals with metallic bellow which behaves like inertial mass under incident sound wave. Sound wave energy is affected by hard boundary condition of resonator and bellow. Metallic bellow is used in combination with resonator to find out Transmission loss (TL). Microphone attachment with FFT analyzer will give the frequency range for numerical analysis. Numerical analysis of bellow and resonator is carried out to summarize the acoustic behavior of bellow. Bellow can be numerically analyzed to check noise attenuation for centrifugal blower. An impedance tube measurement technique is performed to validate the numerical results for assembly. Dimensional and shape modification can be done to get the acoustic performance of bellow.

Modal analysis and acoustic transmission through offset-core honeycomb sandwich panels

Science.gov (United States)

Mathias, Adam Dustin

The work presented in this thesis is motivated by an earlier research that showed that double, offset-core honeycomb sandwich panels increased thermal resistance and, hence, decreased heat transfer through the panels. This result lead to the hypothesis that these panels could be used for acoustic insulation. Using commercial finite element modeling software, COMSOL Multiphysics, the acoustical properties, specifically the transmission loss across a variety of offset-core honeycomb sandwich panels, is studied for the case of a plane acoustic wave impacting the panel at normal incidence. The transmission loss results are compared with those of single-core honeycomb panels with the same cell sizes. The fundamental frequencies of the panels are also computed in an attempt to better understand the vibrational modes of these particular sandwich-structured panels. To ensure that the finite element analysis software is adequate for the task at hand, two relevant benchmark problems are solved and compared with theory. Results from these benchmark results compared well to those obtained from theory. Transmission loss results from the offset-core honeycomb sandwich panels show increased transmission loss, especially for large cell honeycombs when compared to single-core honeycomb panels.

Modelling and Order of Acoustic Transfer Functions Due to Reflections from Augmented Objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diemer de Vries

2007-01-01

Full Text Available It is commonly accepted that the sound reflections from real physical objects are much more complicated than what usually is and can be modelled by room acoustics modelling software. The main reason for this limitation is the level of detail inherent in the physical object in terms of its geometrical and acoustic properties. In the present paper, the complexity of the sound reflections from a corridor wall is investigated by modelling the corresponding acoustic transfer functions at several receiver positions in front of the wall. The complexity for different wall configurations has been examined and the changes have been achieved by altering its acoustic image. The results show that for a homogenous flat wall, the complexity is significant and for a wall including various smaller objects, the complexity is highly dependent on the position of the receiver with respect to the objects.

Continuous acoustic emission from aluminium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenici, P.; Kiesewetter, N.; Schiller, P.

1976-01-01

Continuous acoustic emission of aluminum single crystals and polycrystals during tensile tests at constant cross-head speed and at room temperature is measured with a Root Mean Square Level recorder. By means of the Kaiser effect it is shown that the continuous emission is related to the plastic deformation. The plot of continuous emission against strain takes different shapes for pure single crystals, pure polycrystals and impure polycrystals. The measured voltages have about the same value for pure single and polycrystals and are considerably greater than that for impure polycrystals. A method is developed to distinguish between continuous emission and burst

Aeroacoustic analysis of the human phonation process based on a hybrid acoustic PIV approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lodermeyer, Alexander; Tautz, Matthias; Becker, Stefan; Döllinger, Michael; Birk, Veronika; Kniesburges, Stefan

2018-01-01

The detailed analysis of sound generation in human phonation is severely limited as the accessibility to the laryngeal flow region is highly restricted. Consequently, the physical basis of the underlying fluid-structure-acoustic interaction that describes the primary mechanism of sound production is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we propose the implementation of a hybrid acoustic PIV procedure to evaluate aeroacoustic sound generation during voice production within a synthetic larynx model. Focusing on the flow field downstream of synthetic, aerodynamically driven vocal folds, we calculated acoustic source terms based on the velocity fields obtained by time-resolved high-speed PIV applied to the mid-coronal plane. The radiation of these sources into the acoustic far field was numerically simulated and the resulting acoustic pressure was finally compared with experimental microphone measurements. We identified the tonal sound to be generated downstream in a small region close to the vocal folds. The simulation of the sound propagation underestimated the tonal components, whereas the broadband sound was well reproduced. Our results demonstrate the feasibility to locate aeroacoustic sound sources inside a synthetic larynx using a hybrid acoustic PIV approach. Although the technique employs a 2D-limited flow field, it accurately reproduces the basic characteristics of the aeroacoustic field in our larynx model. In future studies, not only the aeroacoustic mechanisms of normal phonation will be assessable, but also the sound generation of voice disorders can be investigated more profoundly.

Fabrication and RF characterization of zinc oxide based Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Raju; Bansal, Deepak; Agrawal, Vimal Kumar; Rangra, Kamaljit; Boolchandani, Dharmendar

2018-06-01

This work reports fabrication and characterization of Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FBAR) to improve the performance characteristics for RF filter and sensing application. Zinc oxide as a piezoelectric (PZE) material was deposited on an aluminum bottom electrode using an RF magnetron sputtering, at room temperature, and gold as top electrode for the resonator. Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) setup was used for bulk silicon etching to make back side cavity to confine the acoustic signals. The transmission characteristics show that the FBARs have a central frequency at 1.77 GHz with a return loss of -10.7 dB.

new developments for control room habitability evaluation and analysis. Panel Discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cozens, Kurt O.; Harvey, Robert B. Jr.; Hayes, John J. Jr.; Jarosz, Gregory; Lagus, Peter L.; Taplett, Kenneth J.; Schultz, Stephen P.

2001-01-01

In 2000, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), nuclear utilities, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) embarked on a series of working meetings designed to develop means to assess the post-accident performance of control room ventilation systems to ensure required control room habitability (CRH). Through monthly meeting interactions beginning in January 2000, teams from the industry and the NRC have been working to develop an industry approach for assessment of existing systems. New system evaluation techniques are being developed that will allow for evaluation and/or identification of potential performance improvement options. NRC review of the documentation of this approach, as well as broad industry comment, was performed in the first part of 2001. This session will examine technical development topics covering licensing, analysis, testing, and control room refurbishment. NRC, NEI, utility, vendor, and consultant presentations will be followed by a panel session that will explore both process and technical recommendations for improvements. Since the mid-1980's, the NRC has communicated concerns on the inadequacies of control room designs relating to CRH requirements. In the mid-1990's, testing of some control room envelopes indicated that key assumptions supporting the radiological dose analysis might be incorrect. In 1998, the NRC held a public workshop to address CRH concerns. In late 1999, the NRC and the industry agreed to work together on issues affecting CRH and develop the NEI 99-03 guidance document for resolving those issues. This NEI 99-03 industry document defines a process for licensees to assess a plant's design and licensing bases for CRH to ensure that they are established and maintained throughout the life of the plant. The assessment process describes a comparative approach to determine if the plant configuration and operation are consistent with the CRH licensing basis and analysis. The process includes evaluation, testing, and

30th International Acoustical Imaging Symposium

CERN Document Server

Jones, Joie; Lee, Hua

2011-01-01

The International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging is a unique forum for advanced research, covering new technologies, developments, methods and theories in all areas of acoustics. This interdisciplinary Symposium has been taking place every two years since 1968. In the course of the years the proceedings volumes in the Acoustical Imaging Series have become a reference for cutting-edge research in the field. In 2009 the 30th International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging was held in Monterey, CA, USA, March 1-4. Offering both a broad perspective on the state-of-the-art as well as  in-depth research contributions by the specialists in the field, this Volume 30 in the Series contains an excellent collection of forty three papers presented in five major categories: Biomedical Imaging Acoustic Microscopy Non-Destructive Evaluation Systems Analysis Signal Analysis and Image Processing Audience Researchers in medical imaging and biomedical instrumentation experts.

Airy acoustical-sheet spinner tweezers

Science.gov (United States)

Mitri, F. G.

2016-09-01

The Airy acoustical beam exhibits parabolic propagation and spatial acceleration, meaning that the propagation bending angle continuously increases before the beam trajectory reaches a critical angle where it decays after a propagation distance, without applying any external bending force. As such, it is of particular importance to investigate its properties from the standpoint of acoustical radiation force, spin torque, and particle dynamics theories, in the development of novel particle sorting techniques and acoustically mediated clearing systems. This work investigates these effects on a two-dimensional (2D) circular absorptive structure placed in the field of a nonparaxial Airy "acoustical-sheet" (i.e., finite beam in 2D), for potential applications in surface acoustic waves and acousto-fluidics. Based on the characteristics of the acoustic field, the beam is capable of manipulating the circular cylindrical fluid cross-section and guides it along a transverse or parabolic trajectory. This feature of Airy acoustical beams could lead to a unique characteristic in single-beam acoustical tweezers related to acoustical sieving, filtering, and removal of particles and cells from a section of a small channel. The analysis developed here is based on the description of the nonparaxial Airy beam using the angular spectrum decomposition of plane waves in close association with the partial-wave series expansion method in cylindrical coordinates. The numerical results demonstrate the ability of the nonparaxial Airy acoustical-sheet beam to pull, propel, or accelerate a particle along a parabolic trajectory, in addition to particle confinement in the transverse direction of wave propagation. Negative or positive radiation force and spin torque causing rotation in the clockwise or the anticlockwise direction can occur depending on the nondimensional parameter ka (where k is the wavenumber and a is the radius) and the location of the cylinder in the beam. Applications in

Modelling of a thermally activated building system (TABS) combined with free-hanging acoustic ceiling units using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lacarte, Luis Marcos Domínguez; Fan, Jianhua

2017-01-01

. The active surfaces of TABS need to be as exposed as possible, but exposing bare concrete surfaces has a negative impact on the acoustic quality in the premises. Acoustic solutions capable of providing optimal acoustic comfort while allowing the heat exchange between the TABS and the room are desirable...... of the heat exchange between the TABS and the room and the occupants. The simulations are validated by comparison with full scale measurements in laboratory conditions. The study shows that for equivalent sound absorption levels, free-hanging vertical sound absorbers have a lower impact on the heat exchange......Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS) have proven to be an energy-efficient solution to achieve optimal indoor thermal environment in buildings. This solution uses the building mass to store heat and by means of water pipes embedded in the concrete slabs adjust the temperature in the premises...

Cave acoustics in prehistory: Exploring the association of Palaeolithic visual motifs and acoustic response.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazenda, Bruno; Scarre, Chris; Till, Rupert; Pasalodos, Raquel Jiménez; Guerra, Manuel Rojo; Tejedor, Cristina; Peredo, Roberto Ontañón; Watson, Aaron; Wyatt, Simon; Benito, Carlos García; Drinkall, Helen; Foulds, Frederick

2017-09-01

During the 1980 s, acoustic studies of Upper Palaeolithic imagery in French caves-using the technology then available-suggested a relationship between acoustic response and the location of visual motifs. This paper presents an investigation, using modern acoustic measurement techniques, into such relationships within the caves of La Garma, Las Chimeneas, La Pasiega, El Castillo, and Tito Bustillo in Northern Spain. It addresses methodological issues concerning acoustic measurement at enclosed archaeological sites and outlines a general framework for extraction of acoustic features that may be used to support archaeological hypotheses. The analysis explores possible associations between the position of visual motifs (which may be up to 40 000 yrs old) and localized acoustic responses. Results suggest that motifs, in general, and lines and dots, in particular, are statistically more likely to be found in places where reverberation is moderate and where the low frequency acoustic response has evidence of resonant behavior. The work presented suggests that an association of the location of Palaeolithic motifs with acoustic features is a statistically weak but tenable hypothesis, and that an appreciation of sound could have influenced behavior among Palaeolithic societies of this region.

Structural Dynamic Assessment of the GN2 Piping System for NASA's New and Powerful Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility

Science.gov (United States)

McNelis, Mark E.; Staab, Lucas D.; Akers, James C.; Hughes, WIlliam O.; Chang, Li, C.; Hozman, Aron D.; Henry, Michael W.

2012-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) has led the design and build of the new world-class vibroacoustic test capabilities at the NASA GRC's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, USA from 2007-2011. SAIC-Benham has completed construction of a new reverberant acoustic test facility to support the future testing needs of NASA's space exploration program and commercial customers. The large Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF) is approximately 101,000 cu ft in volume and was designed to operate at a maximum empty chamber acoustic overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of 163 dB. This combination of size and acoustic power is unprecedented amongst the world's known active reverberant acoustic test facilities. Initial checkout acoustic testing was performed on March 2011 by SAIC-Benham at test levels up to 161 dB OASPL. During testing, several branches of the gaseous nitrogen (GN2) piping system, which supply the fluid to the noise generating acoustic modulators, failed at their "t-junctions" connecting the 12 inch supply line to their respective 4 inch branch lines. The problem was initially detected when the oxygen sensors in the horn room indicated a lower than expected oxygen level from which was inferred GN2 leaks in the piping system. In subsequent follow up inspections, cracks were identified in the failed "t-junction" connections through non-destructive evaluation testing . Through structural dynamic modeling of the piping system, the root cause of the "t-junction" connection failures was determined. The structural dynamic assessment identified several possible corrective design improvements to the horn room piping system. The effectiveness of the chosen design repairs were subsequently evaluated in September 2011 during acoustic verification testing to 161 dB OASPL.

Computational reduction techniques for numerical vibro-acoustic analysis of hearing aids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Creixell Mediante, Ester

. In this thesis, several challenges encountered in the process of modelling and optimizing hearing aids are addressed. Firstly, a strategy for modelling the contacts between plastic parts for harmonic analysis is developed. Irregularities in the contact surfaces, inherent to the manufacturing process of the parts....... Secondly, the applicability of Model Order Reduction (MOR) techniques to lower the computational complexity of hearing aid vibro-acoustic models is studied. For fine frequency response calculation and optimization, which require solving the numerical model repeatedly, a computational challenge...... is encountered due to the large number of Degrees of Freedom (DOFs) needed to represent the complexity of the hearing aid system accurately. In this context, several MOR techniques are discussed, and an adaptive reduction method for vibro-acoustic optimization problems is developed as a main contribution. Lastly...

Acoustic emission during tensile deformation of M250 grade maraging steel

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Chandan Kumar; Rajkumar, Kesavan Vadivelu; Chandra Rao, Bhaghi Purna; Jayakumar, Tamanna

2012-05-01

Acoustic emission (AE) generated during room temperature tensile deformation of varyingly heat treated (solution annealed and thermally aged) M250 grade maraging steel specimens have been studied. Deformation of microstructure corresponding to different heat treated conditions in this steel could be distinctly characterized using the AE parameters such as RMS voltage, counts and peak amplitude of AE hits (events).

Influence of impedance phase angle on sound pressures and reverberation times in a rectangular room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeong, Cheol-Ho; Lee, Doheon; Santurette, Sébastien

2014-01-01

, but with an absorptive ceiling are investigated. The zero phase angle, which has commonly been assumed in practice, is regarded as reference and differences in the sound pressure level and early decay time from the reference are quantified. As expected, larger differences in the room acoustic parameters are found...

Chemical analysis of acoustically levitated drops by Raman spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuckermann, Rudolf; Puskar, Ljiljana; Zavabeti, Mahta; Sekine, Ryo; McNaughton, Don

2009-07-01

An experimental apparatus combining Raman spectroscopy with acoustic levitation, Raman acoustic levitation spectroscopy (RALS), is investigated in the field of physical and chemical analytics. Whereas acoustic levitation enables the contactless handling of microsized samples, Raman spectroscopy offers the advantage of a noninvasive method without complex sample preparation. After carrying out some systematic tests to probe the sensitivity of the technique to drop size, shape, and position, RALS has been successfully applied in monitoring sample dilution and preconcentration, evaporation, crystallization, an acid-base reaction, and analytes in a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy colloidal suspension.

Control room unfiltered in-leakage limit analysis of design-basis LOCA for Lungmen ABWR plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai Chihming; Chang Chinjang; Yuann Yngruey

2014-01-01

In USNRC's Generic Letter 2003-01, 'Control Room Habitability,' it requests utilities provide information to demonstrate that the control room at each of their respective facilities complies with the current licensing and design bases, and applicable regulatory requirements, and that suitable design, maintenance and testing control measures are in place for maintaining this compliance. In particular, each utility is required to perform the control room in-leakage test to demonstrate that the unfiltered in-leakage rate is within that assumed in the licensing analyses. It must be ensured that the control room envelope habitability, in terms of radiation dose, is maintained during normal operations as well as design basis accidents. In view of this, a dose analysis has been performed to establish the control room unfiltered in-leakage limit which can be used as an acceptance criterion for the in-leakage test. The analysis in this study is for Lungmen ABWR plant. The plant has twin units, with each unit having its own control room. The TID-4844 source terms and associated methodology are used. The USNRC RADTRAD v3.03 code is employed for the transport calculation of radioactive materials in different paths, including control room in-leakage path. The radiological criterion on protection of the operators specified in 10 CFR 50, Appendix A, General Design Criterion 19 is followed. It's demonstrated that the performance of Lungmen control room with 500 cfm unfiltered in-leakage air could meet the radiological habitability acceptance criteria in case of radiation hazards. (author)

The interaction between room and musical instruments studied by multi-channel auralization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rindel, Jens Holger; Otondo, Felipe

2005-01-01

in the anechoic recording. With this technique the variations in sound radiation from the musical instrument during the performance e.g. due to changes in level or movements can be reproduced with the influence of the surrounding room surfaces. Examples include a grand piano and a clarinet.......The directivity of musical instruments is very complicated and typically changes from one tone to the next. So, instead of measuring the average directivity, a multi-channel auralization method has been developed, which allows a highly accurate and realistic sounding auralization of musical...... instruments in rooms. Anechoic recordings have been made with 5 and 13 evenly distributed microphones around the musical instrument. The reproduction is made with a room acoustics simulation software using a compound source, which is in fact a number of highly directive sources, one for each of the channels...

Acoustic levitation with self-adaptive flexible reflectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Z Y; Xie, W J; Wei, B

2011-07-01

Two kinds of flexible reflectors are proposed and examined in this paper to improve the stability of single-axis acoustic levitator, especially in the case of levitating high-density and high-temperature samples. One kind is those with a deformable reflecting surface, and the other kind is those with an elastic support, both of which are self-adaptive to the change of acoustic radiation pressure. High-density materials such as iridium (density 22.6 gcm(-3)) are stably levitated at room temperature with a soft reflector made of colloid as well as a rigid reflector supported by a spring. In addition, the containerless melting and solidification of binary In-Bi eutectic alloy (melting point 345.8 K) and ternary Ag-Cu-Ge eutectic alloy (melting point 812 K) are successfully achieved by applying the elastically supported reflector with the assistance of a laser beam.

Homogenization-based interval analysis for structural-acoustic problem involving periodical composites and multi-scale uncertain-but-bounded parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ning; Yu, Dejie; Xia, Baizhan; Liu, Jian; Ma, Zhengdong

2017-04-01

This paper presents a homogenization-based interval analysis method for the prediction of coupled structural-acoustic systems involving periodical composites and multi-scale uncertain-but-bounded parameters. In the structural-acoustic system, the macro plate structure is assumed to be composed of a periodically uniform microstructure. The equivalent macro material properties of the microstructure are computed using the homogenization method. By integrating the first-order Taylor expansion interval analysis method with the homogenization-based finite element method, a homogenization-based interval finite element method (HIFEM) is developed to solve a periodical composite structural-acoustic system with multi-scale uncertain-but-bounded parameters. The corresponding formulations of the HIFEM are deduced. A subinterval technique is also introduced into the HIFEM for higher accuracy. Numerical examples of a hexahedral box and an automobile passenger compartment are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the presented method for a periodical composite structural-acoustic system with multi-scale uncertain-but-bounded parameters.

Control room design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zinke, H.

1980-01-01

To control a 1300 megawatt nuclear power plant, about 15000 plant parameters must be collected together to control and operate the plant. The control room design therefore is of particular importance. The main design criteria are: Required functions of the power plant process - Level of Automation - Ergonomics - Available Technology. Extensive analysis has resulted in a control room design method. This ensures that an objective solution will be reached. Resulting from this methodical approach are: 1. Scope, position and appearance of the instrumentation. 2. Scope, position and appearance of the operator controls. Process analysis dictates what instrumentation and operator controls are needed. The priority and importance of the control and instrumentation (this we define as the utilisation areas), dictates the rough layout of the control room. (orig./RW)

Student design projects in applied acoustics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bös, Joachim; Moritz, Karsten; Skowronek, Adam; Thyes, Christian; Tschesche, Johannes; Hanselka, Holger

2012-03-01

This paper describes a series of student projects which are intended to complement theoretical education in acoustics and engineering noise control with practical experience. The projects are also intended to enhance the students' ability to work in a team, to manage a project, and to present their results. The projects are carried out in close cooperation with industrial partners so that the students can get a taste of the professional life of noise control engineers. The organization of such a project, its execution, and some of the results from the most recent student project are presented as a demonstrative example. This latest project involved the creation of noise maps of a production hall, the acoustic analysis of a packaging machine, and the acoustic analysis of a spiral vibratory conveyor. Upon completion of the analysis, students then designed, applied, and verified some simple preliminary noise reduction measures to demonstrate the potential of these techniques. © 2012 Acoustical Society of America

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITY BASED ANALYSIS METHOD COSTING SYSTEM IN PRICING COST OF ROOMS IN HOTEL DYNASTY MAKASSAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muh Nur Hatta

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to fulfill one of the final project now where Thesis research was held in April to June, 2016. This study aims to know the differences in the calculation of the cost of the room by using a conventional system using activity-based costing (ABC system. method analysis is using descriptive method of analysis of the cost of the hotel this time, set the conventional method and then comparing the cost of a hotel room based activity based result costing. study showed that of calculating the cost of a hotel room by using activity based costing, when compared with the cost of hotel rooms used by the activity based costing Dynasty then give the results in standard rooms, deluxe, suites and family give results the calculation of which is smaller than the cost of the rooms which have been determined by the hotel management. That is, with the difference in price for a Standard room IDR. 58024.84. For a Deluxe room IDR. 175,411.58. For room Suite IDR. 99. 034,88. Family rooms and for IDR. 100,045.60. While in the room Executive Suite / Pent House Activity Based Costing calculation result is greater than the cost of the rooms which have been determined by the hotel management. That is, with the difference amounting to IDR. 368,096.17. The difference in price is due to the method of Activity Based Costing,The overhead on each product is charged to a lot of cost driver. Thus, in the Activity Based Costing method is able to allocate activity costs to each room is right by the consumption of each activity.

Association of Rooming-in With Outcomes for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

MacMillan, Kathryn Dee L; Rendon, Cassandra P; Verma, Kanak; Riblet, Natalie; Washer, David B; Volpe Holmes, Alison

2018-04-01

Rising incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is straining perinatal care systems. Newborns with NAS traditionally receive care in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), but rooming-in with mother and family has been proposed to reduce the use of pharmacotherapy, length of stay (LOS), and cost. To systematically review and meta-analyze if rooming-in is associated with improved outcomes for newborns with NAS. MEDLINE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched from inception through June 25, 2017. This investigation included randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, quasi-experimental studies, and before-and-after quality improvement investigations comparing rooming-in vs standard NICU care for newborns with NAS. Two independent investigators reviewed studies for inclusion. A random-effects model was used to pool dichotomous outcomes using risk ratio (RR) and 95% CI. The study evaluated continuous outcomes using weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% CI. The primary outcome was newborn treatment with pharmacotherapy. Secondary outcomes included LOS, inpatient cost, and harms from treatment, including in-hospital adverse events and readmission rates. Of 413 publications, 6 studies (n = 549 [number of patients]) met inclusion criteria. In meta-analysis of 6 studies, there was consistent evidence that rooming-in is preferable to NICU care for reducing both the use of pharmacotherapy (RR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.19-0.71; I2 = 85%) and LOS (WMD, -10.41 days; 95% CI, -16.84 to -3.98 days; I2 = 91%). Sensitivity analysis resolved the heterogeneity for the use of pharmacotherapy, significantly favoring rooming-in (RR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.18-0.57; I2 = 13%). Three studies reported that inpatient costs were lower with rooming-in; however, significant heterogeneity precluded quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis favored rooming-in over NICU care for increasing breastfeeding rates and discharge home in familial custody, but few

Acoustic analysis of voice in children with cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Villafuerte-Gonzalez, Rocio; Valadez-Jimenez, Victor M; Hernandez-Lopez, Xochiquetzal; Ysunza, Pablo Antonio

2015-07-01

Acoustic analysis of voice can provide instrumental data concerning vocal abnormalities. These findings can be used for monitoring clinical course in cases of voice disorders. Cleft palate severely affects the structure of the vocal tract. Hence, voice quality can also be also affected. To study whether the main acoustic parameters of voice, including fundamental frequency, shimmer and jitter are significantly different in patients with a repaired cleft palate, as compared with normal children without speech, language and voice disorders. Fourteen patients with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate and persistent or residual velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) were studied. A control group was assembled with healthy volunteer subjects matched by age and gender. Hypernasality and nasal emission were perceptually assessed in patients with VPI. Size of the gap as assessed by videonasopharyngoscopy was classified in patients with VPI. Acoustic analysis of voice including Fundamental frequency (F0), shimmer and jitter were compared between patients with VPI and control subjects. F0 was significantly higher in male patients as compared with male controls. Shimmer was significantly higher in patients with VPI regardless of gender. Moreover, patients with moderate VPI showed a significantly higher shimmer perturbation, regardless of gender. Although future research regarding voice disorders in patients with VPI is needed, at the present time it seems reasonable to include strategies for voice therapy in the speech and language pathology intervention plan for patients with VPI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computer-assisted acoustic emission analysis in alternating current magnetization and hardness testing of reactor pressure vessel steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blochwitz, M.; Kretzschmar, F.; Rattke, R.

1985-01-01

Non-destructive determination of material characteristics such as nilductility transition temperature is of high importance in component monitoring during long-term operation. An attempt has been made to obtain characteristics correlating with mechanico-technological material characteristics by both acoustic resonance through magnetization (ARDM) and acoustic emission analysis in Vickers hardness tests. Taking into account the excitation mechanism of acoustic emission generation, which has a quasistationary stochastic character in a.c. magnetization and a transient nature in hardness testing, a microcomputerized device has been constructed for frequency analysis of the body sound level in ARDM evaluation and for measuring the pulse sum and/or pulse rate during indentation of the test specimen in hardness evaluation. Prerequisite for evaluating the measured values is the knowledge of the frequency dependence of the sensors and the instrument system. The results obtained are presented. (author)

Estimation methods for sound levels and reverberation time in a room with irregular shape or absorption distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerretsen, E.

2006-01-01

The reverberation time of an enclosed space is an important parameter to describe the acoustic quality in enclosed spaces. Mainly due to its simplicity Sabine’s equation is normally used even though the considered situations seldom comply with its preconditions: regular room shape, regular

Longitudinal acoustic instabilities in slender solid propellant rockets : linear analysis

OpenAIRE

García Schafer, Juan Esteban; Liñán Martínez, Amable

2001-01-01

To describe the acoustic instabilities in the combustion chambers of laterally burning solid propellant rockets the interaction of the mean flow with the acoustic waves is analysed, using multiple scale techniques, for realistic cases in which the combustion chamber is slender and the nozzle area is small compared with the cross-sectional area of the chamber. Associated with the longitudinal acoustic oscillations we find vorticity and entropy waves, with a wavelength typically small compared ...

CEBAF Control Room Renovation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michael Spata; Anthony Cuffe; Thomas Oren

2005-01-01

The Machine Control Center (MCC) at Jefferson Lab's Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) was constructed in the early 1990s and based on proven technology of that era. Through our experience over the last 15 years and in our planning for the facilities 12 GeV upgrade we reevaluated the control room environment to capitalize on emerging visualization and display technologies and improve on work-flow processes and ergonomic attributes. The renovation was performed in two phases during the summer of 2004, with one phase occurring during machine operations and the latter, more extensive phase, occurring during our semi-annual shutdown period. The new facility takes advantage of advances in display technology, analog and video signal management, server technology, ergonomic workspace design, lighting engineering, acoustic ceilings and raised flooring solutions to provide a marked improvement in the overall environment of machine operations

Influence of sensory interactions between vision and audition on the perceptual characterisation of room acoustics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nathanail, Crysantie; Lavandier, Catherine; Polack, Jean-Dominique

1999-01-01

Visual information available to listeners-spectators in concert hall interferes in the evaluation process of the acoustical quality. The influence of the stage visual distance on the auditory apparent distance was studied in four magnitude estimation paradigms. The main result is that the same...

Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors on Urban Soundscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karmele Herranz-Pascual

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The need to improve acoustic environments in our cities has led to increased interest in correcting or minimising noise pollution in urban environments, something that has been associated with the resurgence of the soundscape approach. This line of research highlights the importance of context in the perception of acoustic environments. Despite this, few studies consider together a wide number of variables relating to the context, and analyse the relative importance of each. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify the acoustic and non-acoustic characteristics of a place (context that influence an individual’s perception of the sound environment and the relative importance of these factors in soundscape. The aim is to continue advancing in the definition of an acoustic comfort indicator for urban places. The data used here were collected in various soundscape campaigns carried out by Tecnalia in Bilbao (Spain between 2011 and 2014. These studies involved 534 evaluations of 10 different places. The results indicate that many diverse contextual factors determine soundscape, the most important being the congruence between soundscape and landscape. The limitations of the findings and suggestions for further research are also discussed.

Human reliability analysis of control room operators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Isaac J.A.L.; Carvalho, Paulo Victor R.; Grecco, Claudio H.S. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2005-07-01

Human reliability is the probability that a person correctly performs some system required action in a required time period and performs no extraneous action that can degrade the system Human reliability analysis (HRA) is the analysis, prediction and evaluation of work-oriented human performance using some indices as human error likelihood and probability of task accomplishment. Significant progress has been made in the HRA field during the last years, mainly in nuclear area. Some first-generation HRA methods were developed, as THERP (Technique for human error rate prediction). Now, an array of called second-generation methods are emerging as alternatives, for instance ATHEANA (A Technique for human event analysis). The ergonomics approach has as tool the ergonomic work analysis. It focus on the study of operator's activities in physical and mental form, considering at the same time the observed characteristics of operator and the elements of the work environment as they are presented to and perceived by the operators. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to analyze the human reliability of the operators of industrial plant control room, using a framework that includes the approach used by ATHEANA, THERP and the work ergonomics analysis. (author)

Classroom acoustics and hearing ability as determinants for perceived social climate and intentions to stay at work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roger Persson

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background noise and room acoustics may impede social interactions by interfering with oral communication and other cognitive processes. Accordingly, recent research in school environments has showed that social relationships with peers and teachers are described more negatively in rooms with long reverberation times (RT. The purpose of this study was to investigate how RT and hearing ability (i.e., hearing thresholds [HT] and distortion product oto-acoustic emissions were associated with schoolteachers′ perceptions of the social climate at work and their intentions to stay on the job. Schoolteachers (n = 107 from 10 schools that worked in classrooms classified by acoustical experts as "short RT" (3 schools, mean RT 0.41-0.47 s, "medium RT" (3 schools, mean RT 0.50-0.53 s, and "long RT" (4 schools, mean RT 0.59-0.73 s were examined. Teachers who worked in classrooms with long RT perceived their social climate to be more competitive, conflict laden, and less relaxed and comfortable. They were more doubtful about staying on the job. Even if the teachers were generally satisfied with their work the results suggest that the comfort at work may have been further improved by acoustical interventions that focus on reducing sound reflections in the classrooms. Yet, due the study design and the novelty of the findings the potential practical significance of our observations remains to be evaluated.

Use of acoustic vortices in acoustic levitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Santillan, Arturo Orozco; Juhl, Peter Møller

2009-01-01

Acoustic fields are known to exert forces on the surfaces of objects. These forces are noticeable if the sound pressure is sufficiently high. Two phenomena where acoustic forces are relevant are: i) acoustic levitation, where strong standing waves can hold small objects at certain positions......, counterbalancing their weight, and ii) acoustic vortices, spinning sound fields that can impinge angular momentum and cause rotation of objects. In this contribution, both force-creating sound fields are studied by means of numerical simulations. The Boundary Element Method is employed to this end. The simulation...... of acoustical vortices uses an efficient numerical implementation based on the superposition of two orthogonal sound fields with a delay of 90° between them. It is shown that acoustic levitation and the use of acoustic vortices can be combined to manipulate objects in an efficient and controlled manner without...

Flaw identification using acoustic emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodward, B.; McDonald, N.R.

1975-01-01

Acoustic emission 'signatures' contain information about the fine structure of metallurgical source events and their interpretation may provide a means of assessing the severity of internal flaws as well as surface flaws. The ultimate aim of this research on signature analysis is to develop a real time non-destructive testing technique having the capability of flaw recognition as well as flaw location in nuclear reactor components and structures under stress. Thus the requisite, unlike that in most acoustic emission work to date, is for a technique which affords discrimination between acoustic emission from different types of flaws propagating simultaneously. The approach described here requires detailed analysis of the emission signatures in terms of a specific statistical parameter, energy spectral density. In order to realise the full inspection potential of acoustic emission monitoring data obtained from zirconium and steel testpieces have been correlated with metallurgical condition and mechanical behaviour, since the nature of emission signatures is strongly affected by the physical characteristics and internal structure of the material. (Auth.)

Low frequency acoustic properties of bilayer membrane acoustic metamaterial with magnetic oscillator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nansha Gao

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A bilayer membrane acoustic metamaterial was proposed to overcome the influence of the mass law on traditional acoustic materials and obtain a lightweight thin-layer structure that can effectively isolate low frequency noise. The finite element analysis (FEA results agree well with the experimental results. It is proved that the sound transmission losses (STLs of the proposed structures are higher than those of same surface density acoustic materials. The introduction of the magnetic mass block is different from the traditional design method, in which only a passive mass block is fixed on the membrane. The magnetic force will cause tension in the membrane, increase membrane prestress, and improve overall structural stiffness. The effects of the geometry size on the STLs are discussed in detail. The kind of method presented in this paper can provide a new means for engineering noise control. Keywords: Bilayer membrane acoustic metamaterial, Low frequency sound insulation, Sound transmission loss, Magnet oscillator

An Experimental Introduction to Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Andy Nicholas; Magruder, Robert H.

2017-11-01

Learning and understanding physics requires more than studying physics texts. It requires doing physics. Doing research is a key opportunity for students to connect physical principles with their everyday experience. A powerful way to introduce students to research and technique is through subjects in which they might find interest. Presented is an experiment that serves to introduce an advanced undergraduate or high school student to conducting research in acoustics via an experiment involving a standard dreadnought acoustic guitar, recording industry-related equipment, and relevant industrial analysis software. This experimental process is applicable to a wide range of acoustical topics including both acoustic and electric instruments. Also, the student has a hands-on experience with relevant audio engineering technology to study physical principles.

Vocal effort with changing talker-to-listener distance in different acoustic environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David; Smits, Bertrand; Brunskog, Jonas

2011-01-01

Talkers adjust their vocal effort to communicate at different distances, aiming to compensate for the sound propagation losses. The present paper studies the influence of four acoustically different rooms on the speech produced by 13 male talkers addressing a listener at four distances. Talkers...... raised their vocal intensity by between 1.3 and 2.2 dB per double distance to the listener and lowered it as a linear function of the quantity “room gain” at a rate of 3.6 dB/dB. There were also significant variations in the mean fundamental frequency, both across distance (3.8 Hz per double distance......) and among environments (4.3 Hz), and in the long-term standard deviation of the fundamental frequency among rooms (4 Hz). In the most uncomfortable rooms to speak in, talkers prolonged the voiced segments of the speech they produced, either as a side-effect of increased vocal intensity or in order...

Evaluating the Acoustic Benefits of Over-the-Rotor Acoustic Treatments Installed on the Advanced Noise Control Fan

Science.gov (United States)

Gazella, Matthew R.; Takakura, Tamuto; Sutliff, Daniel L.; Bozak, Richard F.; Tester, Brian J.

2017-01-01

Over the last 15 years, over-the-rotor acoustic treatments have been evaluated by NASA with varying success. Recently, NASA has been developing the next generation of over-the-rotor acoustic treatments for fan noise reduction. The NASA Glenn Research Centers Advanced Noise Control Fan was used as a Low Technology Readiness Level test bed. A rapid prototyped in-duct array consisting of 50 microphones was employed, and used to correlate the in-duct analysis to the far-field acoustic levels and to validate an existing beam-former method. The goal of this testing was to improve the Technology Readiness Level of various over-the-rotor acoustic treatments by advancing the understanding of the physical mechanisms and projecting the far-field acoustic benefit.

Acoustic emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichols, R.W.

1976-01-01

The volume contains six papers which together provide an overall review of the inspection technique known as acoustic emission or stress wave emission. The titles are: a welder's introduction to acoustic emission technology; use of acoustic emission for detection of defects as they arise during fabrication; examples of laboratory application and assessment of acoustic emission in the United Kingdom; (Part I: acoustic emission behaviour of low alloy steels; Part II: fatigue crack assessment from proof testing and continuous monitoring); inspection of selected areas of engineering structures by acoustic emission; Japanese experience in laboratory and practical applications of acoustic emission to welded structures; and ASME acoustic emission code status. (U.K.)

Acoustical conditions for speech communication in active elementary school classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Hiroshi; Bradley, John

2005-04-01

Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 34 active elementary school classrooms with typical rectangular room shape in schools near Ottawa, Canada. There was an average of 21 students in classrooms. The measurements were made to obtain accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. Mean speech and noise levels were determined from the distribution of recorded sound levels and the average speech-to-noise ratio was 11 dBA. Measured mid-frequency reverberation times (RT) during the same occupied conditions varied from 0.3 to 0.6 s, and were a little less than for the unoccupied rooms. RT values were not related to noise levels. Octave band speech and noise levels, useful-to-detrimental ratios, and Speech Transmission Index values were also determined. Key results included: (1) The average vocal effort of teachers corresponded to louder than Pearsons Raised voice level; (2) teachers increase their voice level to overcome ambient noise; (3) effective speech levels can be enhanced by up to 5 dB by early reflection energy; and (4) student activity is seen to be the dominant noise source, increasing average noise levels by up to 10 dBA during teaching activities. [Work supported by CLLRnet.

Optimization of Virtual Loudspeakers for Spatial Room Acoustics Reproduction with Headphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otto Puomio

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The use of headphones in reproducing spatial sound is becoming more and more popular. For instance, virtual reality applications often use head-tracking to keep the binaurally reproduced auditory environment stable and to improve externalization. Here, we study one spatial sound reproduction method over headphones, in particular the positioning of the virtual loudspeakers. The paper presents an algorithm that optimizes the positioning of virtual reproduction loudspeakers to reduce the computational cost in head-tracked real-time rendering. The listening test results suggest that listeners could discriminate the optimized loudspeaker arrays for renderings that reproduced a relatively simple acoustic conditions, but optimized array was not significantly different from equally spaced array for a reproduction of a more complex case. Moreover, the optimization seems to change the perceived openness and timbre, according to the verbal feedback of the test subjects.

Hybrid CFD/CAA Modeling for Liftoff Acoustic Predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Strutzenberg, Louise L.; Liever, Peter A.

2011-01-01

This paper presents development efforts at the NASA Marshall Space flight Center to establish a hybrid Computational Fluid Dynamics and Computational Aero-Acoustics (CFD/CAA) simulation system for launch vehicle liftoff acoustics environment analysis. Acoustic prediction engineering tools based on empirical jet acoustic strength and directivity models or scaled historical measurements are of limited value in efforts to proactively design and optimize launch vehicles and launch facility configurations for liftoff acoustics. CFD based modeling approaches are now able to capture the important details of vehicle specific plume flow environment, identifY the noise generation sources, and allow assessment of the influence of launch pad geometric details and sound mitigation measures such as water injection. However, CFD methodologies are numerically too dissipative to accurately capture the propagation of the acoustic waves in the large CFD models. The hybrid CFD/CAA approach combines the high-fidelity CFD analysis capable of identifYing the acoustic sources with a fast and efficient Boundary Element Method (BEM) that accurately propagates the acoustic field from the source locations. The BEM approach was chosen for its ability to properly account for reflections and scattering of acoustic waves from launch pad structures. The paper will present an overview of the technology components of the CFD/CAA framework and discuss plans for demonstration and validation against test data.

Acoustic analysis assessment in speech pathology detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panek Daria

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Automatic detection of voice pathologies enables non-invasive, low cost and objective assessments of the presence of disorders, as well as accelerating and improving the process of diagnosis and clinical treatment given to patients. In this work, a vector made up of 28 acoustic parameters is evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA, kernel principal component analysis (kPCA and an auto-associative neural network (NLPCA in four kinds of pathology detection (hyperfunctional dysphonia, functional dysphonia, laryngitis, vocal cord paralysis using the a, i and u vowels, spoken at a high, low and normal pitch. The results indicate that the kPCA and NLPCA methods can be considered a step towards pathology detection of the vocal folds. The results show that such an approach provides acceptable results for this purpose, with the best efficiency levels of around 100%. The study brings the most commonly used approaches to speech signal processing together and leads to a comparison of the machine learning methods determining the health status of the patient

Microfluidic device for acoustic cell lysis

Science.gov (United States)

Branch, Darren W.; Cooley, Erika Jane; Smith, Gennifer Tanabe; James, Conrad D.; McClain, Jaime L.

2015-08-04

A microfluidic acoustic-based cell lysing device that can be integrated with on-chip nucleic acid extraction. Using a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) transducer array, acoustic waves can be coupled into microfluidic cartridges resulting in the lysis of cells contained therein by localized acoustic pressure. Cellular materials can then be extracted from the lysed cells. For example, nucleic acids can be extracted from the lysate using silica-based sol-gel filled microchannels, nucleic acid binding magnetic beads, or Nafion-coated electrodes. Integration of cell lysis and nucleic acid extraction on-chip enables a small, portable system that allows for rapid analysis in the field.

A Conversation (Re)Analysis of Fraternal Bonding in the Locker Room.

Science.gov (United States)

Jimerson, Jason B.

2001-01-01

Reexamines the 15 talk fragments in "Fraternal Bonding in the Locker Room: A Profeminist Analysis of Talk about Competition and Women" (Curry, 1991), which epitomizes how sociologists utilize talk. The author examines the utterances and finds that 9 fragments reveal some dissent in how listeners react to crass talk, arguing that sport…

Translational illusion of acoustic sources by transformation acoustics.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fei; Li, Shichao; He, Sailing

2017-09-01

An acoustic illusion of creating a translated acoustic source is designed by utilizing transformation acoustics. An acoustic source shifter (ASS) composed of layered acoustic metamaterials is designed to achieve such an illusion. A practical example where the ASS is made with naturally available materials is also given. Numerical simulations verify the performance of the proposed device. The designed ASS may have some applications in, e.g., anti-sonar detection.

Usage of measured reverberation tail in a binaural room impulse response synthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Markovic, Milos; Olesen, Søren Krarup; Madsen, Esben

2011-01-01

The aim of the modern communication technologies is an immersive experience. One of the applications that should provide the feeling of being together and sharing the same environment during the communication process is BEAMING. The goal of this paper is to improve audible spatial impression...... density of reflections. That can lead to metallic and unnatural sound. Also, room-specific sound envelopment feeling is lost. This paper investigates the possibility of using measured reverberation tail instead of the modeled one in BRIRs synthesis. Three cases are observed. In the first one, BRIRs...... case and measured late reverberation from the first one. All three cases are evaluated and compared objectively based on the obtained room acoustic parameters as well as subjectively by listening tests....

New theory on the reverberation of rooms. [considering sound wave travel time

Science.gov (United States)

Pujolle, J.

1974-01-01

The inadequacy of the various theories which have been proposed for finding the reverberation time of rooms can be explained by an attempt to examine what might occur at a listening point when image sources of determined acoustic power are added to the actual source. The number and locations of the image sources are stipulated. The intensity of sound at the listening point can be calculated by means of approximations whose conditions for validity are given. This leads to the proposal of a new expression for the reverberation time, yielding results which fall between those obtained through use of the Eyring and Millington formulae; these results are made to depend on the shape of the room by means of a new definition of the mean free path.

TU-G-210-03: Acoustic Simulations in Transcranial MRgFUS: Treatment Prediction and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vyas, U. [Stanford University (United States)

2015-06-15

Modeling can play a vital role in predicting, optimizing and analyzing the results of therapeutic ultrasound treatments. Simulating the propagating acoustic beam in various targeted regions of the body allows for the prediction of the resulting power deposition and temperature profiles. In this session we will apply various modeling approaches to breast, abdominal organ and brain treatments. Of particular interest is the effectiveness of procedures for correcting for phase aberrations caused by intervening irregular tissues, such as the skull in transcranial applications or inhomogeneous breast tissues. Also described are methods to compensate for motion in targeted abdominal organs such as the liver or kidney. Douglas Christensen – Modeling for Breast and Brain HIFU Treatment Planning Tobias Preusser – TRANS-FUSIMO - An Integrative Approach to Model-Based Treatment Planning of Liver FUS Urvi Vyas – Acoustic Simulations in Transcranial MRgFUS: Treatment Prediction and Analysis Learning Objectives: Understand the role of acoustic beam modeling for predicting the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound treatments. Apply acoustic modeling to specific breast, liver, kidney and transcranial anatomies. Determine how to obtain appropriate acoustic modeling parameters from clinical images. Understand the separate role of absorption and scattering in energy delivery to tissues. See how organ motion can be compensated for in ultrasound therapies. Compare simulated data with clinical temperature measurements in transcranial applications. Supported by NIH R01 HL172787 and R01 EB013433 (DC); EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under 270186 (FUSIMO) and 611889 (TRANS-FUSIMO)(TP); and P01 CA159992, GE, FUSF and InSightec (UV)

Theory and modeling of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong, Lihong, E-mail: lhtong@ecjtu.edu.cn [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China); Lim, C.W. [Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (China); Zhao, Xiushao; Geng, Daxing [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China)

2016-06-03

Models both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed and the corresponding acoustic pressure solutions are obtained. The acoustic pressure for an individual carbon nanotube (CNT) as a function of input power is investigated analytically and it is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. Further numerical analysis on the acoustic pressure response and characteristics for varying input frequency and distance are also examined both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions. Through detailed theoretical and numerical studies on the acoustic pressure solution for thinfilm-solid cylindrical transduction, it is concluded that a solid with smaller thermal conductivity favors to improve the acoustic performance. In general, the proposed models are applicable to a variety of cylindrical thermo-acoustic devices performing in different gaseous media. - Highlights: • Theory and modeling both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed. • The modeling is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. • Acoustic response characteristics of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are predicted by the proposed model.

ANALYSIS OF CHIP FORMATION DURING HARD TURNING THROUGH ACOUSTIC EMISSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Neslušan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with analysis of chip formation and related aspects of the chip formation during turning hardened steel 100Cr6. The paper draws a comparison of some aspects of the chip formation between turning annealed and hardened roll bearing steel. The results of the analysis show that there is the formation of a segmented chip in the case of hard turning. Frequency of segmentation is very high. A conventional piezoelectric dynamometer limits the frequency response to about 3.5 kHz. On the other hand, the frequency of process fluctuation may by obtained by using accelerometers or acoustic emission. This paper reports about the dynamic character of cutting process when hard turning and correlation among the calculated segmentation frequencies and the experimental analysis.

Design and Analysis of Underwater Acoustic Networks with Reflected Links

Science.gov (United States)

Emokpae, Lloyd

-of-sight (LOS) and NLOS links by utilizing directional antennas, which will boost the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver while promoting NLOS usage. In our model, we employ a directional underwater acoustic antenna composed of an array of hydrophones that can be summed up at various phases and amplitudes resulting in a beam-former. We have also adopted a practical multimodal directional transducer concept which generates both directional and omni-directional beam patterns by combining the fundamental vibration modes of a cylindrical acoustic radiator. This allows the transducer to be electrically controlled and steered by simply adjusting the electrical voltage weights. A prototype acoustic modem is then developed to utilize the multimodal directional transducer for both LOS and NLOS communication. The acoustic modem has also been used as a platform for empirically validating our SBR communication model in a tank and with empirical data. Networking protocols have been developed to exploit the SBR communication model. These protocols include node discovery and localization, directional medium access control (D-MAC) and geographical routing. In node discovery and localization, each node will utilize SBR-based range measurements to its neighbors to determine their relative position. The D-MAC protocol utilizes directional antennas to increase the network throughput due to the spatial efficiency of the antenna model. In the proposed reflection-enabled directional MAC protocol (RED-MAC), each source node will be able to determine if an obstacle is blocking the LOS link to the destination and switch to the best NLOS link by utilizing surface/bottom reflections. Finally, we have developed a geographical routing algorithm which aims to establish the best stable route from a source node to a destination node. The optimized route is selected to achieve maximum network throughput. Extensive analysis of the network throughput when utilizing directional antennas is also presented

Material parameters and vector scaling in transformation acoustics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cummer, Steven A; Rahm, Marco; Schurig, David

2008-01-01

The degree to which the coordinate transformation concept first demonstrated for electromagnetic waves can be applied to other classes of waves remains an open question. In this work, we thoroughly examine the coordinate transformation invariance of acoustic waves. We employ a purely physical argument to show how the acoustic velocity vector must transform differently than the E and H fields in Maxwell's equations, which explains why acoustic coordinate transformation invariance was not found in some previous analyses. A first principles analysis of the acoustic equations under arbitrary coordinate transformations confirms that the divergence operator is preserved only if velocity transforms in this physically correct way. This analysis also yields closed-form expressions for the bulk modulus and mass density tensor of the material required to realize an arbitrary coordinate transformation on the acoustic fields, which we show are equivalent to forms presented elsewhere. We demonstrate the computation of these material parameters in two specific cases and show that the change in velocity and pressure gradient vectors under a nonorthogonal coordinate transformation is precisely how these vectors must change from purely physical arguments. This analysis confirms that all of the electromagnetic devices and materials that have been conceived using the coordinate transformation approach are also in principle realizable for acoustic waves. Together with previous work, this analysis also shows how the curl, divergence and gradient operators maintain form under arbitrary coordinate transformations, opening the door to analyzing other wave systems built on these three vector operators.

Characteristics Analysis of Joint Acoustic Echo and Noise Suppression in Periodic Drillstring Waveguide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Cheng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A new method of wireless data telemetry used by oil industry uses compressional acoustic waves to transmit downhole information from the bottom hole to the surface. Unfortunately, acoustic echoes and drilling vibration noises in periodic drillstring are a major issue in transmission performance. A combined acoustic echo and noise suppression method based on wave motion characteristic in drillstring is adopted to enhance an upward-going transmitted acoustic signal. The presented scheme consists of a primary acoustic echo canceller using an array of two accelerometers for dealing with the downward-going noises and a secondary acoustic insulation structure for restraining the upward-going vibration noises. Furthermore, the secondary acoustic insulation structure exhibits a banded and dispersive spectral structure because of periodic groove configuration. By using a finite-differential algorithm for the one-dimensional propagation of longitudinal waves, acoustic receiving characteristics of transmitted signals are simulated with additive Gaussian noise in a periodic pipe structure of limited length to investigate the effects on transmission performance optimization. The results reveal that the proposed scheme can achieve a much lower error bit ratio over a specified acoustic isolation frequency range with a 30–40 dB reduction in the average noise level compared to traditional single-receiver scheme.

Misure in laboratorio di acustica edilizia a bassa frequenza: un approccio modale - Laboratory measurements of building acoustics at low frequency: a modal approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Prato

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Nei tipici ambienti ordinari e di laboratorio (40-80 m3 e a bassa frequenza (50-100 Hz, il campo acustico risulta non diffuso a causa della presenza dei modi. In tali condizioni, le misure classiche di acustica edilizia (isolamento acustico per via aerea e da impatto, tempi di riverbera-zione sono inadeguate per caratterizzare correttamente le proprietà acustiche di partizioni, si-stemi di pavimentazioni e spazi chiusi. L’approccio modale permette di valutare tali proprietà studiando il comportamento dei modi. Sulla base di ciò, appropriate procedure di misura e nuovi descrittori sono proposti e discussi in modo da fornire possibili soluzioni per tali problematiche. ------ In typical laboratory and ordinary rooms (40-80 m3 and at low frequencies (50-100 Hz, the acoustic field is non-diffuse due to the presence of room modes. Under such conditions, standard building acoustics measurements (airborne and impact sound insulation, reverberation time and descriptors are not adequate to correctly characterize the acoustic property of partitions, flooring systems and rooms. The modal approach allows to evaluate such properties by studying the behavior of modes. On the basis of this, proper measurement procedures and new descriptors are proposed and discussed in order to provide possible solutions for such issues.

Leakage analysis of fuel gas pipe in large LNG carrier engine room

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CEN Zhuolun

2017-10-01

Full Text Available [Objectives] The electric propulsion dual-fuel engine is becoming dominant in newly built Liquefied Natural Gas(LNGcarriers. To avoid the potential risks that accompany the use of flammable and explosive boil-off gas,the performance of precise safety and reliability assessments is indispensable. [Methods] This research concerns the engine rooms of large LNG carriers which are propelled electrically by a dual-fuel engine. Possible fuel gas(natural gasleak cases in different areas of the engine room are simulated and analyzed. Five representative leak cases defined by leak form,leak location and leak rate are entered into a Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFDsimulation,in which the Reynolds stress model of Fluent software is adopted as the turbulence model. The results of the leaked gas distribution and ventilation velocity field are analyzed in combination to obtain the diffusion tendency and concentration distribution of leaked gas in different areas.[Results] Based on an analysis of the results,an optimized arrangement of flammable gas detectors is provided for the engine room, and the adoption of an explosion-proof exhaust fan is proven to be unnecessary.[Conclusions] These analysis methods can provide a reference for similar gas leakage scenarios occurring in confined ventilated spaces. In addition, the simulation results can be used to quantitatively assess potential fire or explosion damage in order to guide the design of structural reinforcements.

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program A Reference Plan for Control Room Modernization: Planning and Analysis Phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacques Hugo; Ronald Boring; Lew Hanes; Kenneth Thomas

2013-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program is collaborating with a U.S. nuclear utility to bring about a systematic fleet-wide control room modernization. To facilitate this upgrade, a new distributed control system (DCS) is being introduced into the control rooms of these plants. The DCS will upgrade the legacy plant process computer and emergency response facility information system. In addition, the DCS will replace an existing analog turbine control system with a display-based system. With technology upgrades comes the opportunity to improve the overall human-system interaction between the operators and the control room. To optimize operator performance, the LWRS Control Room Modernization research team followed a human-centered approach published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-0711, Rev. 3, Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model (O’Hara et al., 2012), prescribes four phases for human factors engineering. This report provides examples of the first phase, Planning and Analysis. The three elements of Planning and Analysis in NUREG-0711 that are most crucial to initiating control room upgrades are: • Operating Experience Review: Identifies opportunities for improvement in the existing system and provides lessons learned from implemented systems. • Function Analysis and Allocation: Identifies which functions at the plant may be optimally handled by the DCS vs. the operators. • Task Analysis: Identifies how tasks might be optimized for the operators. Each of these elements is covered in a separate chapter. Examples are drawn from workshops with reactor operators that were conducted at the LWRS Human System Simulation Laboratory HSSL and at the respective plants. The findings in this report represent generalized accounts of more detailed proprietary reports produced for the utility for each plant. The goal of this LWRS report is to disseminate the technique and provide examples sufficient to

Analysis of the Air Cooling for 350 keV/20 mA Electron Beam Machine Rooms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutadi; Suprapto; Suyamto; Sukaryono

2003-01-01

It has been analyzed the cooling capacity for 350 keV/20 mA electron beam machine rooms at P3TM. The analysis of cooling load based on the building construction and the device for supported the electron beam machines operation, were obtained head dissipation and provided the cooling load. From the result it can be determined that for cooling the electron beam machine rooms with 945 m cubic of volume and supporter device in the room, in order to reach the air condition about 20 o C of temperatures and 50 % of relative humidity for the electron beam machine rooms, it was needed the air conditioning system with total cooling capacity about 213.000 BTU/Hours. (author)

Nuclear power plant control room crew task analysis database: SEEK system. Users manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgy, D.; Schroeder, L.

1984-05-01

The Crew Task Analysis SEEK Users Manual was prepared for the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is designed for use with the existing computerized Control Room Crew Task Analysis Database. The SEEK system consists of a PR1ME computer with its associated peripherals and software augmented by General Physics Corporation SEEK database management software. The SEEK software programs provide the Crew Task Database user with rapid access to any number of records desired. The software uses English-like sentences to allow the user to construct logical sorts and outputs of the task data. Given the multiple-associative nature of the database, users can directly access the data at the plant, operating sequence, task or element level - or any combination of these levels. A complete description of the crew task data contained in the database is presented in NUREG/CR-3371, Task Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Crews (Volumes 1 and 2)

Time Management in the Operating Room: An Analysis of the Dedicated Minimally Invasive Surgery Suite

Science.gov (United States)

Hsiao, Kenneth C.; Machaidze, Zurab

2004-01-01

Background: Dedicated minimally invasive surgery suites are available that contain specialized equipment to facilitate endoscopic surgery. Laparoscopy performed in a general operating room is hampered by the multitude of additional equipment that must be transported into the room. The objective of this study was to compare the preparation times between procedures performed in traditional operating rooms versus dedicated minimally invasive surgery suites to see whether operating room efficiency is improved in the specialized room. Methods: The records of 50 patients who underwent laparoscopic procedures between September 2000 and April 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-three patients underwent surgery in a general operating room and 18 patients in an minimally invasive surgery suite. Nine patients were excluded because of cystoscopic procedures undergone prior to laparoscopy. Various time points were recorded from which various time intervals were derived, such as preanesthesia time, anesthesia induction time, and total preparation time. A 2-tailed, unpaired Student t test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean preanesthesia time was significantly faster in the minimally invasive surgery suite (12.2 minutes) compared with that in the traditional operating room (17.8 minutes) (P=0.013). Mean anesthesia induction time in the minimally invasive surgery suite (47.5 minutes) was similar to time in the traditional operating room (45.7 minutes) (P=0.734). The average total preparation time for the minimally invasive surgery suite (59.6 minutes) was not significantly faster than that in the general operating room (63.5 minutes) (P=0.481). Conclusion: The amount of time that elapses between the patient entering the room and anesthesia induction is statically shorter in a dedicated minimally invasive surgery suite. Laparoscopic surgery is performed more efficiently in a dedicated minimally invasive surgery suite versus a traditional operating room. PMID

Patch near-field acoustic holography: The influence of acoustic contributions from outside the source

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez Grande, Efren; Jacobsen, Finn; Zhang, Yong-Bin

2009-01-01

It is a requirement of conventional Near-field Acoustic Holography that the measurement area covers the entire surface of the source. In the case of Patch Near-field Acoustic Holography (patch NAH), the measurement area can be reduced to cover only a specific area of the source which...... is of particular interest (known as the “patch” or “source patch”). The area of the source beyond this patch is not of interest in the analysis. However, its acoustic output may nevertheless contribute to the total sound field in the measurement plane, and influence the reconstruction of the field close...... to the patch. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the acoustic radiation from outside the patch area influences the reconstruction of the sound field close to the source. The reconstruction is based on simulated measurements of sound pressure and particle velocity. The methods used in this paper...

Applications of aero-acoustic analysis to wind turbine noise control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowson, M.V.

1992-01-01

Wind turbine noise generation mechanisms are essentially equivalent to the aero-acoustic mechanisms of other rotors, which have been studied in depth for many years. Basic sources for the wind turbine noise radiation process are defined, and their significance assessed. From the analysis, areas of potential improvement in wind turbine noise prediction are defined. Suggestions are made for approaches to wind turbine noise control which separate the noise problems at cut-in from those at rated power. Some of these offer the possibility of noise reduction without unfavourable effects on performance. (author)

Applications of aero-acoustic analysis to wind turbine noise control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowson, M.

1993-01-01

Wind turbine noise generation mechanisms are essentially equivalent to the aero-acoustic mechanisms of other rotors, which have been studied in depth for many years. Basic sources for the wind turbine noise radiation process are defined, and their significance assessed. From the analysis, areas of potential improvement in wind turbine noise prediction are defined. Suggestions are made for approaches to wind turbine noise control which separate the noise problems at cut-in from those at rated power. Some of these offer the possibility of noise reduction without unfavourable effects on performance. (author)

Acoustic communication at the water's edge: evolutionary insights from a mudskipper.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianluca Polgar

Full Text Available Coupled behavioural observations and acoustical recordings of aggressive dyadic contests showed that the mudskipper Periophthalmodon septemradiatus communicates acoustically while out of water. An analysis of intraspecific variability showed that specific acoustic components may act as tags for individual recognition, further supporting the sounds' communicative value. A correlative analysis amongst acoustical properties and video-acoustical recordings in slow-motion supported first hypotheses on the emission mechanism. Acoustic transmission through the wet exposed substrate was also discussed. These observations were used to support an "exaptation hypothesis", i.e. the maintenance of key adaptations during the first stages of water-to-land vertebrate eco-evolutionary transitions (based on eco-evolutionary and palaeontological considerations, through a comparative bioacoustic analysis of aquatic and semiterrestrial gobiid taxa. In fact, a remarkable similarity was found between mudskipper vocalisations and those emitted by gobioids and other soniferous benthonic fishes.

Acoustic pollution in hospital environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivera, J M; Rocha, L A; Rotger, V I; Herrera, M C

2011-01-01

There are many different services within a hospital. This means different types of noise which can be considered as acoustic pollution. Knowing that preterm infants exposed to high amounts of noise in the NICU are at a much higher risk because of their neurologic immaturity and physiologic instability, that excessive levels of noise also affect the persons and it can also impede some studies on patients, it was proposed to evaluate the Sound Pressure Level in some services of the Instituto de Maternidad, Tucumán, Argentina. There were evaluated the Level III NICU, the laundry service, a physical space destined for a service of evoked potential and a neonatal incubator under working conditions. The measurements were performed with a type II sonometer (CENTER 322) and it was also used an incubator analyzer (FLUKE INCU) for the incubator. The average values obtained were of 63.6 dBA for the NICU, 82.5dBA for the laundry room, 52.7 dBA for the evoked potential room and 62.8 dBA in the inside of the incubator under 64 dBA in the outside. The reports were documented in compliance with the appropriate standards.

Comparative analysis of perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis and indirect laryngoscopy for vocal assessment of a population with vocal complaint.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemr, Kátia; Amar, Ali; Abrahão, Marcio; Leite, Grazielle Capatto de Almeida; Köhle, Juliana; Santos, Alexandra de O; Correa, Luiz Artur Costa

2005-01-01

As a result of technology evolution and development, methods of voice evaluation have changed both in medical and speech and language pathology practice. To relate the results of perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis and medical evaluation in the diagnosis of vocal and/or laryngeal affections of the population with vocal complaint. Clinical prospective. 29 people that attended vocal health protection campaign were evaluated. They were submitted to perceptual evaluation (AFPA), acoustic analysis (AA), indirect laryngoscopy (LI) and telelaryngoscopy (TL). Correlations between medical and speech language pathology evaluation methods were established, verifying possible statistical signification with the application of Fischer Exact Test. There were statistically significant results in the correlation between AFPA and LI, AFPA and TL, LI and TL. This research study conducted in a vocal health protection campaign presented correlations between speech language pathology evaluation and perceptual evaluation and clinical evaluation, as well as between vocal affection and/or laryngeal medical exams.

Fundamentals of Acoustics. Psychoacoustics and Hearing. Acoustical Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Begault, Durand R.; Ahumada, Al (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

These are 3 chapters that will appear in a book titled "Building Acoustical Design", edited by Charles Salter. They are designed to introduce the reader to fundamental concepts of acoustics, particularly as they relate to the built environment. "Fundamentals of Acoustics" reviews basic concepts of sound waveform frequency, pressure, and phase. "Psychoacoustics and Hearing" discusses the human interpretation sound pressure as loudness, particularly as a function of frequency. "Acoustic Measurements" gives a simple overview of the time and frequency weightings for sound pressure measurements that are used in acoustical work.

Communication Acoustics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blauert, Jens

Communication Acoustics deals with the fundamentals of those areas of acoustics which are related to modern communication technologies. Due to the advent of digital signal processing and recording in acoustics, these areas have enjoyed an enormous upswing during the last 4 decades. The book...... the book a source of valuable information for those who want to improve or refresh their knowledge in the field of communication acoustics - and to work their way deeper into it. Due to its interdisciplinary character Communication Acoustics is bound to attract readers from many different areas, such as......: acoustics, cognitive science, speech science, and communication technology....

Acoustic measurements on trees and logs: a review and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Xiping Wang

2013-01-01

Acoustic technologies have been well established as material evaluation tools in the past several decades, and their use has become widely accepted in the forest products industry for online quality control and products grading. Recent research developments on acoustic sensing technology offer further opportunities to evaluate standing trees and logs for general wood...

Acoustic Emission Analysis of Damage Progression in Thermal Barrier Coatings Under Thermal Cyclic Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Appleby, Matthew; Zhu, Dongming; Morscher, Gregory

2015-01-01

Damage evolution of electron beam-physical vapor deposited (EBVD-PVD) ZrO2-7 wt.% Y2O3 thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) under thermal cyclic conditions was monitored using an acoustic emission (AE) technique. The coatings were heated using a laser heat flux technique that yields a high reproducibility in thermal loading. Along with AE, real-time thermal conductivity measurements were also taken using infrared thermography. Tests were performed on samples with induced stress concentrations, as well as calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate (CMAS) exposure, for comparison of damage mechanisms and AE response to the baseline (as-produced) coating. Analysis of acoustic waveforms was used to investigate damage development by comparing when events occurred, AE event frequency, energy content and location. The test results have shown that AE accumulation correlates well with thermal conductivity changes and that AE waveform analysis could be a valuable tool for monitoring coating degradation and provide insight on specific damage mechanisms.

Acoustic Environment of Haro Strait: Preliminary Propagation Modeling and Data Analysis

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Christopher D; Wolfson, Michael A

2006-01-01

Field measurements and acoustic propagation modeling for the frequency range 1 10 kHz are combined to analyze the acoustic environment of Haro Strait of Puget Sound, home to the southern resident killer whales...

A survey of the 2001 to 2005 quartz crystal microbalance biosensor literature: applications of acoustic physics to the analysis of biomolecular interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Matthew A; Singleton, Victoria T

2007-01-01

The widespread exploitation of biosensors in the analysis of molecular recognition has its origins in the mid-1990s following the release of commercial systems based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). More recently, platforms based on piezoelectric acoustic sensors (principally 'bulk acoustic wave' (BAW), 'thickness shear mode' (TSM) sensors or 'quartz crystal microbalances' (QCM)), have been released that are driving the publication of a large number of papers analysing binding specificities, affinities, kinetics and conformational changes associated with a molecular recognition event. This article highlights salient theoretical and practical aspects of the technologies that underpin acoustic analysis, then reviews exemplary papers in key application areas involving small molecular weight ligands, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, bacteria, cells and lipidic and polymeric interfaces. Key differentiators between optical and acoustic sensing modalities are also reviewed. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mobile Communication Devices, Ambient Noise, and Acoustic Voice Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Maryn, Youri; Ysenbaert, Femke; Zarowski, Andrzej; Vanspauwen, Robby

2017-03-01

The ability to move with mobile communication devices (MCDs; ie, smartphones and tablet computers) may induce differences in microphone-to-mouth positioning and use in noise-packed environments, and thus influence reliability of acoustic voice measurements. This study investigated differences in various acoustic voice measures between six recording equipments in backgrounds with low and increasing noise levels. One chain of continuous speech and sustained vowel from 50 subjects with voice disorders (all separated by silence intervals) was radiated and re-recorded in an anechoic chamber with five MCDs and one high-quality recording system. These recordings were acquired in one condition without ambient noise and in four conditions with increased ambient noise. A total of 10 acoustic voice markers were obtained in the program Praat. Differences between MCDs and noise condition were assessed with Friedman repeated-measures test and posthoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, both for related samples, after Bonferroni correction. (1) Except median fundamental frequency and seven nonsignificant differences, MCD samples have significantly higher acoustic markers than clinical reference samples in minimal environmental noise. (2) Except median fundamental frequency, jitter local, and jitter rap, all acoustic measures on samples recorded with the reference system experienced significant influence from room noise levels. Fundamental frequency is resistant to recording system, environmental noise, and their combination. All other measures, however, were impacted by both recording system and noise condition, and especially by their combination, often already in the reference/baseline condition without added ambient noise. Caution is therefore warranted regarding implementation of MCDs as clinical recording tools, particularly when applied for treatment outcomes assessments. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of tidal currents in the North Sea from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler data

Science.gov (United States)

Vindenes, Håvard; Orvik, Kjell Arild; Søiland, Henrik; Wehde, Henning

2018-06-01

North Sea tidal currents are determined by applying harmonic analysis to ship-borne acoustic Doppler current profiler data recorded from 1999 to 2016, covering large areas of the northern North Sea. Direct current measurement data sets of this magnitude are rare in the otherwise well investigated North Sea, and thus it is a valuable asset in studying and expanding our understanding of its tidal currents and circulation in general. The harmonic analysis is applied to a least squares fit of the current observations at a set of knot points. Results from the harmonic analysis compare favorably to tidal parameters estimated from observations from moored instruments. The analysis shows that the tides are characterized by strong semi-diurnal component, with amplitudes of the principal Lunar constituent ranging from 1.6 cm/s in the Skagerrak to 67 cm/s in the Fair Isle Channel. Diurnal tides are found to be approximately one fifth the strength of the predominant semi-diurnal constituent. Output from a regional barotropic tide model compares well to tidal current determined from the harmonic analysis of the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler data.

Physics of thermo-acoustic sound generation

Science.gov (United States)

Daschewski, M.; Boehm, R.; Prager, J.; Kreutzbruck, M.; Harrer, A.

2013-09-01

We present a generalized analytical model of thermo-acoustic sound generation based on the analysis of thermally induced energy density fluctuations and their propagation into the adjacent matter. The model provides exact analytical prediction of the sound pressure generated in fluids and solids; consequently, it can be applied to arbitrary thermal power sources such as thermophones, plasma firings, laser beams, and chemical reactions. Unlike existing approaches, our description also includes acoustic near-field effects and sound-field attenuation. Analytical results are compared with measurements of sound pressures generated by thermo-acoustic transducers in air for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The tested transducers consist of titanium and indium tin oxide coatings on quartz glass and polycarbonate substrates. The model reveals that thermo-acoustic efficiency increases linearly with the supplied thermal power and quadratically with thermal excitation frequency. Comparison of the efficiency of our thermo-acoustic transducers with those of piezoelectric-based airborne ultrasound transducers using impulse excitation showed comparable sound pressure values. The present results show that thermo-acoustic transducers can be applied as broadband, non-resonant, high-performance ultrasound sources.

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohd, Shukri [Nondestructive Testing Group, Industrial Technology Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, 43000, Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Holford, Karen M.; Pullin, Rhys [Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Queen' s Buildings, The Parade, CARDIFF CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)

2014-02-12

Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed 'Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML)' based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) techniqueand DeltaTlocation. Theresults of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location resultscompared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure.

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukri Mohd

2013-01-01

Full-text: Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML) based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) technique and DeltaTlocation. The results of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location results compared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure. (author)

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd, Shukri; Holford, Karen M.; Pullin, Rhys

2014-01-01

Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed 'Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML)' based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) techniqueand DeltaTlocation. Theresults of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location resultscompared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure

Room acoustic simulation system considered wave motion chacteristic; Hadosei wo koryoshita shitsunai onba simulation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsuboi, M.; Watanabe, M.; Hirano, S. [Obayashi Corp., Osaka (Japan). Technical Research Inst.

1996-03-20

A practical calculating method is developed, which includes data of all audible frequencies used as the basic data for visible and audible acoustic evaluation of the sound field for supporting acoustic designing, and can calculate long term impulse responses covering those of reverberation. By the face integration method which performs calculation by dividing the responses from the face elements, at each sound input to the boundary surface, into geometrical wave components and scattered wave components, it is shown that long time impulse response can be calculated with no need for drastic increase in the calculating time. No extreme deterioration of the accuracy is observed even when the face elements are divided roughly, and the method can be applied to response calculation even in a limited time with less divided number of the wave face elements for certain items to be investigated. Sound field is visualized by three dimensional image sound source distribution in which the frequency characteristics of the initial reflected sound are displayed in color, and a series of systems are developed which enable virtual experience of estimated sound field with three dimensional spread by binaural hearing based on OSS (orthostereophonic system). 9 refs., 8 figs.

Acoustic source for generating an acoustic beam

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, Cung Khac; Sinha, Dipen N.; Pantea, Cristian

2016-05-31

An acoustic source for generating an acoustic beam includes a housing; a plurality of spaced apart piezo-electric layers disposed within the housing; and a non-linear medium filling between the plurality of layers. Each of the plurality of piezoelectric layers is configured to generate an acoustic wave. The non-linear medium and the plurality of piezo-electric material layers have a matching impedance so as to enhance a transmission of the acoustic wave generated by each of plurality of layers through the remaining plurality of layers.

Human annoyance and reactions to hotel room specific noises

Science.gov (United States)

Everhard, Ian L.

2004-05-01

A new formula is presented where multiple annoyance sources and transmission loss values of any partition are combined to produce a new single number rating of annoyance. The explanation of the formula is based on theoretical psychoacoustics and survey testing used to create variables used to weight the results. An imaginary hotel room is processed through the new formula and is rated based on theoretical survey results that would be taken by guests of the hotel. The new single number rating compares the multiple sources of annoyance to a single imaginary unbiased source where absolute level is the only factor in stimulating a linear rise in annoyance [Fidell et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66, 1427 (1979); D. M. Jones and D. E. Broadbent, ``Human performance and noise,'' in Handbook of Noise Control, 3rd ed., edited by C. M. Harris (ASA, New York, 1998), Chap. 24; J. P. Conroy and J. S. Roland, ``STC Field Testing and Results,'' in Sound and Vibration Magazine, Acoustical Publications, pp. 10-15 (July 2003)].

Estimating RASATI scores using acoustical parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agüero, P D; Tulli, J C; Moscardi, G; Gonzalez, E L; Uriz, A J

2011-01-01

Acoustical analysis of speech using computers has reached an important development in the latest years. The subjective evaluation of a clinician is complemented with an objective measure of relevant parameters of voice. Praat, MDVP (Multi Dimensional Voice Program) and SAV (Software for Voice Analysis) are some examples of software for speech analysis. This paper describes an approach to estimate the subjective characteristics of RASATI scale given objective acoustical parameters. Two approaches were used: linear regression with non-negativity constraints, and neural networks. The experiments show that such approach gives correct evaluations with ±1 error in 80% of the cases.

Acoustic calibration apparatus for calibrating plethysmographic acoustic pressure sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerwar, Allan J. (Inventor); Davis, David C. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

An apparatus for calibrating an acoustic sensor is described. The apparatus includes a transmission material having an acoustic impedance approximately matching the acoustic impedance of the actual acoustic medium existing when the acoustic sensor is applied in actual in-service conditions. An elastic container holds the transmission material. A first sensor is coupled to the container at a first location on the container and a second sensor coupled to the container at a second location on the container, the second location being different from the first location. A sound producing device is coupled to the container and transmits acoustic signals inside the container.

Magneto acoustical emission in nanocrystalline Mn–Zn ferrites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Praveena, K.; Murthty, S.R.

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: Mn 0.4 Zn 0.6 Fe 2 O 4 powders were prepared by microwave hydrothermal method. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope. The powders were sintered at different temperatures 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 °C/30 min using microwave sintering method. The grain size was estimated by scanning electron microscope. The room temperature dielectric and magnetic properties were studied in the frequency range (100 kHz–1.8 GHz). The magnetization properties were measured upto 1.5 T. The acoustic emission has been measured along the hysteresis loops from 80 K to Curie temperature. It is found that the magneto-acoustic emission (MAE) activity along hysteresis loop is proportional to the hysteresis losses during the same loop. This law has been verified on series of polycrystalline ferrites and found that the law is valid whatever the composition, the grain size and temperature. It is also found that the domain wall creation/or annihilation processes are the origin of the MAE. - Highlights: • The AE been measured along the hysteresis loops from 80 K to Curie temperature. • The MAE activity along hysteresis loop is proportional to P h during the same loop. • It is found that the domain wall creation/or annihilation processes are the origin of the MAE. - Abstract: Mn 0.4 Zn 0.6 Fe 2 O 4 powders were prepared by microwave hydrothermal method. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope. The powders were sintered at different temperatures 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 °C/30 min using microwave sintering method. The grain size was estimated by scanning electron microscope. The room temperature dielectric and magnetic properties were studied in the frequency range (100 kHz–1.8 GHz). The magnetization properties were measured upto 1.5 T. The acoustic emission has been measured along the hysteresis loops from 80 K to Curie temperature. It is found that the magneto-acoustic

Real-time adaptive concepts in acoustics blind signal separation and multichannel echo cancellation

CERN Document Server

Schobben, Daniel W E

2001-01-01

Blind Signal Separation (BSS) deals with recovering (filtered versions of) source signals from an observed mixture thereof. The term `blind' relates to the fact that there are no reference signals for the source signals and also that the mixing system is unknown. This book presents a new method for blind signal separation, which is developed to work on microphone signals. Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) is a well-known technique to suppress the echo that a microphone picks up from a loudspeaker in the same room. Such acoustic feedback occurs for example in hands-free telephony and can lead to a perceived loud tone. For an application such as a voice-controlled television, a stereo AEC is required to suppress the contribution of the stereo loudspeaker setup. A generalized AEC is presented that is suited for multi-channel operation. New algorithms for Blind Signal Separation and multi-channel Acoustic Echo Cancellation are presented. A background is given in array signal processing methods, adaptive filter the...

Residual Stress Analysis Based on Acoustic and Optical Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanichiro Yoshida

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Co-application of acoustoelasticity and optical interferometry to residual stress analysis is discussed. The underlying idea is to combine the advantages of both methods. Acoustoelasticity is capable of evaluating a residual stress absolutely but it is a single point measurement. Optical interferometry is able to measure deformation yielding two-dimensional, full-field data, but it is not suitable for absolute evaluation of residual stresses. By theoretically relating the deformation data to residual stresses, and calibrating it with absolute residual stress evaluated at a reference point, it is possible to measure residual stresses quantitatively, nondestructively and two-dimensionally. The feasibility of the idea has been tested with a butt-jointed dissimilar plate specimen. A steel plate 18.5 mm wide, 50 mm long and 3.37 mm thick is braze-jointed to a cemented carbide plate of the same dimension along the 18.5 mm-side. Acoustoelasticity evaluates the elastic modulus at reference points via acoustic velocity measurement. A tensile load is applied to the specimen at a constant pulling rate in a stress range substantially lower than the yield stress. Optical interferometry measures the resulting acceleration field. Based on the theory of harmonic oscillation, the acceleration field is correlated to compressive and tensile residual stresses qualitatively. The acoustic and optical results show reasonable agreement in the compressive and tensile residual stresses, indicating the feasibility of the idea.

Evaluation of new control rooms by operator performance analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, M; Tomizawa, T.; Tai, I.; Monta, K.; Yoshimura, S.; Hattori, Y.

1987-01-01

An advanced supervisory and control system called PODIA TM (Plant Operation by Displayed Information and Automation) was developed by Toshiba. Since this system utilizes computer driven CRTs as a main device for information transfer to operators, thorough system integration tests were performed at the factory and evaluations were made of operators' assessment from the initial experience of the system. The PODIA system is currently installed at two BWR power plants. Based on the experiences from the development of PODIA, a more advanced man-machine interface, Advanced-PODIA (A-PODIA), is developed. A-PODIA enhances the capabilities of PODIA in automation, diagnosis, operational guidance and information display. A-PODIA has been validated by carrying out systematic experiments with a full-scope simulator developed for the validation. The results of the experiments have been analyzed by the method of operator performance analysis and applied to further improvement of the A-PODIA system. As a feedback from actual operational experience, operator performance data in simulator training is an important source of information to evaluate human factors of a control room. To facilitate analysis of operator performance, a performance evaluation system has been developed by applying AI techniques. The knowledge contained in the performance evaluation system was elicited from operator training experts and represented as rules. The rules were implemented by employing an object-oriented paradigm to facilitate knowledge management. In conclusion, it is stated that the feedback from new control room operation can be obtained at an early stage by validation tests and also continuously by comprehensive evaluation (with the help of automated tools) of operator performance in simulator training. The results of operator performance analysis can be utilized for improvement of system design as well as operator training. (author)

Acoustically Induced Vibration of Structures: Reverberant Vs. Direct Acoustic Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Kolaini, Ali R.; O'Connell, Michael R.; Tsoi, Wan B.

2009-01-01

Large reverberant chambers have been used for several decades in the aerospace industry to test larger structures such as solar arrays and reflectors to qualify and to detect faults in the design and fabrication of spacecraft and satellites. In the past decade some companies have begun using direct near field acoustic testing, employing speakers, for qualifying larger structures. A limited test data set obtained from recent acoustic tests of the same hardware exposed to both direct and reverberant acoustic field testing has indicated some differences in the resulting structural responses. In reverberant acoustic testing, higher vibration responses were observed at lower frequencies when compared with the direct acoustic testing. In the case of direct near field acoustic testing higher vibration responses appeared to occur at higher frequencies as well. In reverberant chamber testing and direct acoustic testing, standing acoustic modes of the reverberant chamber or the speakers and spacecraft parallel surfaces can strongly couple with the fundamental structural modes of the test hardware. In this paper data from recent acoustic testing of flight hardware, that yielded evidence of acoustic standing wave coupling with structural responses, are discussed in some detail. Convincing evidence of the acoustic standing wave/structural coupling phenomenon will be discussed, citing observations from acoustic testing of a simple aluminum plate. The implications of such acoustic coupling to testing of sensitive flight hardware will be discussed. The results discussed in this paper reveal issues with over or under testing of flight hardware that could pose unanticipated structural and flight qualification issues. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to understand the structural modal coupling with standing acoustic waves that has been observed in both methods of acoustic testing. This study will assist the community to choose an appropriate testing method and test setup in

Signal analysis of steam line acoustics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, C. Samuel

2003-01-01

The vibration of nuclear steam piping is usually associated with pressure fluctuations emanating from flow disturbances such as steam generator nozzles, bends, or other pipe fittings. Flow separation at pipe tees and within steam chest manifolds or headers generate pressure fluctuations that propagate both upstream to steam generators as well as downstream to the steam turbine. Steady-state acoustic oscillations at various frequencies occur within the piping, possibly exciting structural vibrations. This paper focuses on the assessment of the origin of the disturbances using signal analyses of two dynamic pressure recordings from pressure transducers located along straight runs in the steam piping. The technique involves performing the cross spectrum to two dynamic pressure signals in piping between (1) the steam generator and steam chest header, and (2) between the header and steam turbine outlet. If, at a specified frequency, no causality occurs between the two signals then the cross spectra magnitude will be negligible. Of interest here is the value of the phase between the two signals for frequencies for which the magnitude of the cross spectrum is not negligible. It is shown in the paper that the direction of the dominant waves at all frequencies can be related to the phase angle from the cross spectrum. It has to be realized that pressure waves emanating from one source such as a steam generator will propagate along uniform steam pipes with little transformation or attenuation, but will be reflected at fittings and at inlets and outlets. Hence, the eventual steady-state time record at a given location in the piping is a result of not only the disturbance, but also reflections of earlier pulsations. Cross-spectral analyses has been employed to determine the direction of the dominant acoustic waves in the piping for various frequencies for which there are signals. To prove the technique, synthetic spectra are generated comprised of harmonic waves moving both

Modification of computational auditory scene analysis (CASA) for noise-robust acoustic feature

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Minseok

While there have been many attempts to mitigate interferences of background noise, the performance of automatic speech recognition (ASR) still can be deteriorated by various factors with ease. However, normal hearing listeners can accurately perceive sounds of their interests, which is believed to be a result of Auditory Scene Analysis (ASA). As a first attempt, the simulation of the human auditory processing, called computational auditory scene analysis (CASA), was fulfilled through physiological and psychological investigations of ASA. CASA comprised of Zilany-Bruce auditory model, followed by tracking fundamental frequency for voice segmentation and detecting pairs of onset/offset at each characteristic frequency (CF) for unvoiced segmentation. The resulting Time-Frequency (T-F) representation of acoustic stimulation was converted into acoustic feature, gammachirp-tone frequency cepstral coefficients (GFCC). 11 keywords with various environmental conditions are used and the robustness of GFCC was evaluated by spectral distance (SD) and dynamic time warping distance (DTW). In "clean" and "noisy" conditions, the application of CASA generally improved noise robustness of the acoustic feature compared to a conventional method with or without noise suppression using MMSE estimator. The intial study, however, not only showed the noise-type dependency at low SNR, but also called the evaluation methods in question. Some modifications were made to capture better spectral continuity from an acoustic feature matrix, to obtain faster processing speed, and to describe the human auditory system more precisely. The proposed framework includes: 1) multi-scale integration to capture more accurate continuity in feature extraction, 2) contrast enhancement (CE) of each CF by competition with neighboring frequency bands, and 3) auditory model modifications. The model modifications contain the introduction of higher Q factor, middle ear filter more analogous to human auditory system

Interior acoustic cloak

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wael Akl

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Acoustic cloaks have traditionally been intended to externally surround critical objects to render these objects acoustically invisible. However, in this paper, the emphasis is placed on investigating the application of the acoustic cloaks to the interior walls of acoustic cavities in an attempt to minimize the noise levels inside these cavities. In this manner, the acoustic cloaks can serve as a viable and efficient alternative to the conventional passive noise attenuation treatments which are invariably heavy and bulky. The transformation acoustics relationships that govern the operation of this class of interior acoustic cloaks are presented. Physical insights are given to relate these relationships to the reasons behind the effectiveness of the proposed interior acoustic cloaks. Finite element models are presented to demonstrate the characteristics of interior acoustic cloaks used in treating the interior walls of circular and square cavities both in the time and frequency domains. The obtained results emphasize the effectiveness of the proposed interior cloaks in eliminating the reflections of the acoustic waves from the walls of the treated cavities and thereby rendering these cavities acoustically quiet. It is important to note here that the proposed interior acoustic cloaks can find applications in acoustic cavities such as aircraft cabins and auditoriums as well as many other critical applications.

Vibro-acoustic and nonlinear analysis of cadavric femoral bone impaction in cavity preparations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oberst Sebastian

2018-01-01

Tikhonov regularisation, as inverse deconvolution technique, is applied to calculate the acoustic transfer functions from the acoustic responses and their mechanical impacts. The extracted spectra highlight that system characteristics altered during the cavity preparation process: in the high-frequency range the number of resonances increased with impacts and broach size. By applying nonlinear time series analysis the system dynamics increase in complexity and demand for a larger minimum embedding dimension. The growing number of resonances with similar level of the transfer function indicates a higher propensity to dissipate energy over sound; the change in embedding dimension indicates a decrease in linearity. The spectral changes as well as the altered dimension requirements indicate either an improved coupling between the bone and the broach or the onset of micro-fractures caused by growing stress levels within the bone.

Regression of uveal malignant melanomas following cobalt-60 plaque. Correlates between acoustic spectrum analysis and tumor regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coleman, D.J.; Lizzi, F.L.; Silverman, R.H.; Ellsworth, R.M.; Haik, B.G.; Abramson, D.H.; Smith, M.E.; Rondeau, M.J.

1985-01-01

Parameters derived from computer analysis of digital radio-frequency (rf) ultrasound scan data of untreated uveal malignant melanomas were examined for correlations with tumor regression following cobalt-60 plaque. Parameters included tumor height, normalized power spectrum and acoustic tissue type (ATT). Acoustic tissue type was based upon discriminant analysis of tumor power spectra, with spectra of tumors of known pathology serving as a model. Results showed ATT to be correlated with tumor regression during the first 18 months following treatment. Tumors with ATT associated with spindle cell malignant melanoma showed over twice the percentage reduction in height as those with ATT associated with mixed/epithelioid melanomas. Pre-treatment height was only weakly correlated with regression. Additionally, significant spectral changes were observed following treatment. Ultrasonic spectrum analysis thus provides a noninvasive tool for classification, prediction and monitoring of tumor response to cobalt-60 plaque

Manufacturing of NAA laboratory clean room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suwoto; Hasibuan, Djaruddin

2001-01-01

The ''NAA laboratory clean room'' has been built in the Reactor Serba Guna G.A. Siwabessy building. The erection of ''AAN laboratory clean room'' doing by started of preparation of the ''manufacturing procedure'' refer to ''Design and manufacturing neutron activation analysis clean room laboratory''. Manufacturing process and erection doing refer to procedures makes. By providing of the ''AAN laboratory clean room'' can be cocluded that the research activity and the user sevises in P2TRR well meet to be done

Flat acoustic lens by acoustic grating with curled slits

KAUST Repository

Peng, Pai

2014-10-01

We design a flat sub-wavelength lens that can focus acoustic wave. We analytically study the transmission through an acoustic grating with curled slits, which can serve as a material with tunable impedance and refractive index for acoustic waves. The effective parameters rely on the geometry of the slits and are independent of frequency. A flat acoustic focusing lens by such acoustic grating with gradient effective refractive index is designed. The focusing effect is clearly observed in simulations and well predicted by the theory. We demonstrate that despite the large impedance mismatch between the acoustic lens and the matrix, the intensity at the focal point is still high due to Fabry-Perot resonance.

On the sound insulation of acoustic metasurface using a sub-structuring approach

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xiang; Lu, Zhenbo; Cheng, Li; Cui, Fangsen

2017-08-01

The feasibility of using an acoustic metasurface (AMS) with acoustic stop-band property to realize sound insulation with ventilation function is investigated. An efficient numerical approach is proposed to evaluate its sound insulation performance. The AMS is excited by a reverberant sound source and the standardized sound reduction index (SRI) is numerically investigated. To facilitate the modeling, the coupling between the AMS and the adjacent acoustic fields is formulated using a sub-structuring approach. A modal based formulation is applied to both the source and receiving room, enabling an efficient calculation in the frequency range from 125 Hz to 2000 Hz. The sound pressures and the velocities at the interface are matched by using a transfer function relation based on ;patches;. For illustration purposes, numerical examples are investigated using the proposed approach. The unit cell constituting the AMS is constructed in the shape of a thin acoustic chamber with tailored inner structures, whose stop-band property is numerically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. The AMS is shown to provide effective sound insulation of over 30 dB in the stop-band frequencies from 600 to 1600 Hz. It is also shown that the proposed approach has the potential to be applied to a broad range of AMS studies and optimization problems.

Acoustics and the Performance of Music Manual for Acousticians, Audio Engineers, Musicians, Architects and Musical Instrument Makers

CERN Document Server

Meyer, Jürgen

2009-01-01

Acoustics and the Performance of Music connects scientific understandings of acoustics with practical applications to musical performance. Of central importance are the tonal characteristics of musical instruments and the singing voice including detailed representations of directional characteristics. Furthermore, room acoustical concerns related to concert halls and opera houses are considered. Based on this, suggestions are made for musical performance. Included are seating arrangements within the orchestra and adaptations of performance techniques to the performance environment. In the presentation we dispense with complicated mathematical connections and deliberately aim for conceptual explanations accessible to musicians, particularly for conductors. The graphical representations of the directional dependence of sound radiation by musical instruments and the singing voice are unique. Since the first edition was published in 1978, this book has been completely revised and rewritten to include current rese...

Investigating broadband acoustic adsorption using rapid manufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Godbold, O.

The reduction of nuisance noise and the removal of unwanted sound modes within a room or component enclosure-area can be accomplished through the use of acoustic absorbers. Sound absorption can be achieved through conversion of the kinetic energy associated with pressure waves, into heat energy via viscous dissipation. This occurs within open porous materials, or by utilising resonant effects produced using simple cavity and orifice configurations. The manufacture of traditional porous and resonant absorbers is commonly realised using basic manufacturing techniques. These techniques restrict the geometry of a given resonant construction, and limit the configuration of porous absorbers. The aim of this work is to exploit new and emerging capabilities of Rapid Manufacturing (RM) to produce components with geometrical freedom, and apply it to the development of broadband acoustic absorption. New and novel absorber geometric configurations are identified and their absorption performance is determined. The capabilities and limitations of RM processes in reproducing these configurations are demonstrated. The geometric configuration of RM resonant absorbers is investigated. Cavity modifications aimed at damping the resonant effect by restricting the motion of cavity air, and adding increased viscous resistance are explored. Modifications relating to cavity shape, the addition of internal perforations and increased cavity surface area have all been shown to add acoustic resistance, thereby increasing the bandwidth of absorption. Decreasing the hydraulic radius of the cavity cross section and reducing internal feature dimensions provide improved resistance over conventional configurations..

Acoustic detection of pneumothorax

Science.gov (United States)

Mansy, Hansen A.; Royston, Thomas J.; Balk, Robert A.; Sandler, Richard H.

2003-04-01

This study aims at investigating the feasibility of using low-frequency (pneumothorax detection were tested in dogs. In the first approach, broadband acoustic signals were introduced into the trachea during end-expiration and transmitted waves were measured at the chest surface. Pneumothorax was found to consistently decrease pulmonary acoustic transmission in the 200-1200-Hz frequency band, while less change was observed at lower frequencies (ppneumothorax states (pPneumothorax was found to be associated with a preferential reduction of sound amplitude in the 200- to 700-Hz range, and a decrease of sound amplitude variation (in the 300 to 600-Hz band) during the respiration cycle (pPneumothorax changed the frequency and decay rate of percussive sounds. These results imply that certain medical conditions may be reliably detected using appropriate acoustic measurements and analysis. [Work supported by NIH/NHLBI #R44HL61108.

Research and Design on Trigger System Based on Acoustic Delay Correlation Filtering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiyong Lei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the exterior trajectory test, there usually needs a muzzle or a gun muzzle trigger system to be used as start signal for other measuring device, the customary trigger systems include off- target, infrared and acoustic detection system. But inherent echo reflection of the acoustic detection system makes the original signal of sound trigger submerged in various echo interference for bursts and shooting in a closed room, so that it can’t produce accurate trigger. In order to solve this defect, this paper analyzed the mathematical model based on acoustic delay correlation filtering in detail, then put forward the constraint condition with minimum path for delay correlation filtering. In this constraint condition, delay correlation filtering can do de-noising operation accurately. In order to verify accuracy and actual performance of the model, a MEMS sound sensor was used to implement mathematical model onto project, experimental results show that this system can filter out the every path sound bounce echoes of muzzle shock wave signal and produce the desired trigger signal accurately.

Statistics of the acoustic emission signals parameters from Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveto, Maria E.; Lopez Pumarega, Maria I.; Ruzzante, Jose E.

2000-01-01

Statistic analysis of acoustic emission signals parameters: amplitude, duration and risetime was carried out. CANDU type Zircaloy-4 fuel claddings were pressurized up to rupture, one set of five normal pieces and six with defects included, acoustic emission was used on-line. Amplitude and duration frequency distributions were fitted with lognormal distribution functions, and risetime with an exponential one. Using analysis of variance, acoustic emission was appropriated to distinguish between defective and non-defective subsets. Clusters analysis applied on mean values of acoustic emission signal parameters were not effective to distinguish two sets of fuel claddings studied. (author)

Energy based prediction models for building acoustics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunskog, Jonas

2012-01-01

In order to reach robust and simplified yet accurate prediction models, energy based principle are commonly used in many fields of acoustics, especially in building acoustics. This includes simple energy flow models, the framework of statistical energy analysis (SEA) as well as more elaborated...... principles as, e.g., wave intensity analysis (WIA). The European standards for building acoustic predictions, the EN 12354 series, are based on energy flow and SEA principles. In the present paper, different energy based prediction models are discussed and critically reviewed. Special attention is placed...... on underlying basic assumptions, such as diffuse fields, high modal overlap, resonant field being dominant, etc., and the consequences of these in terms of limitations in the theory and in the practical use of the models....

Acoustics of the piezo-electric pressure probe

Science.gov (United States)

Dutt, G. S.

1974-01-01

Acoustical properties of a piezoelectric device are reported for measuring the pressure in the plasma flow from an MPD arc. A description and analysis of the acoustical behavior in a piezoelectric probe is presented for impedance matching and damping. The experimental results are presented in a set of oscillographic records.

Thermal-Acoustic Fatigue of a Multilayer Thermal Protection System in Combined Extreme Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Liu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In order to ensure integrity of thermal protection system (TPS structure for hypersonic vehicles exposed to severe operating environments, a study is undertaken to investigate the response and thermal-acoustic fatigue damage of a representative multilayer TPS structure under combined thermal and acoustic loads. An unsteady-state flight of a hypersonic vehicle is composed of a series of steady-state snapshots, and for each snapshot an acoustic load is imposed to a static steady-state TPS structure. A multistep thermal-acoustic fatigue damage intensity analysis procedure is given and consists of a heat transfer analysis, a nonlinear thermoelastic analysis, and a random response analysis under a combined loading environment and the fatigue damage intensity has been evaluated with two fatigue analysis techniques. The effects of thermally induced deterministic stress and nondeterministic dynamic stress due to the acoustic loading have been considered in the damage intensity estimation with a maximum stress fatigue model. The results show that the given thermal-acoustic fatigue intensity estimation procedure is a viable approach for life prediction of TPS structures under a typical mission cycle with combined loadings characterized by largely different time-scales. A discussion of the effects of the thermal load, the acoustic load, and fatigue analysis methodology on the fatigue damage intensity has been provided.

Quantification and Analysis of Suspended Sediments Concentration Using Mobile and Static Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Instruments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angga Dwinovantyo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The application of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP can be used not only for measuring ocean currents, but also for quantifying suspended sediment concentrations (SSC from acoustic backscatter strength based on sonar principle. Suspended sediment has long been recognized as the largest sources of sea contaminant and must be considered as one of the important parameters in water quality of seawater. This research was to determine SSC from measured acoustic backscattered intensity of static and mobile ADCP. In this study, vertically mounted 400 kHz and 750 kHz static ADCP were deployed in Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi. A mobile ADCP 307.2 kHz was also mounted on the boat and moved to the predefined cross-section, accordingly. The linear regression analysis of echo intensity measured by ADCP and by direct measurement methods showed that ADCP is a reliable method to measure SSC with correlation coefficient (r 0.92. Higher SSC was observed in low water compared to that in high water and near port area compared to those in observed areas. All of this analysis showed that the combination of static and mobile ADCP methods produces reasonably good spatial and temporal data of SSC.

Acoustic Features Influence Musical Choices Across Multiple Genres.

Science.gov (United States)

Barone, Michael D; Bansal, Jotthi; Woolhouse, Matthew H

2017-01-01

Based on a large behavioral dataset of music downloads, two analyses investigate whether the acoustic features of listeners' preferred musical genres influence their choice of tracks within non-preferred, secondary musical styles. Analysis 1 identifies feature distributions for pairs of genre-defined subgroups that are distinct. Using correlation analysis, these distributions are used to test the degree of similarity between subgroups' main genres and the other music within their download collections. Analysis 2 explores the issue of main-to-secondary genre influence through the production of 10 feature-influence matrices, one per acoustic feature, in which cell values indicate the percentage change in features for genres and subgroups compared to overall population averages. In total, 10 acoustic features and 10 genre-defined subgroups are explored within the two analyses. Results strongly indicate that the acoustic features of people's main genres influence the tracks they download within non-preferred, secondary musical styles. The nature of this influence and its possible actuating mechanisms are discussed with respect to research on musical preference, personality, and statistical learning.

Transmission characteristics of acoustic amplifier in thermoacoustic engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Daming; Qiu Limin; Wang Bo; Xiao Yong

2008-01-01

Thermoacoustic engines are promising in practical applications for the merits of simple configuration, reliable operation and environmentally friendly working gas. An acoustic amplifier can increase the output pressure amplitude of a thermoacoustic engine (TE) and improve the matching between the engine and its load. In order to make full use of an acoustic amplifier, the transmission characteristics are studied based on linear thermoacoustic theory. Computational and experimental results show that the amplifying ability of an acoustic amplifier is mainly determined by its geometry parameters and output resistance impedance. The amplifying ability of an acoustic amplifier with appropriate length and diameter reaches its maximum when the output resistance impedance is infinite. It is also shown that the acoustic amplifier consumes an amount of acoustic power when amplifying pressure amplitude and the acoustic power consumption increases with amplifying ratio. Furthermore, a novel cascade acoustic amplifier is proposed, which has a much stronger amplifying ability with reduced acoustic power consumption. In experiments, a two-stage cascade acoustic amplifier amplifies the pressure ratio from 1.177 to 1.62 and produces a pressure amplitude of 0.547 MPa with nitrogen of 2.20 MPa as working gas. Good agreements are obtained between the theoretical analysis and experimental results. This research is instructive for comprehensively understanding the mechanism and making full use of the acoustic amplifier

Usage of measured reverberation tail in a binaural room impulse response synthesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Markovic, Milos; Olesen, Søren Krarup; Madsen, Esben

2011-01-01

The aim of the modern communication technologies is an immersive experience. One of the applications that should provide the feeling of being together and sharing the same environment during the communication process is BEAMING. The goal of this paper is to improve audible spatial impression...... utilizing correct acoustical properties of the specific environments. Binaural room impulse response (BRIR) synthesis represents one of the main tasks in the binaural auralization. When the BRIRs are simulated, high order reflections (reverberation tail) are usually modeled statistically because of the high...

Sub-sampling-based 2D localization of an impulsive acoustic source in reverberant environments

KAUST Repository

Omer, Muhammad

2014-07-01

This paper presents a robust method for two-dimensional (2D) impulsive acoustic source localization in a room environment using low sampling rates. The proposed method finds the time delay from the room impulse response (RIR) which makes it robust against room reverberations. We consider the RIR as a sparse phenomenon and apply a recently proposed sparse signal reconstruction technique called orthogonal clustering (OC) for its estimation from the sub-sampled received signal. The arrival time of the direct path signal at a pair of microphones is identified from the estimated RIR, and their difference yields the desired time delay estimate (TDE). Low sampling rates reduces the hardware and computational complexity and decreases the communication between the microphones and the centralized location. Simulation and experimental results of an actual hardware setup are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed technique.

Sub-sampling-based 2D localization of an impulsive acoustic source in reverberant environments

KAUST Repository

Omer, Muhammad; Quadeer, Ahmed A; Sharawi, Mohammad S; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a robust method for two-dimensional (2D) impulsive acoustic source localization in a room environment using low sampling rates. The proposed method finds the time delay from the room impulse response (RIR) which makes it robust against room reverberations. We consider the RIR as a sparse phenomenon and apply a recently proposed sparse signal reconstruction technique called orthogonal clustering (OC) for its estimation from the sub-sampled received signal. The arrival time of the direct path signal at a pair of microphones is identified from the estimated RIR, and their difference yields the desired time delay estimate (TDE). Low sampling rates reduces the hardware and computational complexity and decreases the communication between the microphones and the centralized location. Simulation and experimental results of an actual hardware setup are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed technique.

Near-Field Acoustic Power Level Analysis of F31/A31 Open Rotor Model at Simulated Cruise Conditions, Technical Report II

Science.gov (United States)

Sree, Dave

2015-01-01

Near-field acoustic power level analysis of F31A31 open rotor model has been performed to determine its noise characteristics at simulated cruise flight conditions. The non-proprietary parts of the test data obtained from experiments in the 8x6 supersonic wind tunnel were provided by NASA-Glenn Research Center. The tone and broadband components of total noise have been separated from raw test data by using a new data analysis tool. Results in terms of sound pressure levels, acoustic power levels, and their variations with rotor speed, freestream Mach number, and input shaft power, with different blade-pitch setting angles at simulated cruise flight conditions, are presented and discussed. Empirical equations relating models acoustic power level and input shaft power have been developed. The near-field acoustic efficiency of the model at simulated cruise conditions is also determined. It is hoped that the results presented in this work will serve as a database for comparison and improvement of other open rotor blade designs and also for validating open rotor noise prediction codes.

Convergent acoustic field of view in echolocating bats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Lasse; Ratcliffe, John M; Surlykke, Annemarie

2013-01-01

Most echolocating bats exhibit a strong correlation between body size and the frequency of maximum energy in their echolocation calls (peak frequency), with smaller species using signals of higher frequency than larger ones. Size-signal allometry or acoustic detection constraints imposed on wavel......Most echolocating bats exhibit a strong correlation between body size and the frequency of maximum energy in their echolocation calls (peak frequency), with smaller species using signals of higher frequency than larger ones. Size-signal allometry or acoustic detection constraints imposed...... on wavelength by preferred prey size have been used to explain this relationship. Here we propose the hypothesis that smaller bats emit higher frequencies to achieve directional sonar beams, and that variable beam width is critical for bats. Shorter wavelengths relative to the size of the emitter translate...... into more directional sound beams. Therefore, bats that emit their calls through their mouths should show a relationship between mouth size and wavelength, driving smaller bats to signals of higher frequency. We found that in a flight room mimicking a closed habitat, six aerial hawking vespertilionid...

Acoustic multivariate condition monitoring - AMCM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosenhave, P E [Vestfold College, Maritime Dept., Toensberg (Norway)

1998-12-31

In Norway, Vestfold College, Maritime Department presents new opportunities for non-invasive, on- or off-line acoustic monitoring of rotating machinery such as off-shore pumps and diesel engines. New developments within acoustic sensor technology coupled with chemometric data analysis of complex signals now allow condition monitoring of hitherto unavailable flexibility and diagnostic specificity. Chemometrics paired with existing knowledge yields a new and powerful tool for condition monitoring. By the use of multivariate techniques and acoustics it is possible to quantify wear and tear as well as predict the performance of working components in complex machinery. This presentation describes the AMCM method and one result of a feasibility study conducted onboard the LPG/C `Norgas Mariner` owned by Norwegian Gas Carriers as (NGC), Oslo. (orig.) 6 refs.

Acoustic multivariate condition monitoring - AMCM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosenhave, P.E. [Vestfold College, Maritime Dept., Toensberg (Norway)

1997-12-31

In Norway, Vestfold College, Maritime Department presents new opportunities for non-invasive, on- or off-line acoustic monitoring of rotating machinery such as off-shore pumps and diesel engines. New developments within acoustic sensor technology coupled with chemometric data analysis of complex signals now allow condition monitoring of hitherto unavailable flexibility and diagnostic specificity. Chemometrics paired with existing knowledge yields a new and powerful tool for condition monitoring. By the use of multivariate techniques and acoustics it is possible to quantify wear and tear as well as predict the performance of working components in complex machinery. This presentation describes the AMCM method and one result of a feasibility study conducted onboard the LPG/C `Norgas Mariner` owned by Norwegian Gas Carriers as (NGC), Oslo. (orig.) 6 refs.

Performance analysis of an acoustic time reversal system in dynamic and random oceanic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Khosla, Sunny Rajendra

This dissertation provides a theoretical framework along with specific performance predictions for an acoustic time reversal system in shallow oceanic environments. Acoustic time-reversal is a robust means of retrofocusing acoustic energy, in both time and space, to the original sound-source location without any information about the acoustic environment in which it is deployed. The effect of three performance limiting oceanic complexities addressed, include (i)ambient noise field, (ii)reflection and volume scattering from a deterministic soliton internal wave traveling on the thermocline between two water masses, and (iii)volume scattering from a random superposition of linear internal waves convecting a gradient in the sound speed profile. The performance analysis establishes acoustic time reversal to be a promising technology for a two-way communication system in an oceanic medium. For an omni-directional noisy environment a general formulation for the probability of retrofocusing is developed that includes the effect of the medium, accounts for the system hardware and the acoustic parameters. Monte-Carlo simulations in both, a free-space environment and a shallow-ocean sound-channel environment compare well with theory. A 41 element TRA spanning a shallow water depth of 60 m is predicted to return a 70% focal probability at -15 dB SNR for a source to array range of 6 km. Preliminary research with broadband signals suggest that they should outperform narrowband response in both free space and sound channel environments. The impact of the nonlinear solitary waves is addressed using a two-path Green's function to treat the presence of a flat thermocline, and the single scattering Born approximation to address scattering from the soliton internal wave. It is predicted that a stationary soliton located along ray turning paths between the source and the TRA can lead to both enhanced and degraded focal performance. Based on extension of previous research in wave

The effect of room acoustics on the measured speech privacy in two typical European open plan offices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wenmaekers, R.H.C.; Hout, van N.H.A.M.; Luxemburg, van L.C.J.; Hak, C.C.J.M.

2009-01-01

The reverberation time and the background noise level are often used as the most important design parameters in European open plan offices to achieve a comfortable acoustic climate and to control speech intelligibility. Good speech intelligibility is desired for people working together, but bad

Finite Element Analysis of the Propagation of Acoustic Waves Along Waveguides Immersed in Water

Science.gov (United States)

Hladky-Hennion, A.-C.; Langlet, P.; de Billy, M.

1997-03-01

The finite element approach has previously been used, with the help of the ATILA code, to model the propagation of acoustic waves in waveguides [A.-C. Hladky-Hennion, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 194,119-136 (1996)]. In this paper an extension of the technique to the analysis of the propagation of acoustic waves in immersed waveguides is presented. In the proposed approach, the problem is reduced to a bidimensional problem, in which only the cross-section of the guide and the surrounding fluid domain are meshed by using finite elements. Then, wedges the top angles of which vary, are studied and the finite element results of the wedge wave speed are compared with experimental results. Finally, the conclusion indicates a way to extend this approach to waveguides of any cross-section.

Acoustical Imaging

CERN Document Server

Litniewski, Jerzy; Kujawska, Tamara; 31st International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging

2012-01-01

The International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging is a unique forum for advanced research, covering new technologies, developments, methods and theories in all areas of acoustics. This interdisciplinary Symposium has been taking place continuously since 1968. In the course of the years the proceedings volumes in the Acoustical Imaging Series have become a reference for cutting-edge research in the field. In 2011 the 31st International Symposium on Acoustical Imaging was held in Warsaw, Poland, April 10-13. Offering both a broad perspective on the state-of-the-art as well as  in-depth research contributions by the specialists in the field, this Volume 31 in the Series contains an excellent collection of papers in six major categories: Biological and Medical Imaging Physics and Mathematics of Acoustical Imaging Acoustic Microscopy Transducers and Arrays Nondestructive Evaluation and Industrial Applications Underwater Imaging

Novel types of surface acoustic wave microreflectors - Performance analysis and simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Golan, G.; Griffel, G.; Seidman, A.; Croitoru, N.

1990-06-01

Surface acoustic waves for micrograting reflectors have been characterized. Based on the perturbation theory, eight different types of structures on an acoustic waveguide were analyzed. Results of simulations of all eight types of corrugation structures were evaluated in order to find the least leaky waveguide, the most efficient reflector (with minimum necessary perturbations), and the optimal mode shape for improved performances. General design curves are presented in order to illustrate the behavior of the incident and reflected waves under a variety of structural conditions. Analytic expressions for the calculations of the mode amplitude and mode shape, and for general acoustic corrugations are derived and then the simulations results are presented.

Birth room images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bowden, Calida; Sheehan, Athena; Foureur, Maralyn Jean

2016-01-01

Objective: this study examined images of birth rooms in developed countries to analyse the messages and visual discourse being communicated through images. Design: a small qualitative study using Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) social semiotic theoretical framework for image analysis, a form...... and implications for practice: as images on the Internet inform and persuade society about stereotypical behaviours, the trends of our time and sociocultural norms, it is important to recognise images of the technological birth room on the Internet may be influential in dictating women's attitudes, choices...

Development of contextual task analysis for NPP control room operators' work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hukki, K.

1998-01-01

The paper introduces a contextual approach to task analysis concerning control room operators' tasks and task conditions in nuclear power plants. The approach is based on the ecological concept of the situational appropriateness of activity. The task demands are dependent on the ultimate task of the operators which is to maintain the critical safety functions of the process. The context also sets boundary conditions to the fulfilment of these demands. The conceptualisation of the context affords possibilities to comprehend and make visible the core demands of the operators' work. Characteristic to the approach is that the conceptualisation is made both from the point of the operators who are making interpretations of the situation and from the point of the process to be controlled. The context is described as a world of operators' possibilities and constraints and, at the same time, in relation to the demands set by the nature of the process. The method is under development and has been applied in simulator training, in the evaluation of the control room information and in the integrated development of reliability analysis. The method emphasizes the role of explicit conceptualisation of the task situations. Explicity enhances its role as a conceptual tool and, therefore, promotes common awareness in these domains. (orig.)

Software-based acoustical measurements

CERN Document Server

Miyara, Federico

2017-01-01

This textbook provides a detailed introduction to the use of software in combination with simple and economical hardware (a sound level meter with calibrated AC output and a digital recording system) to obtain sophisticated measurements usually requiring expensive equipment. It emphasizes the use of free, open source, and multiplatform software. Many commercial acoustical measurement systems use software algorithms as an integral component; however the methods are not disclosed. This book enables the reader to develop useful algorithms and provides insight into the use of digital audio editing tools to document features in the signal. Topics covered include acoustical measurement principles, in-depth critical study of uncertainty applied to acoustical measurements, digital signal processing from the basics, and metrologically-oriented spectral and statistical analysis of signals. The student will gain a deep understanding of the use of software for measurement purposes; the ability to implement software-based...

Acoustic streaming of a sharp edge.

Science.gov (United States)

Ovchinnikov, Mikhail; Zhou, Jianbo; Yalamanchili, Satish

2014-07-01

Anomalous acoustic streaming is observed emanating from sharp edges of solid bodies that are vibrating in fluids. The streaming velocities can be orders of magnitude higher than expected from the Rayleigh streaming at similar amplitudes of vibration. Acoustic velocity of fluid relative to a solid body diverges at a sharp edge, giving rise to a localized time-independent body force acting on the fluid. This force results in a formation of a localized jet. Two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to predict acoustic streaming for low amplitude vibration using two methods: (1) Steady-state solution utilizing perturbation theory and (2) direct transient solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. Both analyses agree with each other and correctly predict the streaming of a sharp-edged vibrating blade measured experimentally. The origin of the streaming can be attributed to the centrifugal force of the acoustic fluid flow around a sharp edge. The dependence of this acoustic streaming on frequency and velocity is examined using dimensional analysis. The dependence law is devised and confirmed by numerical simulations.

Acoustic MIMO signal processing

CERN Document Server

Huang, Yiteng; Chen, Jingdong

2006-01-01

A timely and important book addressing a variety of acoustic signal processing problems under multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scenarios. It uniquely investigates these problems within a unified framework offering a novel and penetrating analysis.

Acoustic constituents of prosodic typology

Science.gov (United States)

Komatsu, Masahiko

Different languages sound different, and considerable part of it derives from the typological difference of prosody. Although such difference is often referred to as lexical accent types (stress accent, pitch accent, and tone; e.g. English, Japanese, and Chinese respectively) and rhythm types (stress-, syllable-, and mora-timed rhythms; e.g. English, Spanish, and Japanese respectively), it is unclear whether these types are determined in terms of acoustic properties, The thesis intends to provide a potential basis for the description of prosody in terms of acoustics. It argues for the hypothesis that the source component of the source-filter model (acoustic features) approximately corresponds to prosody (linguistic features) through several experimental-phonetic studies. The study consists of four parts. (1) Preliminary experiment: Perceptual language identification tests were performed using English and Japanese speech samples whose frequency spectral information (i.e. non-source component) is heavily reduced. The results indicated that humans can discriminate languages with such signals. (2) Discussion on the linguistic information that the source component contains: This part constitutes the foundation of the argument of the thesis. Perception tests of consonants with the source signal indicated that the source component carries the information on broad categories of phonemes that contributes to the creation of rhythm. (3) Acoustic analysis: The speech samples of Chinese, English, Japanese, and Spanish, differing in prosodic types, were analyzed. These languages showed difference in acoustic characteristics of the source component. (4) Perceptual experiment: A language identification test for the above four languages was performed using the source signal with its acoustic features parameterized. It revealed that humans can discriminate prosodic types solely with the source features and that the discrimination is easier as acoustic information increases. The

Stability of disposal rooms during waste retrieval

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandshaug, T.

1989-03-01

This report presents the results of a numerical analysis to determine the stability of waste disposal rooms for vertical and horizontal emplacement during the period of waste retrieval. It is assumed that waste retrieval starts 50 years after the initial emplacement of the waste, and that access to and retrieval of the waste containers take place through the disposal rooms. It is further assumed that the disposal rooms are not back-filled. Convective cooling of the disposal rooms in preparation for waste retrieval is included in the analysis. Conditions and parameters used were taken from the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigation (NNWSI) Project Site Characterization Plan Conceptual Design Report (MacDougall et al., 1987). Thermal results are presented which illustrate the heat transfer response of the rock adjacent to the disposal rooms. Mechanical results are presented which illustrate the predicted distribution of stress, joint slip, and room deformations for the period of time investigated. Under the assumption that the host rock can be classified as ''fair to good'' using the Geomechanics Classification System (Bieniawski, 1974), only light ground support would appear to be necessary for the disposal rooms to remain stable. 23 refs., 28 figs., 2 tabs

TUGAS ROOM ATTENDANT DALAM MENANGANI COMPLAINT TAMU DELUXE ROOM HOTEL HYAAT REGENCY BANDUNG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Gustia Purnama

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract - The problem is how meticulous the duties and responsibilities of the room attendant in the deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung, standard operational procedures in the deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung, and handling guest complaint in deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung. Author uses descriptive analysis, which is a form of writing in the actual situation describes strive about the object of research, then the data obtained in the form of a report compiled in. Based on the results of observation it can be concluded that the task and responsibility of the room attendant in the deluxe room Hyatt Regency Bandung already carry it out in accordance with standard operational procedures (SOP which is divided into two shifts, morning and evening shift which has a slightly different task, standard operational procedures in the deluxe room Hyatt Regency Bandung has been standard operating procedure in applying it at the hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung, and Guest complaint handling in deluxe room Hyatt Regency Bandung Hotel how to deal with and resolve the complaint vary slightly in view of the type of complaint. Based on the results of observation and discussion, the authors conclude that the Duty room attendant in handling customers compaint deluxe room in the Hyatt Regency Bandung Hotel when his handlers was conducted appropriately and propesional effects will be good for the image of the hyatt regency hotel bandung.   Keywords: Room Attendant, Complaint, Deluxe room   Abstraksi - Masalah yang di teliti adalah tugas dan tanggung jawab room attendant di deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung, standar operasional prosedur di deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung, dan penanganan complaint tamu di deluxe room Hotel Hyatt Regency Bandung.  Metode yang di gunakan menggunakan analisis deskriptif, yaitu bentuk penulisan yang di upayakan menggambarkan keadaan yang sebenarnya tetang objek penelitian,kemudian data yang di peroleh disusun

Parametric Analysis of Acoustical Requirements for Lateral Reflections: Melbourne Recital Hall Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erica Claustro

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is an investigation of the Melbourne Recital Centre as a case study to define the parameters necessary for good acoustical quality as it relates to the Binaural Quality Index and determining the intimacy of the hall by its initial time delay gap. The Melbourne Recital Centre, designed by Ashton Raggatt McDougall Architects, is a significant case study, as its design was driven by the acoustic requirements of reflection and diffusion through Odeon Acoustical Software. It achieves the same acoustical quality of older, ornately designed shoebox concert halls, from the perspective of contemporary design and fabrication tools and techniques. The sleek design of the Melbourne Recital Centre successfully reflects sound waves in low, mid, and high frequencies due to corresponding wall panel differentiation in the corresponding scales, as engineered by Arup Acoustics.

Topological Acoustics

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhaoju; Gao, Fei; Shi, Xihang; Lin, Xiao; Gao, Zhen; Chong, Yidong; Zhang, Baile

2015-03-01

The manipulation of acoustic wave propagation in fluids has numerous applications, including some in everyday life. Acoustic technologies frequently develop in tandem with optics, using shared concepts such as waveguiding and metamedia. It is thus noteworthy that an entirely novel class of electromagnetic waves, known as "topological edge states," has recently been demonstrated. These are inspired by the electronic edge states occurring in topological insulators, and possess a striking and technologically promising property: the ability to travel in a single direction along a surface without backscattering, regardless of the existence of defects or disorder. Here, we develop an analogous theory of topological fluid acoustics, and propose a scheme for realizing topological edge states in an acoustic structure containing circulating fluids. The phenomenon of disorder-free one-way sound propagation, which does not occur in ordinary acoustic devices, may have novel applications for acoustic isolators, modulators, and transducers.

Equalization of Loudspeaker and Room Responses Using Kautz Filters: Direct Least Squares Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karjalainen Matti

2007-01-01

Full Text Available DSP-based correction of loudspeaker and room responses is becoming an important part of improving sound reproduction. Such response equalization (EQ is based on using a digital filter in cascade with the reproduction channel to counteract the response errors introduced by loudspeakers and room acoustics. Several FIR and IIR filter design techniques have been proposed for equalization purposes. In this paper we investigate Kautz filters, an interesting class of IIR filters, from the point of view of direct least squares EQ design. Kautz filters can be seen as generalizations of FIR filters and their frequency-warped counterparts. They provide a flexible means to obtain desired frequency resolution behavior, which allows low filter orders even for complex corrections. Kautz filters have also the desirable property to avoid inverting dips in transfer function to sharp and long-ringing resonances in the equalizer. Furthermore, the direct least squares design is applicable to nonminimum-phase EQ design and allows using a desired target response. The proposed method is demonstrated by case examples with measured and synthetic loudspeaker and room responses.

NEMO-SMO acoustic array: A deep-sea test of a novel acoustic positioning system for a km3-scale underwater neutrino telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Viola, S.; Ardid, M.; Bertin, V.; Enzenhöfer, A.; Keller, P.; Lahmann, R.; Larosa, G.; Llorens, C. D.; NEMO Collaboration; SMO Collaboration

2013-10-01

Within the activities of the NEMO project, the installation of a 8-floors tower (NEMO-Phase II) at a depth of 3500 m is foreseen in 2012. The tower will be installed about 80 km off-shore Capo Passero, in Sicily. On board the NEMO tower, an array of 18 acoustic sensors will be installed, permitting acoustic detection of biological sources, studies for acoustic neutrino detection and primarily acoustic positioning of the underwater structures. For the latter purpose, the sensors register acoustic signals emitted by five acoustic beacons anchored on the sea-floor. The data acquisition system of the acoustic sensors is fully integrated with the detector data transport system and is based on an “all data to shore” philosophy. Signals coming from hydrophones are continuously sampled underwater at 192 kHz/24 bit and transmitted to shore through an electro-optical cable for real-time analysis. A novel technology for underwater GPS time-stamping of data has been implemented and tested. The operation of the acoustic array will permit long-term test of sensors and electronics technologies that are proposed for the acoustic positioning system of KM3NeT.

Experimental analysis of crack evolution in concrete by the acoustic emission technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Saliba

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The fracture process zone (FPZ was investigated on unnotched and notched beams with different notch depths. Three point bending tests were realized on plain concrete under crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD control. Crack growth was monitored by applying the acoustic emission (AE technique. In order to improve our understanding of the FPZ, the width and length of the FPZ were followed based on the AE source locations maps and several AE parameters were studied during the entire loading process. The bvalue analysis, defined as the log-linear slope of the frequency-magnitude distribution of acoustic emissions, was also carried out to describe quantitatively the influence of the relative notch depth on the fracture process. The results show that the number of AE hits increased with the decrease of the relative notch depth and an important AE energy dissipation was observed at the crack initiation in unnotched beams. In addition, the relative notch depth influenced the AE characteristics, the process of crack propagation, and the brittleness of concrete.

Fatigue crack propagation of super duplex stainless steel and time-frequency analysis of acoustic emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Kee; Nam, Ki Woo; Kang, Chang Yong; Do, Jae Yoon

2000-01-01

On this study, the fatigue crack propagation of super duplex stainless steel is investigated in conditions of various volume fraction of austenite phase by changing heat treatment temperature. And we analysed acoustic emission signals during the fatigue test by time-frequency analysis methods. As the temperature of heat treatment increased, volume fraction of austenite decreased and coarse grain was obtained. The specimen heat treated at 1200 deg. C had longer fatigue life and slower rate of crack growth. As a result of time-frequency analyze of acoustic emission signals during fatigue test, main frequency was 200∼300 kHz having no correlation with heat treatment and crack length, and 500 kHz was obtained by dimple and separate of inclusion

Amorphization of Molecular Liquids of Pharmaceutical Drugs by Acoustic Levitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. J. Benmore

2011-08-01

Full Text Available It is demonstrated that acoustic levitation is able to produce amorphous forms from a variety of organic molecular compounds with different glass forming abilities. This can lead to enhanced solubility for pharmaceutical applications. High-energy x-ray experiments show that several viscous gels form from saturated pharmaceutical drug solutions after 10–20 min of levitation at room temperature, most of which can be frozen in solid form. Laser heating of ultrasonically levitated drugs can also result in the vitrification of molecular liquids, which is not attainable using conventional amorphization methods.

Dynamics of levitated objects in acoustic vortex fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Z Y; Yin, J F; Zhai, W; Yan, N; Wang, W L; Zhang, J; Drinkwater, Bruce W

2017-08-02

Acoustic levitation in gaseous media provides a tool to process solid and liquid materials without the presence of surfaces such as container walls and hence has been used widely in chemical analysis, high-temperature processing, drop dynamics and bioreactors. To date high-density objects can only be acoustically levitated in simple standing-wave fields. Here we demonstrate the ability of a small number of peripherally placed sources to generate acoustic vortex fields and stably levitate a wide range of liquid and solid objects. The forces exerted by these acoustic vortex fields on a levitated water droplet are observed to cause a controllable deformation of the droplet and/or oscillation along the vortex axis. Orbital angular momentum transfer is also shown to rotate a levitated object rapidly and the rate of rotation can be controlled by the source amplitude. We expect this research can increase the diversity of acoustic levitation and expand the application of acoustic vortices.

Theory of the acoustic instability and behavior of the phase velocity of acoustic waves in a weakly ionized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torosyan, O.S.; Mkrtchyan, A.R.

2003-01-01

The amplification of acoustic waves due to the transfer of thermal energy from electrons to the neutral component of a glow discharge plasma is studied theoretically. It is shown that, in order for acoustic instability (sound amplification) to occur, the amount of energy transferred should exceed the threshold energy, which depends on the plasma parameters and the acoustic wave frequency. The energy balance equation for an electron gas in the positive column of a glow discharge is analyzed for conditions typical of experiments in which acoustic wave amplification has been observed. Based on this analysis, one can affirm that, first, the energy transferred to neutral gas in elastic electron-atom collisions is substantially lower than the threshold energy for acoustic wave amplification and, second, that the energy transferred from electrons to neutral gas in inelastic collisions is much higher than that transferred in elastic collisions and thus may exceed the threshold energy. It is also shown that, for amplification to occur, there should exist some heat dissipation mechanism more efficient than gas heat conduction. It is suggested that this may be convective radial mixing within a positive column due to acoustic streaming in the field of an acoustic wave. The features of the phase velocity of sound waves in the presence of acoustic instability are investigated

Controllable Solid Propulsion Combustion and Acoustic Knowledge Base Improvements

Science.gov (United States)

McCauley, Rachel; Fischbach, Sean; Fredrick, Robert

2012-01-01

Controllable solid propulsion systems have distinctive combustion and acoustic environments that require enhanced testing and analysis techniques to progress this new technology from development to production. In a hot gas valve actuating system, the movement of the pintle through the hot gas exhibits complex acoustic disturbances and flow characteristics that can amplify induced pressure loads that can damage or detonate the rocket motor. The geometry of a controllable solid propulsion gas chamber can set up unique unsteady flow which can feed acoustic oscillations patterns that require characterization. Research in this area aids in the understanding of how best to design, test, and analyze future controllable solid rocket motors using the lessons learned from past government programs as well as university research and testing. This survey paper will give the reader a better understanding of the potentially amplifying affects propagated by a controllable solid rocket motor system and the knowledge of the tools current available to address these acoustic disturbances in a preliminary design. Finally the paper will supply lessons learned from past experiences which will allow the reader to come away with understanding of what steps need to be taken when developing a controllable solid rocket propulsion system. The focus of this survey will be on testing and analysis work published by solid rocket programs and from combustion and acoustic books, conference papers, journal articles, and additionally from subject matter experts dealing currently with controllable solid rocket acoustic analysis.

Analysis, Design, and Evaluation of Acoustic Feedback Cancellation Systems for Hearing Aids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Meng

2013-01-01

Acoustic feedback problems occur when the output loudspeaker signal of an audio system is partly returned to the input microphone via an acoustic coupling through the air. This problem often causes significant performance degradations in applications such as public address systems and hearing aids....... In the worst case, the audio system becomes unstable and howling occurs. In this work, first we analyze a general multiple microphone audio processing system, where a cancellation system using adaptive filters is used to cancel the effect of acoustic feedback. We introduce and derive an accurate approximation...... in acoustic feedback cancellation for hearing aids. It utilizes a probe noise signal which is generated with a specific characteristic so that it can facilitate an unbiased adaptive filter estimation with fast tracking of feedback path variations/changes despite its low signal level. We show in a hearing aid...

Interior acoustic cloak

OpenAIRE

Wael Akl; A. Baz

2014-01-01

Acoustic cloaks have traditionally been intended to externally surround critical objects to render these objects acoustically invisible. However, in this paper, the emphasis is placed on investigating the application of the acoustic cloaks to the interior walls of acoustic cavities in an attempt to minimize the noise levels inside these cavities. In this manner, the acoustic cloaks can serve as a viable and efficient alternative to the conventional passive noise attenuation treatments which a...

Acoustic discrimination of Southern Ocean zooplankton

Science.gov (United States)

Brierley, Andrew S.; Ward, Peter; Watkins, Jonathan L.; Goss, Catherine

Acoustic surveys in the vicinity of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia during a period of exceptionally calm weather revealed the existence of a number of horizontally extensive yet vertically discrete scattering layers in the upper 250 m of the water column. These layers were fished with a Longhurst-Hardy plankton recorder (LHPR) and a multiple-opening 8 m 2 rectangular mid-water trawl (RMT8). Analysis of catches suggested that each scattering layer was composed predominantly of a single species (biovolume>95%) of either the euphausiids Euphausia frigida or Thysanöessa macrura, the hyperiid amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii, or the eucalaniid copepod Rhincalanus gigas. Instrumentation on the nets allowed their trajectories to be reconstructed precisely, and thus catch data to be related directly to the corresponding acoustic signals. Discriminant function analysis of differences between mean volume backscattering strength at 38, 120 and 200 kHz separated echoes originating from each of the dominant scattering layers, and other signals identified as originating from Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba), with an overall correct classification rate of 77%. Using echo intensity data alone, gathered using hardware commonly employed for fishery acoustics, it is therefore possible to discriminate in situ between several zooplanktonic taxa, taxa which in some instances exhibit similar gross morphological characteristics and have overlapping length- frequency distributions. Acoustic signals from the mysid Antarctomysis maxima could also be discriminated once information on target distribution was considered, highlighting the value of incorporating multiple descriptors of echo characteristics into signal identification procedures. The ability to discriminate acoustically between zooplankton taxa could be applied to provide improved acoustic estimates of species abundance, and to enhance field studies of zooplankton ecology, distribution and species interactions.

Comparisons of auditorium acoustics measurements as a function of location in halls (A)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bradley, J. S.; Gade, Anders Christian; Siebein, G W

1993-01-01

In a measurement tour of nine U.S. concert halls measurements were made at 30 or more combinations of source and receiver position in each hall. Each of the three measurement teams (the University of Florida, the Danish Technical University, and the National Research Council of Canada) made paral....... The measurement results were also used to examine the influence of different measurement equipment and measurement procedures on the within hall variations of the various acoustical quantities. [Work partially supported by the Concert Hall Research Group.]...... parallel measurements of a number of modern room acoustics quantities using different equipment and measurement procedures. These results are compared on a seat-by-seat basis and the differences are explained in terms of earlier systematic studies of the effects of measurement procedure details...

Development of acoustic leak detection system in PNC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, H.; Kuroha, M.

1990-01-01

The development of an acoustic leak detector is under way at PNC as a detection system that has potential of quick response and high reliability for larger steam generators of future LMFBR plants. The studies have two aspects, i.e., an acoustic wave analysis in various sodium-water reactions and a background noise (BGN) analysis in a sodium-heated 50MWt steam generator (50MWGS). In the former analysis, wave profiles of the sodium-water reaction sound were analyzed and compared with those of inert gas injection sound. The comparison revealed that there were no wave profiles specific to a sodium-water reaction sound. The latter clarified that major acoustic sources in the steam generator were sodium flow and steam generation/flow and that the water leak rate at which a noise level was comparable with that of the background noise was about 0.5 g/sec. in the evaporator of 50MWSG. The estimation of acceleration levels of BGN and leak sounds in other plants reveals that an intermediate leak is detectable in the Monju evaporator with a present acoustic detection system. (author). 2 refs, 9 figs

Time delay estimation in a reverberant environment by low rate sampling of impulsive acoustic sources

KAUST Repository

Omer, Muhammad

2012-07-01

This paper presents a new method of time delay estimation (TDE) using low sample rates of an impulsive acoustic source in a room environment. The proposed method finds the time delay from the room impulse response (RIR) which makes it robust against room reverberations. The RIR is considered a sparse phenomenon and a recently proposed sparse signal reconstruction technique called orthogonal clustering (OC) is utilized for its estimation from the low rate sampled received signal. The arrival time of the direct path signal at a pair of microphones is identified from the estimated RIR and their difference yields the desired time delay. Low sampling rates reduce the hardware and computational complexity and decrease the communication between the microphones and the centralized location. The performance of the proposed technique is demonstrated by numerical simulations and experimental results. © 2012 IEEE.

Tap-length optimization of adaptive filters used in stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kar, Asutosh; Swamy, M.N.S.

2017-01-01

An adaptive filter with a large number of weights or taps is necessary for stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation (SAEC), depending on the room impulse response and acoustic path where the cancellation is performed. However, a large tap-length results in slow convergence and increases...... the complexity of the tapped delay line structure for FIR adaptive filters. To overcome this problem, there is a need for an optimum tap-length-estimation algorithm that provides better convergence for the adaptive filters used in SAEC. This paper presents a solution to the problem of balancing convergence...... and steady-state performance of long length adaptive filters used for SAEC by proposing a new tap-length-optimization algorithm. The optimum tap length and step size of the adaptive filter are derived considering an impulse response with an exponentially-decaying envelope, which models a wide range...

Visualizing acoustic similarities between emotions in speech: an acoustic map of emotions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Truong, K.P.; Leeuwen, D.A. van

2007-01-01

In this paper, we introduce a visual analysis method to assess the discriminability and confusiability between emotions according to automatic emotion classifiers. The degree of acoustic similarities between emotions can be defined in terms of distances that are based on pair-wise emotion

Spectro-spatial analysis of wave packet propagation in nonlinear acoustic metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, W. J.; Li, X. P.; Wang, Y. S.; Chen, W. Q.; Huang, G. L.

2018-01-01

The objective of this work is to analyze wave packet propagation in weakly nonlinear acoustic metamaterials and reveal the interior nonlinear wave mechanism through spectro-spatial analysis. The spectro-spatial analysis is based on full-scale transient analysis of the finite system, by which dispersion curves are generated from the transmitted waves and also verified by the perturbation method (the L-P method). We found that the spectro-spatial analysis can provide detailed information about the solitary wave in short-wavelength region which cannot be captured by the L-P method. It is also found that the optical wave modes in the nonlinear metamaterial are sensitive to the parameters of the nonlinear constitutive relation. Specifically, a significant frequency shift phenomenon is found in the middle-wavelength region of the optical wave branch, which makes this frequency region behave like a band gap for transient waves. This special frequency shift is then used to design a direction-biased waveguide device, and its efficiency is shown by numerical simulations.

Acoustic energy harvesting based on a planar acoustic metamaterial

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Shuibao; Oudich, Mourad; Li, Yong; Assouar, Badreddine

2016-06-01

We theoretically report on an innovative and practical acoustic energy harvester based on a defected acoustic metamaterial (AMM) with piezoelectric material. The idea is to create suitable resonant defects in an AMM to confine the strain energy originating from an acoustic incidence. This scavenged energy is converted into electrical energy by attaching a structured piezoelectric material into the defect area of the AMM. We show an acoustic energy harvester based on a meta-structure capable of producing electrical power from an acoustic pressure. Numerical simulations are provided to analyze and elucidate the principles and the performances of the proposed system. A maximum output voltage of 1.3 V and a power density of 0.54 μW/cm3 are obtained at a frequency of 2257.5 Hz. The proposed concept should have broad applications on energy harvesting as well as on low-frequency sound isolation, since this system acts as both acoustic insulator and energy harvester.

Operating Room Utilization at Frederick Memorial Hospital