ENGINEERING ACOUSTICS

Introduction
Acoustics is the science of sound including its production, transmission and effects. The effect of sound on engineering is studied under Engineering Acoustics.

Sound is the sensation that results from variations in the air pressure.
These pressure fluctuations may take place slowly or rapidly and are always produced by some source of vibrations.

Example : when a tuning fork is plucked

Air layers are disturbed and are not in normal atmospheric pressure (10-5 Nm-2)

Sound wave in any medium, consists of a series of alternate compressions and rarefactions. At compression Air Pressure (>10-5 Nm-2) At rarefaction

A sound wave may be described in terms of variation of air P.

Air Pressure (<10-5 Nm-2)

Sound Field: The space in which sound wave travel is called the sound field. In a sound field the particles of the medium show a repetitive movement backwards and forwards about their mean position

Dirn of Propagation: The direction of motion of the particles is same as the dirn of propagation of the wave. Therefore it is a longitudinal wave motion. The velocity of the motion of the particles of the medium is called the particle velocity v.

Fundamentals & Basic Terminology

Sources of sound
a. b. c. Point source Line source Real source

Speed of sound Sound Intensity Acoustic Impedance Threshold of Hearing Threshold of Pain Hearing of Sound Sound Intensity Level Sound Pressure Level Sound Power Level

Sources of Sound
a. Point Source A sound source whose dimension is relatively small compared to the wavelength is called point source.

It generates spherical wave fronts. i.e. Crests & troughs lie on concentric spherical surfaces.
The sound energy is emitted equally in all directions in free space.

Wave fronts representing crests Wave fronts representing troughs

Sources of Sound . . .
b. Line Source A line source generates plane wave fronts. A plane wave propagates only in one direction. i.e. all crests and troughs lie in one plane.

Sources of Sound . . .
c) Real Source It has a finite size. It may radiate different amounts of sound in different directions.

It can be considered as a point source when the source is located from an observer at a sufficiently large distance compared to the size.

Speed of sound
The speed of sound C in a fluid is given by k Bulk Modulus - Density of the fluid

For a gas, the speed of sound C is given by,

k = P,

- is a constant

( )

P Pressure variation

Speed of sound . . .
Since the density varies with temperature, at t C speed C is given by, m/s m/s
331.5 m/s speed at 0 C at 1 atm Generally 340 m/s is used as the speed of sound at normal temperature. The effect due to humidity is negligible.

In a solid C is given by, E Youngs Modulus - Density of the medium

Sound Intensity (I)

Sound intensity is a measure for acoustic energy carried by the wave. The acoustic energy passing through unique cross sectional area taken normal to the direction of sound propagation is called the sound intensity. I= =

Sound Intensity (I) . . .

Consider a cube of unit cross sectional area with its axis parallel to the direction of propagation of a plane wave.
F

dx

A=1m2

The plane at x is displaced by dx in time dt Intensity of wave I = = =P = Pv

P sound pressure acting on the plane at x v particle velocity

Acoustic Impedance (Z)

In general, impedance is defined as the ratio between the action and effect. (Effect is produced by an alternating action at a point) Impedance = In an electrical circuit, Z= In case of sound, Z=

(1)

The sound pressure P is the action and it produces a particle velocity v. Since P is over unit area Z is called the specific acoustic impedance. This has a specific value for the medium and therefore is called Characteristic impedance.

Acoustic Impedance (Z) . . .

It can be proved that for a plane wave in a homogeneous medium of infinite extent Z = C (2) where, C speed of sound - average intensity of the medium I = Pv (3) (1),(2) & (3) => I = C v 2 I= For a given medium C is constant. Acoustic intensity I v2 or I P2

Threshold of Hearing
This is the minimum acoustic energy needed for a normal person to start hearing. When measured as acoustic pressure it is 2 x 10-5 Nm-2 Sound intensity ;C = 410 I= = 10-12 Wm-2

Threshold of pain
This is the maximum acoustic energy a normal person can tolerate without a pain in ear. When measured as acoustic pressure it is 20 Nm-2 I= = 1 Wm-2

Hearing of sound
The following three factors must be in the correct range for a normal person to hear a sound. 1.Frequency 20 Hz 20 kHz
Infrasonic Audible range Ultrasonic

2.Pressure
2 x 10-5 Nm-2 20 Nm-2

2.Intensity
10-12 Wm-2 1 Wm-2

Hearing of sound . . .
The audible range varies over a wide range. So it is convenient to use a logarithmic scale. The most commonly used logarithmic scale is decibel scale. Eg:-Consider the set of numbers 10-12, 10-5, 106, 1014 % 10-12 (Smallest no. & is called the reference no.) 100, 107, 1018, 1026 Now take log: 0, 7, 18 26 Any quantity measured in the decibel scale is always a ratio relative to some reference no. Therefore it is common to use the word level whenever any quantity is expressed in decibel.

Sound Intensity Level (L)

SIL is defined as,
I Intensity of sound in Wm-2 I0 Intensity of reference sound

Usually I0 is taken as the intensity at the threshold of hearing. I0 = 10-12 Wm-2

Sound Pressure Level (L)

SPL =
P sound pressure in Nm-2 P0- sound pressure at threshold of hearing

( I P2 => P0 = 2 x 10-5 Nm-2

Sound Power Level (LW)

The acoustic power of a sound source is the total acoustic energy emitted per unit time. LW of a sound source is defined as, LW = Where W0 is the acoustic power of the reference source. For convenience W0 is taken as 10-12 J/s. Example

Find the sound intensity level & sound pressure level of the threshold of hearing the threshold of pain

Answer:

SIL = 10 log
At the threshold of hearing SIL = 10 log = 10 log (1) = 0 dB

SPL = 20 log

SPL = 20 log = 20 log (1) = 0 dB

At threshold of pain
SIL = 10 log = 10 log(1012) SPL = 20 log = 20 log(106)

= 120 dB

= 120 dB

For a plane wave the magnitude of sound intensity level is same as the sound pressure level in the audible range. Therefore sound intensity level and sound pressure level can be referred to as Sound Level.

2. Measurement of sound
The instrument used is the sound level meter. An omnidirectional microphone converts the sound pressure into a voltage.

This is amplified and passed through a frequency weighting network which approximates to the ears characteristics and causes an indicator to respond. A sound level meter is an instrument which responds to sound in approximately the same as in the human ear. Practically sound contains a spectrum of different frequency.

Frequency weighting
The frequency weighting network approximates the frequency responds of the ear.