Acoustic Flow Field Research Articles

Direct hydroacoustics analyses of pipe orifice using lattice Boltzmann method

Acoustic waves in water pipes pose a structural threat but also offer a valuable tool for non-invasive inspection. Complex pipe geometries such as bends and surface liners create complex fluid boundaries, triggering interactions between fluid flow and acoustics. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) excels at capturing these interactions near complex boundaries, in contrast to the finite volume method, which can result in errors. However, the application of LBM in water pipes has been limited by stability problems. This study proposes a two-step (DM-TS) collision operator based on a direct method (LBM-HA) for stable LBM simulations in water pipes. LBM-HA enables direct hydroacoustic predictions for both acoustic and dynamic flow fields in a pipe orifice. A novel acoustic-dynamic complex boundary condition was formulated from the linearized Euler's equation to account for the physical effects of the bounded domain of the LBM-HA analysis. To distinguish between dynamic and acoustic components, wavenumber and frequency decomposition techniques were applied to the pressure data obtained within the pipe. In addition, mode decomposition of the acoustic pressure was conducted to identify the dominant acoustic modes. By comparing the LBM-HA results with experimental data, we highlighted the method's potential for direct hydroacoustic analysis considering the acoustic characteristics of the water pipe.

GTM-120 micro gas turbine engine noise identification

Micro gas turbine engines are a popular subject in research activities. Most of them consider performance measurements, and vibration analysis that are related to operating running engines. Operating even small-size engines causes potential risk to operator health. The research problem was to identify the acoustic flow field from the front and back of the operating GTM-120 engine. The research was divided into three parts: identify noise at various rotational speeds, identify an acoustic field of the engine, and identify noise level at additional points. Obtained results identify that noise from such a small engine at the range of 67 to 109 dbC is harmful and unpleasant to people who are within a radius of 15 meters from the engine. The final conclusion is that installing mufflers for any size of turbomachinery should be mandatory.

Numerical simulation of physical field during different ultrasonic power assisted casting of 7085 aluminum alloy

High‐energy ultrasound has the effect of purifying the aluminum (Al) melt and improving the uniformity of temperature and flow field distribution. In this paper, a finite element numerical model of ultrasonic‐assisted casting of 7085 Al alloy melt was established, and the changes of acoustic pressure field, temperature field and flow field in the solidification process of alloy melt with different ultrasonic power were investigated. The numerical simulation results show that the thickness of the 7085 Al melt mushy zone decreases by 89 mm, 97 mm, 108 mm, 114 mm and 99 mm, respectively, compared without ultrasonic (WNU) when the ultrasonic power was 150 W, 350 W, 550 W, 750 W and 950 W. The area of the alloy mushy zone increases by 38.1%, 43.5%, 61.0%, 206.5% and 45.6%, respectively. According to numerical simulation results, when the ultrasonic power was 750W, it had the best effect on improving the macroscopic physical field, increasing the mass and heat transfer rate in the center of the Al melt. Meanwhile, the experimental results of industrial melting and casting of 7085 large‐scale Al alloy ingots were basically consistent with the numerical simulation, which provided technical support for ultrasonic‐assisted fabrication of large‐scale 7085 Al alloy ingots.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Experimental research on signal sensing of distributed acoustic sensing optical fiber based on Φ-OTDR in shallow water

The distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology based on phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) has been widely and well applied on land. Meanwhile, the distributed acoustic sensing optical fiber (DASF) based on Φ-OTDR, as a new type of sensor, is still in the initial stage of research, gets much attention in recent years because of its long-distance monitoring, high sensitivity, anti-electromagnetic interference, good concealment and so on. Performances of DASF in sensing different kinds of acoustic source signals were given by experiments in shallow water, which included single frequency pulse signal in the fixed position, the moving single frequency continuous pulse signal, the moving broadband signal, and the signal generated by the sailing surface target. Depth of the active sound source was changed to examine the performance of DASF in sensing signals in different depths. The specific experimental process was given, and the experimental results were processed and analyzed. Additionally, wave components of data generated from of the sailing surface vessel were explored with the time delay difference between the equivalent array elements of DASF. Results show that DASF can sense the above varieties of underwater acoustic signals well, and the physical field generated by the sailing surface vessel in shallow water include acoustic field and flow field, in which the propagation velocity of the former is faster than that of the latter.

Relation between Acoustic Absorption Performance and Flow Field around Perforated Plate with Cross Flow

The present paper focuses on the relationship between the acoustic absorption performance and the flow field around a perforated plate with cross-flow. The normal incidence absorption coefficient was calculated from the measured transfer function using transfer function methods. As the flow velocity passing through the orifices increased, the peak level of the acoustic absorption coefficient increased in some cases. We observed the flow field around a perforated plate by flow visualization using a laser. The vortices were clearly formed downstream of the orifices due to the incident sound of pure tone. We discussed the relationship between the vortex and the acoustic absorption performance of perforated plate with a cross flow.

Study on the Characteristics of Trackside Acoustic Flow Field of High-Speed Train under the Influence of Crosswind.

During the on-track acoustic detection process, a potential flow model and an acoustic finite element mathematical model based on synthetic wind are utilized, taking into account the combined effects of vehicle speed, wind direction angle, and crosswind speed. Simulation and modeling are achieved using Automatic Matching of Acoustic Radiation Boundary Conditions (AML) technology, enabling obtaining a distribution map and sound pressure frequency response curve of the trackside acoustic field under crosswind conditions by setting up field point grids. It is found that sound pressure values at the same location gradually increase as the vehicle speed increases in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 70 Hz, at different vehicle speeds. The sound pressure values and distribution area of the trackside acoustic field are the largest when the crosswind speed is 10 m/s (wind force at level five), allowing for easier location of the sound source when a fault occurs. The study also reveals that under different wind direction angles, the same location's sound pressure value on the trackside gradually decreases as the wind direction angle increases, to lower than that of the non-crosswind condition, severely hindering the reception and diagnosis of acoustic signals.

Analysis of Acoustic Flow Field Characteristics of Key Components of High-Speed Train Bogies

In this paper, we aim to address the challenge of airflow interference during fault detection in high-speed train bogies by introducing a flow field and investigating the characteristics of the sound field distribution of critical components under its influence. This approach overcomes the limitation observed in previous studies that ignored the impact of the flow field. Furthermore, we evaluate and compare various layouts for inter-track acoustic sensor arrays. The study results demonstrate that the axle box and gearbox are primarily affected by frequency bands above 200 Hz, while the motor is mainly influenced by frequencies above 150 Hz. Moreover, the motor is most significantly impacted by vehicle speed, followed by the gear box and finally the shaft box. When altering the vibration frequency of the sound source, there is a decreasing trend in minimum sound pressure level with increasing frequency. Additionally, the gradient of the sound pressure level change at three locations (motor, gear box, and axle box) exceeds that of both vehicle speed variation and vibration intensity of the sound source. By adjusting the vibration intensity of the sound source, similar gradients are observed for both maximum and minimum values of sound pressure level at these three locations. Therefore, vibration intensity has a consistent effect on changes in sound pressure level at these three places but only influences its magnitude. The aforementioned methods can be employed for the analysis of wind noise and structural noise, thereby offering novel insights for future advancements in noise reduction processing.

Effects of temperature difference and operating pressures on heat-driven acoustic characteristics and nonlinear behaviors in a looped tube traveling wave thermoacoustic engine

In this work, the output heat-driven acoustic characteristics and dynamic thermal-fluid flow fields in a looped-tube traveling-wave thermoacoustic engine (TWTAE) are numerically investigated. Emphasis is placed on optimizing acoustic power output from the TWTAE by varying its operating pressure and temperature difference across the regenerator. For this, a time domain full-scale 3-D traveling-wave TAE model is developed, and then validated by comparing with those results obtained from the experimental data available in the literature. The present results indicate that the acoustic pressure oscillations and the acoustic power are increased with increased operating pressure of the working gas. Furthermore, nonlinear acoustics and flow dynamics in the heat-driven acoustic and flow fields of the TWTAE such as vortex generation around the regenerator and Gedeon streaming are observed. Considering the comprehensive acoustic characteristics, the optimal heat-driven acoustic power output, and thermo-acoustics energy conversion efficiency are achieved, as the working air pressure is set to 0.4 MPa. Increasing the temperature difference across the regenerator can further improve the acoustic power output from the TWTAE. In summary, the present 3-D model can be used as a design tool for predicting and optimizing looped tube traveling-wave TAE performances with detailed thermos-fluid dynamics and acoustics characteristics.

Enhancing heat-driven acoustic characteristics of standing wave thermoacoustic engines by using corrugated stack

The present work considers the heat-driven acoustic characteristics and dynamic thermal-fluid flow fields of a standing-wave thermoacoustic engine (SWTAE) by using sinusoidally shaped corrugated stack surfaces. 3-D numerical SWTAE models are developed and validated, aiming to examine the heat-driven acoustic effects caused by different corrugation amplitudes and wave-lengths of the sinusoidal stack surface. The results demonstrate that corrugated-shaped stack channels increase the contact area of the working gas in the stack area, and the thermos-acoustic conversion is more amplified. Compared to the SWTAE with uniform-shaped stack, the corrugated-shaped stack exhibit enhanced acoustic power output while maintaining a constant acoustic oscillation frequency. With the corrugation peak and wave-length of the sinusoidal stack are 2 and 0.2 mm, respectively, the amplitude and acoustic power of the acoustic pressure oscillations increase by 10.12% and 17.31%, respectively, in comparison with that of the conventional SWTAE. However, when the corrugation peak exceeds 0.4 mm, stronger nonlinear acoustics and flow effects are observed in the stack channels, leading to a reduction in the heat-driven acoustic power output, and thermo-acoustics energy conversion efficiency. The developed model highlights the effects of the corrugated-shaped stack on enhancing acoustic power output and thermo-acoustic conversion efficiency.

Numerical investigations on energy conversion performances in twin standing-wave thermoacoustic engines with various geometric and operational conditions

The present work considers the heat-driven acoustic characteristics and dynamic thermal-fluid flow fields in a twin standing-wave thermoacoustic engine (TSWTAE). Emphasis is placed on enhancing its acoustic power output performances for efficiently driving thermoacoustic refrigerators by varying operating conditions and geometric shapes. For this, a time-domain 2D twin TAE model is developed to analyze the TSWTAE in the presence of different working gases and various operating pressures first. It is then applied to examine the geometry effect on the thermo-acoustics energy conversion performances of the twin SWTAE. The model is validated by comparing with those results obtained from DeltaEC (Design Environment for Low-amplitude ThermoAcoustic Energy Conversion) software and experimental data available in the literature. The results indicate that the acoustic oscillation pressure and sound pressure level are increased with the charge pressure and the molecular weight of the working gases, while the acoustic power and thermo-acoustics energy conversion efficiency of the different working gases remain roughly constant. Considering the comprehensive acoustic characteristics, the optimal engine performance is achieved with a 0.6 MPa charge pressure, as helium is applied. Furthermore, the implementation of the tapered conical resonator demonstrates a substantial enhancement in oscillation pressure and thermal efficiency, yielding improvements of 82.03% and 32.60% respectively compared to the utilization of a cylindrical narrow resonator in the experimental setup. The present study provides a design tool for predicting and optimizing twin SWTAE performances.

Experimental Characterization of Supersonic Diamond Jet Acoustics

Acoustic emissions from supersonic jets are of interest due to their deleterious effects on nearby personnel and structures. As development of both military and commercial supersonic aircraft continues to grow, it is essential to combat increasing noise pollution. Axisymmetric jets are highly prevalent where their aeroacoustic characteristics have been well-documented; in contrast, relatively few studies have examined non-axisymmetric jets. In the present study, aeroacoustics of supersonic jets produced by a diamond-shaped Mach 2 nozzle are explored across a large operational envelope under different pressure ratios ranging from highly overexpanded to moderately underexpanded. Measurements of the far-field acoustics in an anechoic environment were used to characterize the acoustic flowfield and contrast the distribution of energy in the spectral domain between the characteristic major and minor axes of the nozzle. Overall, the diamond jet exhibits a highly directional acoustic field with a distinct local minimum for sideline noise. Furthermore, screech behavior was only observed in a narrow, overexpanded flow regime; this is in contrast to the documented behavior of axisymmetric and rectangular jets. Over the conditions examined there is no indication of distinct staging. Additionally, there exists a nozzle pressure ratio threshold beyond which peak noise switches axes.

Study of micro-scale flow characteristics under surface acoustic waves

As an effective tool for contactless manipulation of submicrometer scale objects, the controllability of acoustic streaming velocity and flow field morphology determines the accuracy of object migration and the completeness of three dimensional (3D) imaging. This paper proposes an equivalent acoustic streaming driving force model that is applicable to both two dimensional (2D) and 3D calculations and constructs a numerical method for submicrometer microsphere migration and rotation velocity in acoustic streaming. The results show that the relationship between the peripheral vortex size Lp/wc and the relative acoustic streaming velocity vas/vf satisfies Lp/wc = 0.125vas/vf0.36 under certain geometrical conditions. Reducing the spatial confinement and increasing the inter-vortex distance will increase the energy release efficiency, reduce the pressure gradient distribution and convective dissipation rates, increase the vortex intensity and radiation range, and consequently, increase the vortex characteristic size. In complex 3D vortex flow fields, suspended objects are affected by velocity distributions and exhibit motions such as cross-flow lines and rotation. For larger vortex structure sizes, full 3D imaging is more favorable due to the increased rotation speed and period of motion along the orbit of the submicrometer microspheres. This study helps us to reveal the modulation mechanism of acoustic streaming field flow characteristics, enrich the basic theory of alternating orbital motion and forces on objects in vortex structures, and provide guidance for acoustic flow-based contactless object manipulation.

Ultrasonic enhancement of microdroplet-based interfacial reaction for improving the synthesis of Ag2S QDs

Ag2S quantum dots (QDs) have aroused extensive concerns in intravital imaging field due to their merits of narrow bandgap, low biological toxicity and decent fluorescence emission properties in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. However, low quantum yield (QY) and poor uniformity of Ag2S QDs are still main obstacles for its application. In this work, a novel strategy of utilizing ultrasonic field is presented, which can enhance the microdroplet-based interfacial synthesis of Ag2S QDs. The ultrasound increases the presence of ions at the reaction sites by enhancing the ion mobility in the microchennels. Therefore, the QY is enhanced from 2.33 % (optimal QY without ultrasound) to 8.46 %, which is the highest value of Ag2S ever reported without ion-doping. Also, the decrease of the corresponding full width at half maximum (FWHM) from 312 nm to 144 nm indicates the obvious uniformity improvement of the obtained QDs. Further mechanism exploration illustrates that ultrasonic cavitation significantly increases the interfacial reaction sites by splitting the droplets. Meanwhile, the acoustic flow field strengthens the ion renewal at the droplet interface. Consequently, the mass transfer coefficient increases by more than 500 %, which is favorable to improve both the QY and quality of Ag2S QDs. This work serves both fundamental research and practical production for the synthesis of Ag2S QDs.

Strong and Sustainable Supramolecular Nanofiber Assembling in Acoustic Flow Field

AbstractHierarchical assembly of polysaccharides into nanofiber is at the core of generating advanced biomimetic nanomaterials. However, the artificial synthesis of supramolecular nanofiber from polysaccharides remains an open challenge due to their complicated structure, irregular, and strong interaction. Herein, by mimicking the assembly of natural macromolecules in an out‐of‐equilibrium state, supramolecular nanofiber is successfully fabricated from natural polysaccharides through regular and strong interaction, and a high‐energy and oriented flow field. The high energy of ultrasound can surmount the energy landscape of dynamically stable electrostatic interaction among polysaccharides, while the acoustic‐oriented streaming overcomes the disordered arrangement of macromolecules, thus inducing the orderly arrangement of polysaccharide chains to form kinetically stable nanofibers. The kinetically trapped assembly and the resulting structural evolution can be monitored by scattering and imaging experiments, while the microscopic mechanism can be confirmed by theoretical simulation. Mechanically strong, water‐resistant, and humidity stimulus‐responsive bioplastic film can be fabricated from the supramolecular nanofibers. The discoveries provide critical insights into the assembly of polysaccharides into supramolecular nanofibers and open up many possibilities to prepare advanced nanomaterials from natural polysaccharides.

Motion acoustic flow field: Underwater small target motion characterization for active sonar echograph of harbor environment.

Spatial-temporal variations of active sonar echo intensity can provide effective motion information for characterizing intruding small targets and play a key role in follow-up tracking, behavioral analysis, and recognition, etc. Inspired by the idea of optical flow, which can be used to calculate subtle spatial-temporal variations of each pixel in image sequences, a different motion acoustic flow field (MAFF) is proposed for estimating the motion of underwater small targets in successive active sonar echographs from harbor environments. This is because directly applying current calculation framework for optical flow presents two challenges in this case. The first challenge is that the echo intensity fluctuation breaks its potential assumption of brightness consistency in the pre-processing stage. The second challenge is that the small size of the blob targets could be smoothed out as outliers by its median filter-based post-processing. Hence starting from the classical optical flow equation, MAFF introduces a novel spatial-temporal connected component pre-processing and a novel blob shape segmentation refinement post-processing. Experiments on a set of real-world harbor datasets demonstrate the efficacy of our MAFF calculation framework.

On the influence of porous coating thickness and permeability on passive flow and noise control of cylinders

Aeroacoustic studies of porous cylinder coatings, which reduce the vortex shedding noise of cylinders in uniform flow, have received increased attention. To further understand how porous coatings suppress the vortex shedding tone, a numerical and experimental investigation of porous coated cylinders at a Reynolds number of 1.27×105 is presented herein. Two parameters were varied: (1) the ratio of the porous thickness to the bare cylinder diameter, and (2) the airflow resistivity of the porous media. Numerical simulations were performed using the large-eddy simulation approach with the Smagorinsky sub-grid length-scale model, and the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings acoustic analogy was used to predict the acoustic far-field pressure field. A numerical investigation of the internal flow field within the porous layer is presented, which provides a better understanding of the influence of the aforementioned parameters on the development of boundary layers within the porous media and the passive flow and noise control capability. Experiments were performed in an aeroacoustic open-jet wind tunnel to validate the acoustic and external flow field results, which typically showed very good agreement with the numerical results. For porous coatings with low airflow resistivity, the thickness of the porous coating, relative to the inner diameter, has a strong influence on passive flow and noise control. Vortex shedding originates from the inner diameter. Conversely, porous coatings with a higher airflow resistivity are less influenced by their thickness, and vortex shedding originates from the outer diameter (porous surface). The complex coupling of these parameters leads to the conclusion that the optimal selection of the thickness and airflow resistivity is typically dependent on the Reynolds number.

Effect of sound excitation on the flow field and convection heat transfer around a cylinder

The combination of experiment and numerical simulation, sound frequency and sound pressure level on the flow field, and heat transfer around a cylinder with two flow patterns are investigated. Flow patterns are periodic laminar flow (L3, Re0 = 100) and wake transition (TrW2, Re0 = 300), respectively. Sound frequency range f = 100–1000 Hz, and sound pressure level range SPL = 127–145 dB. Based on the influence of acoustic characteristics on the viscous boundary layer and thermal boundary layer of cylindrical wall, constructed a functional relationship between convection heat transfer and sound wave frequency and sound pressure level. Influenced by the acoustic action, the flow field force around the cylinder, the vortex street structure, the vortex size, and the length of the wake area may be changed. Acoustic action flow field excitation fluid particle velocity amplitude increased. As the sound pressure level increased, the amplitude of the fluid mass vibration velocity increased. From the experimental results, it can be seen that for the acoustic frequency effect, the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing sound frequency. For the particle velocity amplitude effect, as the acoustic Reynolds number increases, the heat transfer coefficient increases and is 2.3 times higher than that without acoustic disturbance in the wake turning flow regime. In comparison with numerical and experimental results, the error is less than 15%, which meets the actual requirements of the project. It has been shown that sound waves can enhance the convective heat transfer around a cylinder in the cross-flow.

Aeroacoustic and aerodynamic interaction effects between electric vertical takeoff and landing rotors

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are characterized by their unconventional wing and electric rotor configurations, which involve both side-by-side and tandem rotor configurations. These configurations create unique aerodynamic and acoustic flow-fields. We numerically investigate the interaction effects between rotor pairs as well as their individual and combined acoustic radiation. We examine horizontal and vertical spacing, rotor tilt angles, and forward flight effects. Performance is characterized by thrust coefficient, blade passage frequency (BPF) sound pressure level (SPL), and overall sound pressure level (OASPL). This study is performed with a mid-fidelity aerodynamic solver, Dust, which is used to predict the aerodynamic flow-field. The tonal acoustic pressure at observer positions is predicted via the Farassat F-1A solution of the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings equation utilizing the aerodynamic flow-field. The configurations studied show strong aerodynamic interaction effects in thrust, as well as out-of-plane acoustic radiation from the aft rotor. Base predictions of thrust and noise are validated via experimental measurement. As rotor separation decreases, we observe that aft rotor thrust decreases and BPF SPL increases. The most forward rotor, however, is marginally impacted by the interactions. [This research is supported by Archer Aviation Inc.]

Optical-acoustics source analysis of supersonic jet noise reduction using micro vortex generators

A new supersonic jet noise reduction technology has been developed using Micro Vortex Generators (MVGs) by the collaboration between the University of Cincinnati and the Naval Research Laboratory. MVGs are used on model scale nozzles that are representative of GE F404 engine nozzles. Noise reductions up to −10 dB have been observed in both laboratory measurements and LES simulations at conditions related to take off in the overexpanded regime. Analysis of the acoustic field and flow field using Schlieren visualization reveal the noise reduction mechanisms associated with MVGs. Direct visualization of the changes in shock cell spacing, Large Coherent Structures (LCS) formation, and their convective velocity are identified and those changes modify the downstream propagating hydrodynamic waves and the upstream propagating acoustics waves. Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (SPOD) is utilized to examine the flow sources at frequencies associated with the noise components observed in the acoustic spectra to explain the noise reduction mechanisms of MVGs.

Nanoparticle sizing by focused-beam dynamic ultrasound scattering method

When nanoparticles in Brownian motion in liquid are irradiated with ultrasonic waves in the megahertz frequency range, scattering from the particles occurs, albeit at a very low intensity. The diffusion coefficient and the corresponding particle size can be calculated by analyzing the time correlation function of the ultrasound pulses. Since ultrasonic waves with long wavelengths in comparison with the particle size are unfavorable for detecting such small particles, increasing the energy of the ultrasonic waves is a primary solution. Increasing the energy, conversely, causes an unexpected acoustic flow. Consequently, a method using a strong ultrasound pulse while suppressing this acoustic flow field is required. In this study, we apply (1) a focused transducer with high ultrasonic energy, (2) a high-frequency sensor enhancing scattering performance, and (3) a short pulse repetition time to achieve high-speed and high-precision nanoparticle measurement while confining the sample in a narrow space to eliminate the acoustic flow. This enables direct tracking of nanoparticle motion by observing diffusive motion without perturbation particle dynamics. We specifically investigated a suspension of silica particles with a hydrodynamic radius of 15 nm and also achieved particle size discrimination in mixtures. The time correlation analysis using megahertz ultrasound pulses also takes advantage of ultrasonic waves’ inherent advantages, such as high-speed, high-precision particle size analysis in the submicron range beyond the wavelength of visible light.