Method to resolve microphone and sample location errors

in the two-microphone duct measurement method

Brian F. G. Katz
a)
Acoustics Department, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania 16801
Received 5 January 1999; revised 18 September 1999; revised 17 May 2000;
accepted 7 August 2000
Utilizing the two-microphone impedance tube method, the normal incidence acoustic absorption and
acoustic impedance can be measured for a given sample. This method relies on the measured
transfer function between two microphones, and the knowledge of their precise location relative to
each other and the sample material. In this article, a method is proposed to accurately determine
these locations. A third sensor is added at the end of the tube to simplify the measurement. First, a
justication and investigation of the method is presented. Second, reference terminations are
measured to evaluate the accuracy of the apparatus. Finally, comparisons are made between the new
method and current methods for determining these distances and the variations are discussed. From
this, conclusions are drawn with regards to the applicability and need for the new method and under
which circumstances it is applicable. Results show that the method provides a reliable determination
of both microphone locations, which is not possible using the current techniques. Errors due to
inaccurate determination of these parameters between methods were on the order of 3% for R and
12% for Re Z. 2000 Acoustical Society of America. S0001-49660002311-0
PACS numbers: 43.58.Bh, 43.55.Ev, 43.20.Fn, 43.60.Qv SLE
I. INTRODUCTION
The measurement of acoustic absorption and acoustic
impedance has been used for decades in the understanding of
acoustics and material behaviors. The classical method using
pure tones and a standing wave tube has, until recently, been
the only reliable method for performing these measurements.
The primary limitation of this classical method is the large
amount of time needed for each frequency measurement. In
the last few decades, measurement technology has advanced
and now the two-microphone transfer function method for
measuring acoustic absorption and impedance has become
much more common. There have been a number of papers
describing this method and examples of results.
16
The two-microphone method, implemented here using
random noise excitation, has a number of limitations, some
similar to the standing wave ratio method, and some differ-
ent. In both schemes, the distance from the sample to the
microphone, either xed or mobile as in the standing wave
tube, is an essential component in the calculation of the
acoustic properties of the test material. Bode

n and A

bom
examined the effects of some types of errors in the two-
microphone technique.
1
They discussed the potential per-
centage variation in the results due to errors in measuring
these distances. One method is suggested for determining the
distance between the microphones in an attempt to reduce
these errors. No suggestion is made for determining the dis-
tance to the sample other than using a ruler.
The measurement standard requires knowledge of these
locations to an accuracy of 0.01 cm.
7
The purpose of this
article is to examine this requirement, its effect, and its at-
tainment. A new method for determining the location of both
microphones to the accuracy required by the measurement
standard is presented. A third sensor is used at the termina-
tion position to assist in resolving the location of the mea-
surement microphones to the necessary precision. The effect
of errors in the locations of the sensors is investigated for
calculations of the reection coefcient and impedance.
II. THE STANDARD TWO-MICROPHONE APPROACH
A. Theory
A brief overview of the two-microphone method is pre-
sented here. This method utilizes the measured transfer func-
tion, h
12
, between two microphones to separate the incident
( p
i
) and reected (p
r
) pressure waves. From this, it is pos-
sible to calculate the complex reection coefcient, R, at the
measured surface. The complex impedance, Z, can be de-
rived from this calculation. A plane wave tube was utilized
in this research, congured as shown in Fig. 1. The theory
behind this measurement can be described in the following
manner.
The measured transfer function in the frequency domain,
H
12
, is dened by
H
12

P
2
P
1

P
2i
P
2r
P
1i
P
1r
, 1
where P is the Fourier transform of p(t), and P
ni
and P
nr
are the pressures due to the incident and reected waves at
sensor n. It is then possible to dene the following:
H
12i

P
2i
P
1i
, H
12r

P
2r
P
1r
, R
1

P
1r
P
1i
, R
2

P
2r
P
2i
. 2
a
Currently with Arup Acoustics, 155 Avenue of the Americas, New York,
NY 10013.
2231 2231 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108 (5), Pt. 1, Nov 2000 0001-4966/2000/108(5)/2231/7/$17.00 2000 Acoustical Society of America
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After a little algebra the reection coefcient at micro-
phone position 1, Ch1, can be shown to be
R
1

H
12
H
12i
H
12r
H
12

. 3
If measurements are limited to frequencies below the
rst cross mode frequency, only plane waves propagate, and
the transfer functions H
12i
and H
12r
are simply e
j ks
and
e
j ks
, respectively. In addition, translation of the calculated
reection coefcient to the surface x0 is only a multiplier
of e
j 2k(ls)
. When combined the result is
Re
j 2k ls
R
1
e
j 2k ls

H
12
e
j ks
H
12
e
j ks
. 4
The absorption coefcient is calculated simply as 1
R
2
. The surface impedance of the material is nally de-
termined using Eq. 5 where Z
s
is the specic acoustic im-
pedance of the surface and Z is the corresponding specic
acoustic impedance ratio.
Z
Z
s

0
c

1R
1R
. 5
B. Apparatus
The parameters of the system, tube diameter, and sensor
locations were designed to obtain optimum results over the
frequency range of interest. The chosen frequency range of
interest was determined to be 16 kHz. The center frequency
of this range was 3.5 kHz. The justication for this range is
related to future work on the system, but can be summarized
as the need to measure acoustic absorption and impedance in
the frequency region of speech. It was also decided that the
sensor positions would be xed, allowing for only a single
microphone and sample spacing.
The measurement method requires that only plane wave
propagation occurs in the tube. For this reason, the upper
frequency range is limited by the rst cross mode of the tube.
The ASTM standard
7
requires the diameter to be less than
0.586c/ f
max
which, for an upper limit of 6 kHz, gives a
maximum tube diameter of 3.35 cm. A 1-in. PVC tube was
chosen. The internal diameter of the tube was 2.60 cm, with
a wall thickness of 0.35 cm. A tube length of 1 m is long
enough to ensure that only plane wave propagation is
present. It is desirable to have the microphones as close as
possible to the termination to obtain the greatest signal-to-
noise ratio. The distance to the termination is limited by the
presence of evanescent waves coming from the impedance
termination, which is not necessarily perfectly planar. The
standard suggests placing the near sensor no closer than one
tube diameter away. A distance of two internal tube diam-
eters was chosen here for the distance between microphone
position 2, Ch2, and the termination, resulting in a desired
distance of l5.2 cm. The sensor separation distance is de-
ned in the standard such that sc/(2f
max
) resulting in a
maximum spacing of 2.86 cm. The optimal spacing, resulting
in the minimal amount of error, is dened by choosing s
c/(4f
center
2
).
1
Using 3.5 kHz as the center frequency of
interest results in a desired separation distance of s
2.45 cm. The dimensions of the tube correspond to a value
of ka1 at 2.1 kHz.
The system utilized miniature Sennheiser microphone
capsules model KE 4-211-2, a 2.5 cm 1 in. diameter
speaker, electronic preampliers, and a multi-channel
Hewlett Packard spectrum analyzer. The sensor microphones
used have an exposed diaphragm diameter of approximately
0.1 cm. The sensors are ush mounted in the tube, using a
clay seal on the outside to ensure against leakage. An ane-
choic termination was constructed, as shown in Fig. 2.
C. Microphone calibration
The two microphones used in the impedance tube were
calibrated relative to each other using the standard switching
technique. For this setup, the transfer function was measured
for the microphones in the measurement position, then the
sensor positions were switched and the transfer function was
measured. The geometric mean of the transfer functions is
used as the calibration function in all subsequent calcula-
tions, where H
cal
H
12
H
21
and H
12calibrated
H
12measured
H
cal
. This ensured that any magnitude and phase varia-
tions in the measurement were a function of the sound eld,
and not due to differences between the sensors. This proce-
dure was performed prior to each measurement session, re-
sulting in a separate calibration function for each data set to
account for any possible effects due to ambient room condi-
tions or drift of sensor characteristics.
FIG. 1. Impedance tube measurement setup showing measurement micro-
phones Ch1 and Ch2. Dene s as the spacing between the sensors and l as
the distance from the second sensor to the impedance surface.
FIG. 2. Anechoic termination construction showing conical wedge.
2232 2232 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 108, No. 5, Pt. 1, Nov 2000 Brian F. G. Katz: Resolve microphone and sample locations
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III. RESOLUTION OF APPARATUS PARAMETERS
A. Microphone distance to termination
According to the ASTM standard for the two-
microphone impedance tube measurement, the distance from
the end microphone to the surface sample must be known to
an accuracy of 0.01 cm.
7
In the standard this requirement is
waived for highly absorptive, roughly textured surfaces. If
we chose to measure materials that are not highly absorptive,
then this requirement must be fullled.
It is therefore necessary to determine the distance from
this microphone to the rigid or semirigid termination. The
diaphragm, however, had an exposed diameter on the order
of 0.1 cm, which is much larger than the prescribed location
accuracy of 0.01 cm. Therefore, even if it were possible to
measure the physical distance with a caliper or laser scheme,
the precision required is on a scale smaller than the size of
the diaphragm. It is therefore necessary to determine the dis-
tance from the acoustic center of the closer diaphragm to the
termination.
A standard way to determine this position, from the
standing wave ratio tube method, is to move the position of
the microphone, and scan for pressure minima. This method
contains possible errors in determining the exact acoustic
position of the end of the tube, requiring end corrections to
be determined and included. From this position, it is possible
to calculate this distance quite easily. In designing this sys-
tem, the position of the microphones was determined, and
then xed. In addition, due to the small tube diameter, the
insertion of a probe microphone inside the tube would most
likely disturb the sound eld in the tube such that the plane
wave assumption would be compromised. Therefore, a
method which allows for the xed position of the micro-
phone must be devised. Similar to the traditional method of
scanning the sound eld for the pressure minima at a given
frequency and transforming the problem to the frequency
domain, it should be possible to perform the same measure-
ment by sweeping frequency and determining the exact fre-
quency at which the xed microphone is at a pressure
minima. The necessary frequency precision was determined
as follows: the approximate distance to the termination was
measured to be 5 cm. Using 343 m/s as an approximate
sound speed, this would result in a rst null for a quarter
wavelength to be at 1715 Hz. A variation of 0.01 cm would
yield a distance of 5.01 cm, and a quarter wavelength fre-
quency of 1711.6 Hz. From this rough calculation, a fre-
quency resolution of 3.4 Hz is necessary.
The accuracy of the acoustic method for determining the
position of the microphones is limited, in part, by an accurate
determination of the sound speed. The speed of sound was
calculated taking into account measures of the temperature,
barometric pressure, and relative humidity and using a poly-
nomial approximation of published data and atmospheric ef-
fects on sound speed as described in Pierce.
8
Using a rough
calculation based on a frequency of 1.7 kHz with a wave-
length of 20.18 cm, the resulting changes in conditions to
achieve an error of 0.01 cm are T2.7 C, P
16.9 mbar, or RH85%. These are all well within the
measurement accuracy of standard laboratory equipment.
Sweeping the frequency at a resolution of 3.4 Hz is pos-
sible, but, due to the fact that the exact null is hidden within
the noise oor which results in a minima that spans approxi-
mately a 1015-Hz range, precise determination of this fre-
quency would not be possible by simply choosing the fre-
quency at which the null occurs. Instead, interpolation of the
data curve surrounding the null was used to extrapolate the
frequency null and avoid contamination of the prediction by
the noise oor. In doing this, it was also possible to sweep
frequencies at a resolution of 4 Hz as the curve shape, not the
exact frequency of any one specic data point, is important.
For condence in the interpolation, the shape of the fre-
quency spectrum data should be smooth in the region before
and after the null. The raw pressure data, measured as a
function of frequency for either of the two measurement mi-
crophones, contains a dense resonant structure of the tube
system. These resonances are in addition to the nulls due to
the distance from the termination. An example of a raw mi-
crophone measurement is shown by the dotted curve in Fig.
3. It is clear to see that exact determination of the null posi-
tion would be difcult using the raw pressure data, due to the
inuence of the tube resonances. These resonances depend
on termination impedance, tube length, and driver, but not
the sensor location. In order to remove this corruptive inu-
ence so that the measurement contains only distance-
dependent information useful for determining the distance to
the termination, a microphone was placed ush with the ter-
mination. A termination consisting of a steel disc with a
microphone designated Ch3) ush mounted in the center
was constructed for this measurement, as shown in Fig. 4.
The termination sensor was sealed in position and, since it
was located at the termination, contained the resonance in-
formation of the system, without any interference from loca-
tion specic modal effects. The change in the termination
impedance due to the presence of the miniature sensor is
negligible to the distance calculations. The effect would be a
FIG. 3. Potential data for distance calculation: raw impedance sensor sound
pressure (Ch2); transfer function between one impedance microphone,
(Ch2) and the termination microphone (Ch3); and transfer function be-
tween the two impedance microphones (Ch1 and Ch2). The y-scale has
been normalized for both the linear and log data so that all the data sets can
be visually compared.
2233 2233 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 108, No. 5, Pt. 1, Nov 2000 Brian F. G. Katz: Resolve microphone and sample locations
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very minor shift in the location of the frequency nulls, less
than the 3.4-Hz resolution needed.
A measured transfer function between one of the mea-
surement microphones and the termination microphone
yields the necessary data see Ch2/Ch3 curve in Fig. 3.
Several nulls exist over the selected frequency range, each
one capable of being used to determine the distance. This
allows for error checking and redundancy in the distance
calculation. Use of the transfer function between the imped-
ance sensors, H
12
curve Ch2/Ch1 in Fig. 3, containing
distinct peaks and nulls, is not suitable for determining dis-
tances. As seen in Fig. 3, the peak and null positions for H
12
are shifted up in frequency from the correct positions and
would not be useful in distance determination. This shift can
be seen in relation to both the raw pressure measurement
(Ch2) and the transfer function with respect to the termina-
tion sensor (Ch2/Ch3).
Interpolation of the frequency minima was determined
using the termination sensor transfer functions. A second-
order polynomial t was utilized for the left and right side of
each minima, where the intersection produced the result.
From this position in frequency the distance was calculated
depending on the null
1
4
,
3
4
, or
5
4
wavelength null and as a
function of the speed of sound, determined from the air prop-
erties in the experimental chamber at the time of measure-
ment.
The interpolation method used to determine the fre-
quency null minima was repeatable for a given frequency
null within approximately 1.5 Hz. Details of the interpolation
method can be found in the thesis by Katz.
9
Several measure-
ment trials were performed with the results given in Table I
with the corresponding null frequencies. Taking an average
for the distances determined from each Ch2 null from Table
I, the distance l was determined to be 5.31 cm.
B. Spacing between microphones
Using the distance to termination data for both measure-
ment microphones it is possible to determine the spacing
between the microphones, s, a distance necessary for the
acoustical calculations. Using the results from Table I and
taking an average for the distances determined from each
null, the separation distance was determined to be 2.37 cm.
This distance can also be calculated by using an anechoic
termination and determining the phase delay between the
two sensors, again using the transfer function.
1
This method
of measurement is totally independent of the previous
method and was therefore used as a reference check.
With the anechoic termination, the transfer function was
measured for the sensors in their normal position, and also
with the positions switched. The microphone spacing was
then calculated using the phase delay, , between the two
calibrated sensors, normalized with respect to frequency, as
dened in Eq. 6:
s
H
12
/H
12
H
21

2f
. 6
As the termination is not completely anechoic at low
frequencies, there is some variation/oscillation in the result
as a function of frequency. The results of the separation cal-
culation are shown in Fig. 5. To determine a single spacing
distance, an average of the separation values was determined.
The average value over 16 kHz was used. The wide varia-
tions at lower frequencies cannot be used with condence.
FIG. 4. Modied impedance tube setup showing the two standard measure-
ment microphones, Ch1 and Ch2, and the additional third termination sen-
sor, Ch3, used for determining the measurement microphone locations.
FIG. 5. Microphone separation distance calculation determined from mea-
sured phase delay. Thick curve shows a running average. The horizontal
lines correspond to the average value from 1 to 6 kHz and
distance determined using the frequency null method. Vertical lines corre-
spond to ka1 and the optimal performance frequency for the
microphone spacing used.
TABLE I. Microphone distance to termination calculations for each null in
measurement (Ch1:3 nulls, Ch2:2 nulls using rigid termination with im-
bedded sensor. A series: termination was glued to end of tube. B series:
termination was glued and surrounded with clay seal.
Trial Ch1 cm Ch2 cm
null frequency
kHz 1.1 3.4 5.6 1.6 4.8
A-1 7.67 7.67 7.68 5.29 5.32
A-2 7.67 7.67 7.67 5.29 5.32
A-3 7.67 7.66 7.67 5.29 5.32
B-1 7.69 7.68 7.68 5.30 5.33
B-2 7.69 7.68 7.68 5.30 5.36
B-3 7.69 7.67 7.68 5.30 5.33
2234 2234 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 108, No. 5, Pt. 1, Nov 2000 Brian F. G. Katz: Resolve microphone and sample locations
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The optimum frequency for the given microphone spacing
which is equivalent to a quarter wavelength, f
opt
c/4s
3.7 kHz, and the location of ka1 are also indicated. Note
that at this frequency the two methods agree.
Results of this measurement are a separation distance of
2.30 cm, with a repeatability of 0.006 cm, within the mea-
surement standard. In comparison to the frequency null
method for measuring the distance devised above, though,
there is a denite difference on the order of 0.06 cm, which
is above the standards threshold for determining the dis-
tances. The exact nature of the difference between the mea-
surement techniques is unclear. For a typical measurement,
accuracy of 0.06 cm would probably be sufcient. In this
case, it is unclear how one would go about measuring an
acoustic distance to any greater accuracy and be condent in
the results. The results from the new method for distance
measurements, using the frequency null interpolation, were
chosen to be used in subsequent calculations as both s and l
are required, and the anechoic spacing measurement only
determines s. The resulting distances used in measurements
therefore are s2.37 cm and l5.31 cm.
IV. RESULTS
A. Reference terminations
As there are no materials which have an absolutely de-
ned reection coefcient or impedance, there are limited
tests which can be performed to verify the calculations and
assumptions. The case of an innitely rigid termination is
theoretically possible, but in all practical purposes cannot be
achieved or measured experimentally due to electrical noise,
losses through the tube walls, or other factors. Measurements
of a rigid termination, though, aid in showing the limitations
of the specic experimental apparatus. The same holds true
for an anechoic termination. It is impossible to make a totally
anechoic termination, but an experimental effort towards
such can be measured and used to further quantify the be-
havior of the measurement system.
The impedance of an ideally rigid termination would be
innite. It is therefore not practical to compare the measured
impedance to the theoretical value. On the other hand, the
reection coefcient is well dened and is suitable to use for
these evaluations. An ideal rigid termination has a reection
coefcient R1. An ideal anechoic termination has a re-
ection coefcient R0. The experimental measurements
of the physical implementation of these idealized termina-
tions are shown in Fig. 6. There are some losses in the sys-
tem since the tube is not innitely rigid, as seen in the low-
frequency limit of the rigid termination. Additional errors
can be seen in the low-frequency limit of the anechoic ter-
mination, which, when considered with the rigid and duct
size limit, restrict the functional frequency range of the sys-
tem to 16 kHz. Over this frequency range, the results of this
measurement for the rigid termination produce a mean re-
ection coefcient of R0.97, which for all practical pur-
poses can be considered rigid. The anechoic termination
measurement results in a mean reection coefcient of R
0.05 over this range. For all practical purposes this ane-
choic termination is sufcient.
The only termination which has a well-dened solution,
other than the idealized rigid and anechoic terminations, is
an open-ended termination. The reection coefcient for an
unanged thin-walled circular duct has the analytical ap-
proximation given in Eq. 7,
R

e
1/2 ka
2

1
1
6
ka
4

ln

1
ka

19
12

, ka1,
e
ka
ka

1
3
32
1
ka
2
, ka1,
7
where a is the tube cross-sectional radius and ln()
0.5772.
10
Comparison of the measured and theoretical
value for the open ended tube termination can be seen in Fig.
6. The error in the theoretical approximation is less than 3%
in the region between ka1 and the optimal operating fre-
quency of the design. The frequency at which there is the
minimal amount of error in the measurement as described in
Sec. II B is 3.7 kHz. This is the frequency at which the
sensors are at /4. At this frequency, and down to approxi-
mately 2.2 kHz (ka1), the measured response agrees very
well with the theory.
The impedance for an anechoic termination is well de-
ned. The impedance of a totally absorptive material should
be simply the impedance of the propagating medium, in this
case air. Plotting the specic acoustic impedance ratio, de-
ned as the specic acoustic impedance normalized by the
characteristic acoustic impedance of the medium (
0
c), re-
sults in Fig. 7. The mean values for the anechoic impedance
ratio measurement over the selected frequency range are
Z1.02, Re Z1.01, and ImZ0.02. Ideally, the real
component of the impedance ratio should be equal to unity
and the imaginary component equal to zero. These results are
sufciently close to the theoretical values.
Deviations from the theory below ka1 could be due to
low-frequency limitations of the two-microphone technique,
which occur when the phase difference between the sensor
FIG. 6. Reection coefcient reference measurements showing the mea-
sured values for a rigid top, open middle, and anechoic bottom termi-
nations. Theoretical values for rigid1 and anechoic0. Theoretical value
for the open termination is shown by the dashed line.
2235 2235 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 108, No. 5, Pt. 1, Nov 2000 Brian F. G. Katz: Resolve microphone and sample locations
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 143.107.252.69 On: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:36:27
locations is too small. Increased error above the designed
optimum frequency is expected to some degree. The amount
of deviation for this measurement could be due to the inac-
curacy of the idealized theory to take into account the wall
thickness of the tube at these higher frequencies, as well as
the condition of sc/(2f
max
) becoming less applicable. It is
expected that over the range where the measurement corre-
sponds to the theory, the error in further measurements will
be small, increasing as the range is exceeded. From the re-
sults of the reference measurements of the rigid, anechoic,
and open terminations there can be condence in the mea-
surement of the unknown acoustical properties of future test
samples.
B. Test sample
A test sample was used to examine the effects of the
new method for determining the microphone locations in the
two-microphone method. A 1.5 cm thick disc of dense
acoustic foam was measured. The variation on the acoustic
absorption and specic acoustic impedance was evaluated
for different microphone location estimations. Two possibili-
ties for each distance were utilized in this investigation. The
distance between the microphones, s, can be either 2.30 cm
as determined using the phase method or 2.37 cm from the
new frequency null method. The distance to the sample, l,
can be either 5.2 cm as designed and measured by eye or
5.31 cm as determined using the frequency null method.
Using the same measured data transfer functions, the
calculations for the reection coefcient, R, and the specic
acoustic impedance ratio, Z, were performed. As the sample
is not a very rigid material, following Bode

n and A

bom,
1
it is
not expected that the effects due to distance errors would be
noticeable. As can be seen in Fig. 8, there is not a great deal
of variation in the calculation of the magnitude of the reec-
tion coefcient due to errors in s and l. The discrepancy is
about 3% between the new method and the old. An error of
this sort can easily be tolerated in most experiments.
The variation in the calculation of acoustic impedance
though is noticeably greater. As shown in Fig. 9 the errors
between the methods are on the order of 12%. The results for
the Re Z vary quite substantially with s0.06 cm and
l0.11 cm. This is a more serious difference and cannot
be as easily ignored. As determined by Bode

n and A

bom,
these errors increase as the material sample becomes more
rigid, where both the reection coefcient and specic
acoustic impedance increase.
V. CONCLUSION
In this article an improvement to the two-microphone
impedance tube method for measuring acoustic absorption
and specic acoustic impedance characteristics of a planar
sample has been presented. This technique requires very ac-
curate knowledge of the location of the sensors and sample
FIG. 7. Impedance measurement of the anechoic termination. The specic
acoustic impedance ratio Z is plotted as Z
s
/
0
c with Re Z and
Im Z. An ideally anechoic termination would have Re Z1 and
Im Z0.
FIG. 8. Variations in the measured reection coefcient of a 1.5-cm dense
foam sample for various microphone location values: s2.37 and l
5.31, s2.30 and l5.2, s2.30 and l5.31, and s
2.37 and l5.2.
FIG. 9. Variations in the measured specic acoustic impedance ratio of a
1.5-cm dense foam sample for various microphone location values: s
2.37 and l5.31, s2.30 and l5.2, s2.30 and l5.31, and
s2.37 and l5.2.
2236 2236 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 108, No. 5, Pt. 1, Nov 2000 Brian F. G. Katz: Resolve microphone and sample locations
Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://acousticalsociety.org/content/terms. Download to IP: 143.107.252.69 On: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:36:27
to a detail which exceeds visual and other nonacoustic mea-
surement methods. This is due in large part to the fact that
the required precision is smaller than the typical sensor mi-
crophone diaphragm, requiring an estimation of the location
of the acoustic center of the microphone.
A new method is devised which utilizes a termination
sensor and the measured transfer function between it and the
two measurement microphones. From this measurement, the
location of the sensors relative to the termination can be
determined by calculating the frequencies at which the sen-
sors are at a null. Results of this measurement method are
compared to other methods, including visual observation and
calculation of the microphone separation using phase delay
measurements. The results of the new frequency null method
do not agree with the previous methods within the measure-
ment precision. But, the fact that this method produces both
the microphone separation and the distance to the sample,
while the phase delay method cannot produce the latter, is a
marked improvement. In addition, the phase delay method
shows a great deal of variation as a function of frequency
which the new method does not.
The effects of an erroneous determination of the sensor
locations was examined for a test sample of typical acoustic
dense foam. Variation in the calculated reection or absorp-
tion coefcient were on the order of 3% for induced errors of
2%3% in the microphone positions, and is probably negli-
gible with other experimental factors. Variations in the cal-
culated specic acoustic impedance were greater, on the or-
der of 12% for the same induced errors and test sample. This
level of error is rather large for an unknown experimental
error and must be considered if the two-microphone mea-
surement method is being used for impedance measure-
ments.
The errors due to these effects increase with the rigidity
of the test material, making reliable measurements of high
impedance materials a nontrivial task. Finally, the ASTM
standard for this measurement technique requires a precision
which exceeds the variations between the two methods, mak-
ing the choice of distance calculations very important, the
effects of which must be examined when making these sorts
of acoustic measurements to ensure that accurate and reliable
results are obtained. It is also questioned whether or not the
standard is reasonable, as it requires precision in excess of
most measurement techniques.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is grateful to his supervisor Dr. Jiri Tichy for
his assistance in this work. Further thanks are offered to
Timothy Leishman for his assistance with the impedance
tube and providing insight and encouragement throughout
this work. Part of this work was nanced by the Applied
Research Lab and the Acoustics Department of The Pennsyl-
vania State University.
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