Experimental determination of acoustic properties using a two-microphone random-

excitation technique
A. F. Seybert, and D. F. Ross

Citation: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 61, 1362 (1977); doi: 10.1121/1.381403
View online: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.381403
View Table of Contents: https://asa.scitation.org/toc/jas/61/5
Published by the Acoustical Society of America

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Experimental determination of acoustic properties using a
two-microphone random-excitation technique*
A. F. Seybert
MechanicalEngineering
Department,University
of Kentucky,Lexington,Kentucky40506

D. F. Ross

Arvin Industries,Incorporated,Lafayette,Indiana 47906

(Received 17 December 1976)

An experimental techniqueis presentedfor the determination of normalacousticpropertiesin a tube,

includingthe effectof meanflow. An acousticsourceis drivenby Gaussianwhite noiseto producea
randomlyfluctuatingsoundfield in a tubeterminatedby the systemunderinvestigation. Two stationary,
wall-mounted microphones measurethe soundpressure at arbitrarybut knownpositionsin the tube.
Theory is developed,includingthe effect of mean flow, showingthat the incident-and reflected-wave
spectra, and the phase angle between the incident and reflected waves, can be determined from
measurement of the auto- and cross-spectra
of the two microphonesignals.Expressions for the normal
specificacousticimpedance and the reflectioncoefficientof the tube terminationare developed for a
randomsoundfield in the tube.Threeno-flowtestcasesare evaluatedusingthe two-microphone random-
excitationtechnique: a closedtube of specified
length,an open,unbaffiedtube of specifiedlength,and a
prototypeautomotivemuffler. Comparisonis made betweenresultsusing the presentmethod and
approximate theoryand resultsfrom the traditionalstanding-wave method.In all casesagreement between
the two-microphone random-excitation methodand comparison data is excellent.The two-microphone
random-excitation techniquecanbe usedto evaluateacoustic propertiesveryrapidlysinceno traversing is
necessaryand sincerandomexcitationis used(in eachof three test casesonly 7 secof continuousdata was
needed).In addition,the bandwidthmay be madearbitrarilysmall,withinlimits,so that the computed
propertieswill havea high degreeof frequencyresolution.

PACS numbers' 43.85.Bh, 43.50.Gf, 43.20.Mv

LIST OF SYMBOLS

•(t) amplitude
ofincident
wave estimate of the auto-spectral density of b(t)
•_(t) amplitude
ofreflected
wave estimate of the cross-spectral density be-
A Fourier transform of incidentwave ampli- tween•(t) and•(t)
tude •AB• (•AB real andimaginaryparts{of •B, respec-
Fourier transform of reflected wave ampli- tively. _
tude
estimateof theauto-spectral
densityof•
c speed of sound in still air estimateof the auto-spectraldensityof •.
cO speed of wave propagation in presence of estimate Of the cross-spectral density be-
flow
tween• and•.
frequency realandimaginary
partsof•2, respectively
wave number without flow t time coordinate
wave number in direction of flow T total length of data record
wave number in opposite direction of flow TL • transmission loss
tube length incident wave particle velocity
mean flow Mach number reflected wave particle velocity
incident wave pressure total acoustic particle velocity
reflected wave pressure Fourier transform of total acoustic particle
total acoustic pressure . velocity at x= %
Fourier transform of total acoustic pres- mean flow velocity
sure at x = xj spatial coordinate
R complex pressure reflection coefficient position of first microphone
estimate of the resistive impedance position of second microphone
estimate of the auto-spectral density of • at estimate of the impedance
x=0 estimate of the power reflection coefficient
estimate of the auto-spectral density of •,at estimate of the phase angie at x = 0
x=0 wavelength
estimate of the cross-spectral density be- p air density
tween• and • at x = 0 estimate of the reactive impedance
estimate of the auto-spectral density of a(t) angular frequency

1362 J.Acoust.
Soc.Am.,Vol.61, No.5, May1977 Copyright
¸ 1977bytheAcoustical
Society
of America 1362
1363 A.F. Seybert an•l D. F. Ross:Two-microphonemethod for determining acousticproperties
INTRODUCTION
In many practical problems acoustic properties such
as normal acoustic resistance and reactance, normal
reflection, absorption and transmission coefficients,
and transmission loss cannot be determined analytical-
ly. Owing to complex geometry, the presence of -mean
flow, or other reasons, experimental techniques must
be used.
Several techniques have been used to determine the
normal incidence properties of acoustic systems. The,
most popularis the standing-wave-ratio(SWR)method
where a traversing microphone is used to determine the
location and magnitude of successive maxima and mini-
ma of the standing-wave pattern in a tube terminated by
the unknownsystem. From this information the normal
acousticimpedanceand reflection coefficiefitcanbe de-
duced. The technique can be time consuming since the
traversing mechanism is usually operated manually and
discrete frequency excitation is used. It is recom-
mended1 that the tube be at least onewavelengthlong,
which is somewhat unwieldy at low frequencies. It is
also suggested that the results be corrected for dissipa-
tion2 if higher accuracyis desired. Errors can also
occur if the location of the first minimum is not known
to a high degree of accuracy. In addition, it may not be
possible to use a traversing microphone if the system
under study has a small diameter. - acoustic drivers with a wide frequency range are usual-
Gatley3 consideredthe use of a pulseor transient
method with a wall-mounted microphone but concluded
the technique had the disadvantage of requiring a long
tube length, which is inconvenient and results in signifi-
cant dissipation. The method discussed by Gatley is
also somewhat laborious since it is a discrete frequency
approach. He used a gated sine wave to excite the sys-
tem, where the duration of the sine-wave excitation was
long enough to reach steady state, but short enough to
separate in time the incident and reflected waves.
Recently,SchmidtandJ.ohnston
4 useda discrete-fre-
quency technique, to evaluate orifices, employing two
wall-mounted microphones at different upstream posi-
tions along a tube (note: this should not be confused with
the so-called "two-microphone method" used to mea-
sure the impedance of porous resonant expansion cham-
bersS). By measuringthe pressureamplitudesat the two
points in the tube, as well as the phase shift between the
points, they deduced the reflection coefficient of the
sample. Their method did not include the determina-
tion of reactive andresistive impedance,but a third
microphone located downstream of the orifice was used
to measure the transmitted wave amplitude from which
they computed transmission coefficients.
SinghandKatra6 havedevelopedan acousticimpulse
method to determine the properties'of small filters used
on refrigeration compressors. They used a wall-
mounted microphone located midway along a tube con-
necting an acoustic driver to the system being tested.
The excitation was provided by a rectangular pulse of
very short duration supplied to the acoustic driver. A and i0r, respectively.
short duration pulse in conjunction with a long tube al-
lowed separation of the incident and reflected pulses in
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977
1363
the time domain. They repeated the experiment about
100 times to obtain ensemble-averaged time domain
signals for the incident and reflected pulses. Ensemble
averaging in the time domain removed random pressure
oscillations (such as from flow) from the incident and
reflected pulses. They also used a second microphone
downstream of the system to measure the transmitted
pulse for use in computing transmission loss.
Since they performed ensemble averaging in the time
domain, the pulse exciting the system had to be very re-
peatable from sample to sample and accurate synchron-
ization between the samples was crucial. They found it
necessary to construct the pulses digitally to satisfy
these demands, where a digital-to-analog converter was
used to generate the corresponding voltage signal sup-
plied to the acoustic driver. An additional constraint
involved the selection of the tube length and pulse dura-
tion. The tube must be long enough to allow time domain
separaiionof the incidentand reflected pulseswithout
introducing excessive dissipative losses, a problem also
encountered by Gatley.
One of the problems in using impulse testing with
acoustic systems is the difficulty in producing an acous-
tic pulse which has sufficient energy at high frequencies
to providean acceptablesignal-to-noiseratio between
the pulse and flow and/or backgroundnoise. Even
ly underdamped, resulting in long transients even when
the excitation approaches a true impulse. A better
source of pulse excitation for acoustic systems is the
electric spark; however, it may not be sufficiently re-
peatable for the impulse method of Singh and Katra.
The remainder of this paper will discuss a method us-
ing two upstream microphones, similar to Ref. 4, where
here the excitation is band-limited white noise. Theory
is developedrelating to the auto- and cross-spectral den-
sities of the incident and reflected waves to the auto-
and cross-spectral densities of the two measurement
points. The acoustic impedance and absorption coeffi-
cient are expressed in terms of the auto- and cross-
spectral densities of the incident and reflected waves,
analogous tothe case of discrete harmonic excitation.
The effect of mean flow is included in the theory. A
third microphone (downstream) is used to compute
transmission loss, usually the most important param-
eter in evaluating acoustic filters.
I. DESCRIPTION OF TECHNIQUE
Figure 1 is a diagram showing a rigid tube excited by
a randomly vibrating piston, or other acoustic source,
and terminated by an acoustic system with unknown im-
pedanceZn(f) and unknownreflection coefficient (xn(f).
Mean flow is included where v is the velocity of the
fluid. Also, the piston vibration is assumed to be sta-
tionary with time. The origin of the coordinate system
is at the termination of the tube and xt and x2 are the
distances to two pressure measurement points. The in-
cident and reflected pressure waves are denotedby p{
In a narrow bandwidth Be, centered at frequency f,
 1364 A.F. Seybert
andD. F. Ross:
Two-microphone
method
for determining
acoustic
properties 1364

_...
• v • •i(x,
t) • Zn(f)
--•
• FIG. 1. Tube with unknown termination
impedanceZn(f) excited by randomly vi-
-- •r(X,t)•/ brating piston.

i-andommotion can be regarded as harmonic motion of The impedance Z,(f) can be regarded as a linear
frequency f with a randomly varying amplitude. For system that relates the total pressure and velocity at
plane-wave propagation the incident and reflected waves x= 0, represented by the block diagram in Fig. 2.
are given by From linear theory?it canbe shownthat Z,(f) is esti-
mated by
•,(x, t) =•(t)e'½•t'•x),
•r(x,t)=•(t)e•(•f*•x), •.(f ): •,(f )/•.f ), (4)
where where S•(f) is an estimate of the cross-spectral den-
sity between the pressure and particle velocity at x = 0
co=2•r/, and•..(f) is anestimate
oftheauto-spectral
density
of
the particle velocity at x = 0. These spectra A•e esti-
/•: w/co=acousticwavenumber,
mated by
co= speed of propagation,
and •(t) and b(t) are stationary random variables. The
randomamplitudes•(t) and$(t) are not functionsof dis-
rance x since the system is nondispersive; therefore,
The auto-spectraof the pressureat • = O, S•(f), is
the wave shape does not change during propagation. estimated by
The influence of flow can be included by noting that
co: c + v for wave motion with flow,
InEqs.(5a),(5b),•d (5c),•o(4 T)•d •0(f,T)arethe
co:c- v for wave motion against flow, finite Fourier tr•sforms of the pressure andparticle
velocity time series at • = 0, respectively,
where c is the speed of propagation with zero flow. For
flow in the + x direction, the incident and reflected wave
numbers are given by Po(Z•:? •(0,t)e"•'dt, (6a)

c+v I+M '

- •:• 1•••(0,t)e'•tdt,
Uo(f, (6b)
where T is the record length of the time series •d the
kr c-v 1-M ' asterisk denotes complex conjugate.
whereM =v/c is the Math number. Consequently,
the
incident and reflected waves are
+
•(x, t) =•(t)e•½•f-•
•), (la)
•,(x,t)=g(t)ei(•,•). (Zb) o(f,
where•, T) and•(f, T) are thefinite Fouriertrans-
At x= 0 the total pressure and particle velocity are
forms of •(t) •d b(t), respectively.
•(0, t)=[•(t)+•(t)]e•, (2) SubstitutingEqs. (7a) •d (•) into the spectral den-
•(0, t)=•,(0, t)+•,(0, t), sities[Eqs. (5a), (5b), •d (5c)]yields
where•i(x, t) and•r(x, t) are theparticlevelocitiesof
the incident and reflected waves, respectively. Since
•,(x, t)=•,(x, t)/pc, •,(x, t)=-•,(x, t)/pc, _•(o,t)
then

- ei•t
•(0,t)
I
Oo(f) Zn(f) -•o(f)
•(0, t) =[•(t) - b(t)] pc . (3) FIG. 2. Block diagram showingrelationshipbetweenacoustic
impedance,pressure, and particle velocity. '

J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

1365 A.F. Seybert and D. F. Ross: Two-microphonemethod for determiningacousticproperties 1365

(Sa) spectral
density.Thequantities
•(f, T)and•(f, T)are
the finite Fourier transforms of the pressure time series
at points 1 and 2. By taking the Fourier transform of
(8c) Eqs. (11) and combiningwith Eqs. (12), the following
relationships are developed:
•(f) and}ss(f) aretheauto-spectral
densities
ofthe
incident
andreflectedwaves,respectively;
•,•s(f) and •::(f)=}•(f) +}ss(f)+2[&,•s
(f) cos(kt
+kr)x:
•,•s(f) aretherealandimaginary componentsofthe +•s(f)sin(k• +kr)xz], (13a)
cross-spectraldensity
•,•s(f) between
theincident
and
reflected waves: •=z(f)=• (f) +}ss(f)+2[•s(f) cos(k,
+kr)x=
•As(f)=•As(f) +i0•s(f). +Q•s(f) sin(ki+kr)xz], (lab)
Consequently,
the acousticimpedance
[Eq. (4)] is ex- Cre(f) = S• (f) eosk•(xt - x=)+ Ssseoskr(xt - x=)
pressed by +&•s(f)[eos(krx
t +k•xz)+eos(k•x
t +krxz)]
+•s(f•sin(krx1+kixz)
+sin(k{x
1+krx=)], (13e)
pc - },•(f) +•ss(f) - 2(•,•(f)
Qlz(f) = - S• sinkt(x1- x=)+ Sss(f ) sinkr(xl -
or
+C•s(f)[-sin(k•xt +krx=)+sin(krx
t +k{x=)]
/•.
(f) •;,•A(f)- }•(f)
pc -•AA(f)+•s(f)- 2•,•s(f) '
(9a) +•s(f)[eos(k•x
t +krxz)
- eos(krx
t +k•xz)].(13d)
x.(f) - 2Q,•s(f) If the quantitiesSn, Szz
, C=, •d Q= are estimated
, (Ob)
pc - from measuredtime records, the aboveequationse•
be solved for the •knowns S•(f), Szs(f), C•s(f), •d
where R.(f) and;{.(f) are the resistive and reactive im- Q•(f) from which the acoustic impeduce •d power
pedance, respectively. Also, the power reflection co- reflection coefficient can be determined us•g Eqs. (9a),
efficient •.(f) can be estimatedby (ab), =d (t0a).
For the ease with no me• flow, Eqs. (13) reduce to
•.(f ) =•ss(f )/•.•,•(f ). (10a)
Equations (9a), (9b), and (10a) are analogousto expres-
sions for impedance and power reflection coefficient
(14a)
developedby assuming harmonic excitatio•n. In the
above equations the quantities SA•(f ) and S•s(f) repre-
sent the mean-square value of the incident and reflected
(14b)
pressures in a narrow frequencyband. The phase-shift
between the incident and reflected waves is expressed
in thecrosszspectral
densitySA•(f). Specifically,
the (14c)
phase shift 8 is
(14d)
•(f) =tan'{•,•(f)/•(f)]. (10b)
The total pressure at two points xt and x,. in the tube If a third microphone is located downstream of the
is
systemunder•study,thespectraldensityof thetrans-
•(x:,t)=•,(xi,t)+•,(xiit) mitted wave, S½½(f),can be measured directly, provid-
ing an anechoic termination is used:
=[}(t)e"kixt
+•(t)e'•r•]et•' , (11a)
}½½(f)=
(1/T){•½(f,T)P•e
(f, T)}, (15)
•(xe,t)=[a(t)e-•k•e
+•(t)e'•,Xe]e
•. (11b) where Pc(f, T) is the finite Fourier transform of the
downstream microphone signal. The transmission loss
The auto- and cross-spectral densities of these two
(TL) is then given by
pressures are estimated by
TL=10log:0[
},•,•(f)/•½c(f)]. (16)
•;n(f)=(1/T){•x(f,T)• (f, •}, (12a)
},,(f)=(1/•{•=(f, •(f, •}, (12b) II. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

•=(f) =• =(f) +i•t=(f) Figure 3 is a schematic showing the experimental ap-

n(f, n}, paratus used to evaluate the three test cases. A steel
tubeof nominalinsidediameterof 1• in. (48 mm)was
where
}n(f) •d }==(f)areestimates
ofthearno-spec- used for the tests, so that the plane-wave region ex-
tral densities of the pressure at points 1 •d 2 •d tended to 4200 Hz. An acoustic driver was mounted at
S=(f) is • estimate of the cross-spectral densitybe- one end of the tube, and the acoustic system under study
tween
thepressures
at points1 •d 2; •=(f) •d •=(f) w.as mounted at the other end. A random noise genera-
are the real •d imaginary components of the cross- tor provided excitation through an amplifier to the acous-

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

1366 A.F. Seybertand D. F. Ross:Two-microphonemethodfor determiningacousticproperties 1366

total time record T into n segments of equal length T,

IMICROPHONE
AMP.ANALOG TO MINI- and average individual estimates of the spectrum for
DIGITAL
COMPUTER each of these segments. Smoothing in this manner re-
•MICROPHONE
AMP.
CONVERTER ducesthe randomerror to 1/•/-• (e.g., for n =400 the
random error would be 5%), and the spectral bandwidth

•i/•ROPHONES
is x/r,.

_•ACOUSTIC
DRIVER SYSTEM
UNDER
STUDY--•
AMPLIFIER
ILOW-PASS
FILTER
I RANDOM
NOISE GENERATOR
FIG. 3. Experimental set-up used in determination of imped-
ance and power reflection coefficient using the t•vo-microphone
random-excitation method.
tic driver. A low-pass filter was used to attenuate the
high-frequency portion of the input signal to prevent
aliasing of the sampled data. It should be noted that the
shape of the input spectrum is arbitrary providing there
is sufficient energy throughout the frequency range of
interest to guarantee an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio
I .
in the sound field of the tube. Flush-mounted i-in.
microphones were used to measure the sound pressure
at two points in the tube. The microphone signals were
conditioned by microphone amplifiers, digitized by an
analog-to-digital converter, and stored in minicomputer
memory for processing. For evaluating the muffler
test case (see Sec. V) an anechoic termination was at-
tached to the downstream end of the muffler and a third
microphone was flush-mounted just downstream of the
muffler exit. The two upstream microphones must be
sampled simultaneously for computation of the cross-
spectral
density
•(/), butthedownstream
microphone
can be sampled independently. Consequently, one of the
upstream microphones can be used downstream and only
t•vo microphone systems are needed.
The location of the upstream microphones is not criti-
cal, within certain limitations. The microphones
should be located as close to the unknown system as
possible so that dissipative losses in the tube are mini-
mized. The microphone spacing should be as small as
possible for the same reason. However, each micro-
phone is assumed to measure the sound pressure at a
point in the tube, so that for very close microphone
spacingthe effective spacing(x•- xl) is difficult to esti-
mate, particularly for large-diameter microphones.
Therefore, the microphone spacing should be much
larger than the diameter of the microphones used so that
the effective microphone spacing can be assumed to be
the distance bet•veen the microphone center lines.
III. STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Since the sound field varies randomly with time, the
estimates of the microphone auto- and cross-spectra
also will be random variables. It should be mentioned
that the spectral.estimates[Eqs. (1.2)]are inconsistent
and some form of smoothing must be done to reduce the
random error to an acceptable level. One method of re-
ducing the random error of a spectrum is to divide the
One is tempted to make T, as small as possible so
that n is very large for a given length of total time T,
thereby reducing the random error to a very small val-
ue. However, this leads to a biasing of the spectrum in
which spectral peaks are not resolved because the band-
width is too wide. Consequently, the bandwidth (and
therefore T,) should be determined from a knowledge of
the frequency resolution needed for the particular quan-
tity being analyzed. This is best done experimentally
by trying progressively larger bandwidths until the fre-
quency resolution is insufficient to separate adjacent
spectral peaks (note, even if the input excitation is white
noise, the sound spectra may be frequency dependent
because, in general, the acoustic system will be re-
active).
In evaluating the three test cases a bandwidth of 20
Hz was found sufficient to resolve the sound-pressure
spectra. The random error was made accep.table by
averaging n= 150 individual spectra.
IV. CALIBRATION
In the linear range the acoustic properties are inde-
pendent of the sound intensity in the tube; hence absolute
calibration of the microphones is unnecessary. How-
ever, since there may be differences between the mi-
crophone and amplifier systems, a relative calibration
is needed.
Sincethecross-spectral
density
•l•.(f) is needed
for
the solution of Eqs. (14), a phase calibration as well
as a gain calibration is necessary.
To calibrate, the microphones were flush-mounted in
a rigid circular plate attached to the end of the tube.
Ideally, in this configuration both microphones would
measure the same pressure amplitude with zero phase
shift. Differences in microphone sensitivity and phase,
as well as gain and phase differences between the mi-
crophoneamplifiers, can thus be measured. The easiest
method is to determine a transfer function, or frequency
response, between the two microphones with the air in
the tube excited by random noise. An estimate of the
frequencyresponseH•.e(f) is obtainedby7
=
where $n{f} is a smoothedestimate of the auto-spectral
density
ofmicrophone
I and}xe{f}is a smoothed
esti-
mate of the cross-spectral density bet•veen microphones
1 and2. Since•[•.(/) is a complex
quantity,sois
•f•(/) andI•(/)1 is thegainbebveen
themicrophones.
Thephaseshift•l•.(/) between
themicrophones
is found
by
Im[• e(f)]
qb
•.e
(f) =tan'• •'
Re[•e(f)] '
where Im and Re refer to the imaginary and real parts

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

1367 A. F. Seybertand D. F. Ross:Two-microphone
methodfor determiningacousticproperties 1367

+10
I I I I I I

_ +100
ø

-10 0ø FIG. 4. Gain and phase shift between the

•12(f) two microphone/amplifiersystems.
. •12(f)
-100ø

I I I I I
0 1600 3200 4800

FREQUENCY
(HZ)

of•te(f), respectively.
Figure4 shows
thefrequency Assuming no losses, the resistive impedance is zero,
responsegain and phasebetweenthe two microphone/ the power reflection coefficient is unity, and the reactive
amplifier systems used in this study. impedance is given by
The microphone spectra for each of the test cases xn(f)/pc:- cot}œ,
were corrected using the microphone frequency re-
where L is the length of the tube. Figure 5 shows the
sponse calibration as follows:
experimentally determined values for the power reflec-
=[ tion coefficientandphaseangle[Eqs. (10)] for caseI.
Figure 6 shows the corresponding input impedance (re-
sistive and reactive) at the open end of the tube. There
is good agreement between theory and experiment at
(f): [ (f), most frequencies. Since some losses are present in the
where the subscript u refers to the uncorrected auto-
and cross-spectral densities of the microphones. Note,
since microphone 1 was selected (arbitrarily) as the
reference
microphone,
[•(f)]• doesnotneed
correcting.
z
t• 1.600 -

V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Three test cases with zero mean flow were used to o l.OOO-

verify the two-microphone random-excitation technique.

Two are classic test cases: a pipe of specified length o

with a rigid termination and a pipe of specified length

open to free space and unbaffled. The results for each
of these two caseswere comparedwith.theory, whichis
0.000
well developed and known to be accurate. A third and ß 1000. 1500. •000. •600.
more practical test case (a prototype automotive muf- FREQUENCY {HZ )

fler for which theory is not well developed) was also

investigated and results compared to data obtained using
the discrete frequency SWR method.

For the two classic test cases the following properties

were determined: power reflection coefficient, phase
angle between incident and reflected waves at the system
input point (x= 0), and resistive and reactive impedance.
For the muffler, transmission loss and power reflection
coefficien t were computed, since these are the quan-
tities of greatest importance in the design and selection
of muffler elements.

The first test case (case I) evaluated was a pipe of

length 4 in. (102 ram) with the same diameter as the
_,,o.o/ O. 500. 1000.
','
1500.
FREQUENCY (HZ)
,
EOO0. L•;00.
,
3000.

tube holding the microphones and with a rigid circular FIG. 5. Power reflection coefficient and phase angle for case
plate covering the end, approximating zero particle I. Solidline: theory/ open square, opentriangle: experi-
velocity at x-0. ment.

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

1368 A.F. Seybertand D. F. Ross:Two-microphone
methodfor determiningacousticproperties 1368

1.000 -
wavelength apart. At frequencies
1
corresponding to
microphone spacing of •nX, n=l, 2, ..., Eqs. (14)are
.$00 -
i•11conditioned.Specifically,Eq. (14a)demands
that
1

Q•(f) = 0 when (xl - •2) = •nX.

z

This problem is not a major shortcoming to the two-

a_ 0.000
microphone, random-excitation method since (1) the
critical frequencies at which discontinuities occur can
be predicted and (2)the problem can be minimized or
•-• -.500 -
even circumvented. If the impedance functions, the
reflection coefficient, and the transmission loss are
-1.000
not highly frequency dependent near the critical fre-
•1• i
,ooo. ,• ß ! o i
3000.
quencies, the data at the critical frequencies can be
FREQUENCY {HZ)
ignored, and a smooth curve fitted through the remain-
ing data. This is the case in Figs. 5 and 6 where, even
10.00 -
with no theoretical or intuitive knowledge of the system,
one can safely conclude that data at the critical fre-
5.00 -
quencies result from an irregularity in the experimental
bJ
O
method and are not due to the behavior of the system
Z
being evaluated. If one is doubtful, a second evaluation
o_ 0.00- can be made with a different microphone spacing, and
the new data used to supplement the initial data at the
critical frequencies.
It may be possible to increase the critical frequencies
above the frequency range of interest. The critical fre-
-lO.OO
quencies can be increased by placing the microphones
1ooo. 15oo. 8000. L>600. 30•3. very close together; but as mentioned earlier, the spac-
FREQUENCY [HZ)
ing should be much greater than the diameter of the
FIG. 6. Resistive and reactive impedance for case I. Solid
microphones.
line: theory; open square, open triangle: experiment.
The experimental results for case II, an open tube of
length 7.5 in. (191 ram), are shown in Figs. 7 and 8.
tube, the reflection coefficient and resistive impedance
are slightly different than the idealized values of unity
and zero assumed above. The large errors in the
1500-2000-Hz range and again near 3000 Hz in both the
resistive and reactive impedances are due to the in-
z
determinatecharacterof the impedancefunctions[Eqs.
(9)] at frequencieswhere the phase angle is small
(•Ar(f)= 0) for systemswith highreflectioncoefficient
[•A•(f)=•rs(f); also•s(f)••(f)]. Undersuchcon-
ditions any numerical or measurement errors are mag-
nified in the calculation of the impedance. This prob-
lem is due to the mathematical behavior of the function
used for calculating impedance and is not character-
istic of the two-microphone random-excitation technique. I i i i i i
Consider the impedance function for harmonic excitation: O. , 600. 1200. 1800.
FREQUENCY [HZ)
E•00. 3000. 3600.

Z n A2- B2 - i2AB sin8 180.0 -

pc-A 2+ B2 - 2AB cos8 '
where A and B are the incident and reflected wave am-
,-, 90.0-
plitudes and • is the phase angie between the incident
and reflected waves at x: 0. This equation is directly
analogousto the impedance function developed for ran-
dom excitation and will also be indeterminate when an z

- 1 and •-• 0. It can be shown that in the limit as •-• 0

ß

the impedanceis infinite whena n--1. s

In Figs. 5 and 6 there are sharp discontinuities in the
experimental data near 1350 and 2700 Hz which are not -18• .0
due to the reasons cited above. These discontinuities O. 800. 1800• 1800. Sq.00. 3000. 3{•30.
FREQUENCY (HZ)
are due to the relationship between the microphone
spacing and the wavelength at these frequencies. At FIG. 7. Power reflection coefficient and phase angle for case
1350 Hz the microphones are spaced exactly one-half II. Solid line: theory; open square, open triangle: experiment.

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

 1369 A.F. Seybert
andD. F. Ross:Two-microphone
methodfor determining
acoustic
properties 1369

The final test case examined was a prototype auto-

motive muffler. The muffler was basically an expan-
sion chamber with a perforated tube connecting the inlet
and outlet openings. The modeling of such muffler sys-
tems is not developed well enoughto make a meaningful
comparison of theoretical results with experimental
results obtained by the two-microphone random-excita-
tion technique. However, the reflection coefficient was
measured using the discrete frequency SWR method.
A microphone at the muffler outlet measured the
0000 i • • • • • I
downstream soundpressure which was used to compute
0. 600. IE00. 1800.
FREQUENCY [HZ]
E•0 ß 3000. 3600. the discrete frequency transmission loss. The muffler
_

was also evaluated using the two-microphone random-

10.00 -
excitation method with a downstream microphone used
to measure the spectral density of the transmitted wave,
•½½(f),
fromwhichthetransmission
losswascomputed,
Eq. (16). Figure 9 is a comparisonof the two experi-
mental methods in estimating reflection coefficient and
transmission loss for the muffler test case.
• 0.00 In Fig. 9 (reflection coefficient) the data in the 1200-
1800 Hz range appear scattered, but upon closer examina-
• -6.00- tion one can see that the two methods are in very close
agreement. Some of the data in the 1350- and 2700-Hz
regions have been deleted from the transmission loss
-1o,oo plot for clarity.
O, •0, 1•, I
1800, I 31•0 1
FREQUENCY [ HZ
Apart from the data in the 1350- and 2700-Hz ranges
FIG. 8. Resistive and reactive impedance for case II, Solid agreement is very good considering the fact that the
line: theory; open square, open triangle: experiment.

1.000 -

The theoretical curves in these figures were obtained

from Refs. 9-11. Specifically, the input impedance to
the tube (assumingno losses)is givenbyll
Zin i sinkL+Zr coskL
pc iZ,. sinkL + coskL ' • .500-
where L is the length of the tube and Z, is the radiation
impedance determined by
I+R
Z,.-l_ R , 0.000

where R is the complex pressure reflection coefficient.

Values of R as a functionof leaare foundin Ref. 9,
where a is the tube radius. The power reflection co-
efficientis simply [R [•'andthe phaseangleis the phase :•0 .OO -

angle associatedwith R. 9 Agreementbetweentheory

and experiment is seen to be quite good in Figs. 7 and 8
verifying the experimental technique and, at the same
time, confirming the accuracy of the theory. The dis-
crepancies noted in Figs. 7 and 8 are similar to those
z lO.Oo,
witnessed by other researchers investigating radiation
from opentubes.4'• However,as mentionedpreviously,
the errors in the data near 1350 and 2700 Hz are due to z
• o.•-
the microphone spacing rather than a breakdown of the
theory. Some of the data in these frequency ranges
have been omitted to reduce the scale of the plots. The -1o.oo -
O. 600. I:L•OG
ß I . L•tO0. :•000 ß 0.
slight shifting between the theoretical and experimental FREQUENCY (HZ)
data in Fig. 8 at high frequency was found to be due to FIG. 9. Refleotion ooeffioient and •ansmission loss œor •e
having only an "approximate" value of the speed of prototype automotive muffler. Filled circle: SWR method;
sound. At high frequenciesan error of 1%in the speed open square, plus sign: two-microphone random-excitation
of sound shifted the data as much as 50 Hz. method.

J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977

1370 A.F. Seybertand D. F. Ross:Two-microphone
methodfor determining
data from the SWR method had to be corrected by probe-
tube calibration data. This calibration was a least-
squares fit of a curve through discrete frequency cali-
bration data and the calibration curve had an error
approximately ñ 1 dB (note that the SWR transmission
loss data are negative around 300 Hz).
Vl. CONCLUSIONS
The two-microphone random-excitation technique has
been shown to be an accurate and reliable method
the determination of normal acoustic properties.
The two-microphone random-excitation technique
offers several advantages not found in other measure-
ment techniques. The normal acoustic properties of
the test cases were computed with only about 7 sec of
continuous sampled data, making possible rapid evalua-
tion of samples of porous materials or prototype acous-
tic filters. This is a considerable savings of time and
labor as compared to the standard SWR method using
microphone traversing and discrete frequency excita-
tion. The two-microphone random-excitation technique
replaces human time and labor with computer process-
ing, an economical trade-off considering the current
trends in which labor costs are increasing while com-
puter costs are decreasing.
The use of random excitation permits the evaluation
of properties at all frequencies from a single sample
of data. In addition to speeding the evaluation of acous-
tic properties, the use of random excitation allows bet-
ter frequency resolution, necessary for the evaluation
of acoustic filters with acoustic properties that are high-
ly frequency dependent. Although any bandwidth may
be used, consideration must be given to the random and
bias errors and the total amount of data to be sampled.
The two-microphone random-excitation technique does
not require the design, construction, and calibration of
a complicated probe microphone and traversing system.
However, any difference in the gains or phase shift of
the two microphone/amplifier systemsmust be known
and the measured spectra corrected accordingly. This
information is usually known from manufacturers' spec-
ifications, but it is recommended that a calibration test
be performed such as described above.
The two-microphone random-excitation method is
potentially useful for evaluating acoustic properties at
low frequency, where previous methods require long
tubes necessitating correction of the results for dissi-
pation effects. This can be seen from Fig. 8, where
low-frequency data were included. (Test case II was
J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 61, No. 5, May 1977
acousticproperties 1370
evaluated in an anechoic chamber where background
noise at low frequency was minimized. )
If necessary, the microphones can be placed far
of
enough from the system under test to minimize any near-
field or higher-mode effects, a problem in measuring
source impedances.
It remains to evaluate the two-microphone random-
excitation technique in the presence of mean flow. Also
useful would be an analysis of the statistical errors in
for
computing the acoustic properties from the theory
developed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank their colleague Joseph
W. Sullivan for his helpful comments and for supplying
the standing wave ratio data used in the study.
* This work performed while the authors were affiliated with
the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, School of Mechanical En-
gineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906,
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the Per-
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