I

N A S A C O N T R A C T O R
z
REPORT E

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e
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w
KIRYLAND AFB, N.M;
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U
I

TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATING

THE SOUND ABSORPTION OF
MATERIALS AT HIGH INTENSITIES

by John G. Powell dnd John J. Vdn Houten

Prepared by
LTV RESEARCHCENTER,WESTERN DIVISION
LING-TEMCO-VOUGHT,INC.
Anaheim, Calif. 9 2 8 0 3
for Langley Research Center

N A T I O N A AL E R O N A U T I C AS N DS P A C AE D M I N I S T R A T I O N W A S H I N G T O N , D. C. J A N U A R Y 1971
 r

3. Recipient's Catalog No.

5. Report Date
TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATDTG THE SOUND ABSORPTION OF MATERIALS AT HIGH I January 1971
INTENSITIES 6 . Performing Organization Code

"" ~~~ ~
~~ . ~ _ ~~ ~

7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No.

John G . Powell and John J. Van Houten N/A
10. Work Unit No,
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
LTV Research Center
Western Division 11. Contract or Grant No.
1859 South Manchester Avenue NAS1-8763
Anaheim, C a l i f o r n i a 92803
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
12. Sponsoring AgencyName and Address
Contractor Report
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 14. Sponsoring AgencyCode
Washington, D.C. 20546

"" ~ "" . -~
16. Abstract
Two uniquemethods applicable to evaluation of the soundabsorptioncharacteristics of

m a t e r i a l sh a v eb e e ni n v e s t i g a t e d . The e f f o r tc o n c e n t r a t e d on methods s u i t a b l e f o r e v a l u a t i n g

m a t e r i a l su n d e rc o n s i d e r a t i o nf o r sound r e d u c t i o nt r e a t m e n ti nj e te n g i n en a c e l l e s .S i n c e many

soundabsorbingmaterials become non-linear at t h e sound i n t e n s i t i e s e n c o u n t e r e d i n t h e i n t a k e

and fan exhaust ducts, a need e x i s t s f o r a convenient method of t e s t i n g a t t h e s e i n t e n s i t i e s i n

t h el a b o r a t o r y . B o t ht e c h n i q u e se v a l u a t e dd u r i n gt h i ss t u d ya r ec a p a b l e of f u l f i l l i n g t h i s

requirement. The methods i n v e s t i g a t e di n v o l v e a tone-bursttechniqueand a shock-tubeprocedure.

L" .- ~
~ ~" . .
17. Key Words(Suggested by Author(s)) 18. Distribution Statement
Un
Sound
c l a s s iafbi es d
orption - Unlimited

I Shock tube I
I
-~
Tone-burst
"" - .. ~~
I
I
19. Security Classif. (of this 21. No. ofPrice'
Pages 22.
lassified Unclassified 77 $5 .oo
.~ - ~~~ I
.

For sale by the National Technical InformationService, Springfield, Virginia 22151

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TABLE O F CONTENTS

SUMMARY ......................... 1

INTRODUCTION ....................... 3

IMPEDANCE
TUBE
MEASUREMENTS ............... 6

TONE-BURSTTUBEMEASUREMENTS
General- D e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e T e c h n i q u e . . . . . . . . . . 8
T h e o r e t i cCa ol n s i d e r a t i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
D e f i n i t i o n o f Peak P r e s s u r e L e v e l . . . . . . . . . . . 17
E x p e r i n e n t a l. Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A p p l . i c a t . i o n o f the Techniquc . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

SI-IOCK TUBE MEASURF:EIEL<?I?S

G e n e r aDl e s c r i p t i o n of t h e T e c 1 m i q u . e ......... 44
T h e o r e t iCc oa ln s i d e ~ : a t i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
A p l > l i . c a t i o n of thc l ' e c h n i q u e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

CC3iq CI;US IOPJ S

T o n e . . E u r s t 'I'ube Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Shock T u b e T e c h n i q u e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

REFERENCES ........................ 74

...
1 1. 3.

. " . . ~ ." . . . . . . . .. " ..... " . . . . . . . . . . . .

 TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATING THE SOUND
ABSORPTION O F MATERIALS AT HIGH. INTENSITIES

By John G. PowellandJohn J. Van Houten

LTV Research Center,WesternDivision

Ling-Temco-Vought, Inc.

SUMMARY

Two unique methods applicable t o evaluationof t h e sound

absorption characteristics of materials have been investigated.
The e f f o r t c o n c e n t r a t e d onmethods suitableforevaluating
m a t e r i a l s u n d e rc o n s i d e r a t i o nf o rs o u n dr e d u c t i . o nt r e a t m e n t
i n j e t e n g i n en a c e l l e s .S i n c e many s o u n da b s o r b i n gm a t e r i a l s
become n o n - l i n e a r at t h e sound i n t e n s i t i e s e n c o u n t e r e d i n the
i n t a k ea n df a ne x h a u s td u c t s , a need e x i s t s f o r a convenient
method of t e s t i n g a t these i n t e n s i t i e s i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y .
Both t e c h n i q u e s e v a l u a t e d d u r i n g t h i s s t u d y a r e c a p a b l eo f
f u l f i l l i n gt h i sr e q u i r e m e n t . The methods i n v e s t i g a t e di n v o l v e
a tone-burs t t e c h n i q u e a n d a shock-tube procedure.

A tone-bursttechniquehasbecnsuccessfully ernployed t o
e v a l u a t ev a r i o u st y p e so fm a t e r i a l s from 500 Hz t o 10,000 H z .
T h i s t e c h n i q u ep r o v i d e ss o u n dp r e s s u r el e v e l ss i g n i f i c a n t l y
higherthan may be a c h i e v e d b y u s e o f t h e impedancetube method
of absorption measurement.

Inthistechnique, a n a r r o wb a n d w i d t ht o n eb u r s t is propagated
downa tubewhich is tesmj.nat.ec1 f i r s t w i t h a r i g i d s u r f a c e ,
t h e n with a s a q p l e of t h e a b s o r p t i v em a t e r i a l . A wall-mounted

1
microphone i s u s e d t o m e a s u r e t h e p u l s e a m p l i t u d e b e f o r e a n d
a f t e rt e f l e c t i o n from t h e t u b e t e r m i n a t i o n .T h i sd a t a is then
u s e dt od e t e r m i n et h en o r m a li n c i d e n c ea h s o r p t i o nc o e f f i c i e n t .

Spectraldata is obtained with this method b y f i l t e r i n g a

s i n u s o i d a lt o n eb u r s t . The passhand o f t h eo n e - t h i r do c t a v e
filtercoincides closely w i t h t h e c e n t r a l l o b e o f t h ef r e q u e n c y
spectru-mof a t o n eb u r s to fe i g h t - c y c l ed u r a t i o n .T h e r e f o r e ,
thefilteredtoneburst i s a n a r r o w - b a n dp u l s e ,t h ep u l s e
width i n t h i s c a s e b e i n g o n e - t h i r d o c t a v e .

Several methods of u s i n g t h e s h o c k t u b e t o p e r f o r m h i g h - i n t e n s i t y
a b s o r p t i o nm e a s u r e m e n t sw e r ei n v e s t i g a t e d . The mostpromising
involvesthegeneration of a shock wave p r o d u c e d b y r u p t u r i n g
a diaphragmin a shocktubeandtheexpansion o f ' t h e vmve
t h r o u g ha ne x p o n e n t i a la r e at r a n s f o r m a t i o n .T h i s weakens t h e
s h o c ks t r e n g t h ,t h e r e b yc i r c u m v e n t i n gp r o b l e m sa s s o c i a t e dw i t h
thelargepressure jump encountered i n thenormalshocktube.
The a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t o f a sample o f m a t e r i a l p l a c e d in
t h e end of t h e t u b e i s determinedbycomparing t h e r a t i o of t h e
reflectedtoincidentpressure jump w i t h t h e r a t i o measured f o r
a r i g i d endtermination.

2
 INTRODUCTION

Sound p r e s s u r e l e v e l s i n t h e i n l e t d u c t o f c o m m e r c i a l f a n
j e t a i r c r a f tc a ne a s i l ye x c e e d1 7 0 dB ( r e f . 1 ) . I t h a sb e e n
shown b o t ht h e o r e t i c a l l y( r e f . 2 ) a n de x p e r i m e n t a l l y( r e f s .
3 and 4 ) t h a t t h e s o u n da b s o r p t i o nc h a r a c t e r i s t i c so f
materialsunderconsideration €or t r e a t i n g t h e s e f a n d u c t s
become n o n - l i n e a r a t sound l e v e l s s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e l o w t h i s
l e v e l .T h e r e f o r e , a need e x i s t s€ o r a c o n v e n i e n tl a b o r a t o r y
m e t h o do fe v a l u a t i n gt h e s em a t e r i a l sa th i g hs o u n dl e v e l s ,
and i t i s toward t h i s end t h a t t h i s programhasbeendirected.

One ofthemost conlmon d u c t l i n i n g c o n c e p t s c u r r e n t l y u n d e r

consideration for usein j e t e n g i n e sc o n s i s t so f a thinsheet
of a b s o r b i n g m a t e r i a l s u p p o r t e d b y a honeycomb skruc.ture,which
i s backedbyanimpervioussheetof aluminum.The absorbing
m a t e r i a l i s most commonlya f e l t e d o r woven m e t a l c l o t h , o r
f i b e r g l a s sr e i n f o r c e d epoxy o r p o l y i m i d , o r o t h e r s i m i l a r
materialT
. h i ss t r u c t u r ef o r m s a resonana
t bsorber on t h e
o r d e ro fo n ei n c ht h l c k . The a b s o r b e rt y p i c a l l y becomesnon--
linear at sound p r e s s u r e l e v e l s o f from 1 2 0 d B t o 1 6 0 dB,
dependingprimartly upon t h e a b s o r b i n g m a t e r i a l a n d f r e q u e n c y .

Themost commonly usedmethod o € evalvatingtheseabsorbers

i nt h el a b o r a t o r y i s t h e impedancetube in c o n j u n c t i o nw i t h
flowresistancemeasurements. A f l o wd u c ti n t e r c o n n e c t i n g
two r e v e r b e r a t i o nc h a m b e r sh a sb e e nu s e d( r e f . 5) t o
p e r f o r mf u I . l . - s c a l em e a s u r e m e n t si nt h ep r e s e ~ i c e of flow.
These methocis,however, a r en o tg e n e r a l l yc a p a b l e of
r e p r o d u c i n gt h eh i g hs o u n dp r e s s u r el e v e l se n c o u n t e r e di n
t h ef a nd u c t i n g ,a n dh e n c ed on o tr e v e a lt h en o n - l i n e a r
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h ea b s o r b e r .

I I
Two methodswhich a r e c a p a b l e of m e a s u r i n g t h e s o u n d
a b s o r p t i o n of d u c t l i n i n g s a m p l e s a t t h e h i g h s o u n d
intensities desired w e r e studiedduringthisprogram.
One of t h e s e i s 2 t o n e - b u r s tt e c h n i q u e ,a n dt h eo t h e r
u t i l i z e s a s h o c kt u b e .I nt h et o n e - b u r s tt e c h n i q u e , a
n a r r o wb a n d w i d t ht o n eb u r s t i s r e f l e c t e d from thesample,
a n dt h ea b s o r p t i o nc o e f f i c i e n t i s determinedfromthe
r e d u c t i o ni na m p l i t u d eo ft h i s pulse. The u s e o f a t o n e
b u r s th a ss e v e r a la d v a n t a g e s ,t h eo n e most p e r t i n e n t t o
thisapplicationbeingthattherated power h a n d l i n g
c a p a b i l i t yo ft h ee l e c t r o a c o u s t i cs o u n ds o u r c ec a n be
exceededby a f a c t o ro ft e n .F o re x a m p l e ,l o u d s p e a k e r s
r a t e d a t 40 w a t t s h a v e b e e n d r i v e n w i t h t o n e b u r s t s of
600 w a t t sp e a kw i t h o u t damage t o t h e u n i t s . The maximum
s o u n dp r e s s u r ec a p a b i l i t y i s t h u si n c r e a s e ds i g n i f i c a n t l y .
Commerciallyavailableequipmentwasusedthroughoutthis
p r o g r a m ;c o n s i d e r a b l yh i g h e rl e v e l sc o u l d be e x p e c t e d f o r
m o d i f i e do rs p e c i a l l yd e s i g n e de q u i p m e n t .

The o t h e r method,which u t i l i z e s a shocktube,produced

p r e s s u r e st h a t w e r e t o oh i g h ,r e s u I . t i n gi nd a t a so f a r i n
t h en o n - l i n e a rr e g i o nt h a tt h e r e s u 1 . t ~ c o v l dn o t be
reconcilcdwithimpedancetube o r t o n e - b u r s td a t a . However,
a t e c h n j . q u ef o re x p a n d i n gt h e shock f r o n t ,t h e r e b yw e a k e n i n g
i t , was c o n s i d e r e db r i e f l y .T h i sa p p r o a c h shows c o n s i d e r a b l e
promise, h u t f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n s a l o n g t h i s I . i n e would
h a v eb e e nb e y o n dt h es c o p eo ft h ec u r r e n ts t v d y .

Thesemethods a r e d e s c r i b e di nt h i sr e p o r t ,w h i c h is
broken dowil i n t os e v e r a l main s c c t . i o n s .F i . r s t ,t h e impedance
tubeused a s a standarciforcomparison i s brieflydescribed.

4
The n e x t two s e c t i o n s d e s c r i b e t h e t o n e - b u r s t t u b a a n d
shock t u b e t e c h n i q u e s .B o t hs e c t i o n sb e g i nw i t h a
g e n e r a ld e s c r i p t i o n o f t h et e c h n i q u e ,f o l l o w e db y a
t h e o r e t i c a ld i s c u s s i o n . The s e c t i o n on t h et o n e - b u r s t
t u b et h e nd e s c r i b e ss o x ee x p e r i m e n t a ld e t a i l s ,a n db o t h
sectionsconcludewithexamplesofabsorptiondata
g a t h e r e d by t h er e s p e c t i v et e c h n i q u e s .C o n c l u s i o n sa r e
p r e s e n t e di nt h ef i n a ls e c t i o n .
I

TONE-BURST TUBE MEASUREMENTS

G e n e r a lD e s c r i p t i o n of t h e Technj-que

I n t h i se x p e r i m e n t ,a ne l e c t r o d y n a m i cd r i v e ri sa t t a c h e d
t o one end of a t u b e and. a- s a m p l e h o l d e r t o t h e o t h e r .
A microphone is mountedthrough the t u b e w a l l a t any one
ofseveralstationslocatedbetweenthedriver and t h e
m i d - s e c t i o no ft h et u b e . The a c o u s t i cs i g n z l is a sound
pulse consisting of a f i l t e r e d t o n e bllrst.

To make an absorptionmeasurement,thesampleend of t h e
t u b e is f i r s tt e r m i n a t e d i n . a r i g i d meta.1 s u r f a c e . The r a t i o
ofthereflected t o i n c i d e n tp u l s ea m p l i t u d e for t h i s c a s e
is used t o c a l i b r a t e . t h e t u b e . The r i . g i dt e n n i n a t i o n is
thenreplacedby a sampleand the measurement i s r e p e a t e d .
The c a l i b r a t i o n d a t a is used to eliminate the effects of
t u b e losses and t h ea ? 3 s o r p t i o nc o e f f i c i e n to ft h es a m p l e
i s e s t a b l i s h e d from t h e two sets ofmeasurements.

S i n g l ep u l s e sh a v e a hrcadfrequencyspectrnm. Hawever,
it i s p o s s i b l e t o p r o d u c e a narrow band pulse wT1ich
r e a d i l y leiids i t s e l f t o t h e g a t h e r i n g of a b s o r p t i o n d a t a .
Such a pul.se i s g e n e r a t e d by p a s s i n g t h e o u t p u t of a t o n e -
burstgeneratorthrough a band pass filter centered at
t h et o n eb u r s tf r e q z e n c y . The t o n e - - b u r s tg c n c r a t o r out.-
p u t in t h i s cclse i s e s s ~ n t i a l l ya s i n g l e s j . n u s o i d a l b u r s t ,
beghningatthe s i g n a l z e r o cxossing,con.tj.nuing at
c o n s t a n t a ~ n p I i . t u d e andfrequency fo:r: a pre-sel.ectednunher
of cyc!.es,and s t o p p i n ga tz e r oc r o s s i n g . fiAswil.1. b e
i n detaj.3. J.;li:cx,
discx~.~seci wj th a proper selectj.o,J o?

8
p a r a m e t e r s ,o n l yt h ec e n t e rl o b e of t h et o n e - b u r s t
frequencyspectrum i s passed by t h e f i l t e r , r e s u l t i n g
i n a narrowbandpulse.

TheoreticalConsiderations

To o b t a i n t h e a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t from t h e t o n e - b u r s t
tubemeasurement, it i s n e c e s s a r y t o e l i m i n a t e t h e e f f e c t
of t u b el o s s e sf r o mt h em e a s u r e dd a t a .T h i sc a nb e
accomplished by performing a msasurement with a r i g i d ' end
termination,andthenrepeatingthe measurement w i t h a
s a m p l eo fa b s o r p t i v em a t e r i a l n t h ee n d .
i

It w i l l beassumed that a , t h e normalincidenceenergy

absorptioncoefficicnt, 1 s zero€orthetonebursttube
wit.h a r i g i dm e t a l end t e r m i n a t i o n .T h i sh a s been shown t o
be a v a l i d a s s u m p t i o n w i t h i n e x p e r i m e n t a l e r r o r f r o m
measurements made w i t h a m i c r o p h o n e l o c a t e d f i v e t o t e n
wavelengt.hsfromtheend o f t h et u b e .T h e r e f o r e , we can
use empty tubemeasurements t od e t e r m i n et u b ep r o p a g a t i o n
loss directly.

R e f e r r i n gt oP i . g u r e 2 , we make t h e f o l l o w i n g d e f i n i t i o n s :

W ( x , t ) = energy i n t h e t o n e b u r s t w i t h t h e t u b e empty
( r i g i d end @ t e r m i n a t i o n )
E ( x , t ) = energy i n thetor,e b u r s t forthetubewith a
m a t e r i a l sample a t l o c a t i o n @
Subscript i r e f e r s t o a pulsetraveling from p o s i t i o n @
t o p o s i t i o n @ (inci.dent)
S u b s c r i p t r r e f e r s t o a p u l s et r a v e I . i n y i n thedirection
from@ t o @ ( r e f l . c c t e d )
S u b s c r i p t s 1 and 2 r e f e r to y u a n t i t i g s a s they wouldbe
measured a t positfLons @ a.nd@, r e s p e c t i v e l y .

9
 MICROPHONE
DRIVER
TONE-BURST TUEE SAMPLE

~ _" ____

10
The e n e r g y l o s t by t h e p u l s e w h i l e p r o p a g a t i n g down t h e
tubefrom 2 to 1 ( o r from 1 t o 2 ) i s independentofthe
t u b et e r m i n a t i o n .E x p r e s s i n gt h i sm a t h e m a t i c a l l y ,

Dividingthenumerator of b o t h s i d e s of t h i s e q u a t i o n by
Eli and thedenominator by E2i,

E2 i E2i

The q u a n t i t i e s i n t h i sr e l a t i . o nh a v et h ef o l l o w i n gp h y s i c a l
meaning :

-
Elr = t h e r a t i o measured a t t h e microphonewith a
RS sample i n t h e end of t h e t u b e
Eli

" - R t h ed e s i r e de n e r g yr e f l e c t i o nc o e f f i c i e n to f
E2 i
t h es a m p l e (R = 1-a)

I n t h ea c t u a le x p e r i m e n t
we a r e f r e e to set t h e i n c i d e n t
l e v e l a t t h e microphoneequalforboththerigPdand sample
tubeterminations;hence,

w i t ht h e1 - e v e l sa d j u s t e d so t h a t ( 3 ) h o l d s , wc a l s o have

11
Using (3) ,

the r a t i o measured a t t h e m i c r o p h o n e w i t h t h e r i g i d tube

termination. And f i n a l l yu, s i n g (4),

sincethis is t h e e n e r g y r e f l e c t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of t h e
r i g i dt e r m i n a t i o na n d was assumed t o be u n i t y .R e w r i t i n g
equation (2) i n terms o ft h e measured r a t i o s ? and Rs
0
and the desired reflection coefficient R,

or , sin.ce ene:cyy i s p r o p o r t i o n a l t o p r e s s u r e s q u a r e d ,

w h e r et h es u b s c r i p t s i and. r r e f e r t o i n c i d e a t and
reflected pressure pu-lses and s and o r e f e r t o a sample
o r r i g i dt e r m i n a t i o n ,r e s p e c t i v e l y . The l a s ts t e p
follows s i n c e pis = Pia. l'hus, t h e s a m p l er e f l e c t i o n
C o e f f i c i e n t i s simply t h e square of t h e r a t j . 0 o f the
reflected pulse amplitudes w i t h and without a. sample
i nt h et u b e . The normal. inc:i.dence e1lej:gy a b s o r p t i o n
coeff:i.cj.e>.lt:o f t.hc sample i s ' C ~ C I : C ~ ~ O ! ~gCi!v c n 3 3 ~

lv \2

12

............ -. ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The t e c h n i q u e must be c a p a b l e of p r o v i d i n g the a b s o r p t i o n
c o e f f i c i e n t as a f u n c t i o no ff r e q u e n c y . A t r a n s i e n ts i g n a l
c o n t a i n s a broad band frequency spectrum so t h a t n a r r o w b a n d
frequency data can be o b t a i n e d b y f i l t e r i n g the r e f l e c t e d
s i g n a l ,l o o k i n g a t a narrowbandwidth. However, i f the d r i v e
s i g n a l a p p l i e d t o an electrodynamic transducer contained broad
bandcomponents, the s o u n d p r e s s u r e o b t a i n a b l e i n a n y n a r r o w
frequencybandwould be s e v e r e l y l i m i t e d . Hence, it i s
d e s i r a b l e t o use a narrow bandwidth pulse for the d r i v e s i g n a l .
Such a s i g n a l i s d e s c r i b e d i n the follow.i.ngparagraph.

Tone b u r s t s i g n a l s o f f o u r a n d e i g h t - c y c l e d u r a t i o n a r e shown
in Figure 3 , where T i s t h e peri.od of t h e s i n e wave and N t h e
number o fc y c l e si nt h et o n eb u r s t . Those s i g n a l s a r e des-
cribed a n a l y t i c a 1 l . y b y t h e f u n c - t i o n

f (t) =

where U) i s theancrularfrequencyof t h e s i n u - s o i d a l wave form.

0

A A

NT NT
N = 4 N = 8

13
 I

0.9

0.8

0.7
1/3 OCTAVE FILTER
0.6 CHARACTERISTIC
IAl 0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

0. I

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 I .25 1.5 I.75 2.0

0
"

0 0

0.9

0.8
0.7
0.6

IAl 0.5
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.I

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 I.o 1.25 I.5 I .75 2 .O

___.
(L)

ClJ 0
The f r e q u e n c y s p e c t r u m can be found by t a k i n g t h e F o u r i e r
cosine t r a n s f o r m :

F (w) =/ NT
f ( t )cos w
t dt =
If0Ntcosw0tcoswt dt
0

W
0
0 w0

15
The o u t p u t f u n c t i o n g ( t ) is g i v e n by t h e i n v e r s e F o u r i e r
transform

I 0 elsewhere

a n dn o t et h a t ((91) is given b y (reference 6)

w h e r e @d e n o t e sc o n v o l u t i o na n d 6 i s t h ed e l t af u n c t i o n .
The o u t p u tf u n c t i o n g ( t ) i s now found from t h ei n v e r s e
Fourier transform of F(w) :

16
E v a l u a t i o n of t h i s i n t e g r a l y i e l d s

where S i (x) i s t h e s i n e i n t e g r a l f u n c t i o n
X
S i (x) = % dx
A computer program was w r i t t e n t o c a l c u l a t e g ( t ) b a s e d on
the series expansionof Si (x). The r e s u l t s of t h i s computa-
tionfor N = 4 and N = 8, w i t h t h e c e n t e r f r e q u e n c y e q u a l t o
2 kHz and t h e o n e - t h i r d o c t a v e f i l t e r b a n d w i d t h assumed f o r
t h i sp u r p o s e t o b e 466 Hz i s shown i n Fiqure 6 . Thiscan
b e compared w i t h F i g u r e 13-bwhich i s an o s c i l l o s c o p e p h o t o -
graph for N = 8.

Definitionof Peal: PressureLevel

Beforeproceeding, it i s n e c e s s a r y t o d.efi.ne peak p r e s s u r e

l e v e l (PpTA). Mormal.ly, t h e term s0u.n.d p r e s s u r el e v e l (SPL) ,
is used t od e s c r i p e pressure l e v e l s . However, t h i s j.s bascd
on an r n l s v a l u e which h a s no meaning b7hcn describ5.l-q p r e s s u r e s
o ft h et y p eb e i n gc o n s i d e r e d here. These p r e s s u r e sa r cd i s -
contin.uousfunctions of time. F?xthe:cmore, i n t h ec a s e of
t h e shock t u b e d i s c u s s e d i n a latersection,theyare not
symmetricalwithrespecttotheamhien-tpressure and a r e n o t
p e r i o d i c i n time. The p e r i o d i c i t ye v i d e n t in o s c i l l o s c o p e
photograpl1s of a shoclc t u b e i s cletcrmFncd solely by t u b e
l e n g t h and s e n s o r l o c a t j . o n , and is n o t r e l a t e d j.n amy way t o
the frequency co1lCen.t o f tJ1c i n p u t p r e s s u r e func"ij.on.

17
 1.25

1.0

0.75

0.5

0.25

- 0.25
- 0.5
-0.75

- 1.0
- 1.25
A. 4 CYCL.E TONE RURST INPUT

1.25

1.0

0.75

" 0.5
W
0
-)
0.25
Iz
._I
0.
2 0
Q
I-
3 -0.75
0.
g
"

- 0.5
- 0.75

- 1.0
-1.2s I I J I ."
-5 -A -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 A 5

18
I-

Determination of an " r m s " v a l u e f o r a s i g n a li n v o l v e s

e v a l u a t i o n of a n i n t e g r a l of t h e form

where p ( t ) i s t h e p r e s s u r e f u n c t i o l l a.nd T i s t h e p e r i o d of
a r e p e t . i t i v es i g n a l o r t h ed u r a t i o n of a p u l s e .O b v i o u s l y ,
t h e peakpressure is not related to the "rms" pressurefor
a n o n - r e c u r r e n tp u l s e ,t h eL a t t e rd e p e n d i n go n l y on t h e
magnitude of t h e a r e a u n d e r t h e p r e s s u r e - t i m e c u r v e , n o t on
the amplitude

We will, therefore,usetheterm p e a kp r e s s u r el e v e l ,a b h r e -
v i a t e d PPL, t o d e s c r i b e t h e p r e s s u r e a m p l i t u d e anddef.i.ne
this as 2 0 log o f t h e z e r o - t o - p e a k p r e s s u r e of t h e p r i m a r y
shock wave o r o f t h e z e r o - t o - p e a k p r e s s u r e
of t h e maximum
valueofthefilteredtoneburstenvelope,relativeto
0 . 0 0 0 2 cIynes/cm".

19
 ExperimentalProcedure

The s i g n a ld e s c r i b e di nE q u a t i o n (8) i s r e a l i z e d i n p r a c t i c e
a sf o l l o w s .R e f e r r i n gt oF i g u r e s 7 and 8, t h eo u t p u t froma
s i n e wave o s c i l l a t o r s u p p l i e s t h e s i g n a l t o acommercially
a v a i l a b l et o n e - b u r s tg e n e r a t o r . The t o n e - b u r s tg e n e r a t o r is
e s s e n t i a l l y an e l e c t r o n i c g a t e t h a t s w i t c h e s on t h e s i n e wave
a t a positivegoing zero c r o s s i n g and s w i t c h e s i t o f f a g a i n
a t a positive going zero crossing after a s e l e c t e d number of
c y c l e s .m e nt h i st o n eb u r s t is fedthroughaone-third
o c t a v eb a n dp a s sf i l t e r ,t h er e s u l t i n gs i g n a la p p e a r sa s sho~m
i n F i g u r e s 7 and 14. The c o u n t e r i s u s e d t o set t h e o s c i l l a t o r
f r e q u e n c yp r e c i s e l yt ot h ef i l t e rc e n t e rf r e q u e n c y . "he f i l t e r
c a n n o tr e s p o n di n s t a n t . a n e o u s l y , so t h ee n v e l o p eo ft h eo u t p u t
s i g n a l from t h e f i l t e r h a sag r a d u a lr i s e and f a l l . The t o t a l
p u l s ed u r a t j . o n is a functionofboththe number of c y c l e s i n
t h et o n eb u r s t and t h ef i l t e rc h a r a c t e r i s - i i i c s .T h i ss i g n a l
i s a m p l i f i e da n da p p l . i e dt ot h ee l e c t r o d y n a m i cl o u d s p e a k e r
which g e n e r a t e st h ed e s i r e da c o u s t i cp u l s e .T h i sp u l s ep r o p a g a t e s
down t h e t u b e p a s t t h e m i c r o p h o n e t o t h e sample where i t i s
reflected. The r e f l e c t e d puI.sethen t r a v e l s upand down t h e
tube,reflectingoffthedriver andsample untiltheenergy
is dissipated."hemicrophoneoutput i s passedthrou.gh
anoth.er identical filter and r e a d o u t on an o s c i l l o s c o p e .

Inordertoreadtheamplitudesoftheincidentand f i r s t re-
flectedpulseaccurately, a d i f f e r e n t i a lc o m p a r a t o r i s used i n
c o n j u n c t i o nw i t ht h eo s c i l l o s c o p e . With t h i s u n i t , ano'ffset
v o l t a g e i s a p p l i e d s o t h a t a1.1-volt s i g n a l ,f o ri n s t a n c e , can b e
readat a c i e f l e c t i o nf a c t o r O F lMv/cm. with this approachthe
resoluLj.on i n s i g n a l arnp1.itucle i s l i m i t e d onlybysystem noise

20
 OSCllLOSCOPE
r""---1
I KlGH-GAIN I
I DIFFERENTIAL I
I COMPARATOR I
I PLUS-IN I
- I ,

EAMD ?ASS
FILTER

1
OEiVEX SAM?LE
MOLD€ R

F!G. 7. BLOCK DIAGRAM - TONE 3URST TUBE ABSORPTION MEASUREMENT

FIG. 8 . TONE BURST TUBE
In this experiment most measurements were made w i t h t h e number
o fc y c l e s , N, in thetoneburstequalto 8, s i n c e t h e p a s s b a n d
oftheone-thirdoctavefilterscoincidesalmostexactlywith
the central lobe of t h e f r e q u e n c y s p e c t - r u m o f t h i s s i g n a l .
However, a t low f r e q u e n c i e s (400 H z and 500 H z ) , w i t h a ' 2 0 - f o o t
longtube,theincident and r e f l e c t e d p u l s e s o v e r l a p f o r N = 8,
s o t h a tt h e s ed a t aw e r et a k e nw i t h N = 4. The d i s a d v a n t a g e
o f u s i n g N = 4 is t h a t t h e f i l t e r f r e q u e n c y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c c u t s
throughthesteepslope of t h e main l o b e o f t h e t o n e - b u r s t
spectrum,making thesignallevelsensitivetosmallshifts
inoscillatorfrequency.

For a g i v e n v a l u e o f N, t h e r e is a m i n i m u m t u b e l e n g t h which
w i l l spacetheincidentpulseandthepulsereflected from t h e
sample f a r enough a p a r t s o t h a t t h e y do n o t o v e r l a p s u f f i c i e n t l y
t oa l t e rt h ea p p a r e n tp u l s ea m p l i t u d e s . The a r r i v a lt i m eo f
thereflectionoffthedriver is alsoofconcernbutsince it i s
oflowerampli.tude,agreaterd.egreeofoverlapcanbetolerated
b e f o r et h ea c c u r a c y i s degraded. I n g e n e r a l ,t h ed r i v e r - t o -
microphone spacing should be about one-third of the tube length.
P h i ss i t u a t i o nw o r s e n sa st h ef r e q u e n c y i s d e c r e a s e ds i n c et h e
subsequentpulsesareof more n e a r l y t h e same a m p l i t u d e a n d s i n c e ,
f o rc o n s t a n t N, t h ep u l s ed u r a t - i o ni n c r e a s e s . An empirically
determined !nini~nu.rn t u b e l e n g t h a s a functionoffrequency is
shown i n F i g u r e 9 f o r N = 4 and N = 8. For t h e da.t.a g a t h e r e d
i n t h i s program,tubelengths of 2 0 f e e t ,
10 f e e t , and 5 f e e t were
used t o spanthefrequencyrange from 400 I'lz t o 1.0 kHz.

~ u b e d i a n e t e r i n f l u e n c e s t h e measurements i n two important ways :

attenuationofthepulsewithin t.he t u b e j.nc.rea.ses as t h e d i a m e t e r
d e c r e a s e s ,a n dt h e tube diameter m u s t relnainsmallerthanabout
a h a l fw a v e l e n g t ht om a i n t a i n a. p l a n e wave. Obviously, it i s
desirabletominimizetubelength so as to naximize the pulse

23
IO:1
9
6
7
6
TONEBURST TUBE

\
5 DRIVER SAMPLE

IK lJNUS/!ELE REGION -
9
a
7

24
amplitudec+pabiI.i'cy a t t h es a m p l es u r f a c e .F i g u r e s1 0
.and 11 show m e a s u r e d v a l u e s o f s o u n d a t t e n u a t i o n i n the t u b e s
used j-n t h i se x p e r i m e n t ;F i g u r e 10 for a 2-ir1chdialne-Ler tube
andFigure 11 f o r a 3 / 4 - i n c hd i a m e t e rt u b e .N o t et h a ti n
both cases the attenuation r a t e becomes n o n l i n e a r f o r peak
p r e s s u r el e v e l s (PPI,) above140 dB.

These a t t e n u a t i o n r a t e s w e r e determinedfrommeasuredincident
and r e f l e c t e d t o n e - b u r s t l e v e l s i n t h e empty tubebyassuming:
1) t h er e f l e c t i o nc o e f f i c i e n to f the r i g i d e n dt e r m i n a t i o n
i s u n i t y ,a n d 2) t h ea t t e n u a t i o nf o l l o w st h er e l a t i o n

-$X
P = P0e

where p i s t h e PPL o ft h et o n eb u r s t . These d a t a c l e a r l y s h o ~

that significantly higher incident can be o b t a i n e d b y
??!?In's
maximizingtubediameterandminimizing tube length, particularly
a th i g hf r e q u e n c i e s and PPL's. As anexa~qpJ.e, a t 160 dB PPL
and 4. kHz, a n i n c r e a s e o f 5 dB c o u l d b e r e a l i z e d b y r e d u c i n g
t h et u b el e n g t h from 1 0 f e e t t o 5 f e e t , andalmost an. a d d i t i o n a 1
4 dB c o u l d b e r e a l i z e d b y i n c r e a s i m g t u b e d i a m e t e r from3/4-inch
t o 2 inch.es,for a . n e t i n c r e a s e of near3.y 9 dB a t t h e sample
slrface.

The maximum PPL a t t h e sample s u r f a c e a c h i e v e d w i t h o p t i m i z e d

t u b ed i m e n s i o n s ,f o rt h ep a r k i c u l a ra m p l i f i e ra n dd r i v e ru s e d
i nt h i se x p e r i m e n t i s showm i n Ficju:ce 1 2 . I t is s e e n t h a t t h i s
maximum l e v e l v a r i e s from166 dE a t . 500 IJz t o 158 dB a t 1 0 kHz.

When t h e o u t p u t from t h e t o n e - b u r s t g e n e r a t o r is a p p l i e d t o t h e
filter,theenvelopeof tJ1e r e s u l t i n g p u l s e is dete:cmined sole3.y
b yt h ef i l t e rc h a r a c t . e r i s t i c s f o r a g i v e nv a l u e o f N. The pulse
amplitudsbuildsup sJ.ow3.y t o j - t s maxhum vaJ.ne, a n d c o n t i n u e s

25
 ONE-THIRD OCTAVE CENTER FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

4 5 6 7 0 9 1 K 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910K
FREQUENCY I N HERTZ
59-109

FIG. 1 0 SOUND ATTENUATIONIN A 2 INCH DIAMETER TUBE AS A FUNCTION.3FSOUND INTENSITY

 ONE-THIRD OCTAVECENTERFREQUENCY IN HERTZ

200 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 K 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910K
FREQUENCY I N HERTZ
59-110

FIG. 11 SOUND ATTENUATION IN A3/4 INCH DIAMETER TUBE

AS A FUNCTION OFSOUND INTENSITY
 F R E Q U E N C Y IN H E R T Z

FIG. 12. M A X I V U M PPL INCIDENT O N ABSORPTIVE S A M P L E

FOR O P T I M I Z E D T U E E D l M E N S i O N S
withdecreasingamplitudeafter the t o n e b u r s t is s w i t c h e d o f f .
The f i l t e r u s e d (B&K Type 2112 AudioFrequencySpectrometer)
i s of a very high order (maximum slope about one hundred dB/
octave) s o t h a t a n e x a c t a n a l y t i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e r e s u l t i n g
s i g n a l i s v e r yd i f f i c u l t . However, a c l o s ea p p r o x i m a t i o nc a n b e
o b t a i n e db ya s s u m i n gt h ef i l t e r i s i d e a l , w i t h an i n f i n i t e l y s t e e p
s l o p ea n dt h i s i s what was done i nt h ep r e v i o u ss e c t i o n .T h e r e
a r e two a n o m a l i e si n h e r e n t i n t h i sa p p r o x i m a t i o n :t h ea p p e a r a n c e
o f p r e c u r s o r y waves a t the b e g i n n i n g of t h e o u t p u t s i g n a l
r e s u l t i n g from t h e assumed i d e a l f i l t e r ( i n f i n i t e s l o p e , z e r o
p h a s es h i f t ) ,a n d G i b b s ' phenomenon ( r i p p l e ) on t h ee n v e l o p e
of t h eo u t p u ts i g n a l . However, when t h e f i l t e r bandwidth is
2
l e s s t h a n -, where N and T a r e t h e number and t h e p e r i o d o f
NT
t h ec y c l e si nt h et o n eb u r s t , no G i b b s ' phenomenon occurs.This
i s thecasefor E58 f o r t h e equipment u.sed i n t h i s e x p e r i m e n t ,
s o it i s a g o o da p p r o x i m a t i o nf o rt h es i g n a l so fi n - b e r e s th e r e .

The u s e o f f i l t e r s i n t h e e x p e r i m e n t d e s c r i b e d b y t h e b l o c k
diagram i n F i g u r e 7 hasseveraladvantagesinadditiontotheir
p r i m a r yf u n c t i o n . For t h e inpu.i: f i l t e r ,t h e s ei n c l u d e :

1) The s i g n a l i s less d e s t r u c t i v et ot h ed r i v e r .I nt h i sc a s e ,
thedriver i s r a t e d a t 40 w a t t s e l e c t r i c a l d r i v e , b u t w i t h
t h i s s i g n a l we a r e a b l e t o d r i v e it with 400-watt peal: power
p u l s e sw i t h o u t damage. The d r i v e r diaphra.gn1 assembliesdo
notbreakuntilpeakpowersapproaching 600 w a t t s a r e
applied,andeven at this l e v e l breakage i s causedsimply
fromdiaphragm or compliance rupture rat.l-,er than from v o i c e
coil heating a t pulserepetitionratesofapproximately 20 Hz
Infact., a t frequenciesaboveapproximately 1 kHz, thesound
l e v e l is limitedbythe power a m p l i f i e r c a p a b i l i t i e s ( a 260-
wattaudiofrequencyamplifier)ratherthanbydriver
limitations.

29
 2) The requirement on t h ed r i v e ra n d power a m p l i f i e rf r e -
quency response capability i s reduced t o merely one-sixth
o c t a v ea b o v et h eh i g h e s tt e s tf r e q u m c y .I f an u n f i l t e r e d
tone burst were used instead, the pulse characteristic
wouldbegin t o change a t t h e h i g h e r f r e q u e n c i e s a s t h e
systemupperfrequencyresponsecapability began to be
exceeded by t h e h i g h e r f r e q u e n c i e s p r e s e n t i n su.cha
sign.al.

3) A l l t h e power d i s s i p a t e d by t h e d r i v e r and a m p l i f i e r i s
c o n c e n t r a t e dn e a rt h et e s tf r e q u e n c y ,m a x i m i z i n gt h et o t a l
p u l s e power t h a t i s a v a i l a b l e t o e v a l u a t e t h e m a t e r i a l
absorption.

The advantage of using a f i l t e r on t h e o u t p u t i n c l u d e :

1) The s i g n a l - t o - n o i s er a t i c of t h es i g n a l i s improved.
Ambient
room noise,microphone, and m i c r o p h o n ea m p l i f i . e rn o i s es e t
t h e limit on s i g n a l . r e s o l u t i o n when a d i f f e r e n . L i a 1 c o n p a r a t o r
o s c i l l o s c o p ep l u g - i n i s u s e d la sm e n t i o n e de a r l i e r . Hence,
the j.mpsovcmen’i i n s i g n a l - t o - n o i s e a f f o r d e d by u s e of an
out-put f i l t e r becomes s i g n i f i c a n t

2) At t h eh i g hd r i v el e v e l su s e df o rm e a s u r e m e n t sa th i g h - s o u n d
level...:, power a1npl.i f i e r and d r i v e r d i s t o r t i o n becomes n o t i c e -
able. The o u t p u t f i l t e r removes t h e s e d i s t o r t i o n comporlcnts *

O s c i l l o ~ ~ o phot.ographs
p~? of t h e s i g n . a l j u s t d e s c r i b e d a r e shown
i n F i g u r e 1.3e I n F i g u r e L3-a1 t h et o n e - b u r s tg e n e r a t o ro u t p i l t
f o r N = 8 i s shown.. The r e s u l . t i n g f i l t e r o u t p u t i s shorn 3.n
In’igure 13-b. ?‘he timeaxes i.n t-hesephotographsarc all i d e n t i c a l ,
but t-he ampl.i.tude s c a l e s h a v e been. a d j u - s t e d t o a p p r o x i m a t e l y
e q u a le x c u r s i o n 011 the o s c i l l o s c o p e . The d r i v e ro u t p u tw i t h o u t
f i l . 1 : ~j.n ~ ~t h cs y s t e m i s shown i n Figure13-c, a n d t h e sanic
s i g n a l . b7it.h t h e input f i l t e r i n i s shoxn in F i g u r e 1 3 4 .

30
!

a. TONE
BURST
GENERATOR
OUTPUT b. F I L T E R E D TONE BURST
( O N E - T H I R D OCTAVE F I L T E R )

" ~ "" . . . . ..

c. DRIVER
OUTPUT
WITH
UNFILTERED d. DRIVER
OUTPUT
WITH
FILTERED
TONE
I N PBUUTRTSOTN E BURST
(ONE-THIRD
INPUT. OCTAVE FILTER)

F I G . 13. TONE
BURST
INPUT
SIGNAL
AFTER
VARIOUS
STAGES OF PROCESSING.
1K Hz CENTERFREQUENCY, 8 CYCLE
DURATION.
T y p i c a li n c i d e n t and r e f l e c t e d t o n e b u r s t s ( f o r t h e empty t u b e )
are shown i n Figure 14. I n a ) , t h e s i g n a l w i t h no f i l t e r i n g i n
t h es y s t e m is shown. F i g u r e 14-b through14-d show t h e s i g n a l
w i t hv a r i o u sd e g r e e so ff i l t e r i n g . The slow r i s e and f a l l
r e s u l t i n g from t h e f i l t e r i s apparent. Also n o t et h el o w e r
n o i s el e v e l ic c ) andd)compared with b ) .
T h i sn o i s er e d u c t i o n
becomes s i g n i f i c a n t when t h e s i g n a l s a r e h i g h l y a m p l i f i e d by
the d i f f e r e n t i a lc o m p a r a t o rp l u g - i n . The s i g n a l sa c t u a l l yr e a d
by t h i s t e c h n i q u e a r e shown i n F i g u r e 1 5 , from which it is
apparent that with this degree of magnification even relatively
s m a l ln o i s el e v e l sc a nr e d u c et h er e a d o u t .a c c u r a c y ;h e n c e ,o n e
reasonfortheoutputfilter.

32
 a. No F i l t e r i n g F i lot n
b. eiD
n
lr y
e
rpiduvte r

W
W

c. Microphone o u t p uotn lFyi l t e r e d Both

d. d r i v ei rn p u t and
microphone
outputFiltered

FIG. 14. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

INCIDENT
AND
REFLECTED TONE
BURST
WITH
VARIOUS
DEGREES OF S I G N A
FLILTERING
a. 8 c y c l e t o n eb u r s t . The l a r g ep u l s e i s t h ei n c i d e n t
s i g n a l ,t h ec e n t e rp u l s e i s t h e r e f l e c t i o n from t h e
sample,and t h e l a s t p u l s e i n t h e r e f l e c t i o n from t h e
driver.

b. This i s t h e s i g n a l shown i n F i g u r e a ) b u tw i t ht h e
oscilloscopeverticalsensitivityincreased by a
f a c t o r o f 1 0 andan o f f s e t a p p l i e d w i t h t h e d i f f e r e n -
t i a l comparator t o r e a d t h e peakamplitudeofthe
r e f l e c t i o n from t h e s a m p l e .w i t ht h i sm a g n i f i c a t i o n
t h ei n c i d e n tp u l s e i s off-scale.

F I G . 15. USE OF TH DEIFFERENTIAL COMPARATOR

TO R E A D P U L S E H E I G H T

34
 A p p l i c a t i o n of the Technique

. .

The p r o c e d u r e j u s t d e s c r i b e d was usedtoobtain low

i n t e n s i t y ( i . e . , i nt h el i n e a rr e g i o n )a b s o r p t i o n
c o e f f i c i e n td a t a onpolyurethane foam, f i b e r g l a s s ,p o l y -
u r e t h a n e foam w i t h one--inch thick honeycomb b a c k i n g ,
fibermetalwithone-inchthick honeycomb backing, and
s i n t e r e db r o n z e onhoneycomb. S i m i l a rd a t a were o b t a i n e d
bythestandardimpedancetubetechniqueforcomparison.
T h e s ed a t aa r ep r e s e n t e di nF i g u r e s1 6t h r o u g h 21. The
agreementbetweenthe two methods of measurement i s
e x c e l l e n t a n dd e m o n s t r a t e st h eg e n e r a lc h a r a c t e r i s t i c so n e
wouldexpcctfromeachtype O C a b s o r b e r .( S e er e f s . 1 t o 5 and
7.) Thed.ataextendsnearly a n octaveabovethe upper
1 i m l . t o ft h e impedance tube.Therewould be no i n h e r e n t
d i f f i c u l t yi ne x t e n d i n gt h eu p p e rf r e q u e n c y 1irni.t
c o ~ ~ s i d e n a b lfarther,
y o t h e rt h a nt h ef a c tt h a tt h c tllbe
l o s s e s and. d r i v e r 1 i l n i . t a t i o n s would Lend t o reduce tile
maxirnum Pi%. F o rt h ep u r p o s eo ft h i sp r o g r a m , it i s f e l t
t h a t 1.0 kEi‘z i s a r e a s o n a b l e upper frequency limit.

The absorp.tj.or1 coef Cici e n t o f t h e t l ~ r e er e s o n a n t a b s o r b e r s

( r e s i s t i v eI n a t e r i a l . onhoneycomb) w a s de’i.erlnined a s a
functiorl c)? P P i , t o measure a!Ji:j cpatcd n o r l l i n e a r i t i e s .
The r e s u l t s o f t h e s e ~ncas:urernelltsa r e shown i n F i g u r e s 21,
22, and23. I t i s seen that the f i b e rm e t a l and s i i ~ t e r e d
metalsamples become q u i t e l e v e l dependcn’cabove 1 4 0 dB PPL
b a tf r e q u e n c i e sa b o v e 1 kHz, w h i l e the foam remaj-ns q u i t e
l i n e a r t o 6 kIIz. I nF i g u r e s 2 i and 2 3 , t h e1 6 3 dB PI‘!,
c u r v ee x t e n d s oi1l.y t o 3 kHz bccause tube dimensionswere
n o t optiinj.zedand *.he powcr arl;pl.ifS.erwas not c a p a h l e of
d r i v i . 1 1 ~ ~t h et r a n s d u c e r t o j . t s pcakcapacity.

35
1 :-- --x
0 I K F E D A N C E T U B E , APPROX. 100 d B SPL
T O N E GURST T U B E , 100 d B PPL
I
!

T
T
I

2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9IOK
FREQUENCY IN H E R T Z

F I G . 16. ABSORPTION C O E F F I C I E N T - POLYURETHANE FOAM

W I T H R I G I D B A C K I NCGO.M P A R I S O N OF I M P E D A N C E
T U 3 E AND T O N E B U R S T TUBE DATA
 ONE-THIRD OCTAVECENTER FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

W
4

FIG. 17 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT-FIBERGLASS

COMPARISON OF IMPEDANCE TUBE AND TONE
BURST TUBE DATA
 ONE-THIBD OCTAVE CENTE!? FREQUENCY IN HERTZ
200 2.5 3.15 4 5 6.3 8 1K 1.25 1.6 2 2.5 3.15 4 5 6.3 8 10K

I
I
r

i
i
-1
290 4 5 6 7 S 9 1 X 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ?lo#
FBEOUENCY I N HERTZ

FIG. 3-8 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT-POLYURETFANE FOAM ON 1 INCH HONEYCOMB

CONPARISON OF IMPEDANCETUBE AND TONEBURSTTUBE DATA
 ONE-THIRDOCTAVECENTERFREQUENCY IN HERTZ

w
W

FIG. 19 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT-50 RAYL FIBERMETAL ON 1 INCH HONEYCOMB

CONTARISON IMPEDAXCE TUBEAND TONE 3URST TUBE DATA
 1

1
2 3. 4 5 G 7 -8 9 Io#
FREQUENCY I N HERTZ

FIG. 20. ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT - 120 R A Y L S I N T E R E D

B29NZE ON 1 I N C H H O N E Y C O M B . COMPARISON OF
iFc72EDANCE T U B E A N D TONE EIURST TUBE DATA
 ONE-THIRD OCTA'JE
CENTER FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

v
200 2
FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

FIG. 2 1 VARIATION OF ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT WITH SOUND.INTENSITY

1

4 5 6 7 3 ? 1 K 2 3 6 5 6 7 3 9 ' 10K
FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

FIG. 27 VARIATION OF ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT WITHSOUND INTENSITY

 SHOCK TUBE MEASUREMENTS

GeneralDescription o f the Technique

The s h o c k t u b e u s e d i n t h i s p r o g r a m i s simply a t u b e
of uniform diameter i n which a d i a p b a g m i n i t i a l l y s e p a r a t e s
two s e c t i o n s a t d i f f e r e n tp r e s s u r e s .B u r s t i n g of t h ed i a -
phragm g e n e r a t e s a f l o w c o n t a i n i n g waves of f i n i t e a m p l i t u d e .
The shock wave thus produced can be u s e d t o m e a s u r e t h e
a b s o r p t i o n of h i g h - i n t e n s i t y s o u n d b y s a m p l e s of a c o u s t i c
absorbers.

A b l o c kd i a g r a mo ft h i sb a s i ce x p e r i m e n t a la p p a r a t u s is
showa i nF i g u r e 24. The shocktubeandpneumaticcontrol
c o n s o l ea r e shown i nF i g u r e 25. The 3-inch I . D. tube
i s 1 7 f e e t loilg o v e r a l l , w i t h a 5 - f o o tl o n gd r i v e rs e c t i o n .
Pressuresensorsarelocatedat anyofseveralstations
l o c a t e da l o n gt h el e n g t ho ft h et u b e . A movable p i s t o n i n
t h e samp1.e h o l d e r i s u s e d t o l o c a t e t h e s a m p l e s u r f a c e or
rigid piston face at t h e same l o c a t i o n for a l l measurements.
The s e n s o r o u t p u t s are passedthroughspectrometers,which
containamplifiersandone-thirdoctavefilters,toobtain
a b s o r p t i o nd a t aa s a funct:Fon offrequency.Nonnally, on1.y
onesensor is u s e d , b u t two a r e shown i n F i g u r e 24, and two
sensors have been u s e d t o o b t a i n p r o p a g a t i o n loss i n f o r m a t i o n .

RefexringtoFigure 2 4 , t h es e q u e n c e o f e v e n t sd u r i n g shock
tu?3e ope:cati.on proceeds as follows. A i r is a d m i t t e d u m t i l
t h e ciriver s e c t i o n is at t h ed e s j . r e dp r e s s u r e .T h i s
p r e s s u r ed e t e r m i n e st h es h o c ks t r e n g t ha n dt h u s t h e sound

44
F 1 I

\ /'

33RST

I I I I

FIG. 24-. GENERALIZED [?LOCK D I A G R A M - SHOCK TUBE ASSORPTION MEASUREMENT

o u t p u t( r e f e r e n c e s 8 and 9 ) . When t h eb u r s td i a p h r a g m is
broken by a ne l e c t r o d ym i c a l l ya c t u a t e dp l u m g e r , a shock
wave p r o p a g a t e s down t h e d r i v e r s e c t i o n o f t h e t u b e ( a t
nearly sonic velocity for pressure ratios of i n t e r e s t i n t h i s
s t u d y )t o w a r dt h es o l i do rs a m p l es u r f a c e .S i m u l t a n e o u s l y ,
a r a r e f a c t i o n wave p r o p a g a t e s back t h r o u g h t h e d r i v e r s e c t i o n .
These waves a r e r e f l e c t e d from t h e e n d s o f t h e t u b e a n d
propagateintheoppositedirection,wheretheyareagain
r e f l e c t e d from t h et u b ee n d s ,a n d so on. The q u a s i - s t e a d y
flowregionsinducedbehindthese wavesupondiaphragm rupture
areseparated by t h e g a s " p i s t o n " c r e a t e d by t h i s r u p t u r e .
T h i si n t e r f a c e i s c a l l e dt h ec o n t a c ts u r f a c e .P r e s s u r e and
particlevelocityareconstantacrossthissurface,but
temperature and densj-ty change abruptly.

The wave s y s t e m i n t h e t u b e i s shown i n t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c

diagram of F i g u r e 26. I n p r e p a r i n gt h i sd i a g r a m ,t h e
v e l o c i t y of t h e v a r i o u s waves i s calcu1,ated by u s i n g w e l l
known s h o c kt u b er e l a t i o n s( r e f e r e n c e 9). T h e s ev e l o c i t i e s
are considered accurate only to the first interaction of t h e
waves.With t h ee x c e p t i o no f thc i n i t i a l d r i v e r s e c t i o n
p r e s s u r e P,, wave p r e s s u r e sa r en o r m a l l ye x p r e s s e da s a ratio

'ij where :

- P r e s s u r ei___
nr e q i o n (i
Pij Prreegsiisnounr e (jj- ( 91

Thus,thepressure jump a c r o s s t h e i n c i d e n t s h o c k wave i s PZ1 ,

whtlethatacrossthereflectedshock is PS2=

47
 I_"

IE

"".
" "
I4
111
cn

." .
" ."""Ai

/'I
." " __ ""

/
-.: >
s

/
/.' -

\
-.2 0 I%

48
p4 1 = 1.68

P,, = 1.3

P,, = 1.3

P3.2 = 1
P34
-
- PZc .76

Ps.: = 1.8

49
r a r e f a c t i o n wave, e t c . , and b ) r e f l e c t i o n from t h e s o l i d
endplate o r from t h e t e s t sample.

Ideally the pressure would remain constant between the

arrival of the incident shock of pressure amplitude P a and
thearrivalofthereflected shock of amplitude Pb - Pa a t
t h ep r e s s u r es e n s o ro fF i g u r e 27. The a p p a r e n t loss i n
p r e s s u r e shown i n t h e f i g u r e d u r i n g t h e time i n t e r v a l b e t w e e n
t h e s e two e v e n t s i s caused.by t h e low f r e q u e n c y r o l l - o f f o f
thepressuresensor and e l e c t r o n i c s .

F I G U R E 27. OUTPUT FROM SENSOR NO. 2 OF FIGURE 2 4

The p r i m a r y g o a l o f t h i s p o r t i o n of t h e programwas to
determine the practicability of u s i n g a shocktube t o measure
t h e soundabsorptioncharacteristics of m a t e r i a l s a t h i g h
intensities. One methodofdoing t h i s would be t o t r e a . t , t h e
shocktube a s a o n e - - d i m e n s i o n a lr e v e r b e r a t i o n chamber.Such
a notionhasseveralappealingfeatures.

50
One i s t h e f a c t t h a t t h e sound f i e l d c o u l d be c o n s i d e r e d
a s i n g l e wave r e f l e c t i n g backand forth along the tube.
T h i s would e l i m i n a t e o r r e d u c e s u c h t r o u b l e s o m e c o n s i d e r a -
t i o n s common t o t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l r e v e r b e r a t i o n chambers
as t h e randomnessof t h e sound f i e l d , modal d e n s i t y , and
d i s t r i b u t i o n (. S e er e f s . 10 and 1 3 .O
) t h ep
r otential
advantages would include the portability of t h e a p p a r a t u s ,
the fact that the output fromonlyonetransducerneedbe
e v a l u a t e d ,a n dt h ee x c e p t i o n a l l yw i d er a n g eo ff r e q u e n c i e s
that are available in the signal.

A s describedpreviously, a n e x c e e d i n g l y compl.ex wave system

o c c u r s in t h e t u b e a f t e r o n l y a v e r y few r e f l e c t i o n s o f
theprimaryshock wave. T h i s s i t u a t i o n would seem t o favor
such a r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e , o r d e c a yr a t e ,t e c h n i q u eo f
a b s o r p t i - o nm e a s u r e m e n t ,s i n c ea f t e r a s h o r tp e r i o do ft i m e
theinteractionsofthe waveswould become s o f r e q u e n t t h a t
theycould be consid-eredcontinuousfrom a macroscopic point
of view. The r e s u l t a n tv a r i a t i o n si nt h e shock s t r e n g t h
cou.ld t h e r e f o r e be 1-umpcd i n t o onepropagationlossterm.
The measurementofa.bsorptionwould thereforeonlyinvolve a
measurement of t h e shock s t r e n g t h d e c a y r a t e o r r e v e r b e r a t i o n
time. However, as w i l l be d i s c u s s e di n a l a t e rs e c t i o n ,
otherconsiderationswerefoundtocompletelynegatethese
p o t e n t i a l adva.ni-.ayes.

Anotherpossib1.eapproach is to treat the shock wave as a

n o r m a l l yi n c i d e n ta c o u s t i cp u l s e , a n dd e t e r m i n et h e
a b s o r p t i o n from t h e r a t i o o f t h e r e f l e c t e d t o t h e i n c i d e n t

51
 1

p u l s e amplitude. I n p r i n c i p l e , t h i s methodwould be
expected t o r e s u l t j.n g r e a t e r d a t a s c a t k e r t h a n t h e r e v e r -
berationtecl-mique due 'SO t h e many p e r t u r b a t i o n s e x p e r i e n c e d
by anygiven wave t r a v e r s i n g a l e n g t h of t h et u b e . In
p r a c t i c e , it canbe made t o y i e l d more a c c u r a t e r e s u l t s ,
althoughonlywithexperimentallydifficulttechnique.

A thirciapproach,which i s an extensior? of t h e abovetechnique,

would h e t o expand t h es h o c kt o weaken i t . Su.ch anapproach
would r e d u c e a n y d e 1 e t e r i o u . s e f f e c t s res'u1tS.ngfrom the
largepressure jump in t h e normalshocktube,which is
at least partially responsible for the deficiencies of the
o t h c r two methods.Thus,expandingtheshockandtreating .i.t
like an acoustic pulse would h e l p b r i d g e t h e g a p i n intensity
betwccn conven-is.io~~a1.measurementt e c h n i q u e s and t h e shock
tubemethod. A n a p p a r a t u sd e s i g n e dt oa c c o r n p l i s ht h i s is
shown i n F i g u r e 2 8 . The s h o c kt u b ec r o s s - s e c t i o n a l . area i s
exponentiallyincreased by a fact-or of 2 0 i n t h e t r a n s i t i o n
SC!CtiG11, r e s u l t i n g i n a r e d u c t i o n in a c o u s t i c p r e s s u r e of 1.3 d ~ .
Thisapproachhas shown c o n s i d e r a b l e prom\j.sc, b u t t h e progra.m
was concluded. before definitive expcrinlents c o u l d . beperforme6

52
i n v i o l a b l yt a k e n a s I.ess t h a no re q u a lt ou n i t y ,T h i s con-
d i t i o n no l o n g e r h o l d s i n a shocktube',however, b7here
reflection coefficients greater than unity have been
measured with the experimental arrangement of F i g u r e 24.
Such a s i t u a t i o n d o e s n o t v i o l a t e t h e c o n s e r v a t i o n o f
energy, of c o u r s e ,b u tm e r e l y means t h a t some energyhasbeen
transferred to the spectral band beingmeasured from some
otherspectralregionduringthe t i m e i n t e r v a l between t h e
m'easurement of t h e i n c i d e n t a n d t h e r e f l e c t e d p u l s e a m p l i t u d e .
T h i ss i t u a t i o nd o e s ,h o w e v e r ,p r e s e n t some problems when
formulatinganexpressionfortheabsorptioncoefficient.
L i n e a rf o r m u l a t i o n sc o n t a i nt h ec o n s t r a i n t ,e i t h e ri m p l i c i t l y
orexplicitly,thatthereflectioncoefficientfor any
s u r f a c e be e q u a l t o o r l e s s t h a nu n i t y .T h i sd o e sn o t
necessarily hold for finite amplitude waves.

Oneway ofcircumventingthissituation is to set the

a,bsorption of t h e sampleequal to the reduction in ampli-
t u d e of t h e r e f l e c t e d shockwiththesampleterminatingthe
t u b e compared t o i t s a m p l i t u d e r e d u c t i o n w i t h a rigid
termination.

I no t h e rw o r d s , we w i l l s a y t h a t t h e r e f l e c t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t
of a samplemeasured by t h e p r e s s u r e s e n s o r i s a f u n c t i o no f
both the actual reflection coefficient of thesampleandthe
reflection coefficient of a rigid termination a t thatparticn1a.r
f r e q u e n c ya n di n c i d e n ts h o c ks t r e n g t h .S t a t i n gt h i sm a t h e m a t i c -
ally,

53
where R, = t h e measured r e f l e c t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of t h e
sample
f (R ) = a n a r b i t r a r y f u n c t i o n of t h e a c t u a l r e f l e c t i o n
S
c o e f f i c i e n t of t h es a m p l e
g (R1 ) = a n a r b i t r a r y f u n c t i o n of t h e r e f l e c t i o n
c o e f f i c i e n t of t h e r i g i d t e r m i n a t i o n

The f u n c t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e s e terms can be

determinedexplicitlybyapplyingthefollowingthree
c o n d i t i o n s .F i r s t ,i f Rs=O ( t h a t i s , a s = l O O % ) ,
t h e n w e musthave R,=O, sinceifthe sampleabsorbs all
t h ei n c i d e n te n e r g y ,t h e nb yd e f i n i t i o nt h e r e i s no
r e f l e c t i o nT. h a t is,

i) for R S =0, K,=O,

or o=f ( 0 )CJ (11; )

For a n o n - t r i v i a l s o l u t i o n , f (0)-0, so t h a t f (Rs) can be

set e q u a l t o an a r b i t r a r y p o l y n o m i a l :

w h e r et h ef i r s t ,o rc o n s t a n t , term must be z e r o .

Next, i f R =1, t h e nb yd e f i n i t i o nt h es a m p l ea p p e a r s
S
identicaltotherigidterminationandreflectsallthe
i n c i d e netn e r g yT. h e r e f o r e ,

ii) for R =1, Rp-R1

s
ox, from ( 1 0 ) and ( i l ) ,

54
As a t h i r d c o n d i t i o n , any r e l a t i o n s h i p of t h e form (10)
must converge t o R,=Rs i n t h e low i n t e n s i t y l i m i t . In this
limit,

fromwhich B=C=D.. .=O. T h e r e f o r e (12) becomes

fromwhich A=l, s i n c e A i s c o n s t a n t andindependent of R~ .

I f A=l , then (13) becomes

Substitutingtheseresultsinto (11),

Therefore, ( L O ) becomes K, =RsR1, or

R3
Rs -
L

x
whichsimply we areu-singtheactualvalue
states that of
the reflection coefficient of a r i g i d s u r f a c e a s a basis
f o rd e t e r m i n i n g Rs, r a t h e rt h a n an arb5.traxj.lyassicjncd value
of u n i t y .

55
It has been shown t h a t t h e wave system i s extremelycomplex
after the first reflection and t h i s i s inore s o f o r t h e e x p a n s i o n
tube. Th.is p r e c l u d e st h e u s e ofanydatareductiontechnique
o t h e rt h a na m p l i t u d er e d u c t i o n of t h e i n i t i a l shock.Equation
( 1 4 ) i s employed w i t h t h e a i d o f which i.t can e a s i l y b e
shown ( s e e t h e s e c t i o n on t h e t o n e b u r s t t u b e ) t h a t t h e p r e s s u r e
reflection coefficient is givenby

I
r = -'rs
S
'ro

where prs = r e f l e c t e d PPL w i t h asampletermination

Pro = r e f l e c t e d PPL w i t h a r i g i d t e r m i n a t i o n

when t h e i n c i d e n t PPL' s a r e e q u a l .

Another poso i b l e m e t h o d o f d e t e r m i n i n g t h e a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t
of a sample of absorptive material with the shock tube i s by
measuringtheratioofreflectedtoinci.dentshockpressure jump
asrecordedwith an o s c i l l . o s c o p e camera f o r t h e b a s i c , c o n s t a n t
a r e a sllock t u b e . The e n t i r e p r o c e s s ofshockenergydecaycan
berecordedandanalyzed i n t h i s mannerby s u c c e s s i v e l y in-
creasingthetimedelaybetweendiaphragmrupture and o s c i l . l o s c o p e
triggering. Each s u c c e s s i v er e f l e c t i o n fron t h es a m p l es u r f a c e
couldthenbean.al.yzed to calcula-te the absorption coefficicnt
from Equation (15) .
The i n i t i a l . c o n c e p t was t o t r e a t t h e shocktu.be a s a one-dimensional.
r e v e r b e r a t i o n cham be:^. Fol.l.owing t1li.s l i n e ofthought, an express-
ion f o r Rs i n t e r n s o f t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e can b e d e r i v e d w i t h
t h e aid of Equat.j.on (14.) . R e f e r r i n g t o the foil-owincj diagram, w e

56
assume t h a t t h e s h o c k wave r e f l e c t s b a c k a n d f o r t h in t h e t u b e
untiltheenergy is dissipated,andtreattheshock tube a s
a one-dimensionalreverberationchamber,withsampleabsorption
of e n e r g y o c c u r r i n g a t d i s c r e t e t i m e invervalsratherthan
continuously.Keepingin mi.nd t h e wave diagramofFigure 26,
it i s a p p a r e n t t h a t i n t e r a c t i o n of t h e s h o c k wave w i t h o t h e r
waves may appear as a t r a n s m i s s i o n loss t e r m a l o n g w i t h w a l l .
losses. T h e s el o s s e s w i l l be t r e a t e d as continuousthroughout
thelengthofthetubeand lumped i n t o one propagation loss
term p e r t r a n s it.

where Eo i s t h e i n i t i a le n e r g y i n t h e shock wave and e i s

t h ee n e r g yr e m a i n i n ga f t e rt h es h o c kh a st r a v e l e d x feet
down t h e t u b e w i t h no i n t e r v e n i n g x e f l e c t i o n s from a t u b e
end.

Beginningwithdiaphragmrupture,theenergy i.s d i s s i p a t e d
a s .shown i n thediagrambelow. End @ can be t e r m i n a t e d
either with the sarnp1.e of i n t e r e s t o r w i t h a rigid plate,
w h i l e end @ i s always a r i g i d p l a t e .
Pressure
Sensor
I"-- q"L,-d
@ riii--"l L
I e
a f t e r n reflections,the energy i s

n
"
n -na L
6 =soRl L ' R 2 2 e
n

T h i se x p r e s s i o n is correctto b e t t e r thanone tube l e n g t h

o ft r a v e l ,w h i c h i.s a goodapproximationfor large n . For
a r i g i dt e r m i n a t i o na t end ( A ) , R2=R1 and ( 1 6 ) becomes

n -nzL
c =c0R1 e
n

Now nL-ctwhere c i s t h ep r o p a g a t i o nv e l o c i t y( t a k e n as
t h e speed ofsound f o r pressurc r a t i o s o f i n t e r e s t h e r e ) .
Definj.ng t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o nt i m e To a s t h e tirne r e q u i r e d
fortheenergy t o decay t o c n e m i l l i o n t h its inttial value,

where In i.s t h e n a t u r a l l o g a r i t h m .

For a samp1.e t e r m i n a t j o n a t end ( A ) , t h e same process

yields

where Ts i s t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o nt i m ew i t h a sample. Substi-

t u t i n gt h ev a l u e of ?L from c c p a t i o n (18),

58
T'aking t h e n a t u r a l . 1.ogarithmof (14)g i v e s lnR2-lnR, = l n R s ,
so t h a t

Rs = exp [-2x13.8&
L C

Thisequationyieldsvaluesfortheabsorptioncoefficient
which a r e much t o o low. I n a na t t e m p tt or e s o l v et h i s
d i f f i c u l t y a d i f f e r e n tf o r m u l a t i o n was t r i e d . T h i s a , l t e r n a t e
approachinvolves a differentdefinitionof shock s t r e n g t h ,
and i s a l s o more complex i n t h e s e n s e t h a t a computer i s
requiredtoobtain a numericalanswerfromthefinalequa-
tion. I t i s n e c e s s a r yt om o d i f y andexpand t h en o t a t i o n
somewhat a s shown i n thediagram below.

4"-

-"+
wi
wr
I
I
I
I
I
-
6-
Pi
'r
'n
The n o t a t i o n i s as f o l l o w s :

Pn, n-O,l, 2 , . .., N = p r c s s u r e jump measured by t h c

p r e s s u r c sensol- a f - t e r the n t h
passage o f t h e s h o c , I ;
Pj = p r e s s u r e jump f o r t h c i n c i d e n t shock
t h a t wouIci YJF: measured 7-~ya sensor
l o c a t e d at: t h e s u r f a c e of end @ .
P = same, b u t f o rt h er e f l e c t e d shock
rj

59
 P
4

0
ttt
0

o u t p u tf r o ma ni d e a l i z e ds e n s o rn e a r end@..

Now t h e s h o c ks t r e n g t h is defined as

= e x c e s si n c i d e n ts h o c ks t r e n g t hf o rt h ej t h s h o c k
'ij

P..
= 'b-
"
'a = 1 7 = ( R e f e r T o Equation ( 9 ) )
'a
Pa 'ij a

S = e x c e s sr e € l e c t e ds h o c ks t r r e n g t hf o rt h ej t h s h o c k
rj

With t h i s n o t a t i o n t h e r e f l e c t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t f o r p r e s s u r e *
is
s . P .
1
r = 3.
= 'rj ___ --
'a = -9 ____.._I
Pij 1 4- Pija
Pi +Pa Pi

Note t h a ta st h ei n c i d e n ts h o c kp r e s s u r e jump P
becomes
ija
small, t h e e x p r e s s i o n f o r r approaches t h e s m a l l s i g n a l
limit, a sr e q u i r e d .

* A lower c a s e r is used t o r e p r e s e n t t h c g ~ e s s u r c reflection

c o e f f i c i e n t , w h i c h i s r e l a t e d to t h e e n e r g y r e f l e c t i o n
c o e f f i c i e n t b y €? = r2, froin which =: 1 - r".

60
Now u s i n . g t h e s e d e f i n i t i o n s andfollowingthe same g e n e r a l p r o -
cedure to find the pressure jump Pn measuredby the pressure
sensor after the nth passa.ge of t h e s h o c k a s was followed
previously to find the energy c n remaining i n t h e s h o c k a f t e r
n p a s s a g e s , we end up w i t h

Now a r a t h e r m i l d a s s u m p t i o n m u s t b e made t o f i n d an e x p r e s s i o n
for the value of

The assumption i s t h a t t h e p r e s s u r e jumps decay e x p o n e n t i a l l y

d u r i n ga tl e a s tt h ee a r l yp o r t i o n o f t h e decayprocess.This
is c e r t a i n l y a reasonableassumpti.on,since it i s j.mpl.icit i n
theverynotionofreverberationtimeabsorptionmeasurement.
The diagram below depicts a decay curve traced out on a
l o g a r i t l m i cl e v e lr e c o r d e r . The symbol T' r e f e r st ot h e
r e v e r b e r a t i o nt i m e ,t h et i m er e q u i r e df o rt h es h o c kp r e s s u r e
jump t o decay t o of i t s i n i t a' lv z l u e .

In P i j

0 T

61
It caneasily be shown t h a t

or, since j L = ct,

-13.8 jL
Pija= Pilae
CT

Therefore

K = +- (
j-1
l+pi j a ) = ( l+Pilae -e
-I3 8L)(l-bPilae
CT

Proceedingasbefore t o f i n d Rs,

62
Equation ( 2 0 ) , likeequation (19) , y i e l d s a b s o r p t i o n c o -
e f f i c i e n t s which a r e much t o o l o w . These r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e
that failure of the shocktubereverberationtechnique may
befundamental,anddue to the fact that a shock wave by
its very nature tends to regenerate itself as it p r o p a g a t e s .
Thus, it may be t h a t t h e r e d u c t i o n i n a m p l i t u d e r e s u l t i n g
from r e f l e c t i o n from t h e a b s o r p t i v e s a m p l e is partially off-
s e t by t h i s r e c o n s t r u c t i v e p r o c e s s by t h e t i m e t h e shock
front has traveled a tubelength.

Application of the Technique

Figure 2 9 presentstheresultsofanevaluationoftheshock
expansiontechniquewith a f i b e r g l a s ss a m p l e . The a g r e e -
ment i n t h i s c a s e i s e x c e l l e n t ,a l t h o u g ht h er e s u l t s of a
similarlyperformed measurement w i t h a r e s o n a n t f e l t m e t a l
a b s o r p t i v e sample a r e much l e s sp o s i t i v e .F i g u r e 30 shows
these results for a driverpressureof 3 . 1 PSIG compared w i t h
the correct results obtained by t h e t o n e - - b u r s t method a t a
s l i g h t l y lower PPL. T e s t sa th i g h e rd r i v e rp r e s s u r e sr e s u l t e d
inlargedatascatter.

P a r to ft h ep r o b l e m was t h a t t u b e l e n g t h s weresuch that the

reflected rarefaction wave was r e a c h i n g t h e p r e s s u r e s e n s o r
at nearly the sa.me time as t h e r e f l e c t e d shock wave.

The shock r e f l e c t i o n t e c h n i q u e , u s i n g t h e n o r m a l , c o n s t a n t
a r e a shocktube, ri, the
was used t o measure t h e v a r i a t i . o n o f
pressure reflection coefficient of a rigidtermination,with
time. The r e s u l t s a r e shown i n F i g u r e 31.

The1.arge early scatter may be a t t r i h u t a b l e t o i n t e r a c t i o n s

w i t ho t h e rw a v e s ,w h e r e a st h e s ep r o c e s s e s become averagedout
a f t e r a g r e a t e rt i m el a p s ea n d l o w e r pressure so that they are
more o r l e s s c o n s t a n t o v e r t h e l e n g - t h o f t h e t u b e . The hi.gh

63
FIG. 29 ABSO3IPTION CCEFF!C!ENT - FIBERGLASS. COMPARISON OF
TONE ;3U?S'i- TC?E A X 3 S i l e C K EXPANSION T U B E METHODS
 ONE-THIRD OCTAVE CENTER
FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

1
5 G.3 G IM l.25 1.G 2 2.5 3.15 4 5 6.3 3 IOM
V V
7-
I
,oo210 2*5 r 5
i
I
I
SO
'
I
50 R A Y L FIBERMETAL ON
i I N C H ilONEYCCXE
r
I
I I

L
60 I
I

200 3

FIG. 3 0 CC)hi?PARISON OF ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT MEASUREMENT BY

TWE EXPANDED SHOCK Ah'D TONE BURST TUBE METHODS
 I .7 T i
1I I I i I

I
0
'3

I F = l KHz 1
P4 = 10.4 PSlG
I I
30 120 2 10 300 390 470 570
t , MSEC

FIG. 31 VARIATION OF THE PRESSURE REFLECTION COEFFICIENT

FOR A R I G I D T E R M I N A T I O N WITH T I M E
v a l u e of t h e i n i t i a l r e f l e c t i o n c a n n o t be e x p l a i n e d by t h i s
process,however,and may bedue t o unaccountednon-linearities.
The a v e r a g e v a i u e a f t e r a 200 msec d e l a y a g r e e s v e r y w e l l with
the value obtained by o t h e r methods.

Figur.e 32 shows a similar d e t e r m i n a t i o no f r 2 , themeasured

pressurereflectioncoefficientwith a f i b e r g l a s s sample i n
o n ee n d .T h i sq u a n t i t y i s s e e nt ov a r y much more d r a s t i c a l l y
withtime,indicatingthatnon-linearitiesassociatedwith
t h ee a r l y ,w e l l - f o r m e ds h o c kf r o n t s may b e c o n t r i b u t i n g t o
the failure of the shocktubetechnique.

U t i l i z i n ge q u a t i o n (14.)and d a t a o f t h e t y p e sho-m- i n F i g u r e s
31 a n d3 2 ,t h ev a l u e s of t h e s a m p l e a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i . c i e n t
shown i n F i g u r e 3 3 and 34 a r e obt.ai.ned.Figure31indicates
thatthemagnitudeoftheshockstrength i s n o t a primary
f a c t o ri n f l u e n c i n gt h ev a l u eo f ct s . F i g u r e 34 shows t h a t
p l o t s of v e r s u st i m et e n dt oc o n v e r g et o a valuewhich is
S
i n reasonableagreementwiththevalueobtainedwithan
impedance t u b e .

T h u s ,w h i l et h i st e c h n i q u e i s a p p a r e n t l yc a p a b l eo fy i e l d i n g
c o r r e c tv a l u e s of a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t , t h e p r o c e d u r e is
s o e x p e r i m e n t a l l y awkward a s t o r e n d e s it i m p r a c t i c a l .a s an
analyticallaboratorytool.

68
 4.2 L B / F T 3 , 2 IN. THICK SAMPLE
F = l K H r , Pq = 10.4 PSIG

0 I
"T"
3
" 2 70

t , MSEC
30

FIG. 32 VAEIA7'101\3 OF T H E MEASIJREU PRESSLIRE REFLECTION

COEFTICIENT FOF; A F I B E R G L A S S S A M P L E W I T H T I U E

69
PPL ,ciE

70
 IMPEDANCE TUBE ,

VALUE = 91%

12.5 PSlG

I
i

2 o!
0 60 I20 180 240 300 360 420
t , MSEC
FIG. 34. VARIATION OF SAMPLE ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT WITH TI M E AND P4
 CONCLUS I O N S

Tons Burst Tube Procedure

The t o n e b u r s t t u b e t e c h n i q u e o f a b s o r p t i o n measurement has

b e e nd e v e l o p e di n t o a u n i q u ea n du s e f u ll a b o r a t o r y tool. The
utility of the technique has been demonstrated by measuring
the absorption coefficient of feltmetal, sintered bronze,
f i b e r g l a s s ,a n dS c o t t f o a m ,a n dc o m p a r i n g the r e s u l t s w i t h d a t a
o b t a i n e d on t h e same m a t e r i a l sw i t ha ni m p e d a n c et u b e .I n
addition,the measurements on t h e s e m a t e r i a l s h a v e b e e n e x t e n d e d
tohigherintensitiesthanthe impedancetube i s c a p a b l eo f
achievingtodemonstratethenon-linearityoftheabsorption
w i t hs o u n di n t e n s i t y . The measurednon-linearityhasconfor&d
w i t he x p e c t a t i o n si ne v e r yr e s p e c t . I t i s t h e r e f o r ef e l tt h a t
thistechniquehasbeendemonstratedto be a v a l i d and r e l i a b l e
method of absorption measurement.

It h a s b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t s a m p l e s i z e is unimporCant,subject
totheconstraintthatsamplediameterremain less t h a n h a l f a
wavelength a tt h eh i g h e s tf r e q u e n c yo fi n t e r e s t .T h i sr e s t r i c t i o n
a l s op l a c e sa nu p p e r l i m i t . on t h ef r e q u e n c yr a n g e ;t h el o w e r
l i m i t is d i c t a t e d b y t h e r e q u i r e m e n t t h a t t h e i n c i d e n t and re-
f l e c t e d p u l s e do n o t o v e r l a p i n t i m e a t t h e microphone location.
Inotherwords,tubelengthplacesthelowes boundon the
frequency range.

During t h i s program PPL was l i m i t e d b y t r a n s d u c e r a n d a m p l i f i e r

c a p a b i l i t i e s .I na l lc a s e s ,c o m m e r c i a l l ya v a i l a b l ee q u i p m e n t was
employed.Modified or s p e c i . a l l yd e s i g n e dd r i v e r s and a s p e c i a l
power a m p l i f i e r o u t p u t s t a g e c o u l d h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d
t h e maximum PPL.

72
While t h e t e c h n i q u e is n o t d i r e c t l y a p p l i c a b l e to the case
o r superimposed a i r f l o w , t h e s e s i t u a t i o n s
o fg r a z i n gi n c i d e n c e
can be accommodated by u t i l i z i n g t h e t o n e b u r s t s i g n a l i n a
transmissionattenuation,ratherthan a reflectioncoefficient,
measurement mode.

Shock Tube Technique

The shockexpansiontechnique,whereinashock wave i s weakened

by e x p a n s i o n t h r o u g h a n a r e a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , a p p e a r s c a p a b l e
of s u c c e s s f u l l y m e a s u r i n g t h e z b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t o f
materials. The r e s u l t s oflimitedexperimentationwereextremely
encouraging.

The s h o c k t u b e r e v e r b e r a t i o n t e c h n i q u e a p p e a r s t o b e u n s u i t a b l e
f o ra b s o r p t i o n measurement. It is f e l t t h a t t h i s i s becausea
s h o c kf r o n tt e n d st or e c o n s t r u c ti t s e l fa s it p r o p a g a t e s ,t h e r e b y
partially negating spectral absorption by the sample.

The b a s i c c o n c e p t o f u s i n g s h o c k waves f o r t h i s measurement

immediatelyimpliesthatextremelyhigh PPL's c a n e a s i l y
I n l i g h to ft h i sf a c t ,
b eg e n e r a t e d . i t i s recommended
thatfurtherexperimentationbeperformed on t h e shockexpansion
technique.

73
 REFERENCES

1. H e r s c h e l A . Watson, J r . , " S t r u c t u r a l andEnvironmental

S t u d i e s of Duct-LiningAcousticalMaterials,Douglas
Paper 554.4, NoiseAbatement Symposium of t h e 1969
SouthernMetalConference,Grand Bahama I s l a n d , A p r i l
1969.

2. W. E. Zorumskiand T . L .P a r r o t t ," N o n l i n e a rA c o u s t i c
T h e o r yf o rT h i nP o r o u sS h e e t s , " NASA S P - 1 8 9 ,1 9 6 8 ,
pp 1 7 - 2 7 .

3. R. A. Mangiarotty,"AcousticLiningConceptsand
M a t e r i a l s f o r Engj.ne Ducts, 'I J. Acoust. SOc. A m e r . 77,
1 ( P a r t 1), p.77 (A) (1969) .
4. J . Atvarsand R. A. Mangiarotty,"DuctAcousticLining
Technology€orApplicationstoTurbofanEngines, I'

ibid., p.78 (A)

5. A l a n H. Marsh, I. Elias, J . C . Hoehne,and R. L. Grasca,

"A Study of Turbofan-Engine-Compressor-Noise-Suppression
Techniques," NASA CR-1056, J u n e 1968.

6. Athanasios Papoul.is, _
"The F o u r i e r T r a n s f o r mand i t s ~

AJyl.iCation2, McGraw-Hill Book Co., N e w York,1962.

7. R. A . Mangiarotty, A . H. Marsh,and E. Feder,"Duct

L i n i n gM a t e r i a l sa n dC o n c e p t s , " NASA S p - 1 8 9 , pp. 29-52,
1968.

8. El. .:E Dah]-ke, G . T . Kantaryes, T . E . Siddon,and

J. J. Van Houten,"The Shock ExpansionTubeand Its
A p p l i c a t i o n a s a S o n i c Bcom S i m u l a t o r , NASA Report
No. CR-1055, June 1368

74
 9. I. I . G l a s s , e t a l , "A T h e o r e t i c a l and
Experimenkal
Study of t h e Shock T u b e , " U T I A Report N o . 2 (November
1953) : a l s o Glassand H a l l , Eandbook of S u p e r s o n i c
A e r o d y n a m g ,S e c t i o n 18, ShockTubes, NAVORD Report
1488 (Vol. 6 ) December 1959.

10. M. R. Schroeder, "Some New R e s u l t si nR e v e r b e r a t i o n

TheoryandMeasurementMethods, 'I Paper G31, 5 t h
I n t e r n a t i o n a lC o n g r e s s of Acoustic,Liege,September
1965.

11. G. M i l l i n g t o n , "A M o d i f i e dF o r m u l af o rR e v e r b e r a t i o n , "

J. Acoust. SOC. Amer. f, 1, pp. 69-82 ( J u l y1 9 3 2 ) .

12. Robert W . Young, " S a b i n eR e v e r b e r a t i o nE q u a t i o n and

Sound Power C a l c u l a t i o n s , I' J . Acoust. S O C . A m e r . 31,
7 , pp.912-921(July1959).

1 3 .C a r l F. Eyring,"MethodsofCalculatingtheAverage
Coeffi-cient o f Sound AbF.orption," J. Acoust.SOC.
. Amer. 4, 3,pp. 178-192 ( J a n u a r y1 9 3 3 ) .

75