REFRACTING SOI'ND WAVES 473

FiG.3. Profileequationfor a delaylensof the obstaclet)pe. Fro. 4. Geometricalrequirementsnecessary to establishthe

profileof the slant plate lens.
the densityof the medium,the squareof the ratioof
the sound velocities is wherek is a constantof the obstacleconfiguration,f the
appliedfrequency
andf0 theresonant
frequency
associ-
(to/v)ø= ,F= 1+ (2•r/3)Xaa, (3) ated with the obstacle.**As f approaches
f0 closely,
wheren is the indexof refraction.(SeeFig. 2.) n beginsto increase rapidly,resultingin the familiar
For the caseof disks,the massincreaseper disk is phenomenon of dispersion.At f=fo, • becomes quite
(2/a.)po(4/3)•rc
awhere½isthediskradius.
5Thisgives largeandcomplete reflection
occurs.The arraythenis
a better reflector than refractor. Further increase in
•rø= 1+ •.\'c• (4) frequency
canresultin a valueof n lessthanoneand
for a diskarrayhavingN disksper unit volume.
For the caseof strips,the followingequationholds
true :6

n• = 1+ •rbO.Y
', (5)
whereb is the half-breadthof the strip and N' is the
numberperunitarealookingendonat thestrips.
Limitations on the Refractive Index Equations
Theequations of thepreceding sectionwerederived
by assuming thatthesound fieldactingonanelement
wasthe impressed fieldalone.This is a satisfacto•
assumption whentheseparation between theobjects
is
solargethattheelements themselves donotdistortthe
fieldactingon the neighboring elements.Suchis not
the casewhen • exceedsthe value of 1.2 or thereabouts.
Furthermore,the aboveequations are valid only if
thesizeandspacing of theobstaclesis smallcompared
to the wave-length.When the obstaclesize nearsa
half-wave-length,
resonance effects
canoccur*andthe
propagationvelocityis stronglyaffected. Then the
expression
forn willbemodifiedina qualitativemanner
as follows:

FiG. 5. A disk lens 6 in. in diameter. This lens is convergentand

sScereference
4, p. 81, Eq. 01).
is composed
of a doubleconvexarrayof «-in.diameterdisks.
* A piston
sound
source
in freeairradiates
verylittleenergy
at
longwave-lengths butbecomes asthewave-length ** This is often called the Sellmeierequation.However, Lord
moreeffective
approaches twicethediameter;
similarly
a stationary Rayleighhaspointedout that Maxwellhadconsidered
diskreflects earlier it much
verylittleenergy at longwave-lengths
butbecomes aneffective than Sellmeier.(See Lord Rayleigh,ScientificPapersIV,
reflectorat the shorterwave-lengths. p. 414, the finalequation.)

ed 23 Jul 2011 to 72.216.10.141. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info
 474 W. E. KOCI( AND F. K. HARVEY

bringthesystem
intotheregion oranoma- and alsoto makethe array dimension
ofabnormal containas many
lousdispersion. wave-lengths
as possible
and therebyto becomemore
At thispointit mightbewellto mentionthatmany directive.
of theexperimentstobedescribedlaterwerepurposely PATH LENGTH REFRACTORS
conductedat frequencies
wheretheobstacle
dimensions
werenot smallcompared to thewave-length
but were General Description
approaching
orevenequaling
a halfwave-length.
This
Anothermethodof slowingdowna progressive
was donein severalcasesin order to accentuatethe wave
focusing
effects
by increasing
theindexof refractionis to guide
it through
a conduit
whichprovides
a longer

.!

'i.

FIo.6.Thedisk
lens
inposition
between
transducers
ready
fortest.
Free
space
conditions
aresimulated
bytheuse
ofsound
absorbin
wedges
atallwall,
floor,
andceiling
surfaces.
The
apparatus
issupported
onaraised
wire
grid.
acousticall>'
transparent,
tloor.
ed 23 Jul 2011 to 72.216.10.141. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info