ECE__356 / ECE 357

FUNDAMENTALS OF ACOUSTICS

(The main reference of this presentation is the one provided by Marshall Long and F. Alton)

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FUNDAMENTALS OF ACOUSTICS
• Frequency And Wavelength
• Superposition Of Waves
• Sound Waves
• Velocity of Sound
• Acoustical Properties
• Levels
• Source Characterization

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 Frequency And Wavelength

F: frequency (cycles per second or Hz)

T: time period per cycle (s)
T: time period (s)
L: length of the string (m)
C: velocity of the wave (m / s) 4
Superposition Of Waves

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Complex representation
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Time domain representation
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Effect of phase change 8
The Sum of Two Sine Waves With Widely Differing Frequencies
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The Sum of Two Sine Waves With Close Frequencies (Beats)
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 Sound Waves
• Pressure Fluctuations
• Wavelength of Sound
• Velocity of Sound

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a) Sound waves traveling through a medium change localized air particle density.
b) (A) The sound wave causes the air particles to be pressed together (compression)
in some regions and spread out (rarefaction) in others.
c) (B) An instant later the sound wave has moved slightly to the right.
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a) Pressure variations of sound waves are superimposed on prevailing barometric
pressure.
b) (A) An instantaneous view of the compressed and rarefi ed regions of a sound
wave in air.
c) (B) The compressed regions are very slightly above and the rarefi ed regions
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slightly below atmospheric pressure.
Wavelength Versus Frequency in Air
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 Velocity of Sound
• Sound waves in gases are only longitudinal, since a gas
does not support shear or bending
• Solid materials that are bound tightly together, can support
more types of wave motion than can a gas or liquid,
including shear, torsion, bending, and Rayleigh waves
• Rayleigh waves are a combination of compression and
shear waves, formed on the surface of solids (earthquakes)

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Shapes of Various Wave Types
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Types of Vibrational Waves and Their Velocities
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Types of Vibrational Waves and Their Velocities (Cont.)
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The velocity of sound in air in terms of the temperature in degrees
centigrade and Fahrenheit:

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Speed of Sound in Various Materials
 MEASURES OF SOUND
100002
Pressure
[Pa] 100001 Acoustic pressure

100000

99999

99998
Time, t

a)Average pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

b)Small fluctuations around this value are acoustic pressure.

 MEASURES OF SOUND
1.0
Squared
pressure Mean-square
[Pa2] pressure
0.5

0
T
Time, t

a)Average the squared acoustic pressure (mean-square):

t1 + T
1
p2 = p
2
(t ) dt
T t1

b)Square root of this is the root mean square (rms) pressure.

c)It can depend strongly on the averaging time.
 Acoustical Properties
• Impedance
• Intensity
• Energy Density

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 Acoustical Impedance
• It is a measure of its resistance to motion at a given point.
• A substance such as air has a low characteristic impedance;
while a concrete slab has a high impedance.
• The specific acoustic impedance is measured as the ratio of
the sound pressure to the associated particle velocity

z = specific acoustic impedance (N s / m3)

p = sound pressure (Pa)
u = acoustic particle velocity (m / s) 25
 Acoustical Intensity
• It is a measure of the energy propagating through a given
area during a given time.
• For a plane wave it is defined as the acoustic power
passing through an area in the direction of the surface
normal
• Intensity is a vector quantity

Intensity of a Plane Wave 26

E = energy contained in a sound wave (N m / s)
W = sound power (W)
I (θ) = intensity (W / m2) passing through an area in the direction of its
normal
S = measurement area (m2)
T = period of the wave (s)
θ = angle between the direction of propagation and the area normal (rad)
I = maximum intensity, θ = 0

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• Sound power: is the sound energy being emitted by a
source each cycle.
• The energy: the mechanical work done by a wave, is the
force moving through a distance:

W = Sound power (W)

E = Energy (Joule)
p = root-mean-square (rms) acoustic pressure (Pa)
u = acoustic rms particle velocity (m / s) 28
• Momentum (mass times velocity)

• Newton’s Law tells us that the force is the rate of change

of momentum so

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• for a plane wave

• Human threshold hearing: 10-12 W/m2

• Normal conversation: 10-6 W/m2
• Jet aircraft: 1W/m2

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 Energy Density
• Energy density (D): It is the total energy contained within
the volume divided by the volume.
• For plane wave: if a certain power passes through an area
in a given time, the volume enclosing the energy is the area
times the distance the sound has traveled, is S c t; then

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 Levels
• Sound Levels
• Sound Pressure Level
• Sound Power Level

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 Sound Levels
• A level is basically a fraction, expressed as 10 times the
logarithm of the ratio of two numbers:

• If equal levels, the combination is about 3 dB higher than

the larger level.
• If two levels differ by 6 dB, the combination is about 1 dB
higher than the larger level.
• If the two differ by 10 or more the result is essentially the
same as the larger level.
• If n equal levels, the combination is:
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Reference Quantities for Sound Levels

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 Logarithms properties

log( AB ) = log( A) + log( B) 10 log10 ( AB) = 10 log10 ( A) + 10 log10 ( B)

log(2 A) = log( A) + log(2)

10 log10 (2 A) = 10 log10 ( A) + 3
= log( A) + 0.3

log( An ) = n log( A) 10 log 10 ( A n ) = 10n log 10 ( A)

log( A + B) = ... 10 log10 ( A + B) = ...

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 Sound Pressure Level
• Sound pressure level is the most commonly used indicator
of the acoustic wave strength.
• It correlates well with human perception of loudness.
• Is is measured easily with inexpensive instrumentation.

p = rms sound pressure (Pa)

pref = reference pressure; 2x10-5 Pa

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Representative A-Weighted Sound Levels
• The relationship between the sound pressure level and the
sound intensity level to calculate the actual difference:

• For a typical value of ρ0 c0 of 412 the correction is 0.13

dB, which is ignored in most calculations.

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 Sound Power Level
• Sound power is expressed in Watts
• Sound power level is the power relative to reference power
of 10-12 Watts

L W = sound power level (dB re 10-12 W)

L p = sound pressure level (dB re 2x10-5 Pa)
S = measurement area (m2 or ft2)
K = 10 log (ρ0 c0 / 400) + 20 log (r0)
= 0.1 for r in m, or 10.5 for r in ft
r0 = 1 m for r in m or 3.28 ft for r in ft
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Sound Power Levels of Various Sources