SOUND, INFRASOUND

AND ULTRASOUND
INTRODUCTION
• Relation between Sound and Vibration
• Importance of Medium
• Wave Parameters- frequency wavelength and velocity
Minimum Detectable Sound and Pain Level
Sound Transducers
• Effect of sound waves
• Vibration- Measure of Acceleration
• Accelerometers- similar distance and velocity measurement.
Audio to Electrical sensors and transducers
• Sound to Electrical Energy Transducer- Microphone
• Microphone with high impedance- greater electrical output, but
greater noise & hum pick up
• Microphone with low impedance- small electrical output, no hum pick
up.
• Microphone types
Microphone types
Carbon Microphone
Carbon Microphones
• Poor linearity
• Multiple resonance
• High noise although there is no sound
• Only advantage is Good electrical output, before transistor amplifiers
were brought to use.
Moving iron (variable reluctance
microphone)
Moving iron (variable reluctance
microphone)
• Reasonable linearity (except for large amplitudes)
• Maximum output of 50 mV
• High output impedance
• Shielding is provided to avoid magnetic hum
Moving coil Microphone
Moving coil Microphone
• Excellent linearity
• Low output impedance
• Low electrical output
• No magnetic hum
Demonstration
Ribbon type microphone
• Same principle as moving coil microphone
Ribbon type microphone
• The coil is in the form of conductive ribbon strip
• With intense magnetic field, the ribbon cuts the maximum flux and
produces an electrical output with a phase difference of 90 degrees
• This produces directional response as it depends on velocity of air in
the sound wave rather than the pressure.
• Used in voice commentary in noisy environment
• Provides low output
Ribbon type microphone
• The electrical output is increased using a step up transformer
Piezoelectric Microphone
• Crystal Microphones coupled to diaphragm
• Earlier Rochelle salt was used.
• Due to temperature sensitivity, now we use synthetic crystals
• Barium Titanate
• High output, high impedance but unavoidable hum pick up
• MOS preamplifier
Capacitor Microphone
• Diaphragm fixed to one end of capacitor plate
• Constant charge is maintained between the plates
• With a sound wave input, diaphragm vibrates and changes the
capacitance and produces a voltage wave
• Smaller the space, greater the output.
• Pressure operated
Microphone problems
• Resonance- Electrical or mechanical
Microphone problems
• Can be prevented by shifting and damping
• Shifting- reduce the mass of vibrating body
• The range can be extended up to 30Mhz
• If resonance appears at a lower frequency, mass can be increased so
that its shifted to sub audio frequency
• Damping- dissipate the energy of audio signal via yielding materials
such as synthetic rubber
• More effective when both damping and shifting are carried out
Frequency and wavelength
• Microphone allows the measurement of frequency using the relation

• Wavelength is measured using reference of reflecting waves

• If reflecting surface is integral number of half the wavelengths away,
standing waves are set up with nodes and antinodes
Electrical to audio transducers
• Earphones and loudspeakers
• Design of loudspeaker- break up compensation

• Property of diaphragm- stiff, light and free of resonance

Moving Iron Transducer
• Magnetized diaphragm
• Attraction or repulsion w.r.t fixed coil produces vibration and thereby
the sound.