Vol 62, No 2 (2016)

Using the discrete source method, we develop an algorithm for solving the three-dimensional problem of wave scattering by a plane grating consisting of acoustically soft or acoustically stiff bodies. An efficient algorithm is proposed for determining the periodic Green’s function of the grating. Numerical results are obtained for different geometries of the grating elements. The fulfillment of the energy conservation law is verified along with the fulfillment of the boundary condition at the surface of the central grating element.

An equivalent source model is developed for setting boundary conditions on the parabolic diffraction equation in order to simulate ultrasound fields radiated by strongly focused medical transducers. The equivalent source is defined in a plane; corresponding boundary conditions for pressure amplitude, aperture, and focal distance are chosen so that the axial solution to the parabolic model in the focal region of the beam matches the solution to the full diffraction model (Rayleigh integral) for a spherically curved uniformly vibrating source. It is shown that the proposed approach to transferring the boundary condition from a spherical surface to a plane makes it possible to match the solutions over an interval of several diffraction maxima around the focus even for focused sources with F-numbers less than unity. This method can be used to accurately simulate nonlinear effects in the fields of strongly focused therapeutic transducers using the parabolic Khokhlov–Zabolotskaya equation.

The orientation dependences of the phase velocity, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient, and the angle between the wave normal and the energy flux vector are numerically calculated for zeroand first-order Lamb waves propagating in the (001) basal plane of a Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ cubic piezoelectric crystal. It is shown that the anisotropies of these modes are different and depend on the plate thickness h and the wavelength λ. For h/λ < 1, the mode anisotropy can exceed the anisotropy of the corresponding characteristics of surface acoustic waves propagating in the same plane; for h/λ > 1, it approximately coincides with the SAW anisotropy for all the characteristics.

A mathematical model is presented for the propagation of plane, spherical, and cylindrical sound waves in a liquid containing polydisperse vapor–gas bubbles with allowance for phase transitions. A system of integro-differential equations is constructed to describe perturbed motion of a two-phase mixture, and a dispersion relation is derived. An expression for equilibrium sound velocity is obtained for a gas–liquid or vapor–liquid mixture. The theoretical results agree well with the known experimental data. The dispersion curves obtained for the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient in a mixture of water with vapor–gas bubbles are compared for various values of vapor concentration in the bubbles and various bubble distributions in size. The evolution of pressure pulses of plane and cylindrical waves is demonstrated for different values of the initial vapor concentration in bubbles. The calculated frequency dependence of the phase sound velocity in a mixture of water with vapor bubbles is compared with experimental data.

It is shown that scalar, horizontal, and vertical vector receivers efficiently split modes of different numbers, which makes it possible to analyze the mode structure and estimate the characteristics of surface layers of a shallow sea bottom. To analyze the mode structure of propagating pulses from a towed pneumatic source, Winger transform was applied, with which seven modes were isolated by vertical vector receivers, whereas the scalar receivers and horizontal vector receivers isolated only three modes. It is established that the use of four-component vector-scalar receivers makes it possible to increase the accuracy in estimating the parameters of a layered bottom model.

Practical implementation of an active sound control system ensuring sound suppression in outer space is described as applied to sound insulation problems for equipment whose total noise level is mainly due to low-frequency discrete spectral components. The operational principle of the proposed system is based on inverse field generation with respect to the field of the initial source of quasi-monochromatic signals. The inverse field is formed by a set of radiators, which are controlled by the signals of pressure receivers positioned in the near field of the source. Experimental studies carried out with the proposed sound control system demonstrate its efficiency and testify to the stability of its operation.

A novel method is proposed to estimate the primary tonal frequency of speech. The method is based on singular spectrum analysis. A singular model of a vocalized segment of a speech signal is presented that considers the direct and inverse problems. A study is conducted of the process of singular estimation of the primary tonal frequency of speech. Experimental research is carried out using a model that yields adequacy and reliability estimates. The concept of singular estimation of the primary tonal frequency of speech is introduced.

The problem of detecting weak signals in complex noise situations using projection adaptive algorithms is considered. The existing algorithms are analyzed, and a novel algorithm oriented at detecting weak signals is proposed. Results of the algorithm’s operation are demonstrated in a simulated noise situation consisting of interference signals with different intensities under the assumption of their multipath propagation and scattering. The proposed algorithm is compared with the well-known classical Capon algorithm, and a significant reduction in the contact loss time as applied to a low-noise target near strong interference sources is demonstrated.

The time-varying temperature profiles were reconstructed in an experiment using a thermal acoustic radiation receiving array containing 14 sensors. The temperature was recovered by performing similar experiments using plasticine, as well as in vivo with a human hand. Plasticine preliminarily heated up to 36.5°C and a human hand were placed into water for 50 s at a temperature of 20°C. The core temperature of the plasticine was independently measured using thermocouples. The spatial resolution of the reconstruction in the lateral direction was determined by the distance between neighboring sensors and was equal to10 mm; the averaging time was 10 s. The error in reconstructing the core temperature determined in the experiment with plasticine was 0.5 K. The core temperature of the hand changed with time (in 50 s it decreased from 35 to 34°C) and space (the mean square deviation was 1.5 K). The experiment with the hand revealed that multichannel detection of thermal acoustic radiation using a compact 45 × 36 mm array to reconstruct the temperature profile could be performed during medical procedures.