Vol 62, No 4 (2016)

The problem of diffraction by an absolutely soft segment is considered in the high-frequency approximation. The asymptotic field decomposition is obtained, which makes it possible to trace the transition from classical asymptotics valid for grazing incidence to geometrical optics asymptotics, which describes scattering at a finite (not small) angle.

We calculate the radiation forces in a spherical drop lying on a solid substrate. The forces form as a result of the action of a capillary wave on a fluid as it propagates along the free spherical surface. We study the structure of acoustic currents excited by the radiation forces.

The operation of a unipolar pulse-periodic corona discharge is considered. A new method is proposed for analyzing its properties by considering the structure of discharge-emitted sound. Decomposition of the acoustic field into azimuthal components makes it possible to relate them to the force or thermal influence of a corona discharge on a medium and evaluate their relative contribution in this case.

Based on experimental data obtained in 2012 in the Florida Strait, we study the feasibility of employing ray tomography to retrieve sound speed and flow velocity profiles from measured noise cross-correlation functions. We describe the results of numerical experiments that characterize the inversion errors resulting from peculiarities of the ray structure in shallow water, difficulties in unambiguous identification of ray arrivals, and a decrease in accuracy of ray theory at low frequencies. We show that under conditions of low-mode sound propagation, the use of the classical ray tomography scheme can yield only a rough estimate of the sound speed profile, but it allows approximate reconstruction of the current velocity profile. Application of passive ray tomography to the experimental data yields the current velocity profile in the Straits of Florida, which agrees with independent measurements within the inversion error limit.

Current approaches to fan noise simulation are mainly based on the Lighthill equation and socalled aeroacoustic analogy, which are also based on the transformed Lighthill equation, such as the wellknown FW-H equation or the Kirchhoff theorem. A disadvantage of such methods leading to significant modeling errors is associated with incorrect solution of the decomposition problem, i.e., separation of acoustic and vortex (pseudosound) modes in the area of the oscillation source. In this paper, we propose a method for tonal noise simulation based on the mesh solution of the Helmholtz equation for the Fourier transform of pressure perturbation with boundary conditions in the form of the complex impedance. A noise source is placed on the surface surrounding each fan rotor. The acoustic fan power is determined by the acoustic-vortex method, which ensures more accurate decomposition and determination of the pressure pulsation amplitudes in the near field of the fan.

A theoretical study is performed on the sound field generated by a rotating point monopole in a jet flow, the mixing layer of which is simulated by a velocity discontinuity. Its sound in the far field is compared to the sound field generated by a rotating monopole in a uniform flow in the absence of a velocity discontinuity, which makes it possible to estimate the size of the sound refraction effect.

World trends in the development of methods and approaches to noise reduction in aircraft cabins are reviewed. The paper discusses the mechanisms of passive and active noise and vibration control, application of “smart” and innovative materials, new approaches to creating all fuselage-design elements, and other promising directions of noise control inside aircraft.

The shadow visualization method is applied to study the process of loss of stability of the mixing layer of a subsonic axially symmetric turbulent jet under longitudinal internal action of saw-tooth sound waves of finite amplitude. Such action leads to the formation of a system of ring vortices in the mixing layer at the frequency of its intrinsic instability. The interaction of the vortices can be accompanied by sound emission. A similar phenomenon is also observed in turbulent jets for small supercritical pressure fluctuations on a nozzle.

We study acoustic manifestations of different regimes of shear deformation of a fracture filled with a thin layer of granular material. It is established that the observed acoustic portrait is determined by the structure of the fracture at the mesolevel. Joint analysis of the activity of acoustic pulses and their spectral characteristics makes it possible to construct the pattern of internal evolutionary processes occurring in the thin layer of the interblock contact and consider the fracture deformation process as the evolution of a self-organizing system.

An acoustical handheld hydration monitor (HM) for assessing the water balance of the human body was developed. Dehydration is a critical public health problem. Many elderly over age of 65 are particularly vulnerable as are infants and young children. Given that dehydration is both preventable and reversible, the need for an easy-to-perform method for the detection of water imbalance is of the utmost clinical importance. The HM is based on an experimental fact that ultrasound velocity in muscle is a linear function of water content and can be referenced to the hydration status of the body. Studies on the validity of HM for the assessment of whole-body hydration status were conducted in the Appalachian State University, USA, on healthy young adults and on elderly subjects residing at an assisted living facility. The HM was able to track changes in total body water during periods of acute dehydration and rehydration in athletes and day-to-day and diurnal variability of hydration in elderly. Results of human studies indicate that HM has a potential to become an efficient tool for detecting abnormal changes in the body hydration status.