Search results for " Acoustics"

Two Methods to Broaden the Bandwidth of a Nonlinear Piezoelectric Bimorph Power Harvester

2017

We propose two methods to broaden the operation bandwidth of a nonlinear pinned–pinned piezoelectric bimorph power harvester. The energy-scavenging structure consists of a properly poled and electroded flexible bimorph with a metallic layer in the middle, and is subjected to flexural vibration. Nonlinear effects at large deformations near resonance are considered by taking the in-plane extension of the bimorph into account. The resulting output powers are multivalued and exhibit jump phenomena. Two methods to broaden the operation bandwidth are proposed: The first method is to extend the operation frequency to the left single-valued region through optimal design. The second method is to exc…

Stability analysis of rotor whirl under nonlinear internal friction by a general averaging approach

2016

The two main sources of internal friction in a rotor-shaft system are the shaft structural hysteresis and the possible shrink-fit release of the assembly. The internal friction tends to destabilize the over-critical rotor running, but a remedy against this effect may be provided by a proper combination of some external damping in the supports and an anisotropic arrangement of the support stiffness, or at most by the support damping alone, depending on the system geometry. The present analysis reported here considers a general asymmetric rotor-shaft system, where the rotor is perfectly rigid and is constrained by viscous–flexible supports having different stiffnesses on two orthogonal plane…

A 2D-FEM Model of Nonlinear Ultrasound Propagation in Trans-cranial MRgFUS Technique

2022

Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a non-invasive technique based on the thermal ablation of a target using high intensity focused ultrasound. MRgFUS treatment applied to brain is challenging due to the skull presence that attenuates ultrasound, leading to heating effects in bone region. In this study, we simulate trans-cranial nonlinear ultrasound propagation considering the detailed structure of bone tissue. We developed a 2D Finite Element (FE) model that mimics the propagation of focused ultrasound through skin, skull and brain tissue. The skull is represented as a three-layered system with two cortical tables packing a layer of trabecular bone. We assume that the …

Evaluation of interlaminar delaminations in titanium-graphite fibre metal laminates by infrared NDT techniques

2018

Abstract Fibre Metal Laminates (FMLs) describe a number of aerospace-grade layered structural materials where thin metal alloy foils are interleaved with Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) plies. Such material hybridisation at the layer meso-scale poses a challenge for non-destructive testing (NDT). On the other hand, the need for NDT inspection of FMLs arises due to the potential development of interlayers disbonds, both during fabrication or in-service. This work describes the successful implementation of two Infrared-NDT approaches to evaluate a defected FML panel made of Titanium/Graphite (Ti-Gr). One technique is based on the modulation of the deployed heat from a low-cost halogen lamp, to…

The effect of vertical ground movement on masonry walls simulated through an elastic–plastic interphase meso-model: a case study

2019

The present paper proposes an interphase model for the simulation of damage propagation in masonry walls in the framework of a mesoscopic approach. The model is thermodynamically consistent, with constitutive relations derived from a Helmholtz free potential energy. With respect to classic interface elements, the internal stress contribute is added to the contact stresses. It is considered that damage, in the form of loss of adhesion or cohesion, can potentially take place at each of the two blocks–mortar physical interfaces. Flow rules are obtained in the framework of the Theory of Plasticity, considering bilinear domains of ‘Coulomb with tension cut-off’ type. The model aims to be a first…

2021

Previous work showed that the beginning of a sound is more important for the perception of loudness than later parts. When a short silent gap of sufficient duration is inserted into a sound, this primacy effect reoccurs in the second sound part after the gap. The present study investigates whether this temporal weighting occurs independently for different frequency bands. Sounds consisting of two bandpass noises were presented in four different conditions: (1) a simultaneous gap in both bands, (2) a gap in only the lower frequency band, (3) a gap in only the higher frequency band, or (4) no gap. In all conditions, the temporal loudness weights showed a primacy effect at sound onset. For the…

Thermally Tunable Surface Acoustic Wave Cavities

2020

We experimentally demonstrate the dynamical tuning of the acoustic field in a surface acoustic wave (SAW) cavity defined by a periodic arrangement of metal stripes on LiNbO3 substrate. Applying a dc voltage to the ends of the metal grid results in a temperature rise due to resistive heating that changes the frequency response of the device up to 0.3%, which can be used to control the acoustic transmission through the structure. The timescale of the switching is demonstrated to be of about 200 ms. In addition, we have also performed finite-element simulations of the transmission spectrum of a model system, which exhibits a temperature dependence consistent with the experimental data. The adv…

Random vibration of linear and nonlinear structural systems with singular matrices: A frequency domain approach

2017

Abstract A frequency domain methodology is developed for stochastic response determination of multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) linear and nonlinear structural systems with singular matrices. This system modeling can arise when a greater than the minimum number of coordinates/DOFs is utilized, and can be advantageous, for instance, in cases of complex multibody systems where the explicit formulation of the equations of motion can be a nontrivial task. In such cases, the introduction of additional/redundant DOFs can facilitate the formulation of the equations of motion in a less labor intensive manner. Specifically, relying on the generalized matrix inverse theory, a Moore-Penrose (M-P) based f…

On the moving multi-loads problem in discontinuous beam structures with interlayer slip

2017

Abstract This contribution proposes an efficient approach to the moving multi-loads problem on two-layer beams with interlayer slip and elastic translational supports. The Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis is assumed to hold for each layer separately, and a linear constitutive relation between the horizontal slip and the interlaminar shear force is considered. It is shown that, using the theory of generalized functions to treat the discontinuous response variables, exact eigenfunctions can be derived from a characteristic equation built as determinant of a 6 x 6 matrix. Building pertinent orthogonality conditions for the deflection eigenfunctions, a closed-form analytical response is established i…

Global–local model for three-dimensional guided wave scattering with application to rail flaw detection

2021

This study presents a three-dimensional global–local formulation for the prediction of guided wave scattering from discontinuities (e.g. defects). The approach chosen utilizes the Semi-Analytical Finite Element method for the “global” portion of the waveguide, and a full Finite Element discretization for the “local” portion of the waveguide containing the discontinuity. The application of interest is the study of guided wave scattering from transverse head defects in rails. Theoretical scattering results are impossible to obtain in this case for a wide-frequency range. While three-dimensional Semi-Analytical Finite Element–Finite Element models for guided wave scattering studies have been …