Anders Wåhlin

Transient bending waves in plates studied by hologram interferometry

Propagating bending waves are studied in plates made of aluminum and wood. The waves are generated by the impact of a ballistic pendulum. Hologram interferometry, with a double pulsed ruby laser as the light source, is used to record the out of plane motion of the waves. Elliptic-like fringes visualize differences in wave speed for different directions in the anisotropic plate and circular ones are obtained for the isotropic plate. The experimental data for the isotropic plate compare favorably with analytical results derived from the Kirchhoff-plate equation with a point impact of finite duration. A similarity variable is found when starting conditions are modeled as a Dirac pulse in space and time, that brings new understanding to the importance of specific parameters for wave propagation in plates. A formal solution is obtained for a point force with an arbitrary time dependence. For times much larger than the contact time, the plate deflection is shown to be identical to that from a Dirac pulse applied at the mean contact time. A method for determining material parameters, and the mean contact time, from the interferograms is hence developed.

On structure-borne sound : experiments showing the initial transient acoustic wave field generated by an impacted plate

The initial propagating transient acoustic field in air generated by an impacted plate is visualized. The transient traveling flexural waves in the plate created by the impact are shown, simultaneously. The experiments are performed using double pulsed holographic interferometry. It is shown that flexural waves in a plate act as a series of traveling acoustic sources. Since the flexural waves in the plate are dispersive the trace matched acoustical waves further away from the impact source propagate at a smaller angle relative to the plate than those closer to the impact. An observer situated close to the plate and away from the impact point will first receive high‐frequency components of the sound. A quantitative evaluation of the acoustic field also shows that if there is a transient increase in pressure on one side of the plate there will be a similar decrease on the other side.

Transient wave response of the violin body

In this investigation, the dispersive, transient wave propagation field of a complete violin excited by a mechanically induced impulse at the top of the bridge is presented. By means of double pulsed holographic interferometry with a ruby laser as light source the propagating wave field is recorded. From presented interferograms, it is seen that initially the top plate acts mainly as a nonsymmetric dipole with centers at the two bridge feet. The back plate is strongly coupled to the motion of the top plate by the sound post and acts more like a monopole. Thus the position of the sound post is crucial to the performance of the instrument. The free edges at the f‐holes are very early reached by the dispersive bending waves of high amplitude probably giving a significant contribution to the sound of the violin family instruments.

Transient acoustic near field in air generated by impacted plates

The transient acoustic near field in air from impacted cantilever plates of two different geometrical shapes and materials is studied using two‐reference‐beam double‐pulsed holographic interferometry. The acoustic waves, observed in two directions simultaneously, are generated by traveling flexural waves in the plates and by the impact process itself. A subsequent phase‐stepping procedure is used for quantitative evaluation of the registered two‐dimensional projections of the acoustic fields. An interesting observation is the acoustic radiation at the free end of the plate, where sound waves propagate into the air in oblique directions from the plate. At the region right above the free end no acoustic waves are observed. Supersonic flexural waves in the plates generate trace‐matched acoustic waves in the surrounding air. Calculations of the corresponding two‐dimensional transient acoustic fields are performed. Those are based on an analytical solution of the Kirchhoff plate equation. Calculated results re...

Transient wave response of the violin body revisited

In this investigation, the dispersive, transient wave propagation field of the top plate of a complete violin excited by a mechanically induced pulse at the top of the bridge is presented. A similar investigation has previously been made for excitation parallel with the top plate and is now completed with excitation perpendicular to the plate. From presented interferograms, it is seen that the top plate initially deforms in a nonsymmetric two‐pole with centers at the two bridge feet. Shortly thereafter the two poles (valleys) are joined into one, but after 0.30 ms the displacement is still nonsymmetric with maximum motion at the bridge foot closest to the excitation point. From the measurements it can be concluded that for excitation parallel with the top plate, the plate between the f‐holes acts mainly as a dipole, but with excitation perpendicular the same part acts mainly as a monopole. Thus the excitation of the top plate when playing the violin depends on the angle of the bow in relation to the top p...

MECHANICAL AND THERMAL EFFECTS IN A STEEL PLATE IMPACTED BY A FOCUSED LASER PULSE

A short laser pulse from a 1 J ruby laser is focused at a steel plate. The effect will be that the material surface at the impact point becomes very rapidly heated. Metal vapour leaves the surface at a very high velocity. That is, both a mechanical impulse and local thermal energy are transferred to the plate. The mechanical impulse creates propagating bending waves in the plate, which in turn creates transient sound waves in the surrounding air. The heated spot at the plate surface creates thermal stresses in the plate which g\ve rise to an out-of-plane deformation of the plate. This deformation is added up to the propagating bending waves. These effects are studied in experiments using pulsed holographic interferometry.

Laser ignition of premixed gases studied by pulsed TV holography

Pulsed TV holography is an all-electronic version of pulsed holographic interferometry. Such a system was used to study ignition of pre-mixed flammable gases. The object was recorded in its undisturbed and disturbed state followed by an evaluation of the changes in refractive index field between those two states. The essential components of the set-up are an injection seeded, twin cavity double pulsed Nd:YAG laser and a CCD camera. A focused laser pulse from the same laser that was used for the recording of the digital hologram initiated the ignition of the pre-mixed gas. Results from the recordings show the ignition process. From the experimental phase maps the refractive index of the gas mixture could be determined. This method makes it possible to determine the proportion of components in a pre-mixed flammable gas in situ.

Pulsed TV holography and tomography for the study of transient waves in air

Abstract Transient waves in air are recorded and reconstructed using pulsed TV holography and computerized tomography (CT). Experiments are performed with an electrical discharge between two electrodes as the acoustic wave source. The free space wave-fronts and pressure fields are reconstructed. Waves reflected and diffracted by different obstacles are also recorded and reconstructed in three dimensions. Speckle averaging and image processing techniques are used to get the high quality projection fields needed for CT reconstruction.