Acoustics and Ultrasound

Higher education teachers: Beguš Samo
Collaborators: Stanonik Martin

Subject description

Prerequisits:

• First degree of technical or natural sciences direction.
• Basic knowledge of physics, mathematics, sensors and converters, electronics, measurements, measurement systems, analogue and digital electronics and digital signal processing.

Content (Syllabus outline):

Principles of physical acoustics, human ear and perception of sound. Human speech. Room acoustics, sound reinforcement systems, anechoic chamber. Sound isolation and sound damping. Protection against noise. Microphone as acoustic-to-electric transducer. Speech and music recording. Speaker as electric-to-acoustic transducer. Modelling and simulation of acoustic systems. Ultrasonic transducers. Digital processing of acoustic signals. Blind source separation, convolution mixing, cocktail-party problem. Multimedia systems, sound effects, spatial sound, audio recording compression, MIDI protocol, algorithms and standards, AES3 standard. Evaluation of digital systems. Devices for sound recording and reproduction, noise and dynamic reduction systems. Noise and vibrations. Physical characteristics of noise and vibrations. Noise and vibrations influence on people's health. Infrasound. Noise and vibration measurement.

Objectives and competences:

To expand the knowledge in the field of acoustics, electroacoustics and ultrasound. To obtain expertise in measuring sound, measuring vibrations and acoustic signal processing.

Intended learning outcomes:

The student will gain knowledge of:

• fundamentals of acoustics
• implementation and interpretation of measurements of acoustic devices and systems
• generation and measurement of ultrasound
• digital and analogue signal processing techniques
• production and compression of audio recording
• measurement of noise and influence of noise on human beings.

Seminars presented to the audience in the auditorium or planning, preaparation, testing and presentation of a project in the field of acoustic and ultrasound.

Learning and teaching methods:

• Lectures,
• demonstrations,
• preparation and
• presentation of individual seminar or project.

Study materials

1. Dale Ensminger, Leonard J. Bond, Ultrasonics: Fundamentals, Technologies, and Applications, CRC Press (Sept 2011).
2. David Howard and Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, Focal Press (Aug 2009).
3. Jens Blauert and Ning Xiang, Acoustics for Engineers: Troy Lectures, Springer (Jun 2009).
4. M. David Egan, Architectural Acoustics, J. Ross Publishing Classics (Jan 2007).
5. Thomas D. Rossing, Neville H. Fletcher: Principles of Vibration and Sound, Springer-Verlag (Jan 2004).
6. William M. Hartmann, Signals, Sound, and Sensation (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing), American Institute of Physics (Sept 2004).