Acoustics | Posted on
April 12th, 2013 by
Bethany Moatts
When given the choice, we’d all prefer our loudspeakers to project perfect sound; having a phone conversation with someone who sounds like a robot caught in a windstorm is less than ideal. The quality of the sound is, naturally, dependent on how well the speaker is designed, and COMSOL Multiphysics is the perfect tool to simulate and optimize loudspeaker designs because of its easy-to-use multiphysics nature. For a loudspeaker analysis to be accurate, you must be able to simulate from signal to sound with all the linking steps in between that determine how what you want to hear is transferred into what you actually will hear from a particular loudspeaker. Each step in the process will be interrelated, so it’s important to use this integrated multiphysics approach to capture each of these complex relationships. In the video at the bottom of this blog post, I will show you how our software can be used to perform a loudspeaker analysis.
Read more on: Calling All Audiophiles: Loudspeaker Analysis Video
Acoustics | Posted on
March 7th, 2013 by
Mads Herring Jensen
The use of acoustic waves to manipulate suspensions of particles, such as cells, has inspired the work of many researchers, paving the way for the field of ultrasound acoustofluidics. The manipulation is achieved in many ways, including using bulk acoustic waves (BAW) and surface acoustic waves (SAW), as well as acoustic radiation forces and acoustic streaming-induced drag. The latter two combine to produce the acoustophoretic motion of the suspended particles; i.e., movement by means of sound, and the methods provide means for label-free manipulation of live cells — and at a low cost too. This is thanks to the ease of micro fabrication of lab-on-a-chip and MEMS devices and the low cost of ultrasound transducers.
Read more on: Acoustofluidic Multiphysics Problem: Microparticle Acoustophoresis
Acoustics | Posted on
December 18th, 2012 by
Andrew Griesmer
SOund NAvigation Ranging, or Sonar, has been an important part of naval warfare and since the 1950’s. Although it is a relatively simple way to locate objects, it’s the best for doing so in water, emitting sound waves and listening for echoes made by objects in the water. In today’s world of undersea warfare, the threats and the necessary responses to them are becoming more important and urgent. Sonar systems are required to detect these threats, making it necessary for researchers to increase performance as well as reduce the weight, size, and cost.
Read more on: Multiphysics Simulation for Better and Faster Sonar Development
Acoustics | Posted on
December 17th, 2012 by
Fanny Littmarck
Tomorrow, December 18th, we are holding an online tutorial on piezoacoustic optimization. The tutorial will run for about half an hour starting at 12:30pm Pacific Standard Time (PST). If you are already familiar with the piezoacoustic transducer model in the model library, you should tune in for this further-developed version of the model.
Read more on: Online Tutorial: Piezoacoustic Optimization
Acoustics | Posted on
December 12th, 2012 by
Fanny Littmarck
A while back, I wrote about permanent magnet generators and how they generate electricity upon being set in motion. When browsing the papers from our conference in Bangalore, one on the topic of ultrasonic micro motors caught my eye. These motors are electromechanical in nature and instead initiate motion with the application of an electric voltage. Furthermore, these motors are miniaturized to fit a micro-scale environment.
Read more on: Ultrasonic Micro Motors, It’s all in the Shape
Acoustics | Posted on
November 29th, 2012 by
Andrew Griesmer
Growing older is an inevitable part of life, and with it, our body slowly begins to show that. I recently started wearing eye glasses because my eyesight is weakening. It’s a little unnerving, but I am comforted by the ever-improving technology being produced. My hearing is still fully intact, but the same cannot be said for 17% (36 million) of American adults who report some degree of hearing loss. In most cases, regular hearing aids are sufficient in treating hearing loss, but beyond a certain level, a bone conduction implant or a cochlear implant must be installed.
Read more on: Simulation-Based Design of New Implantable Hearing Aids
Acoustics | Posted on
June 29th, 2012 by
Phil Kinnane
In an earlier blog post, I commented on how acoustic waves are being used in a biomedical setting, to identify malaria in small fluid samples. A more traditional use of piezoelectric devices was written about in the latest COMSOL News. Here, an Italian company, Esaote S.p.A., uses them to produce improved ultrasound imaging systems.
Read more on: Improving Ultrasound Imaging Systems by Directing Sound Waves
Acoustics | Posted on
June 26th, 2012 by
Phil Kinnane
I have always connected Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs) as phenomena useful for sensors; where SAW devices act as the medium that transfers mechanical energy (of what you’re measuring) to electrical (what’s used to measure it). SAWs would occur at the surface of a piezoelectric device, mechanically changing it, and then the resulting electrical behavior would be used to provide the measurement. We have a great example that shows how such things can be modeled in a SAW gas sensor.
Read more on: SAWs are also used to Manipulate and Mix
Acoustics | Posted on
June 12th, 2012 by
Phil Kinnane
It’s long been known that a danger with corrosion is that it compromises the structures that it affects. This is particularly relevant for the naval industry where material failure leads to leaks and the like. Now, another danger is becoming apparent.
Read more on: Another Danger with Corrosion
Acoustics | Posted on
April 26th, 2012 by
Phil Kinnane
We’ve just got another finished article and layout back for COMSOL News and it looks as great as the others, but for different reasons. We usually ask a couple of our partners to write an article for COMSOL News to provide users with some more technical background to modeling. AltaSim Technologies, who are certified consultants and even run courses in COMSOL, have written an article about surface plasmon resonance.
Read more on: AltaSim Takes on Surface Plasmon Resonance Modeling
