Technological advances require novel solutions for contactless energy transfer. Many engineering applications require unique approaches to power electrical components without using physical wires. In the past decade, awareness of the need to wirelessly power electrical components spawned many forays into the field of wireless power transfer (WPT). WPT techniques include capacitive energy transfer, electromagnetic inductive power transfer, electromagnetic radiative power transfer, electrostatic induction, and acoustic energy transfer. Acoustic energy transfer (AET) has many advantages over other methods. These advantages include lower operating frequency, shorter wavelengths enabling the use of smaller sized receiver and transmitter, extended transmitter-to-receiver distance therefore more manageable design constraints, achieving lower attenuation, higher penetration depth, and no electromagnetic losses. Most AET systems operate in the ultrasonic frequency range and are more commonly referred to as ultrasonic acoustic energy transfer (UAET) systems. Through-wall UAET systems are constructed of a transmitter bonded to a transmission elastic layer, which in turn is bonded to a receiver. The transmitter and receiver layers are constructed of a piezoelectric material. Piezoelectric materials behave according to the piezoelectric effect, which is when a material generates an electric charge in response to mechanical strain. The transmitter utilizes the reverse of the piezoelectric effect. A sinusoidal input voltage is applied to the transmitter, inducing vibrations in the transmitter. The vibration-induced acoustic waves emanating from the transmitter travel through the initial bonding layer, the transmission layer, and the final bonding layer to the receiver. In turn, the acoustic waves cause the receiver to deform and undergo strain. This induces a flow of charge in the receiver, which is an electric current. The receiver feeds current to a resistive load. In this manner, energy is acoustically transferred between two transducers without wires. The performance of UAET systems can be evaluated based on power transfer efficiency, voltage magnification, and input admittance. UAET systems require extensive modeling before experimental assembly can be attempted. The analytical models of UAET are either based on the mechanics of the constitutive relations of piezoelectricity and solid mechanics or using equivalent circuit methods. The equivalent circuit method approximates the physics of the UAET system with electrical assumptions. The mechanics-based method is the most comprehensive description of the physics of all the intermediate layers in a UAET system. The mechanics-based method has been based on the assumption that the UAET system is operated in the thickness mode of vibration, i.e., piston-like vibration mode where the transmitter and receiver disks vibrate only in the thickness direction. This poses an issue for disks with aspect ratios between 0.1 and 20 because the piezoelectric transducers vibrate in both the radial and thickness modes. In addition to this assumption, most of the works on UAET models only have accounted for the piezoelectric and transmission layers. The effects of the bonding layers were not considered. Bonding the piezoelectric layers to the transmission layer introduces epoxy material with mechanical properties that are not accounted for. The epoxy layers are extra barriers to the transmission that introduce attenuation and alter the vibrational and acoustical behaviors of the UAET system. Investigations into UAET commonly focus on metal through-wall applications. Alternate transmission layer materials are not investigated and the impact of varying mechanical properties on the performance of a through-wall UAET system has not been comprehensively studied. Even with the metal transmission layers, the impact of the metal thickness has not been extensively investigated thoroughly. This work addresses the issues of the thickness-mode assumption in UAET modeling, the effects of epoxy layers, the impacts of the metal layer geometry, and the performance of UAET systems with alternate transmission layer materials. Particularly, (1) we showed that the thickness-mode assumption, that has been used in the UAET modeling leads to inaccurate results. (2) We modified the available acoustic electro- elastic theoretical modeling to include the effects of radial modes as well as the epoxy bonding layers. (3) We showed that the geometry of the elastic/metal layer requires optimization for peak system efficiency. (4) The results show that using alternate transmission layer materials impacts the performance of UAET systems. The results of this work were investigated using an improved 5-layer analytical model and finite element modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics. / Master of Science / Wireless power transfer (WPT) is an innovative solution to the problem of powering sophisticated technological applications. Such instances include the powering of implanted medical devices, recharging inaccessible sensor networks, and wireless powering of components in sealed containers. Acoustic energy transfer (AET) is a feasible WPT method that addresses these needs. AET is based on the propagation of acoustic waves to a piezoelectric receiver which converts the vibrations caused by incident acoustic waves into electrical energy. Most AET systems operate in the ultrasonic frequency range, and so AET can also be referred to as ultrasonic acoustic energy transfer (UAET). Through-wall UAET systems are constructed from a transmitter that is bonded to a transmission elastic layer. The transmission layer is bonded to a receiver. The transmitter and receiver are made of a piezoelectric material. This thesis addresses the modeling process of through-wall UAET systems. In previous works, the fundamental assumption has been that such systems vibrate purely in the thickness mode. Additionally, other investigations did not comprehensively analyze the effects of the bonding layers, ascertain the performance of non-metal transmission layers, or provide practical insight on the effect of the resistive loading on such systems. This work addresses all these issues with a mathematical framework and finite element modeling results.

La caractérisation expérimentale de la réponse vibro-acoustique de panneaux excités par des champs de pression aléatoire est d'un grand intérêt dans le monde de la recherche, aussi bien industrielle qu'académique. Dans le domaine des transports, ce type d'excitation se rencontre par exemple lorsqu'un écoulement turbulent se développe en paroi d'un véhicule en mouvement. Les fluctuations de pression induites par la couche limite turbulente excitent les parois qui rayonnent un bruit à l'intérieur de l'habitacle. La reproduction expérimentale de ces fluctuations de pression nécessite des moyens qui peuvent être très coûteux (i.e, tunnel aérodynamique, essais in situ) et dont il est difficile de maîtriser tous les paramètres physiques. Un second exemple de champ de pression aléatoire est le champ acoustique diffus. Celui-ci est généralement reproduit dans une chambre réverbérante que l'on couple souvent à une chambre anéchoïque par l'intermédiaire de la paroi dont on souhaite étudier l'isolation acoustique. Un champ acoustique est supposé diffus si l'énergie acoustique provient de toutes les directions et l'intensité des ondes incidentes est équiprobable, ce qui n'est jamais le cas en pratique (problème des angles rasants, modes propres en basse fréquence, etc.). Il y a donc un fort intérêt à disposer d'un outil de laboratoire permettant de reproduire l'effet d'excitations aléatoires dans un environnement qui peut être contrôlé. C'est dans ce contexte que s'inscrit cette thèse qui a pour but de développer une méthode expérimentale permettant de caractériser le comportement vibro-acoustique de panneaux sous champ de pression aléatoire tout en se passant des moyens de mesures usuels (soufflerie, chambre réverbérante, essais in situ, etc.). Les approches étudiées dans cette thèse se basent sur la formulation mathématique du problème dans le domaine des nombres d'onde. Celle-ci met en évidence une séparation explicite des contributions de l'excitation via son interspectre de pression pariétale, de celles du comportement vibro-acoustique du panneau via des fonctions appelées "fonctions de sensibilité". Supposant donc que l'interspectre de pression pariétale de l'excitation est connu, il suffit de déterminer expérimentalement ces fonctions de sensibilité, sur le panneau ou dans le milieu acoustique, pour déterminer par post-traitement la réponse du panneau à l'excitation considérée. Deux méthodes permettant de déterminer les fonctions de sensibilité seront étudiées numériquement et validées expérimentalement: la méthode par antenne synthétique et la méthode basée sur le principe de réciprocité. Pour étudier la validité de ces méthodes, on compare leurs résultats à ceux obtenus par des moyens standards sur la base de plusieurs indicateurs vibro-acoustiques. Les méthodes sont validées en considérant les deux types d'excitations évoqués précédemment et pour deux types de panneaux: un panneau académique et un panneau "complexe" issu du domaine aéronautique. / The experimental vibro-acoustic characterization of panels submitted to random pressure fields is of great interest in the industry as well as in research laboratories. For the transport sector, this type of excitation can be found when a turbulent flow develops at the wall of a moving vehicle for example. The pressure fluctuations induced by the turbulent boundary layer excite the panels which radiate a noise inside the cabin. The experimental reproduction of those pressure fluctuations requires test means which can be very costly (i.e., wind tunnel, in situ tests) and whose physical parameters can hardly be controlled. The repeatability of measurements can thereby be questioned which makes it hard to compare different technological solutions. A second example of random pressure field is the diffuse acoustic field. This latter is usually reproduced in a reverberant room which is often coupled with an anechoic chamber by means of the panel whose acoustic insulation is to be tested. A pressure field is assumed to be diffuse if the acoustic energy comes from every direction with an equiprobable intensity of the incident waves. This assumption is never fully reached in practice (lack of grazing incident waves, strong modal behavior of the room at low frequencies, etc.). A laboratory tool which allows reproducing the effect of those random excitations in a controlled environment is therefore of great interest. In this context, this thesis aims at developing an experimental method to characterize the vibro-acoustic behavior of panels under random pressure fields without using the common test means (wind tunnel, reverberant room, in situ tests, etc.). For relevance sake, this approach must compensate for the previously stated issues. The approaches studied in this work are based on the mathematical formulation of the problem in the wavenumber domain. This latter allows an explicit separation of the contributions of the excitation via the wall-pressure cross-spectrum, from those of the vibro-acoustic behavior of the panel via so-called `sensitivity functions'. Assuming the wall-pressure cross-spectrum of the excitation is known, it is only required to experimentally determine those sensitivity functions, on the panel or in the acoustic medium, to determine the response of the panel to the considered excitation by post-processing. Two methods aiming at determining the sensitivity functions will be numerically and experimentally studied: the source scanning technique and the method based on the reciprocity principle. Results obtained with those method are compared to measurements using standard test means to attest the validity of those methods. Several vibro-acoustic indicators will be confronted while considering the two previously mentioned excitations and for two types of panels: an academic panel and a `complex' from the aeronautic sector. This latter shows the applicability of the method in an industrial context.

An active noise control (ANC) system has been applied to the problem of attenuating low-frequency tonal noise inside small enclosures. The intended target application of the system was the reduction of the engine firing frequency inside heavy equipment cabins. The ANC system was based on a version of the filtered-x LMS adaptive algorithm, modified for the minimization of acoustic energy density (ED), rather than the more traditional minimization of squared acoustic pressure (SP). Three loudspeakers produced control signals within a mock cabin composed of a steel frame with plywood sides and a Plexiglas® front. An energy density sensor, capable of measuring acoustic pressure as well as acoustic particle velocity, provided the error signal to the control system. The ANC system operated on a single reference signal, which, for experiments involving recorded tractor engine noise, was derived from the engine's tachometer signal. For the low frequencies at which engine firing occurs, experiments showed that ANC systems minimizing ED and SP both provided significant attenuation of the tonal noise near the operator's head and globally throughout the small cabin. The tendency was for ED control to provide a more spatially uniform amount of reduction than SP control, especially at the higher frequencies investigated (up to 200 Hz). In dynamic measurement conditions, with a reference signal swept in frequency, the ED control often provided superior results, struggling less at frequencies for which the error sensor was near nodal regions for acoustic pressure. A single control channel often yielded performance comparable to that of two control channels, and sometimes produced superior results in dynamic tests. Tonal attenuation achieved by the ANC system was generally in excess of 20 dB and reduction in equivalent sound level for dynamic tonal noise often exceeded 4 dB at the error sensor. It was shown that temperature changes likely to be encountered in practice have little effect on the initial delay through the secondary control path, and are therefore unlikely to significantly impact ANC system stability in the event that a fixed set of system identification filter coefficients are employed.

Ultrasound acoustic energy transfer (UAET) is an emerging contactless technology that offers the capability to safely and efficiently power sensors and devices while eliminating the need to replace batteries, which is of interest in many applications. It has been proposed to recharge and communicate with implanted medical devices, thereby eliminating the need for invasive and expensive surgery and also to charge sensors inside enclosed metal containers typically found in automobiles, nuclear power plants, space stations, and aircraft engines. In UAET, energy is transferred through the reception of acoustic waves by a piezoelectric receiver that converts the energy of acoustic waves to electrical voltage. It has been shown that UAET outperforms the conventional CET technologies that use electromagnetic waves to transfer energy, including inductive coupling and capacitative coupling. To date, the majority of research on UAET systems has been limited to modeling and proof-of-concept experiments, mostly in the linear regime, i.e., under small levels of acoustic pressure that result in small amplitude longitudinal vibrations and linearized piezoelectricity. Moreover, existing models are based on the "piston-like" deformation assumption of the transmitter and receiver, which is only accurate for thin disks and does not accurately account for radiation effects. The linear models neglect nonlinear effects associated with the nonlinear acoustic wave propagation as well as the receiver's electroelastic nonlinearities on the energy transfer characteristics, which become significant at high source strengths. In this dissertation, we present experimentally-validated analytical and numerical multiphysics modeling approaches aimed at filling a knowledge gap in terms of considering resonant acoustic-piezoelectric structure interactions and nonlinear effects associated with high excitation levels in UAET systems. In particular, we develop a reduced-order model that can accurately account for the radiation effects and validate it by performing experiments on four piezoelectric disks with different aspect ratios. Next, we study the role of individual sources of nonlinearity on the output power characteristics. First, we consider the effects of electroelastic nonlinearities. We show that these nonlinearities can shift the optimum load resistance when the acoustic medium is fluid. Next, we consider the nonlinear wave propagation and note that the shock formation is associated with the dissipation of energy, and as such, shock formation distance is an essential design parameter for high-intensity UAET systems. We then present an analytical approach capable of predicting the shock formation distance and validate it by comparing its prediction with finite element simulations and experimental results published in the literature. Finally, we experimentally investigate the effects of both the nonlinearity sources on the output power characteristics of the UAET system by considering a high intensity focused ultrasound source and a piezoelectric disk receiver. We determine that the system's efficiency decreases, and the maximum voltage output position drifts towards the source as the source strength is increased. / Doctor of Philosophy / Advancements in electronics that underpinned the development of low power sensors and devices have transformed many fields. For instance, it has led to the innovation of implanted medical devices (IMDs) such as pacemakers and neurostimulators that perform life-saving functions. They also find applications in condition monitoring and wireless sensing in nuclear power plants, space stations, automobiles and aircraft engines, where the sensors are enclosed within sealed metal containers, vacuum/pressure vessels or located in a position isolated from the operator by metal walls. In all these applications, it is desired to communicate with and recharge the sensors wirelessly. Such a mechanism can eliminate the need for invasive and expensive surgeries to replace batteries of IMDs and preserve the structural integrity of metal containers by eliminating the need for feed through wires. It has been shown that ultrasound acoustic energy transfer (UAET) outperforms conventional wireless power transfer techniques. However, existing models are based on several assumptions that limit their potential and do not account for effects that become dominant when a higher output power is desired. In this dissertation, we present experimentally validated numerical and theoretical investigations to fill those knowledge gaps. We also provide crucial design recommendations based on our findings for the efficient implementation of UAET technology.