186, iv leaves : ill. ; 26 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics, 1972

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics, 1972.

Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, 1956. / Typewr. copy. This thesis was submitted for the degree of Ph.D. but was accepted for the degree of Master of Science. Bibliography: leaf 208.

This is an investigation into the association between ionospheric absorption caused by electron precipitation and ELF:3 Hz-3 kHz and VLF:3 kHz-30 kHz, chorus. Ionospheric absorption was measured using the chain of riometers in Finland and related to chorus events recorded simultaneously at SANAE (L=4.2), Antarctica. The displacement in longitude of the Finnish riometers from SANAE’s conjugate point made it impossible to establish a clear relationship between chorus and riometer absorption. The diurnal variation of chorus has been established for the years 2002, 2004 and 2005 and it is shown that chorus can occur at any Local Time(LT) but has a well defined maximum probability of occurring between 0800 LT to 0900 LT. To study the occurrence of chorus automatically we have developed an Index of ELF/VLF activity which enables us to identify chorus and distinguish it from other emissions such as hiss and whistlers. This index of VLF Activity was established by computing the standard deviation of the VLF signal amplitude and it has been observed that the index is larger for the chorus signature as opposed to the hiss which is low and does not vary widely due to the hiss’ steady signal. This index is called ASD index of “VLF Activity”. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics, 1969. / Candidate's reply (16 leaves) in pocket.

When sound waves propagate in a duct in the presence of turbulent flow, turbulent mixing can cause attenuation of the sound waves extra to that caused by the viscothermal effects. Experiments show that compared to the viscothermal effects, this turbulent absorption becomes the dominant contribution to the sound attenuation at sufficiently low frequencies. The mechanism of this turbulent absorption is attributed to the turbulent stress and the turbulent heat transfer acting on the coherent perturbations (including the sound waves) near the duct wall, i.e. sound-turbulence interaction. The purpose of the current investigation is to understand the mechanism of the sound-turbulence interaction in low-Mach-number internal flows by theoretical modeling and numerical simulations. The turbulence absorption can be modeled through perturbation turbulent Reynolds stresses and perturbation turbulent heat flux in the linearized perturbation equations. In this thesis, the linearized perturbation equations are reviewed, and different models for the turbulent absorption of the sound waves are investigated. A new non–equilibrium model for the perturbation turbulent Reynolds stress is also proposed. The proposed model is validated by comparing with experimental data from the literature, and with the data from Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of pulsating turbulent channel flow. Good agreement is observed. / <p>QC 20150526</p>

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude expérimentale des ondes non-linéaires à la surface de l'eau. Premièrement, l'étude présente les mesures spatio-temporelles des ondes non-linéaires lors du passage sur une marche immergée. Celles-ci ont permis de séparer et d'analyser les diffèrent composants jusqu'au deuxième ordre. En particulier, la contribution de la tension de surface, a été mise en évidence en mesurant la longueur du battement de la deuxième harmonique. Les résultats obtenus ont été comparés à un modèle théorique multi-modal des coefficients de transmission et de réflexion. Dans la même configuration, la construction d'un bassin fermé en ajoutant un mur réfléchissant à la fin, a permis d'observer l'excitation de modes à basse fréquence, avec une dynamique quasi-périodique intéressante. En parallèle, deux aspects expérimentaux impliqués dans les manipulations à petite échelle ont été étudiés. Premièrement, l'atténuation produite par la friction sur le fond a été mesurée et analysée pour des ondes distribuées de façon aléatoire, en montrant l'importance relative de cet effet. Deuxièmement, la dynamique de la ligne de contact joue un rôle important lorsque les ondes ont des amplitudes suffisamment petites et que les bords se trouvent suffisamment proches. Dans ce cas, nous avons constaté des différences considérables en réflexion et en courbure du front d'onde. La dernière partie porte sur les mesures expérimentales de l'absorption parfaite avec un résonateur couplé dans un guide d'onde étroit. Les modes piégés générés par un cylindre décalé dans le guide, ont été excités pour produire l'absorption. / This thesis presents an experimental investigation on the propagation of nonlinear water waves. The first part focuses on the space-time measurements of nonlinear water waves, when it passes over a submerged step. The space-time resolved measurement allows us to separate the different components at the second order, which are compared with a theoretical nonlinear multi-modal model. The important contribution of the surface tension at higher orders is verified by measuring the beating length of the second harmonic. In the same conditions, the addition of a reflecting wall at the end of the channel sets a rectangular tank with submerged step, where the excitation of low-frequency modes yields a quasi-periodic dynamics. Concurrently, a research about aspects that have to be considered in small scale experiments of surface waves has been carried out. In shallow water, the damping of water waves is highly influenced by the bottom friction. This dependence was measured for randomly distributed waves, revealing the relative contribution of this effect. Moreover, the dynamic of the contact line plays a significant role when the wave-amplitude is small and the boundaries are near, both in relation to the capillary length. We observed experimentally how the wetting of the boundaries changes the reflection and the wave-front curvature. The final part covers the measurement of perfect wave absorption by a coupled resonator in a narrow waveguide. The trapped modes generated by a cylinder shifted from the channel axis were excited to generate the absorption.

This dissertation includes the study of effective medium theories (EMTs) and their applications in describing wave propagation in anisotropic metamaterials, which can guide the design of metamaterials. An EMT based on field averaging is proposed to describe a peculiar anisotropic dispersion relation that is linear along the symmetry line but quadratic in the perpendicular direction. This dispersion relation is associated with the topological transition of the iso-frequency contours (IFCs), suggesting interesting wave propagation behaviors from beam shaping to beam splitting. In the framework of coherent potential approximation, an analytical EMT is further developed, with the ability to build a direct connection between the microscopic structure and the macroscopic material properties, which overcomes the requirement of prior knowledge of the field distributions. The derived EMT is valid beyond the long-wavelength limit. Using the EMT, an anisotropic zero-index metamaterial is designed. Moreover, the derived EMT imposes a condition that no scattered wave is generated in the ambient medium, which suggests the input signal cannot detect any object that might exist, making it invisible. Such correspondence between the EMT and the invisibilityinspires us to explore the wave cloaking in the same framework of coherent potential approximation. To further broaden the application realm of EMT, an EMT using the parameter retrieval method is studied in the regimes where the previously-developed EMTs are no longer accurate. Based on this study, in conjunction with the EMT mentioned above, a general scheme to realize coherent perfect absorption (CPA) in anisotropic metamaterials is proposed. As an exciting area in metamaterials, the field of metasurfaces has drawn great attention recently. As an easily attainable device, a grating may be the simplest version of metasurfaces. Here, an analytical EMT for gratings made of cylinders is developed by using the multiple scattering theory (MST) method and the lattice sum. Validation of the theory is verified by the agreement between the EMT predictions and the numerical calculations. It is found the EMT is capable of accurately predicting the wave transport behaviors, even for frequencies where the Mie resonances happen.

No / A novel technique for the laboratory characterization of the frequency-dependent acoustic surface admittance of partly saturated samples of sands is presented. The technique is based on a standard laboratory de-watering apparatus coupled with a standard acoustic impedance tube. The dependence of the surface admittance on the degree of water saturation is investigated for two samples of sand with widely different flow resistivities. It is shown that a relatively small change (e.g., from 0% to 11% by volume) in the degree of water saturation can result in a much larger change (e.g., twofold) in the acoustic surface admittance. An empirical relationship is found between the peaks observed in the real part of admittance spectra for the low flow resistivity sand and the degree of water saturation. The data are compared with predictions of two widely used ground impedance models: a semiempirical single parameter model and a two parameter model. A modified two-parameter version of a single-parameter model is found to give comparable fit to the two-parameter model. However, neither model provides an accurate fit.

No / The Helmholtz integral equation formulation is used to produce the solution for the acoustic field reflected from a finite, thin, poroelastic plate in a rigid baffle with simply supported edges. The acoustic properties of the porous material are predicted using the effective fluid assumption. The solutions for the displacement of the plate and for the loading acoustic pressures are given in the form of the sine transform. The sine transform coefficients are obtained from the solution of a system of linear equations resulting from three integral Helmholtz formulations which relate the displacement of the plate and the acoustic pressures on the front and on the back of the plate. The effect of an air gap behind the plate in the front of a rigid wall is also considered. A parametric study is performed to predict the effect of variations in the parameters of the poroelastic plate. It is shown that thin, light, poroelastic plates can provide high values of the acoustic absorption even for low frequency sound. This effect can be exploited to design compact noise control systems with improved acoustic performance.