Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-04-27T11:50:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 modelagem_simulacao.pdf: 2794841 bytes, checksum: babcdd431b397236986302faace96f8b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-27T11:50:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 modelagem_simulacao.pdf: 2794841 bytes, checksum: babcdd431b397236986302faace96f8b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O alto-falante é o principal item em qualquer sistema de som e é também o principal responsável por distorções geradas nestes sistemas. Isto se deve principalmente às não-linearidades mecânicas do alto-falante. Estudos recentes sugerem fortemente que estas não-linearidades podem provocar multiperiodicidade e comportamentos caóticos espúrios no movimento do cone dos alto-falantes. Isto implica na adição de frequências espúrias ao som original e não fidelidade. Esses estudos porém, não levam em consideração a aplicação dos alto-falantes em caixas acústicas, que é a sua maior utilização. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estender aqueles estudos, levando em consideração as caixas acústicas, e verificar qual a influência dos volumes finitos na dinâmica de um alto-falante. Os resultados deste trabalho mostram que o volume finito de uma caixa acústica tem forte influência na fidelidade de um alto-falante por reduzir o aparecimento de multiperiodicidade e caos espúrios. Como regra geral, tem-se que menores volumes inibem tais comportamentos espúrios, mas, ao mesmo tempo, reduzem a dinâmica de resposta do alto-falante. Então uma escolha criteriosa do volume da caixa acústica deve tomar o menor volume possível, sem sacrificar a dinâmica do alto-falante considerado. / Loudspeakers are the main item in any high fidelity sound system, and are the main responsible for distortions in sound reproduction. The main reason for that is the presence of nonlinearities in their functioning. Recent studies strongly suggest that these nonlinear effects can lead the speaker to multiperiodic and chaotic behaviors. This implies in distortions since additional spurious frequencies are added to the original sound. However, those studies do not consider an important issue in real speaker usage, which is the acoustic enclosure in which it is usually installed in. The main goal of this work is to extend those mentioned studies taking this additional factor into consideration, and to verify what influence a limited enclosure can cause on speaker dynamics. The results suggest that the finite volume of the acoustic enclosure can strongly affect the fidelity of a loudspeaker, reducing the spurious multiperiodicity and chaos. As a general rule, smaller enclosures inhibits such spurious behaviours but, at the same time, diminishes the dynamical response of the loudspeaker. Therefore, a criterious volume choice should lead to the smaller possible volume however without sacrifying the loudspeaker musical dynamics.

This research aims to develop a low-frequency response control methodology capable of delivering a consistent spectral and temporal response over a wide listening area. Low-frequency room acoustics are naturally plagued by room-modes, a result of standing waves at frequencies with wavelengths that are integer multiples of one or more room dimension. The standing wave pattern is different for each modal frequency, causing a complicated sound field exhibiting a highly position-dependent frequency response. Enhanced systems are investigated with multiple degrees of freedom (independently-controllable sound radiating sources) to provide adequate low-frequency response control. The proposed solution, termed a chameleon subwoofer array or CSA, adopts the most advantageous aspects of existing room-mode correction methodologies while emphasizing efficiency and practicality. Multiple degrees of freedom are ideally achieved by employing what is designated a hybrid subwoofer, which provides four orthogonal degrees of freedom configured within a modest-sized enclosure. The CSA software algorithm integrates both objective and subjective measures to address listener preferences including the possibility of individual real-time control. CSAs and existing techniques are evaluated within a novel acoustical modeling system (FDTD simulation toolbox) developed to meet the requirements of this research. Extensive virtual development of CSAs has led to experimentation using a prototype hybrid subwoofer. The resulting performance is in line with the simulations, whereby variance across a wide listening area is reduced by over 50% with only four degrees of freedom. A supplemental novel correction algorithm addresses correction issues at select narrow frequency bands. These frequencies are filtered from the signal and replaced using virtual bass to maintain all aural information, a psychoacoustical effect giving the impression of low-frequency. Virtual bass is synthesized using an original hybrid approach combining two mainstream synthesis procedures while suppressing each method‟s inherent weaknesses. This algorithm is demonstrated to improve CSA output efficiency while maintaining acceptable subjective performance.

Ces travaux concernent l'évaluation perceptive de la reproduction sonore. Le but de notre étude est de proposer un protocole permettant la caractérisation perceptive des non-linéarités et des phénomènes de distorsion modifiant le signal reproduit par un système tel qu'une enceinte acoustique. L'élaboration d'un tel protocole nécessite de rassembler de nombreuses enceintes et d'utiliser une méthode d'évaluation adaptée. Nous ne cherchons pas à évaluer la distorsion en terme de qualité globale mais plutôt à estimer les dissemblances perçues entre différentes enceintes distordues afin de révéler, grâce à une analyse multidimensionnelle MDS, les critères sur lesquelles les auditeurs se basent pour les différencier. Dans un premier temps, nous avons utilisé des signaux de synthèse afin de générer des échantillons dont la distorsion est contrôlable. Nous avons ainsi créé un corpus composé de nombreux échantillons distordus simulant ou se rapprochant du fonctionnement d'une enceinte acoustique avec différents types de non-linéarités. Ensuite nous proposons une méthode adaptée à l'évaluation de la dissemblance sur des corpus étendus que nous avons validée à partir de simulations et de tests d'écoute. Enfin, nous avons appliqué cette méthode d'évaluation sur le corpus d'enceintes que nous avons élaboré afin de tester l'utilisation du protocole proposé et de donner quelques résultats préliminaires concernant les dimensions perceptives liées à la distorsion non linéaire. / This work deals with the perceptual evaluation of the sound reproduction. Our aim is to elaborate a protocol allowing to assess the influence of nonlinearities and distortions of a loudspeaker. Such a protocol requires gathering a large set of loudspeakers together with an appropriate method for its evaluation. This study deals with the perceptual evaluation of dissimilarities between different loudspeakers rather than their absolute quality judgements. Thanks to a multidimensional scaling technique, this approach allows to uncover the criteria used by the listeners to differentiate various distorting loudspeakers. First, we used synthesized signals to generate samples of sounds resulting from controlled distortion. Numerous distorded stimuli have been generated that simulate sounds radiated by a loudspeaker. Then, we propose a method suitable for the evaluation of a large set of stimuli. In order to verify its application to the estimation of dissimilarity, simulations and listening tests have been conducted. Finally, this listening test method has been applied to the created set of distorting loudspeakers in order to verify the use of our protocol and provide some preliminaries results concerning the perception of nonlinear distortion.

H Διδακτορική Διατριβή μελετά το πρόβλημα της ψηφιακής ισοστάθμισης,σκοπεύοντας στην ανάπτυξη αποτελεσματικών μεθόδων εξάλειψης των ηχητικών παραμορφώσεων, που εισάγονται κατά την ηχητική αναπαραγωγή εξαιτίας της απόκρισης, είτε των ηχείων (ανηχωική ισοστάθμιση), είτε των χώρων ακρόασης (εξάλειψη αντήχησης). Αναπτύσσονται πρωτότυπες μέθοδοι που αφενός εξασφαλίζουν ακριβείς μετρήσεις των ανηχωικών ηλεκτρακουστικών αποκρίσεων μέσα σε μη ανηχωικούς χώρους, αφετέρου πετυχαίνουν κατάλληλη εξομάλυνση των πολύπλοκων αποκρίσεων των ακουστικών συστημάτων για χρήση στην ψηφιακή ισοστάθμιση αλλά και για χρήση σε άλλες εφαρμογές της ακουστικής χώρων που απαιτούν ανάλυση συγκεκριμένων ιδιοτήτων αυτών των συστημάτων. Η συστηματική μελέτη της μεθόδου εξάλειψης αντήχησης που βασίζεται στην ιδανική αντιστροφή των αποκρίσεων χώρων οδηγεί στο πρωτότυπο συμπέρασμα ότι τα ακουστά οφέλη από την εφαρμογή της μεθόδου σε πραγματικό χρόνο είναι σημαντικά υποδεέστερα από τα αναμενόμενα που προκύπτουν από τα αντίστοιχα πειράματα εξομοίωσης αυτής της μεθόδου. Το πρόβλημα της εξάλειψης αντήχησης αντιμετωπίζεται για πρώτη φορά με έναν πρακτικά βιώσιμο τρόπο, με την εισαγωγή πρωτότυπης μεθόδου ισοστάθμισης που βασίζεται στην Μιγαδική Εξομάλυνση των αποκρίσεων χώρων. / The dissertation studies the digital audio equalization problem, in order to develop methods that would effectively eliminate the audio distortions being introduced during the sound reproduction by either the loudspeakers(anechoic equalization) or the room response (dereverberation). Novel methods are introduced that ensure precise measurements of anechoic electracoustic responses inside reverberant enclosures and on the other hand, achieve appropriately smoothed acoustic responses, for use in digital equalization and also in other applications of room acoustics that require analysis of concrete properties of these systems. Novel conclusions have been drawn by the analytic study of the room acoustics dereverberation based on ideal inverse filtering, indicating that the application of such a method in real time yields a significantly degraded performance compared to that achieved by the corresponding simulated dereverberation experiments. The problem of dereverberation is faced with a practically viable solution, with the introduction of a novel method based on the room response Complex Smoothing.

<p>The recent advances in flexible piezoelectric technologies have sparked a great interest in developing multifunctional next-generation transducers and actuators that are increasingly becoming high demand for a range of challenging applications, including self-powered structural and personal health monitoring systems to flexible loudspeaker devices. </p><p>In this research, novel <i>quasi </i>1–3 piezoelectric nanocomposites are introduced with record-high piezoelectric voltage coefficients (g₃₃), reaching up to 0.709 Vm N⁻¹ (approximately 20 percent greater than the recently reported highest g₃₃ value in the literature). These materials are produced via dielectrophoretic process where both piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanoparticles and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are simultaneously aligned in a silicone-based polymer matrix (polydimethylsiloxane—PDMS) at a range of concentrations up to 13 vol%, leading to densely structured cone-shaped "nanocolumn forests" in the thickness direction. It is shown that the electric field induced alignment of particles not only improves the overall piezoelectric properties of the composite at relatively low filler concentrations, but also increases the transparency of the system by enabling the light to travel with little scattering or absorption in the “Z” direction through the particle depleted zones created between micro- and nano-sized columns. The details of these unique column morphologies are investigated by various off-line and on-line characterization techniques such as microcomputed tomography—microCT and real-time light transmission measurements to better understand the effect of both material (i.e., concentration) and process-based parameters (e.g., electric field, frequency) on pearl-chain formation. </p><p>To show its versatility and high-performance, the applications comprising both direct (e.g., force sensing, energy harvesting, structural and personal health monitoring) and inverse (e.g., loudspeaker) piezoelectric effect are also demonstrated and extensively characterized. </p><p>Additionally, to demonstrate the scalability of the process, large-area samples are also produced via the continuous dielectrophoretic process (utilizing a novel 44 ft long custom designed multifunctional roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing line), resulting in the largest single piece piezoelectric films ever reported in the literature. </p>

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή εστιάστηκε στη μελέτη συστημάτων ακουστικής εκπομπής για απευθείας αναπαραγωγή ψηφιακού ήχου. Η ερευνητική διαδικασία βασίστηκε στον προσδιορισμό και βελτίωση των δυνατοτήτων δύο διαφορετικών υλοποιήσεων ακουστικής μετατροπής: i. Ένα υβριδικό πρωτότυπο θερμοακουστικό στοιχείο και ii. Μια συστοιχία 32 ηλεκτροδυναμικών μεγαφώνων σχεδιασμένη, ώστε να αναπαράγει ψηφιακά ηχητικά σήματα. Η θερμοακουστική μετατροπή προσφέρει μια εναλλακτική τεχνική για υλοποιήσεις ακουστικών στοιχείων. Είναι βασισμένη στο μετασχηματισμό των διακυμάνσεων της θερμικής ενέργειας σε ακουστικό κύμα που προκαλούνται από τη ροή του ηλεκτρικού σήματος ήχου σε μια συσκευή στερεάς κατάστασης που λειτουργεί χωρίς τη χρήση οποιουδήποτε κινούμενου τμήματος ή μηχανισμού. Η υλοποίηση αυτής της τεχνικής ηχητικής αναπαραγωγής, μελετάται με τη χρήση ενός πρωτότυπου μετατροπέα ο οποίος αναπτύχθηκε πάνω σε πλακέτα κρυσταλλικού πυριτίου (silicon wafer). H απόδοση της συσκευής αυτής βελτιώνεται ιδίως όσον αφορά στις μη γραμμικές παραμορφώσεις που προσθέτει ο φυσικός μηχανισμός κατά την αναπαραγωγή των ακουστών συχνοτήτων. Για τις ανάγκες της ερευνητικής μελέτης κατασκευάσθηκε εξειδικευμένο στάδιο οδήγησης, ενώ επίσης αναπτύχθηκαν εργαλεία που προσομοιώνουν την απόδοση αυτών των συσκευών. Οι ψηφιακές συστοιχίες μεγαφώνων (DLAs) σήμερα βασίζονται σε μικρούς μετατροπείς κινούμενου πηνίου για την ανακατασκευή ακουστικών σημάτων από ροές ψηφιακού ήχου. Τα σημαντικά ζητήματα απόδοσης για τα συστήματα αυτά αναλύονται από την παρούσα διατριβή, με στόχο να ερμηνευθεί η απόκριση συχνότητας και οι ρυθμοί των διακριτών (on/off) μεταβάσεων των μεγαφώνων, εξαιτίας των ψηφιακών σημάτων. Λεπτομερείς προσομοιώσεις που επιτρέπουν την πραγματοποίηση συγκρίσεων για μια πανομοιότυπη συστοιχία 32 μετατροπέων η οποία τροφοδοτείται από αναλογικά σήματα, σε παρόμοια τοποθέτηση και ενεργοποίηση των στοιχείων. Οι μελέτες αυτές παράγουν πρωτότυπα αποτελέσματα για τις απαιτήσεις σε ηλεκτρική ενέργεια και την ευαισθησία της συστοιχίας, καταλήγοντας στο συμπέρασμα ότι αυτά τα δύο συστήματα επιτυγχάνουν συγκρίσιμες επιδόσεις. / The present Phd Thesis is focused on the study of acoustic transduction systems for direct digital audio signal emission. The research process was based on the evaluation and optimization of the behavior of two different implementations: i. A novel hybrid thermoacoustic device and ii. A loudspeaker array consisting of 32 moving coil speakers designed for digital audio reproduction. Thermoacoustic transduction offers an alternative technique for transducer implementations, based on the transformation of thermal energy fluctuations into sound after the direct application of the electrical audio signal on a solid state device which operates without the use of any moving/mechanical components. Here, an implementation of this sound generation technique is studied based on a prototype developed on silicon wafer and its performance is optimised, especially with respect to non-linear distortions within the audio band. For the purposes of the research study a specialised driving circuit was constructed and also the appropriate tools were developed to simulate the performance of these devices. Digital loudspeaker arrays currently are based on small moving-coil speakers to reconstruct acoustic signals out of binary audio streams. An overview of significant performance issues for such systems is given here to explain frequency response and speaker discrete transition rates due to the digital data. Detailed simulations provided comparisons for a 32-speaker DLA with similar arrangements of speakers driven by analogue signals. These tests produce novel results for electrical power requirements and array sensitivity, concluding that these two systems achieve comparable performance.