Simplified models of flue instruments: influence of mouth geometry on the sound source.

Flue instruments such as the recorder flute and the transverse flute have different mouth geometries and acoustical response. The effect of the mouth geometry is studied by considering the aeroacoustical response of a simple whistle. The labium of a transverse flute has a large edge angle (60 degrees) compared to that of a recorder flute (15 degrees). Furthermore, the ratio W/h of the mouth width W to the jet thickness h can be varied in the transverse flute (lips of the musician) while it is fixed to a value W/h approximately 4 in a recorder flute. A systematic experimental study of the steady oscillation behavior has been carried out. Results of acoustical pressure measurements and flow visualization are presented. The sharp edge of the recorder provides a sound source which is rich in harmonics at the cost of stability. The larger angle of the labium of the flute seems to be motivated by a better stability of the oscillations for thick jets but could also be motivated by a reduction of broadband turbulence noise. We propose two simplified sound source models which could be used for sound synthesis: a jet-drive model for W/h>2 and a discrete-vortex model for W/h<2.

Spectral light extinction to characterize fast fog formation.

Two supplementary methods for time-dependent droplet sizing, both based on the spectral dependence of light extinction, are applied to an adiabatically expanding vapor in which droplets are formed as a result of heterogeneous condensation. First, by measuring the extinction coefficients at three different wavelengths, we obtain time-dependent values of the modal radius, the size variance, and the droplet number density, with a typical time resolution of 1 µs. The shape of the size-distribution function is investigated by a second method. Using a white-light source in combination with a spectrometer and a CCD array, we obtain the full visible light attenuation spectrum with a time resolution of 1.5 ms. By applying an inversion technique based on trial size distributions, we find that the zeroth-order log-normal distribution describes the fog adequately. Both methods yield the same droplet growth curves and droplet number densities.