Experiments on the Sondhauss Thermoacoustical Phenomenon

Abstract

When heat is added steadily to the gas in the closed end of a pipe having only one closed end, a large-amplitude pressure oscillation occurs. Such heat-generated sounds are known as Sondhauss thermoacoustical oscillations, after the German physicist, C. Sondhauss (1850). A physical analysis of the heat-exchange mechanism driving the Sondhauss oscillator indicates that it operates like a heat engine having a specified thermodynamic-engine cycle. Experimental measurements of sound-pressure level and velocity of the heat-driven acoustic wave have been made to define the thermodynamic cycle. Other measurements of the various geometric and energy flow parameters of the system have been compiled. A theoretical model of the Sondhauss oscillator has been derived and solved. Theoretical solutions predict the sound-pressure levels generated for specified heat inputs with less than 4% deviation from the experimental results.