Propagation in air of N waves produced by sparks

Wayne M. Wright
Department ofPhysics, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007andApplied Research Laboratories,
The University of Texasat Austin,Austin, Texas 78712

(Received 30 September 1982;accepted for publication 8 March 1983}

Weaksparks, oflength 0.5-1.0cmandenergy perdischarge 0.01-0.1J,served to produce intense acoustic transients resembling N waves. Amplitude decay andwaveform elongation werestudied, for propagation distance up to 2 m, through theuseof a wideband capacitor microphone with essentially uniformresponse from dc to 1 MHz. Within therangeof propagation distances for whichthefirst(compression) phase of theN wavewascompletely formed, theduration of this compression phase T andits amplitude Pswerefoundto agree with the theoretical relations

T= To[1 + ro ln(r/ro)] 1/2 andps = (roPso/r)[1 + ro ln(r/ro)] -/2, where r oisa parameter that
depends upon thevalues Ofps andT at a reference distance fromthesource to.Thetimerequired
for theamplitude of theheadshock to increase from 5% to 95% of peakvaluewasobserved to varyfrom0.45ps (imposed by themicrophone response) to greater than2.0ps asthewave traveled outward andasitsamplitude decreased. Finally,themicrophone was calibrated through useof the variationwith distance of measured values of T; thisnewmethodhasled to calculation of a free-field sensitivity that agrees within + 1 dB with the results of othercalibrations.
PACS numbers: 43.25.Cb

INTRODUCTION

time isassumed in weak-shock theory, andasa result the

formulas derived fromweak-shock theory become inapplicable whenthe shock risetimeis an appreciable fraction of
the half-duration T.

Thetransient acoustic signal called an"Nwave"gets its

name from the resemblance of its time waveform to the

letter N. Thepressure signature begins witha verysharp rise (theheador bowshock), continues with an approximately lineardropto a value about asfar below zeroacoustic pressure astheoriginal rise, andfinishes withanother sharp step upward (thetail shock) thatrestores thepressure to zero.An idealized representation is shown in Fig. 1. Sources of N waves include explosions, electric sparks, bursting balloons, exploding wires, andobjects in supersonic motion. Probably
the mostfamous example is the sonic boom.

For the present experimental study,acoustic radiation

inairfrom anelectric Spark 6was observed along anormal to

thespark. Such propagation iseffectively spherical solong as theobservation pointis morethana fewspark lengths from

the discharge. Near the spark the pressure signature resembles thatofa blast wave, 7withitscharacteristic sharp, narrow positive phase, headedby a shock, and its shallow, stretched-out negative phase, which contains no shock.Be-

cause of nonlinear effects, thehead shock decays rapidlyand thecompression part of thenegative phase steepens to form the tail shock (if dissipative effects don'tbecome the major influence before that stage is reached). The N-wavestage is relatively longlastingbecause, despite the elongation and extradecay, thegeneral shape of thewaveremains thesame. Eventually, however, when the shock rise time becomes sigdau 2 showed thatboth cylindrical andspherical N waves

According tothelinear theory ofsound in gases, a sinusoidalwave shouldpropagate without distortionand an acoustic transient should experience nochange informother thanthatassociated withthefrequency-dependent attenuationof itsspectral components. In anearlyapplication of whathassince become known asweak-shock theory, Lan-

should elongate asthey travel and should decay more rapidlythan would beexpected onthebasis ofgeometrical spreadingalone. DuMond etal., independently and bya different
method, obtained equivalent results. Theyconfirmed some of their theoretical predictions through measurements on

P$

cylindrical N waves fromsupersonic bullets. 3 Theelongation and accelerated decay are produced by nonlinear effects. Thereis a general tendency for transient disturbances made up of anysortof condensation followed by a rarefaction to distort into an N wave. 4 Another feature of the N wave that is of interest is the

t-r/%

shock risetime.In a shock thereis a quasibalance between nonlinear effects, whichtendto steepen theshock andmake it thinner, and dissipation, which tendsto smoothout or

disperse thediscontinuity. 5 In a spherically propagating N

wave,dissipation rapidly becomes predominant. Zero rise
1948 J. Acoust. Soc.Am. 73 (6), June1983
FIG. 1. Idealized N wave.

0001-4966/83/061948-08500.80

@ 1983 Acoustical Society of America

1948

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

nificant, the wave enters its final, small-signalstage and moreclosely resembles a single cycleof a sinewavethan an
N.

Finally,thedimensionless parameter aoisevaluated in terms of measurable quantities by dividing Eq. (1)by Eq. (2),giving each variable its value at r- ro, and usingL = 2cot and

Included here are results that have been described oral-

ao= [ln(ro/a )]- '

Co= (y + 1)roPso/(2yPocoTo). (5)
For Nwavesin air at 25C andnormalatmospheric pressure, and at a reference distance ro = 0.10 m, this has the value

ly8andin a technical report. 9To ourknowledge nocomparison of measurements to theoretical expectations, for the spherical propagation of N waves, hasbeenreportedin the regularliterature.In recentyears Nwavesfrom weaksparks

haveformed the basis for a number of research projects

and havebecomea commerciallyavailabletool for architec-

ao= (2.47 X 10-9)ps o/To (withshock amplitude in pascals

and positive-phase durationin seconds). Examination of Eq. (4)suggests a methodfor determining the valueof ao experimentally. One can expectto measureT with reasonable precision usinga calibrated oscillo-

turalacoustics andnoise control model studies. Thispaper

surveys the characteristics of theseimportant transientsignals. Waveform features that deviate from idealizations are

noted,asare the effects of usingnonidealmeasuring apparatussuchasa microphone of finitesizeor limitedbandwidth.

scope, anda plotof T 2versus log(r) should yield a straight

linewithslope proportional to To2ao . Fromthislineandthe

arbitrarily chosen reference distance ro, one can obtain To andao.The N-waveamplitude thenis determined, with the use of Eq. (5),independent of microphone calibration. Stated I. THEORY in anotherway, onehasherea convenient means of calibration for a microphone with a uniformresponse overa suitA. Propagation o! the idealized Vwave ably wide frequencyrange. Detailed arguments for the attainment and mainteThe broad frequencycontent of an N wave, and the nance of the N-shapedwaveformhave been presentedby effects on this waveformof removinghigh- or low-frequency several authors. '2'2-4 Asisindicated in Fig. 1,theacoustic components, have been discussed with referenceto sonic pressurep is assumed to vary linearlywith time (at distance r boom studies. 5,6 Theamplitude spectrum (i.e.,theabsolute from the wave source)betweendiscontinuities (shocks)of value of the Fourier transformof the pressure versustime amplitudeps, with 2T defined to bethe durationof the wavewaveform) is proportional to the spherical Bessel functionof form. It is assumed thatps is much smallerthan the ambient first kind and first order, pressure Po,but largeenough sothat first-ordertermsin p/ j(coT)= (sin coT)/(coT) 2 -- (cos coT)/(coT). (6) Poare importantin the analysis. The wavewill tend to elongateasa resultof convection anda nonlinearcontributionto For the representative caseT = 10 kts, this function has a the sound speed, with the zero-pressure point in the centerof maximum at 33 kHz; it decreases monotonically at lower the profile traveling with the small-signal soundspeedCo. frequencies and with oscillations at higherfrequencies. The Energy is assumedto be lost from the wave only at the envelopeof this particular amplitude spectrumis greater shocks,within which the waveform-steepening tendencies than 10% of its maximum valuewithin the frequencyrange associated with finite amplitudesare balancedby the blur2.1-360 kHz; as the waveformelongates, this rangeand the ring tendencies of dissipative mechanisms. If the analysis is locationof the maximum move to lower frequencies.
limited to distances for which the radius of curvature of a

spherical wavefront is verymuchgreaterthan the thickness of a shock,resultsfrom the theory of plane-wavepropaga-

tionof weakshocks will beexpected to bevalid. 2

The resulting theoretical dependence of N-wave length L = 2coTandshock overpressure = ps/Pouponthe propagation distancer is described by the following equations
from Sec. D.V of Ref. 1'

B. Shock profile

6 = Cr-l[ln(r/al)]-1/2, L = (y + 1)y-lC[ln(r/al)] 1/2.

(1) (2)

Herey istheratioof specific heats forthegas, ,while C andal

are constants of integration. Equationsmore suitablefor comparisonwith experimental data are obtainedif C and a l are eliminatedin favor of the shockamplitude Poandhalf-duration Towhich exist at a reference distance rofrom the centerof curvatureof the spherical wave fronts.Equation(1) then becomes

Thus far we have assumed idealizedN waves,as represented by the pressure profileof Fig. 1, which are terminated by two negligiblythin discontinuities. It is of interestnow to considerthe actual profile of the initial transitionregion at large enoughdistances from the sourcethat the wave fronts are essentially plane. In a gas for which relaxation effectsare unimportant, the pressure within a weak,planeshockseparating equilibrium regions is showntheoreticallyto vary with distance x to

either side ofthemidpoint oftheshock astanh(x/A).3,4 The

thickness of a shockis predicted to dependuponthe change in particlevelocityacross it aswell asuponthe viscosity and

thermal conductivity of the gas, through A. Lighthill 3definesshockrisetime r asthe time requiredfor the pressure to increasefrom 5% to 95% of its final value; for air and the conditionsof our experiment,his equations and parameter
values lead to the result 7

p = roPo r-l[ 1 q-aoln(r/ro)] -1/2, (3) where theconstant ao= [ln(ro/a)]-.The half-duration of
the N wavecan be expressed similarlyas

T= To[1 +tro ln(r/ro)] /2.

1949 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June 1983

(4)

172/psits.
Wayne M. Wright:Propagation in air of N waves

(7)
1949

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

(the necessity of which is discussed in the Appendix}, the microphone had a free-fieldsensitivity of -- 71.5 q- 1 dB re: 1 V/Pa, and there was no evidenceof nonlinearity of the response for pressure amplitudesin excess of 3000 Pa. A battery-operated preamplifierwith a voltagegain of -4.5 dB was mechanically attachedto the microphoneand was followedby a Tektronix type 535A oscilloscope with type W preamplifier. Display of a stable,expanded voltage waveform was obtained by triggering the delayed-sweep

scope mode wi,th electromagnetic radiation fromthespark.

This displaywasphotographed with Polaroidtype47 or 410
film, and all measurements related to the acoustic waveFIG. 2. More realistic model of an N wave.

formsweretaken from the resultingphotographs. The microphone,with its integral plane baffle, was

mounted above an opticalbench in the equatorial planeof the spark.Alignmentof the microphone, which was especially critical for measurements of shockrise time, was as-

As theamplitude of anN wavedecreases with pr6pagation, the risetime eventually will become significant in comparisonwith the positive-phase duration. We expect the propagationlaws as presented aboveto ceaseto be valid in this region,where in fact the waveformwill only vaguely resemble the profileof Fig. 1. For the shockpressure somewhatbelow200 Pa, nonlinear effects areexpected to become of less importance than dissipation and dispersion, with the major influence underthe conditions of our experiment being the relaxation of vibrational energy of O: molecules. s We thusanticipate an associated distortion of the waveprofilein theform of a relatively slowrounding at theendof the
shock. A more realistic waveform than that of the idealized

suredthroughthe useof a He-Ne laserbeamthat passed throughan aperture directlybehindthe centerof the spark gap,wasreflected fromthe microphone diaphragm, andreturned to the aperture.There was no evidence of waveform
distortion as a result of acoustic diffraction from either the

microphone housing or the electrodes andtheir 20-mil supportingwires.

Minorfluctuations in thedischarge pathof thespark,

whichoccurred eventhoughthe endsof this path werefixed at theelectrode tips,ledtojitter of magnitude asgreatas 1/s in the time-of-arrival at the microphoneof the acoustic wave;corresponding variationsin the amplitudeof the observedshock ranged up to 10%. The major features of

N waveis sketched in Fig. 2.

II. DESCRIPTION OF EXPERIMENT

Our experimentalapparatuswas similar to that which

wehave described previously. 9'2 Theenergy source forthe

sparkwas a variabledc power supplywith a high internal impedance, which charged a micacapacitor in parallelwith the sparkgap.The powersupplywasadjusted to providean open-circuit voltageslightlygreaterthan the 10 kV per centimetergaplengthrequiredto produce a discharge between the 3-mil tungsten wireelectrodes. Discharges with 0.01-0.1 J initially storedin the capacitorproduced acoustic distur(a)

'-'

,' '

'

100
200

bances of sufficient amplitude for N waves to be formed.

Greater values ofthedischarge energy CV2were accompaniedby uncomfortable audible levels andresulted in rapid
deterioration of the electrodes.

A widebandcondenser microphone providedthe response that was essential for this study of short-duration

(b)

acoustic transients. These microphones 9use a thin(e.g.,

mil) Mylar-filmdiaphragm with an electrically conducting
coating of aluminumevaporated ononesurface andthe other sidein contactwith a nominallysmooth backelectrode. A thin layerof air trapped in microscopic surface irregularities providesthe mechanicalcomplianceto control the dia-

1.

L 20p. s- J F 3
FIG. 3. Sample acoustic waveforms produced by weaksparks, showing the changes of shape whichoccurasthe signalis propagated overa distance r. Pressure (vertical) scale arbitraryand different for eachwaveform.(a) Capacitance C = 2 nF, sparklength1.0cm,discharge energy 0.1 J; (b)C = 1 nF, sparklength0.5 cm, discharge energy 0.012J.

phragm motion.Fo,rthe present measurements the microphonehad a back electrode of 1.23cm diam and a capacitanceat 1 kHz, with 135-V biasapplied,of 470 pF. The rise time and resonance frequency were about0.4/s and 1.2 MHz, respectively. Mounted flush in a large, plane baffle
1950 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June 1983

Wayne M. Wright:Propagation in air of N waves

1950

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

successive N waveswere essentially identical,and it wasbelievedthat the results wouldnotbeimproved significantly by the additionof a device for triggering the discharges. Sucha

II

modification wouldhavepermitted a shorter sparkandthus a better approximation to a pointsource for theN waves, but this would have sacrificed the directionalityand signalenhancement associated with a line source(that havebeendis-

o o

cussed in a previous paper2).

200

III. EXPERIMENTAL

RESULTS

Representative examples ofN waves generated by weak sparks are displayed in Fig. 3. Here the alterations of the
waveforms with increased distance of propagation arereadi-

ly apparent: initialrisetimeincreases, duration 2Tincreases, the decrease of amplitudewith time in the centralportion achieves a uniformslope, andthe negative {expansion} peak becomes moresimilarto the positive {compression} peak.A
tail shock was observedto form for the more energetic sparks. The propagation of eachphase of the profileshould be unaffected by departures of the waveformfrom the Nwave shapeon the other side of the central zero-pressure

IOC

T2=114.1+137.6 log (r/10)

o IO

I
o

I
40

I I I II
) 80 I00

,
150

_
200

r (cm).

point,andour measurements havebeen limitedto theinitial compression phase. Figure 4 indicates how data were extractedfrom the waveformphotographs. The observed profile was approximated by the idealizedform, with the initial discontinuity
assumed to coincide with the center of the head shock. When

FIG. 5. Experimentaldata for the squareof the N-wave half-duration, for

C = 2 nF, sparklength1.0cm,energy 0.1 J. The parameter ro= (AT2/ A logr}/(2.3Tg} = 0.524,andfromthisthereference shock pressure at the reference distance of ro= 10cm is calculated to bePo = 2.26X 103Pa.

herise time was essentially thatofthemicrophone, thediscontinuitywasassumed to coincide with the kneeat the bottom of the suddenvoltageincrease. For 1.0-cm-long, 0.1-J sparks, about20 cm of propagation wererequiredfor the compression peakto overtakethe
head shock. The half-duration T was measured for each of a

largenumberof oscilloscope traces, and T 2 wasplotted

against the logarithmof the distance from the spark{Fig. 5}. A straight line was fitted to the data for the range 0.20

m<r<2.00 m by the methodof leastsquares, and from the linethevalueof T = Toat ro= 0.10m wasobtained. With To and the slopeof the line, cr o was determined from Eq. {4}. This in turn permittedthe calculation of a theoretical pressureamplitude for eachof the observed Nwavesfrom Eq. {5}, and hencethe calibrationof the microphone. This scheme is an improvementover that described by Davy and Black-

stock, owhich used measurements foronlytwopropagation

distances.

Our microphone wascalibrated by a free-fieldreciprocity procedureand through comparison with a commercial calibratedmicrophone at low frequencies. Uncertainties inherent in thesecalibrations,and changes of our sensitivity with time due to a chargingof the Mylar film, limited the precision to about _ 1dB. The receiving sensitivity that was
obtained from the measurements of waveform half-duration

T
!( T

agreedwithin this range. Figure 6 shows the decrease of shockamplitudeas the wavefrontsspreadoutward.A theoreticalamplitudecurve, calculated for the valueof cr othat wasdetermined from Fig. 5, hasbeenfitted to the experimental points.Also shownon this log-log plot is a straightline corresponding to a vari-

ation ofamplitude withdistance asr- .4. Thisagreement of

a power-lawfit with the experimental datais consistent with observations for the propagation of weakblastwaves in both

air and water. : Empiricalfittingof data to a powerlaw

clearly is more straightforwardthan to our q. {3},which requiresdeterminationof a parameterfrom independent
measurements of T.

Further comparison of our datawith theoretical predicFIG. 4. Illustrationof methodusedfor determining half-durationand amplitudeof N wavesfrom waveformphotographs.

tions isprovided by theplots of T andrps(theproduct of Nwave amplitude and propagationdistance}of Fig. 7. For
Wayne M. Wright:Propagation in air of N waves 1951

1951

J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June 1983

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

Ps(10 -:volt)

5C)0 ' I ! I,,,

',r/lo)Vl'l'o.24In(r/10)
1.14

corresponds to the theoreticalamplitudedependence of the risetime for a planeshock between steady-state levels,which was givenby Eq. {7}. Uncertainty in the calibrationof the microphone wasequivalent to a shiftin theslope of thetheoretical line of about 10%. The lower limit to the rise time

values isthatimposed by themicrophone, whilethefallingof ' belowpredictedvaluesfor the weakershocks is consistent

with the limited half-duration of the N waves. Orenstein and

I00 r

Blackstock 22recently havereported on an extensive. setof rise-time measurements {using the definition of Pierce7}.
They claimgoodagreement with the results of a computer
. propagation algorithmthat enables them to includeboth finite-amplitudeand atmospheric absorptioneffects.Hoist-

50

Jensenand his collaborators23have obtained similar results

for weakN waves at largedistances fromveryintense spark

and exploding-wiresources.
20-

IO to

I 20

r(m)

50

I00

200
oo
16

FIG. 6. N-waveamplitudeasa functionof distance from the centerof the spark,for C = 2 nF, sparklength1.0cm. The solidcurveshows the theoreticalbehaviorfor ro = 0.524, while the dashed line corresponds to an am-

plitude decay asr- .4.

14

each quantity a constant value(i.e.,horizontal line} wouldbe associated with lossless, small-amplitude theory.Similarbehaviorwasobserved for eachof the sparksizes andenergies that we studied.Note that althoughthereis an appreciable increase in the half-durationof the wave,our equationindicatesthat a doublingof To shouldrequirea propagation
distanceof 32 m; weak-shocktheory clearly ceases to be valid well beforethat point, however. Over a wide rangeof sparksizes and energies, the product of N-wave amplitude,half-duration,and propagation distancewas found to be essentially constant,in agreement with theory.Valuesof the product{rTps } for the dataof Fig. 7, whennormalized throughdivision by theaverage valueof this product,were distributedabout unity with a standard
deviation of 0.03.
(b)

12

10.7 I-I-0.52 In (r/10)

IC '-=

T
io

I
20

I
r(m)

I ! lilt
5o ioo

,
200

7o

' 1+0.52 In (r/10)

Changes in the observed profile of the head shock,as the N wavetraveledoutwardin the equatorial planeof the sparkand its amplitudedecreased, are indicated in Fig. 8. Overshoot andtinging,whichwereintroduced by the microphone,disappeared as the rise time of the actual shockbecamegreaterthan that of the microphone. The time requiredfor the oscilloscope traceto increase
from 5% to 95% of its value at the end of its initial rise has

beenplottedin Fig. 9. Here the horizontalvariable isproportional to the inverseof the magnitudeof the initial pressure rise,rather than of the extrapolated amplitudeof theN wave (aswasthe casein Fig. 6}. Data are includedhere for two sparksizes (witha single pointfor a third size}; theassociated half-durationfor eachis notedat the point wherethe headshockamplitudewas65 Pa. The straightline on this graph
1g52 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June1g83

20

50

I00

200

(cm) "'-

FIG. 7. Comparison of experimental datawith theoryfor C = 2 nF, spark length1.0cm:(a)waveform half-duration; (b)product ofN-waveamplitude anddistance from the spark.The theoretical curvefor Twas calculated for thevalues of Toandcr odetermined fromFig. 5, whilethatfor rpswascalculatedfor the same valueof cr ofittedby eyeto the data. WayneM. Wright:Propagation in air of N waves 1g52

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

r= IOcm

60cm

the assumption of spherical wavefrontsaboutthe centerof the spark,agreement with the theoretical lawsfor spherical propagation of N wavesis excellent.In summary' (a)An N waveelongates asit travelsoutward,with the mostrapid stretching whenthe amplitudeis greatest. (b)The amplitudedecayis slightlymore rapid than the r- variation of small-amplitude acoustic waves i.na lossless
medium.

120cm

(c) The productof propagationdistance,shockamplitude, and positive-phase duration is invariant. Dissipativecharacteristics of the medium control the
L J

FIG.8.Observed profile ofthe head shock atthree distances from the spark, forC = 2 nFand spark length 1.0 cm. Withthemicrophone slightly misaligned, so that theinitial shock arrived atdifferent portions ofthemicrophone diaphragm atslightly different times, the ringing was eliminated for
theclosest distance andonecould see thattheshock didnotextend to the
maximum pressure of the wave.

structure of theheadshock, although theydo not appear to influence therates of attenuation andelongation ofN waves. Our wideband microphone haspermitted thedirectobservationof extremely rapidpressure changesand hasledto mea-' surements in goodagreement with theory for rise times of our moreintense shocks. It is not unreasonable, giventhe rapiddecrease of amplitude associated withspherical propagationand the negative pressure slope immediately behind
the shock, that with further travel the rise time would not

keepup with thetheoretical valuefor a plane, step shock of the sameamplitude. Our photographs clearlyshowthe initial pressure jump in the shockbeingfollowedby a more
gradual increase,which can be attributed to the effectsof

IV. DISCUSSION

An unbounded, homogeneous mediumin the neighbor(25 C, 40% relative humidity), the calculatedrelaxation hoodof a suddenlocalizedrelease of energycan be divided time of 4/s due to O2 molecules TM is consistent with the into threeseparate regions. Closeto the source of acoustic waveform rounding observed at thegreater propagation disdisturbance there is little effectof dissipation, and nonlinear tances. effects tendto encourage the formationof anN-shapedwave profile.In the second regionthe waveamplitudedecreases and finite-amplitude effects eventuallybecomelessimporACKNOWLEDGMENTS tant than the effectsof viscosity,heat conduction,and moThe continuinginterest,encouragement, and adviceof lecularrelaxation.In the third regionweak-shock theoryis Dr. David T. Blackstock is notedwith gratitude.This work no longerapplicable. wassupported in part by the U.S. Officeof Naval Research. Our experimental results havebeenobtained in the secA portion was carried out while the author was a visiting ondof these regions. For distances fromthe sparkat least20 at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. timesthe gaplength,whereSchlieren photographs support professor
APPENDIX: DETAILS ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL

molecular relaxation. For the conditions of our experiment

TECHNIQUES

E.O

'-.I-

;.L.

We haveobtainedN waveswith a modestrangeof durationsby varyingthe sparklengthanddischarge energy. With spontaneous breakdownbetweenpointed electrodes when the capacitorvoltagereachedthe necessary level, however, independent variation of N-wave amplitude and duration has not beenpossible. Measurements were carried out for several sparklengths in the range0.25-1.50 cm, with capacitance of 0.5-5.0 nF {andstoredenergyof 0.003-0.23 J). At the arbitrarily chosendistanceof 1.0 m, the extrapolated shockamplitudewasfoundto be relatedto the N-wave dura-

tion (in/s) by the empirical formula, Ps= 2.2T' Pa. (In addition, at thissame distance Ps-- 110d '82C'3 Pa,where
0 5 I0 15 20

sparklengthd isin centimeters and capacitance C is in nano-

farads.} Klinkowstein 24 used a 0.4-cm gap,4.5-Jspark enerFIG. 9. Observed risetime of the N waves, plottedasa functionof the reci.

procalof the shock amplitude (arbitrary scale). El:C = 2 nF, 1.0 cm;: C = 1nF, 0.5cm;A: C = 2.0nF, 1.5cm.Thestraight lineshows thetheo-

retical dependence ofrise timeupon shock amplitude, fromLighthill. 13

1953 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June 1983

gy, and a separate triggeringdischarge; hismeasurements at 1.0-m distance werePs -- 300 Pa and T- 28/s, which are consistent with our equationabovewithin microphone calibration accuracy.
Wayne M. Wright:Propagationin air of N waves 1953

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

OBSERVED

COMPUTED

Ij. W.M. DuMond, E.R.Cohen,'W. K. H. Panofsky, and E.Deeds, "A

determination of the waveformsand lawsof propagation and dissipation of ballisticshock waves," J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 18, 97-118 {1946}. The name
"N wave" was first used in this article.

illill=""'nlv

2L.D. Landau, "On shock waves," J. Phys. {Moscow) 6, 229-230{1942);

"On shockwaves at largedistances from the placeof their origin," J. Phys. (Moscow)9, 496-500 (1945).

3Athorough summary ofworkinthisarea over a20-year period isprovided

by W. B. Snow, "Surveyof acousticcharacteristics of bullet shockwaves," IEEE Trans. Audio Electron.AU-15, 161-176 (1967).

20/s

4See, for. example, G. B. Whitham, "Theflowpattern of a supersonic projectile," Commun.Pure Appl. Math. 5, 301-348 (1952). SAnumberof analytical studies of risetime havebeen-done asa resultof
sonic boom measurements, which show that sonic boom rise times are far

too long to be explainedon the basisof viscosity and heat conduction.See, for example,A.D. Pierceand D. J. Maglieri, "Effectsof atmospheric irregularitieson sonicboom propagation,"J. Acoust. Soc.Am. 51, 702-721 (1972).The atmospheric effects responsible for anomolous sonicboomrise timesplay no part in the studyreportedhere.

6It isinteresting to notethatmorethana century agoA. Tfpler, whowith

20/s Foucalt is credited with developingthe Schlierentechnique,applied his apparatus to observe the acoustic disturbance generated by a spark[Ann. Phys. 131, 180-215 (1867)]. Ernst Mach givesa fascinatingaccountof Tfpler's investigation, aswell ashis own on "head waves"from bullets,in his book Popular ScientificLectures, translated by T. J. McCormack {OpenCourt, Chicago, 1898),3rd ed. pp. 309-337.

FIG. A 1.Response toanNwavenormally incident onthemicrophone face of (a)locally constructed microphone withactive area of0.20-cm diamand 9.9-cm baffle diam; (b)Bruel & Kjaer-in.capacitor microphone, type 4136,
with active area of 0.32-cm diam and effective baffle diam of 0.60 cm.

7See, forexample, G. F. Kinney, Explosive Shocks in Air (Macmillan, New

York, 1962), p. 77.

8D.T. Blackstock, J. L. McKittrick,andW. M. Wright,"Laboratory mod-

eling ofthesonic boom," Am.J.Phys. 35,679(A)(1967); W. M. Wright,

"Propagationlawsand shockprofilefor N wavesfrom sparks,"J. Acoust. Sac. Am. 49, 119 (1971).

9W.M. Wright,"Studies ofNwaves fromweaksparks in air," FinalReport

Observations suchashavebeenreportedherearepossibleonlywith a microphone havinga frequency response that is flat up to around 1 MHz and without a pronounced reso-

under Contract Nonr-3932(00), Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI (June 1971) (AD 725 865).

lB.A. Davy andD. T. Blackstock, "Measurements of the refraction and

diffractionof a shortN waveby a gas-filled soapbubble,"J. Acoust.Soc. Am. 49, 732-737 (1971);D. T. Blackstock, W. M. Wright, B. A. Davy, J.
C. Lockwood, E. P. Cornet, M. O. Anderson, D. R. Kleeman, W. N.

nance peak. 25With commercially available microphones,

one typicallywill observe a waveformthat is stronglyinfluenced by the microphone impulseresponse. In addition, diffractionfrom the microphone housingcan substantially modify the free-fieldwaveform. For the presentwork the microphone was mountedflushwith a rigid, planecircular baffleof radiusgreat enoughthat the diffractedarrival occurredwell afterthe sensing of the directN wave.Lockwood

Cobb, and R. D. Essert,"Finite-amplitudebehaviorof N-shapedpulses from sparks,"J. Acoust. Sac. Am. Suppl. 1 68, S29 (1980);D. T. Blackstocket al., "Experimentswith N wavesfrom sparks"(in preparation).

R. G. CannandR. H. Lyon,"Newacoustical modeling instrumentation,"

J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 61, 1094-1097 (1977).

2D.T. Blackstock, "Nonlinear Acoustics (Theoretical)," in American Instituteof Physics Handbook,editedby D. E. Gray (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1972),Chap. 3n, pp. 3-194 to 3-197.

andWright 26havestudied thissituation andfoundtheobserved waveforms that propagated radiallyinward,afterdiffractionat the edgeof a circular plate, to agreewell with
waveforms that werecalculatedwith the useof linear theory. At the center of the baffle, where the normally incident N
0

13M. J. Lighthill, "Viscosity effects in sound waves of finiteamplitude," in

Surveys in Mechanics, editedby G. K. Batchelorand R. M. Davies(CambridgeU. P., Cambridge,United Kingdom, 1956).

4A.D. Pierce, Acoustics: An Introduction toIts Physical Principles andApplications(McGraw-Hill, New York, 1981),Chap. 11.

sp.B. Oncleyand D. G. Dunn, "Frequency spectrum of N waves with

finite rise time," J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 43, 889-890 (1968).

waveexperiences pressure doubling, the diffracted waveis invertedandhasone-halfthe amplitudeof the directsignal. With a locallyconstructed microphone of finite sizeat the
center of the circular baffle, as was the casefor the oscillo-

6M. J. Crocker,"Measurement of sonic boomwith limitedfrequency response instrumentation--A theoreticalstudy," Wyle Labs, Huntsville, AL, Rep. WR 66-20 (April 1966).

7pierce's definition ofshock rise time(Ref.14,p. 591), in terms oftheslope

of the waveformat the half-peakpoint, leadsto a valueabout 10% smaller

scope display of Fig. A1 (a),a temporal spreading of the initial shockis evident.This apparentincrease of rise time is attributableto integrationof the pressure signalover the activeareaof the transducer. FigureA1 (b)indicates how a high-quality, commercially available microphone, a Bruel& Kjaer type4136,responds to the superposition of the direct N waveandthe spread-out diffracted signal.For the calculatedwaveform shown here,the microphone wasconsidered to have a bafflewith diameterequal to that of the microphonehousing. The differences between observed and computedwaveforms are attributable to the limited bandwidth of the B&K microphone, which wasnot takeninto account in computingthe predictedresponse.
1954 J. Acoust.Soc. Am., Vol. 73, No. 6, June 1983

thanthatgiven byEq.(7).

SReference 14,pp. 555and593. 9W. M. Wright and J. L. McKittrick, "Diffractionof spark-produced

acousticimpulses,"Am. J. Phys. 35, 124-128 (t967).

eW. M. WrightandN. W. Medendorp, "Acoustic radiation froma finite

line source with N-wave excitation," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 43, 966-971

(1968).

See, for example, K. Gjaevenes andA. Homstol, "Measurements of the

attenuation of muzzle shock waves in air," J. Acoust. Sac. Am. 49, 1688-

1690(1971);L. B. Poch6,Jr., "Underwatershock-wave pressures from

small detonators,"J. Acoust. Soc.Am. 51, 1733-1737 (1972).

22L.B. Orenstein andD. T. Blackstock, "Experimental investigation of the

risetime of N waves,"J. Acoust.Soc.Am. Suppl. 1 71, S29 (1982);L. B. Orenstein,"The rise time of N wavesproduced by sparks,"Appl. Res. Labs.Tech. Rep. 82-51,The Universityof Texasat Austin,Austin,TX (October 1982).

Wayne M. Wright:Propagation in air of N waves

1954

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp

230. Hoist-Jensen, "An experimental investigation of rise timesof very weakshockwaves,"U. of TorontoInst. of Aerosp.Stud.Tech. Note No. 229,Toronto (March 1981 ); H. Honma,I. I. Glass, O. Hoist-Jensen, and Y. Tsumita,"Weak spherical shock-wave transitions of N-wavesin air with vibrationalexcitation," 13th Int. Symp. ShockTubesand Waves, Niagara Falls, NY (July 1981 ). 24R.E. Klinkowstein,"A studyof acoustic radiationfrom an electrical

spark discharge in air," Acoust.Vib. Lab. Rep., MIT, Cambridge,MA (July 1974).

2SFor a description ofa successful alternative approach tovisualizing spark

N waves,seeG. Smeets,"Laser interference microphonefor ultrasonics and nonlinearacoustics," J. Acoust. Soc.Am. 61, 872-875 (1977).

26j.C. Lockwood andW. M. Wright,"Effect of edge diffraction on microphoneresponse to transients," J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 51, 106 (1972).

1955

J. Acoust. Soc.Am.,Vol.73, No.6, June1983

Wayne M. Wright: Propagation inairofN waves

1955

Downloaded 18 May 2012 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp