Search Results (8)

Underwater mobile acoustic source target localization encounters several challenges, including the unknown propagation speed of the source signal, uncertainty in the observation platform’s position and velocity (i.e., platform systematic errors), and economic costs. This paper proposes a new two-step closed-form localization algorithm that jointly estimates the angle of arrival (AOA), time difference of arrival (TDOA), and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) to address these challenges. The algorithm initially introduces auxiliary variables to construct pseudo-linear equations to obtain the initial solution. It then exploits the relationship between the unknown and auxiliary variables to derive the exact solution comprising solely the unknown variables. Both theoretical analyses and simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed method accurately estimates the position, velocity, and speed of the sound source even with an unknown sound speed and platform systematic errors. It achieves asymptotic optimality within a reasonable error range to approach the Cramér–Rao lower bound (CRLB). Furthermore, the algorithm exhibits low complexity, reduces the number of required localization platforms, and decreases the economic costs. Additionally, the simulation experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed localization method across various scenarios, outperforming other comparative algorithms. Full article

A source depth discrimination method based on intensity striations in the frequency–depth plane with a vertical linear array in a shallow water environment is proposed and studied theoretically and experimentally. To quantify the orientation of the interference patterns, a generalized waveguide variant (GWV) $\eta$ is introduced. Due to the different dominance of the mode groups, the GWV distribution in the surface source is sharply peaked, indicating the presence of striations in the interferogram and the slope associated with the source–array range, while the distribution of the submerged source is more diffuse, and its interferogram is chaotic. The existence or lack of a distinct peak is used to separate the surface and submerged source classes. The method does not demand prior knowledge of the sound speed profile or the relative movement between the source and the array. In addition, it is the presence of the striations, not the value of $\eta$, that is exploited to separate the surface and submerged source classes, which means the source–array range can be unknown. The proposed method is validated using experimental data on the towing ship in SWellEx–96 and numerical modeling. The method’s performance under noise situations and for different source–array ranges is also investigated. Full article

We propose a thermodynamic model describing the thermoelastic behavior of composition graded materials. The compatibility of the model with the second law of thermodynamics is explored by applying a generalized Coleman–Noll procedure. For the material at hand, the specific entropy and the stress tensor may depend on the gradient of the unknown fields, resulting in a very general theory. We calculate the speeds of coupled first- and second-sound pulses, propagating either trough nonequilibrium or equilibrium states. We characterize several different types of perturbations depending on the value of the material coefficients. Under the assumption that the deformation of the body can produce changes in its stoichiometry, altering locally the material composition, the possibility of propagation of pure stoichiometric waves is pointed out. Thermoelastic perturbations generated by the coupling of stoichiometric and thermal effects are analyzed as well. Full article

This article considers locating a noncooperative underwater transmitter utilizing multiple receivers, such that each receiver can measure the frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) as well as the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the transmitter’s sound. This article considers the case where the unknown emission frequency of the transmitter changes as time goes. This article addresses hybrid TDOA-FDOA localization, under the assumption that the transmitter’s maximum speed is known in advance. To the best of our knowledge, this article is unique in tackling hybrid TDOA-FDOA localization, considering the case where the unknown emission frequency changes as time goes on. Under MATLAB simulations, this article shows that the proposed hybrid localization method is comparable to the ideal case, where the time-varying emission frequency is known in advance. Furthermore, we show that the proposed localization approach outperforms the case where the emission frequency is estimated as a wrong value. Full article

Shallow water is a complex sound propagation medium, which is affected by the varying spatial–temporal ocean environment. Taking this complexity into account, the classical processing techniques of source localization and environmental inversion may be improved. In this work, a joint tracking approach for the moving source and environmental parameters of the range-dependent and time-evolving environment in shallow water is presented. The tracking scheme treats both the source parameters (e.g., source depth, range, and speed) and the environmental parameters (e.g., water column sound speed profile (SSP) and sediment parameters) at the source location as unknown variables that evolve as the source moves. To counter sample impoverishment and robustly characterize the evolution of the parameters, an improved particle filter (PF), which is an extension of the standard PF, is proposed. Two examples with simulated data in a slowly changing environment and experimental data collected during the ASIAEX experiment are utilized to demonstrate the effectiveness of the joint approach. The results show that we were able to track the source and environmental parameters simultaneously, and the uncertainties were evaluated in the form of time-evolving posterior probability densities (PPDs). The performance comparison confirms that the improved PF is superior to the standard PF, as it can reduce the parameter uncertainties. The tracking capabilities of the improved PF were verified with high accuracy in real-time source localization and well-estimated rapidly varying parameters. Moreover, the influence of different particle numbers on the improved PF tracking performance is also illustrated. Full article

Automatic ball balancing is a technique adopted in rotordynamics to reduce unknown rotor unbalance automatically. This technique sounds appealing as it can ease a panoply of balancing issues considerably. The presence of stiction, however, scatters consistent qualitative balancing and led to a limited implementation in the industry. Temporary speed reduction, a recent technique, could be used as a countermeasure for the stiction-induced scattering. Presented in this paper is an in-depth study detailing how the technique should be implemented to guarantee effective balancing. By analysing a rotordynamic model of the Jeffcott kind, the influence of a multitude of parameters is studied such as the initial mass positions, the initial unbalance, the adopted speed profile, shaft damping, stiction and the speed reduction plateau of the adopted speed reduction strategy. The main findings of the study are that the adverse effects of stiction can be contained considerably using the speed reduction technique, especially in the under-excited range where a ball balancer behaves poorly when adopting a standard run-up profile. Finally, the speed plateau of the speed reduction technique should be selected carefully, preferably accounting for stiction, shaft damping and even more so the initial unbalance. Full article

The performance of the event-related potential (ERP)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) declines when applying it into the real environment, which limits the generality of the BCI. The sound is a common noise in daily life, and whether it has influence on this decline is unknown. This study designs a visual-auditory BCI task that requires the subject to focus on the visual interface to output commands and simultaneously count number according to an auditory story. The story is played at three speeds to cause different workloads. Data collected under the same or different workloads are used to train and test classifiers. The results show that when the speed of playing the story increases, the amplitudes of P300 and N200 potentials decrease by 0.86 μV (p = 0.0239) and 0.69 μV (p = 0.0158) in occipital-parietal area, leading to a 5.95% decline (p = 0.0101) of accuracy and 9.53 bits/min decline (p = 0.0416) of information transfer rate. The classifier that is trained by the high workload data achieves higher accuracy than the one trained by the low workload if using the high workload data to test the performance. The result indicates that the sound could affect the visual ERP-BCI by increasing the workload. The large similarity of the training data and testing data is as important as the amplitudes of the ERP on obtaining high performance, which gives us an insight on how make to the ERP-BCI generalized. Full article

A nano-silica consolidant and nano-titania modified tetraethyl-orthosilicate were applied on two building stones, a carbonate and a silicate, by brush, poultice or capillary absorption. Neutron radiography was used to monitor capillary water absorption, and to analyse changes in physical properties caused by heat treatment of specimens for the purposes of artificially ageing and different treatment applications with stone consolidants. Moreover, ultrasonic pulse velocity and gravimetrically determined water absorption were analysed to cross-validate neutron radiography. The results reveal that reactive systems like tetraethyl-orthosilicates need an unknown period for polymerisation, which makes nano-silica consolidants more favourable for construction follow-up work. While polymerisation is incomplete, hydrophobic behaviour, water trapping and pore clogging are evident. Within the tetraethyl-orthosilicate treatment, poultice and brushing are strongly influenced by the applicant, which results in wide ranging amounts of water absorbed and anomalous water distributions and kinetics. The carbonate lithotype displays polymerisation initiated in the core of the specimen, while the lateral surfaces are still mostly hydrophobic. Reaction time differences can be attributed to the different amounts of consolidants applied, which is a result of the chosen application settings. Artificial ageing of stone specimens is a prerequisite when mechanical strength gain is studied, as demonstrated by sound speed propagation. Full article