Comparison of an analytic horn equation approach and a boundary element method for the calculation of sound fields in the human ear canal.

The sound field inside a model human ear canal has been computed, to show both longitudinal variations along the canal length and transverse variations through cross-sectional slices. Two methods of computation were used. A modified horn equation approach parametrizes the sound field with a single coordinate, the position along a curved center axis-this approach can accommodate the curvature and varying cross-sectional area of the ear canal but cannot compute transverse variations of the sound field.

Effect of handset proximity on hearing aid feedback.

The increased sensitivity of hearing aids to feedback as a telephone handset is brought near has been studied experimentally and numerically. For the measurements, three different hearing aids were modified so that the open-loop transfer function could be measured. They were mounted in the pinna of a mannikin and the change in open-loop transfer function determined as a function of handset proximity.

Experimental and numerical study of air-coupled surface waves generated above strips of finite impedance.

A series of laboratory experiments are described in which air coupled surface waves are generated from a point source in the frequency range between 800 and 1700 Hz above a surface composed of a lattice of small cavities. Since the sound pressure near the lattice of cavities can be greater than if the surface was rigid, passive amplification is obtained. Moreover, directional receivers can be designed by restricting the lattice of cavities to a strip of finite width.

Scattering from impedance gratings and surface wave formation.

The scattering problem of acoustic plane waves from comb-like impedance gratings on a rigid surface has been investigated in this paper. A rigorous analytic approach for homogeneous plane-wave incidence is presented based on the periodicity of the grating structure, in which the problem was solved as a mixed boundary value problem and the scattered field was represented by the tangent velocity difference across a partition wall of the grating. A singular integral equation has been derived for the tangent velocity difference, which can directly be solved with the Gauss-Chebyshev procedure.