Rectification of Acoustic Waves

Abstract

The difference in the behavior of the denser and the rarer regions of a longitudinal travelling acoustic wave is utilized to produce the phenomenon of rectification of ultrasonic waves. It has been shown that, under appropriate conditions, the energy density of sound in the regions of rarefaction can be increased while in the regions of compression the energy density is decreased. It is found that under suitable conditions, the pressure amplitude in the rarer regions is about 4% larger than that in the denser regions. The measurement of this difference in amplitude can be used to determine the parameter of nonlinearity.