scholarly journals A MODEL OF THE MECHANISM OF SOUND PRODUCTION IN CICADAS

1992 ◽  
Vol 173 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Bennet-Clark ◽  
D. Young

1. Dried cicada bodies of the species Cyclochila australasiae and model cicadas made from a miniature earphone driving a plastic cavity were used to study the acoustics of sound production in male cicadas. 2. A model cicada with shape and dimensions similar to those of the abdomen of a male C. australasiae resonates at the natural song frequency of the species (4.3 kHz). The abdominal air sac of C. australasiae also resonates at frequencies close to the natural song frequency when excited by external sounds. In an atmosphere of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas, the resonant frequency is lowered in keeping with the decrease in velocity of sound in the CFC gas. 3. At the model's resonant frequency, the driving earphone dissipates more electrical power with the cavity attached than without the cavity. The cavity of the model cicada acts as a narrow-band acoustic acceptance filter, tuned to the natural song frequency. 4. When the miniature earphone emits brief clicks, mimicking those produced by the natural tymbal mechanism, the model cicada produces sound pulses that vary in duration and shape according to the number and timing of the clicks. A coherent train of two or three resonant clicks results in a long slowly-decaying sound pulse similar to that in the natural song. 5. The natural song frequency can be predicted from the dimensions of the abdominal cavity and the tympana in C. australasiae using a simple equation for the resonant frequency of a Helmholtz resonator. This equation also predicts the song frequency of Macrotristria angularis and Magicicada cassini, but it fails with the low-frequency song of Magicicada septendecim. This discrepancy can be accounted for by the unusually thick tympana of M. septendecim, which tend to lower the resonant frequency of the system. 6. We conclude that the abdomen of male cicadas forms a Helmholtz resonator, the components of which are the large air sac as the cavity and the tympana as the neck of the resonator. We suggest that cicada sound production depends on the coupling of two resonators, that of the tymbal and that of the abdominal air sac, from which sound is radiated through the tympana. The coupled resonator system would produce the long sound pulses required for stimulating a sensitive sharply tuned auditory organ.

1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Bennet-Clark ◽  
D Young

Male Cystosoma saundersii have a distended thin-walled abdomen which is driven by the paired tymbals during sound production. The insect extends the abdomen from a rest length of 32-34 mm to a length of 39-42 mm while singing. This is accomplished through specialised apodemes at the anterior ends of abdominal segments 4-7, which cause each of these intersegmental membranes to unfold by approximately 2 mm. <P> The calling song frequency is approximately 850 Hz. The song pulses have a bimodal envelope and a duration of approximately 25 ms; they are produced by the asynchronous but overlapping action of the paired tymbals. The quality factor Q of the decay of the song pulses is approximately 17. <P> The abdomen was driven experimentally by an internal sound source attached to a hole in the front of the abdomen. This allowed the sound-radiating regions to be mapped. The loudest sound-radiating areas are on both sides of tergites 3-5, approximately 10 mm from the ventral surface. A subsidiary sound-radiating region is found mid-ventrally on sternites 4-6. Sound is radiated in the same phase from all these regions. As the abdomen was extended experimentally from its resting length to its maximum length, the amplitude of the radiated sound doubled and the Q of the resonance increased from 4 to 9. This resonance and effect are similar at both tergite 4 and sternite 5. <P> Increasing the effective volume of the abdominal air sac reduced its resonant frequency. The resonant frequency was proportional to 1/(check)(total volume), suggesting that the air sac volume was the major compliant element in the resonant system. Increasing the mass of tergite 4 and sternites 4-6 also reduced the resonant frequency of the abdomen. By extrapolation, it was shown that the effective mass of tergites 3-5 was between 13 and 30 mg and that the resonant frequency was proportional to 1/(check)(total mass), suggesting that the masses of the tergal sound-radiating areas were major elements in the resonant system. <P> The tymbal ribs buckle in sequence from posterior (rib 1) to anterior, producing a series of sound pulses. The frequency of the pulse decreases with the buckling of successive ribs: rib 1 produces approximately 1050 Hz, rib 2 approximately 870 Hz and rib 3 approximately 830 Hz. The sound pulse produced as the tymbal buckles outwards is between 1.6 and 1.9 kHz. Simultaneous recordings from close to the tymbal and from tergite 4 suggest that the song pulse is initiated by the pulses produced by ribs 2 and 3 of the leading tymbal and sustained by the pulses from ribs 2 and 3 of the second tymbal. <P> An earlier model suggested that the reactive elements of the abdominal resonance were the compliance of the abdominal air sac volume and the mass of the abdomen undergoing lengthwise telescoping. The present work confirms these suggestions for the role of the air sac but ascribes the mass element to the in-out vibrations of the lateral regions of tergites 3-5 and the central part of sternites 4-6.


1994 ◽  
Vol 191 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Bennet-Clark ◽  
D Young

In male cicadas, sound is generated by a pair of tymbals on the abdomen (Pringle, 1954). The tymbals buckle inwards causing pressure changes in the abdominal cavity, from which sound is radiated through the tympana (Young, 1990). A recent model of sound production in cicadas suggests that the abdominal cavity and tympana act as the components of a Helmholtz resonator that is excited by the drive from the tymbals (Bennet-Clark and Young, 1992). A Helmholtz resonator consists of a cavity open to the outside via a hole which has a real or notional neck, and the resonant frequency fo is given by the general equation: where c is the speed of sound in the fluid, taken as 340 m s-1 for air, A is the area of the neck, L is the length of the neck and V is the volume of the cavity. Where the resonator has two holes, these terms should be somewhat modified: A is the combined area of the two holes, L is 16/3pi r (~1.7r) for a simple hole in a thin-walled vessel and r is the radius of one hole (Seto, 1971). These modifications to equation 1, which include corrections for the acoustic end-effect at either side of a simple hole in the wall of a vessel, are applicable to a model of the male cicada, in which there are two tympana close to the ventral surface of the abdomen.


1978 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.H. FLETCHER ◽  
K. G. HILL

The male cicada of the species Cystosoma saundersii has a grossly enlarged, hollow abdomen and emits a loud calling song with a fundamental frequency of about 800 Hz. At the song frequency, its hearing is nondirectional. The female of C. saundersii lacks sound producing organs, has no enlargement of the abdomen, but possesses an abdominal air sac and has well developed directional hearing at the frequency of the species' song. Physical mechanisms are proposed that explain these observations in semi-quantitative detail using the standard method of electrical network analogues. The abdomen in the male, with its enclosed air, is found to act as a system resonant at the song frequency, thus contributing a large gain in radiated sound intensity. Coupling between this resonator and the auditory tympana accounts for the observed hearing sensitivity in the male, but destroys directionality. In the female, the abdominal cavity acts in association with the two auditory tympana as part of a phase shift network which results in appreciable directionality of hearing at the unusually low frequency of the male song.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yugang Chen ◽  
Yong-Hwa Park

In this paper, an indirect method of measuring an analyte concentration in a test solution using the resonant frequency change of a Helmholtz resonator is proposed, using a novel architecture of Helmholtz resonator filled with two kinds of fluids (fixed fluid and test solution). Since the analyte concentration yields changes of density and sound speed of the test solution, the resonant frequency of the proposed Helmholtz resonator is affected by the analyte concentration of the test solution. From this effect, the analyte concentration of the test solution can be measured by the spectrum of acoustic resonance of the Helmholtz resonator. The experiment was done using a 3D-printed Helmholtz resonator system with an acoustic power source and detectors, which is consistent with analytical results and showed that the analyte concentration can be measured with higher sensitivity compared to conventional cantilever-type sensors. As an example application, the possibility of measuring glucose concentration of human blood was demonstrated, showing higher sensitivity and relatively low frequency range compared to previous resonance based methods.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258842
Author(s):  
Fumiya Mizukoshi ◽  
Hidetoshi Takahashi

In recent years, noisy bustling environments have created situations in which earmuffs must soundproof only specific noise while transmitting significant sounds, such as voices, for work safety and efficiency. Two sound insulation technologies have been utilized: passive noise control (PNC) and active noise control (ANC). However, PNC is incapable of insulating selective frequencies of noise, and ANC is limited to low-frequency sounds. Thus, it has been difficult for traditional earmuffs to cancel out only high-frequency noise that people feel uncomfortable hearing. Here, we propose an acoustic notch filtering earmuff utilizing Helmholtz resonator (HR) arrays that provides a sound attenuation effect around the tuneable resonant frequency. A sheet-like sound insulating plate comprising HR arrays is realized in a honeycomb structure. Since the resonant frequency is determined by the geometry of the HR arrays, a highly audible sound region can be designed as the target frequency. In this research, the acoustic notch filtering performance of the proposed HR array plate is investigated in both simulations and experiments. Furthermore, the fabricated earmuffs using the novel HR array plates achieve a sound insulation performance exceeding 40 dB at the target frequency, which is sufficiently high compared to that of conventional earmuffs. The experimental results confirm that the proposed device is a useful approach for insulating frequency-selective sound.


2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher James Clark

Abstract Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the mechanisms generating acoustic signals in the courtship displays of the Calliope hummingbird Stellula calliope. Display dives consisted of three synchronized sound elements, a high-frequency tone (hft), a low frequency tone (lft), and atonal sound pulses (asp), which were then followed by a frequency-modulated fall. Manipulating any of the rectrices (tail-feathers) of wild males impaired production of the lft and asp but not the hft or fall, which are apparently vocal. I tested the sound production capabilities of the rectrices in a wind tunnel. Single rectrices could generate the lft but not the asp, whereas multiple rectrices tested together produced sounds similar to the asp when they fluttered and collided with their neighbors percussively, representing a previously unknown mechanism of sound production. During the shuttle display, a trill is generated by the wings during pulses in which the wingbeat frequency is elevated to 95 Hz, 40% higher than the typical hovering wingbeat frequency. The Calliope hummingbird courtship displays include sounds produced by three independent mechanisms, and thus include a minimum of three acoustic signal components. These acoustic mechanisms have different constraints and thus potentially contain different messages. Producing multiple acoustic signals via multiple mechanisms may be a way to escape the constraints present in any single mechanism.


Author(s):  
Weiwei Wu ◽  
Yiheng Guan

In this work, modified designs of Helmholtz resonators with extended deflected neck are proposed, numerically evaluated and optimized aiming to achieve a better transmission loss performance over a broader frequency range. For this, 10 Helmholtz resonators with different extended neck configurations (e.g. the angle between extended neck and the y-axis) in the presence of a grazing flow are assessed. Comparison is then made between the proposed resonators and the conventional one, i.e. in the absence of an extended neck (i.e. Design A). For this, a two-dimensional linearized Navier Stokes equations-based model of a duct with the modified Helmholtz resonator implemented was developed in frequency domain. The model was first validated by comparing its numerical predictions with the experimental results available in the literature and the theoretical results. The model was then applied to evaluate the noise damping performance of the Helmholtz resonator with (1) an extended neck on the upstream side (Design B); (2) on the downstream side (Design C), (3) both upstream and downstream sides (Design D), (4) the angle between the extended neck and the y-axis, i.e. (a) 0°, (b) 30°, and (c) 45°, (d) 48.321°. In addition, the effects of the grazing flow Mach number (Ma) were evaluated. It was found that the transmission loss peaks of the Helmholtz resonator with the extended neck was maximized at Ma = 0.03 than at the other Mach numbers. Conventional resonator, i.e. Design A was observed to be associated with a lower transmission loss performance at a lower resonant frequency than those as observed on Designs B–D. Moreover, the optimum design of the proposed resonators with the extended neck is shown to be able to shift the resonant frequency by approximately 90 Hz, and maximum transmission loss could be increased by 28–30 dB. In addition, the resonators with extended necks are found to be associated with two or three transmission loss peaks, indicating that these designs have a broader effective frequency range. Finally, the neck deflection angles of 30° and 45° are shown to be involved with better transmission loss peaks than that with a deflection angle of 0°. In summary, the present study sheds light on maximizing the resonator’s noise damping performances by applying and optimizing an extended neck.


1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (11) ◽  
pp. 1681-1694 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Bennet-Clark

The anatomy of the tymbal of Cyclochila australasiae was re-described and the mass of the tymbal plate, ribs and resilin pad was measured. The four ribs of the tymbal buckle inwards in sequence from posterior to anterior. Sound pulses were produced by pulling the tymbal apodeme to cause the tymbal to buckle inwards. A train of four sound pulses, each corresponding to the inward buckling of one rib, could be produced by each inward pull of the apodeme, followed by a single pulse as the tymbal buckled outwards after the release of the apodeme. Each preparation produced a consistent sequence of pulses. Each of the pulses produced had its maximum amplitude during the first cycle of vibration. The waveform started with an initial inward-going rarefaction followed by a larger outward compression, followed by an approximately exponential decay, as is typical of a resonant system. The mean dominant frequencies of the pulses produced during the inward movement were 4.37, 4.19, 3.92 and 3.17 kHz respectively. The pulse produced during the outward movement had a mean resonant frequency of 6.54 kHz. This suggests that the mass-to-stiffness ratio that determines the resonant frequencies of the various pulses differs from pulse to pulse. If succeeding pulses followed rapidly, the next pulse tended to start on the inward-going half-cycle of its predecessor and to produce a coherent waveform. Coherence was lost if the preceding pulse had decayed to below approximately one-tenth of its peak amplitude. When the tymbal plate was loaded by a 380 µg wire weight, the resonant frequency of all sound pulses was reduced. Pulses produced later in the inward buckling sequence were less affected by the loading than earlier ones. This suggests that the effective mass determining the resonance in the later pulses is greater than that in the earlier pulses. The frequency of the pulses produced in the outward movement was affected most, suggesting that the mass involved was less than that in any of the pulses produced by the inward movement. The quality factor, Q, of the pulses produced by the inward buckling of the unloaded tymbal was approximately 10. For the outward buckling, Q was approximately 6. The Q of loaded tymbals was higher than than that of unloaded tymbals. The Q of the resonances varied approximately as the reciprocal of the resonant frequency. Experimental removal of parts of the tymbal showed that the thick dorsal resilin pad was an important elastic determinant of the resonant frequency, but that the mass and elasticity of the tymbal ribs were also determinants of the resonant frequency. The major element of mass is the tymbal plate. The integrity of the tymbal ribs was essential if the buckling movement were to occur. The force required to cause inward buckling of the tymbal was approximately 0.25 N. The force required to hold the tymbal in the buckled-in position was approximately 0.05 N. This asymmetry in the tymbal compliance, together with the different masses involved in inward and outward buckling, may account for the difference between the resonant frequencies of the inward-going and outward-going clicks. The tymbal appears to act as an energy storage mechanism that releases energy as the tymbal ribs buckle inwards in sequence. Each pulse provides a large initial impulse to the abdominal resonator, followed by a sustaining resonant vibration at, or close to, the song frequency. Subsequent pulses maintain the coherent resonance of the song pulse.


2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Kashani ◽  
Kazim Mirza

Air mounts can provide the highest degree of isolation of any type vibration isolator. Soft-mounting, and thus high level of low-frequency isolation, with system natural frequency as low as 1 Hz can be achieved. Due to their construction, air mounts have negligible damping. Although, this almost undamped nature of air mounts enhances the high-frequency isolation, provisions should be made to address the lack of isolation resulting in excessive body displacements around the resonant frequencies, especially when the system is exposed to shock inputs. While the addition of viscous damping to the air mount is proposed in the literature but it is not recommended in most applications. This is because it deteriorates the mount’s high-frequency isolation performance. Instead, it would be highly desirable to add tuned damping to the mounted system at its resonant frequency (ies). The challenge in doing so, is realizing a damper tunable to a very low frequency and yet not be prohibitively large. A novel tuned damping mechanism is proposed in this paper. It adds damping to an air mount only at the resonant frequency (ies), via a bi-fluid Helmholtz resonator. In an illustrative example the mechanics and mathematics (modeling) of a one and three degree of freedom air mounted systems equipped with a tuned damper, as well as the tuning of such damper are discussed. The example also demonstrates the effectiveness of the air mount with the tuned damper.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2119 (1) ◽  
pp. 012066
Author(s):  
I A Ogorodnikov

Abstract The analysis of the influence of a thin homogeneous bubble layer on sound emission from a solid surface is carried out. Sound pulses and monochromatic wave packets with a carrier frequency equal to the resonant frequency of the bubbles forming the bubble layer are considered. It is shown that the bubble layer transforms short sound pulses into wave sound packets and significantly reduces the amplitude of the emitted sound. The structure of a sinusoidal wave packet is transformed similarly. A long sound pulse is stored in the form of a pulse, its shape changes significantly. A homogeneous bubble layer near a solid radiating surface is an open resonator. The layer generates far-field radiation with spectral lines depending on the method of layer excitation and the internal properties of the bubble layer. The resonant frequency of the bubble is the limiting frequency in the spectrum, but it is not distinguished by a separate line.


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