Optical holographic interferometry was used to study standing sound waves in air inside a resonance tube driven by a small loudspeaker at one end. The front face of the resonance tube was constructed with plexiglass, allowing optical interrogation of the tube interior. The object beam of the holographic setup was directed through the plexiglass and reflected off the back wall of the resonator. When driven at resonance, the fluctuations in the air density at the antinodes altered the refractive index of the air in the tube, causing interference patterns in the resulting holographic images. Real-time holography was used to determine resonance frequencies and to measure the wavelengths of the standing waves. Time-average holography was used to observe the effect of increasing the sound pressure level on the resulting fringe pattern. A simple theory was developed to successfully predict the fringe pattern.

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Analysis of standing sound waves using holographic interferometry

Stroboscopic holographic interferometry has been developed at an advanced undergraduate level allowing real‐time imaging of standing sound waves in gas filled, closed tube resonators. A heterodyne Mach–Zehnder interferometer was first built by students to show the feasibility of interferometric detection of sound waves in a small cell. In the subsequent holographic study, the laser irradiance is modulated by an acousto‐optic cell at frequencies near that of the standing wave, and a video camera records the fringe motion due to sound pressure changes. Fractional fringe shifts are observed for an air filled cell, and multiple fringe shifts are imaged for the case of freon. Sound reflections from the cell ends are easily observed, with nonsinusoidal waveforms dominating at high intensities due to superposition of resonator harmonics.

Adam Dickson

Papers

Holographic real‐time imaging of standing waves in gases