Panel of resonators with variable resonance frequency for noise control

The article focuses on acoustic resonators made of perforated sheets bonded onto honeycomb cavities. This kind of resonators can be used in adverse conditions such as high temperature, dirt and mechanical constraints. For all these reasons, they are, for example, widely used in aeronautic applications. The acoustic properties are directly linked to the size, shape and porosity of holes and to the thickness of air gaps. Unfortunately, the acoustic absorption of these resonators is selective in frequency and conventional acoustic resonators are only well adapted to tonal noises. In case of variable tonal noise, the efficiency is limited if the resonators are not tunable. One common solution is to control the depth of cavities based on the noise to be attenuated. This article proposes another technology of tunable resonators with only a very small mass and size increase. It consists of two superposed and identically perforated plates associated with cavities. One plate is fixed and bonded to the cavities and the other plate is mobile. The present concept enables to change the internal shapes of the holes of the perforated layers. The article describes this system and gives a theoretical model of the normal incidence acoustic impedance that allows to predict the acoustic behavior, in particular the resonance frequency. The model shows that the resonance frequency varies with hole profiles and that the absorption peak moves towards the lower frequencies. The proposed model is validated by measurements on various configurations of resonators tested in an impedance tube. The perspectives of this work are to adapt the hole profiles using an actuator in order to perform active control of impedance

Numerical modeling of underwater parametric propagation to detect buried objects

In underwater acoustics, detection of buried objects in sediments (cables, mines,…) is a complex problem. One reason is that acoustic attenuation in these sediments increases with frequency. To ensure sufficient penetration depth in marine sediments, low frequencies have to be used, implying a low resolution. A solution proposed to solve this problem is the parametric emission based on the nonlinear properties of the propagation medium. This method can generate a low frequency wave from two directional high frequencies beams. The parametric propagation is simulated in seawater and marine sediments. The model developed is based on the fractional-step numerical method introduced by Christopher and Parker [1]. In this method, the normal particle velocity is calculated plane by plane from the surface of the transducer to a specified distance. The effects of nonlinearity, attenuation and diffraction are calculated independently for each spatial step. Moreover, to reduce the number of spatial steps, a second order operator splitting scheme is used. The diffraction computation is based on a method of angular spectrum in the frequency domain where the field across a source plane is described by a spatial frequency distribution. To improve code stability, the effects of nonlinearity and attenuation are calculated and associated in shorter propagation substeps. At the interface between water and marine sediments, the transmission conditions are applied. Several tests have been carried out in different configurations (changing the primary frequencies, the parametric frequency, the source geometry, the inclination of the source with the interface, the focal distance,…). The 3D velocity field is calculated in each case, thereby allowing to know the directivity of the source, the velocity amplitude in sediments and the performance

Stars War in French Gastronomy: Prestige of Restaurants and Chefs’ Careers

In this paper, we analyze the careers from a sample of more than 1,000 top French chefs over more than twenty years and link it to the success or reputation of the restaurants where they have worked. This allows us to test what are the determinants of success but also to investigate the dynamics of performance and reputation, stressing the importance of the quality of apprenticeships, mentoring and entrepreneurship spirit. We find that the prestige of the restaurant where individuals work is on average declining along the career, and that the quality of apprenticeship is strongly related to the future success as chef. We also find that prices of restaurants with higher reputation are more sensitive to bad signals.reputation, careeers, gastronomy

Integrated Scenario-based Design Methodology for Collaborative Technology Innovation

The paper presents a scenario-based methodology developed and tested throughout cooperative research and development projects. It is aimed at supporting information technology innovation with an end-to-end Human and Social Sciences assistance. This methodology provides an integrated approach combining a vision of the potential users, business aspects and technological challenges throughout the design process. An original combination of different methods is proposed and experimented: user-centred design, scenario-based design, user and functional requirements analysis, business value analysis, user acceptance studies, and visualization methods. This methodology has been implemented in three European R&D projects, in the domain of the telecommunications and Internet infrastructure. The key contributions of this approach are that it unifies brings together visions of the users, potential business value and technology challenges thanks to scenario construction.Scenario-based design ; user requirements ; business economics ; functional requirements ; visualization

Stars War in French Gastronomy: Prestige of Restaurants and Chefs’ Careers

In this paper, we analyze the careers from a sample of more than 1,000 top French chefs over more than twenty years and link it to the success or reputation of the restaurants where they have worked. This allows us to test what are the determinants of success but also to investigate the dynamics of performance and reputation, stressing the importance of the quality of apprenticeships, mentoring and entrepreneurship spirit. We find that the prestige of the restaurant where individuals work is on average declining along the career, and that the quality of apprenticeship is strongly related to the future success as chef. We also find that prices of restaurants with higher reputation are more sensitive to bad signals.No; keywords

XFEM based fictitious domain method for linear elasticity model with crack

Reduction of computational cost of solutions is a key issue to crack identification or crack propagation problems. One of the solution is to avoid re-meshing the domain when the crack position changes or when the crack extends. To avoid re-meshing, we propose a new finite element approach for the numerical simulation of discontinuities of displacements generated by cracks inside elastic media. The approach is based on a fictitious domain method originally developed for Dirichlet conditions for the Poisson problem and for the Stokes problem, which is adapted to the Neumann boundary conditions of crack problems. The crack is represented by level-set functions. Numerical tests are made with a mixed formulation to emphasize the accuracy of the method, as well as its robustness with respect to the geometry enforced by a stabilization technique. In particular an inf-sup condition is theoretically proven for the latter. A realistic simulation with a uniformly pressurized fracture inside a volcano is given for illustrating the applicability of the method.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figure

The parametric propagation in underwater acoustics : experimental results

In underwater acoustics, detection of buried objects in sediments (cables, mines, . . . ) is a complex problem. Indeed, in order to ensure sufficient penetration depth in marine sediments, low frequencies have to be used, implying a low resolution. A solution proposed to solve this problem is the parametric emission based on the nonlinear properties of seawater. This method can generate a low frequency wave from two directional high frequencies beams. The aim of this work is to present experimental results of a parametric propagation. Experiments have been carried out in a water tank in various configurations. These experimental measurements are then compared with simulation results obtained with a numerical model based on a fractional-step method presented at the Underwater Acoustic Measurements conference in 2011

Damage location method for thin composites structures - application to an aircraft door

Piezoelectric sensors are widely used for Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) technique due to their high-frequency capability. In particular, electromechanical impedance (EMI) techniques give simple and low cost solutions for detecting damage in composite structures. For example, damage indicators computed from EMI deviations between the pristine structure and the damaged structure can be compared to a threshold in order to point damage. When it is question of damage localization, the simple analysis of the electromechanical impedance fails to furnish enough information. We propose a method based both on EMI damage indicators and on the acoustic attenuation level to locate damage. One of the main advantages of our method, so called data driven method, is that only experimental data are used as inputs for our algorithms. It does not rely on any model