The Asymptotics of the Two-Dimensional Wave Equation for a General Multi-Connected Vibrating Membrane with Piecewise Smooth Robin Boundary Conditions

The asymptotic expansion for small |t| of the trace of the wave kernel , where and are the eigenvalues of the negative Laplacian in the (x 2,x 2)-plane, is studied for a multi-connected vibrating membrane ? in R 2 surrounded by simply connected bounded domains ? j with smooth boundaries ?? j (j = 1, ..., n), where a finite number of piecewise smooth Robin boundary conditions on the piecewise smooth components Γ i (i = 1+k j?1, ..., k j ) of the boundaries ?? j are considered, such that and k 0 = 0. The basic problem is to extract information on the geometry of ? using the wave equation approach. Some geometric quantities of ? (e. g. the area of ?, the total lengths of its boundary, the curvature of its boundary, the number of the holes of ?, etc.) are determined from the asymptotic expansion of the trace of the wave kernel for small |t|.

The 3D Inverse Problem of the Wave Equation for a General Multi-connected Vibrating Membrane with a Finite Number of Piecewise Smooth Boundary Conditions

The trace of the wave kernel μ（t） =∑ω=1^∞ exp（-itEω^1/2）, where {Eω}ω^∞=1 are the eigenvalues of the negative Laplacian -△↓2 = -∑k^3=1 （δ/δxk）^2 in the （x^1, x^2, x^3）-space, is studied for a variety of bounded domains, where -∞ 〈 t 〈 ∞ and i= √-1. The dependence of μ （t） on the connectivity of bounded domains and the Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary conditions are analyzed. Particular attention is given for a multi-connected vibrating membrane Ω in Ra surrounded by simply connected bounded domains Ω j with smooth bounding surfaces S j （j = 1,……, n）, where a finite number of piecewise smooth Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary conditions on the piecewise smooth components Si^＊ （i = 1 ＋ kj-1,……, kj） of the bounding surfaces S j are considered, such that S j = Ui-1＋kj-1^kj Si^＊, where k0=0. The basic problem is to extract information on the geometry Ω by using the wave equation approach from a complete knowledge of its eigenvalues. Some geometrical quantities of Ω （e.g. the volume, the surface area, the mean curvuture and the Gaussian curvature） are determined from the asymptotic expansion ofexpansion of μ（t） for small │t│.

A study on wrinkling characteristics and dynamic mechanical behavior of membrane

An eigenvalue method considering the membrane vibration of wrinkling out-of-plane deformation is introduced, and the stress distributing rule in membrane wrinkled area is analyzed. A dynamic analytical model of rectangular shear wrinkled membrane and its numerical analysis approach are also developed. Results indicate that the stress in wrinkled area is not uniform, i.e. it is larger in wrinkling wave peaks along wrinkles and two ends of wrinkle in vertical direction. Vibration modes of wrinkled membrane are strongly correlated with the wrinkling configurations. The rigidity is larger due to the heavier stress in the part of wrinkling wave peaks. Therefore, wave peaks are always located at the node lines of vibration mode. The vibration frequency obviously increases with the vibration of wave peaks.

VIBRATION OF ARBITRARILY SHAPED MEMBRANES WITH ELASTICAL SUPPORTS AT POINTS

This paper presents a new method for solving the vibration of arbitrarily shaped membranes with ela.stical supports at points. The reaction forces of elastical supports at points are regarded as unknown external forces acting on the membranes. The exact solution of the equation of motion is given which includes terms representing the unknown reaction forces. The frequency equation is derived by the use of the linear relationship of the displacements with the reaction forces of elastical supports at points. Finally the calculating formulae of the frequency equation of circular membranes are analytically performed as examples and the inherent frequencies of circular membranes with symmetric elastical supports at two points are numerically calculated.

Backward Propagation of Otoacoustic Emissions

Normal mammalian ears not only detect but also generate sounds. The ear-generated sounds, i.e., otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), can be measured in the external ear canal using a tiny sensitive microphone. In spite of wide applications of OAEs in diagnosis of hearing disorders and in studies of cochlear functions, the question of how the cochlea emits sounds remains unclear. The current dominating theory is that the OAE reaches the cochlear base through a backward traveling wave. However, recently published works, including experimental data on the spatial pattern of basilar membrane vibrations at the emission frequency, demonstrated only forward traveling waves and no signs of backward traveling waves. These new findings indicate that the cochlea emits sounds through cochlear fluids as compression waves rather than through the basilar membrane as backward traveling waves. This article reviews different mechanisms of the backward propagation of OAEs and summarizes recent experimental results.