Porous material characterization--ultrasonic method for estimation of tortuosity and characteristic length using a barometric chamber.

An ultrasonic method of acoustic parameter evaluation for porous materials saturated by air (or any other gas) is discussed. The method is based on the evolution of speed of sound and the attenuation inside the material when the static pressure of the gas saturating the material is changed. Asymptotic development of the equivalent fluid model of Johnson-Allard is used for analytical description. The method allows an estimation of three essential parameters of the model: the tortuosity, and the viscous and thermal characteristic lengths. Both characteristic lengths are estimated individually by assuming a given ratio between them. Tests are performed with industrial plastic foams and granular substances (glass beads, sea sand) over a gas pressure range from 0.2 to 6 bars at the frequencies 30-600 kHz. The present technique has a number of distinct advantages over the conventional ultrasonic approach: operation at a single frequency, improved signal-to-noise ratio, possibility of saturation the porous media by different gases. In the case when scattering phenomena occur, the present method permits a separate analysis of scattering losses and viscothermal losses. An analytical description of the method is followed by a presentation of the set-up and the measurement procedure. Experimental results and perspectives are discussed.