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Non-linear parametric generation of sound by resonant mode conversion. Interim technical report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6693110
When non-linear terms are included in the two-fluid hydrodynamic description of superfluid helium-4, first sound and second sound are coupled. The interaction of two second sound waves to produce a propagating first sound wave is shown to occur at a specific angle which makes the point of intersection of the second sound waves travel at the speed of first sound. An experiment to observe this mode-conversion process in a waveguide of rectangular cross-section is described. Measurements show that the resonant conversion occurs at the theoretically predicted frequency. The amplitude of the mode-converted first sound is found to exhibit a quadratic dependence on the amplitude of the primary wave which is characteristic of a second-order effect. A new application of the reciprocity calibration technique allowed an absolute calibration of the pressure microphones in situ. Absolute measurements of the coupling of first sound to second sound agree with theory. This agreement is a direct confirmation of the importance of the additional, intrinsically non-linear, Galilean invariant variable in the thermohydrodynamics of superfluid helium. The theoretical formalism is applied to the parametric amplification of second sound by high-intensity first sound, and the results are in disagreement with a previous calculation by Khokhlov and Pushkina.
Research Organization:
California Univ., Los Angeles (USA). Dept. of Physics
OSTI ID:
6693110
Report Number(s):
AD-A-049157
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English