The Sound of Modern Design

Observations of Directivity in Transducers Richard Little

Director of Advanced Design Tymphany HK Ltd.

13-14 November 2010 Acoustic Block 2010

The Sound of Modern Design

Tymphany HK Ltd.

13-14 November 2010 Acoustic Block 2010

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Abstract
The causes of transducer directivity are reviewed. The basic theoretical performance of a piston radiating from an infinite baffle is discussed, including calculations of directivity and total radiated power. Measurements of transducer directivity and radiated power are reviewed for a range of transducer sizes. The divergences of these measurement results, from the expectations for a piston, are examined and discussed.

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Introduction to Directivity
A transducers diaphragm moves back and forth during operation, pushing and pulling on the surrounding air and creating an outgoing pressure wave. At low frequencies, the wavelength of the outgoing sound pressure wave is large relative to the diaphragm, and the diaphragm operates much like a point source, radiating sound pressure waves evenly in all directions. At higher frequencies, however, the wavelength of the pressure wave is sized similarly to the diaphragm size, or even smaller. At different observation positions, at these frequencies, there is a path length difference from the observation position to different parts of the transducers diaphragm. This means that the summed contributions to the total pressure observed may increase or decrease, according to the effects of the path length differences. Typically a transducer diaphragm is symmetric around its central axis, so the effects of the path length differences are observed to be different according to the direction that the transducer is being observed, relative to the central axis. We call this effect DIRECTIVITY.
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Directivity of a Piston in an Infinite Baffle

In this paper, were going to limit measurements and calculations to that of transducers and pistons operating mounted to an infinite baffle. Were going to neglect reflections off of loudspeaker cabinet boundaries. The figure below illustrates how the pressure at the observation position, created by a radiating piston mounted in an infinite baffle, is calculated by integrating over the radiating surface.

Infinite baffle piston

Observation position

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Infinite baffle piston

Observation position

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Example: radiation pattern on and off axis

This example shows the radiation pattern for a transducer, on and off axis, at different frequencies. The output of the transducer is the same in all directions at low frequencies, but at high frequencies this is no longer the case.

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Calculating directivity for a infinite-baffle piston

The Directivity Index DI is a measure of the directivity of a transducer, and can be calculated from the following formulae:

Here a refers to the diameter of the diaphragms radiating area, and c is the speed of sound (345 m/s). These formulae are approximations to more precise Bessel function relations.

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ac

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Calculating directivity from measurements

The directivity factor Q is the ratio of the on axis frequency response of a transducer, to the on axis frequency response for a point source radiator producing the same amount of total radiated power. Q and DI are related:

Q is calculated by calculating the total radiated power, in a ratio with the on-axis frequency response:

For a transducer which is symmetric around its central axis, this can be re-stated as:

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Q QDI

Q Q

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Calculating directivity from measurements (2)

Typically, when conducting measurements, we measure off-axis in small increments of . The previous relation for Q can then be approximated as follows:

We can then calculate DI from Q. The results of these calculations of the DI can be compared against the piston theoretical curve. Good agreement between the measurement results, vs. the theoretical curve, implies that the transducers total radiation pattern is pistonic.

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(2)
0180 Q

DI DIDI

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Example: measured directivity vs. piston theoretical directivity

In this example, the transducers radiation pattern is pistonic, for its radiating area, until ~ 6 kHz. Above that frequency, the driver is effectively functioning as if its radiating area were smaller than it really is.

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Break-up modes and on-axis measurements

The effect of diaphragm resonances (break-up modes) on the on-axis frequency response can be studied by mirroring the transducers impedance curve onto the on-axis frequency response curve, starting at the impedance minimum frequency. Large deviations between the impedance-projected curve and the on-axis response curve suggest mechanical resonances have altered the frequency response. The example to the right shows two possible resonances: a shallow broad resonance at 7 kHz, and a sharp high-Q resonance at 19 kHz.
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7KHzQ 19KHz Q

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On and off axis measurements

A transducers radiation pattern will become directional at frequencies above ka=1 (from our previous equation). The graph below highlights this point in the frequency response (the radiation dispersion frequency).

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(ka=1) ()

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Break-up modes and directivity A case study

Were going to compare the radiation patterns of two drivers, with essentially the same diaphragm, but two different voice coil diameters (one smaller, one bigger). A sketch of the diaphragm and voice coil are shown below. Because of the difference in coil sizes, the break-up frequency of the diaphragm should be different in the two cases.
surround diaphragm diaphragm surround

voice coil

voice coil

Small coil

Large coil

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surround diaphragm diaphragm

surround

voice coil

voice coil

Small coil

Large coil

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Case study comparison of on-axis response and break-up mode behavior

Small coil
Break-up modes small until 19 kHz

Large coil
Break-up modes affect response above 4 kHz

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19KHz

4KHz

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Case study: comparison of off-axis frequency response

Small coil
Response off-axis remains roughly pistonic until the effects of the resonance at 19 kHz enhance the off-axis response

Large coil
Off-axis performance kept close to on-axis performance due to effects of ~12 kHz resonance

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19KHz

12KHz

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Case study: Directivity index comparison

Small coil
Driver performs roughly like a piston until above 10 kHz

Large coil
Driver shows large diversions from pistonic behavior above 10 kHz, effectively losing radiating area due to mechanical resonances.

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10KHz

10KHz

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Case study: radiation pattern comparison

Small coil Large coil

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Notes from the case study

Small coil
Smaller coil = cheaper motor Lower coil inductance Higher on-axis frequency response bandwidth Low resonance design more repeatable response in production Higher directivity at higher frequencies

Large coil
Large coil = expensive motor Higher coil inductance Lower on-axis frequency response bandwidth Design depends upon resonances Lower directivity at higher frequencies

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Typical radiation pattern 25 mm Vifa NE silk dome tweeter NE25VTS-04

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 25 mm Vifa NE NE25VTS-04

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Typical radiation pattern 25 mm ring radiator tweeter XT25SC90-04

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 25 mm XT25SC90-04

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Typical radiation pattern NXT BMR46 fullrange driver

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 NXT BMR46

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Typical radiation pattern 180 mm Vifa NE woofer NE180W-04

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 180 mm Vifa NE NE180W-04

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Typical radiation pattern 315 mm Vifa NE woofer NE315W-04

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 315 mm Vifa NE NE315W-04

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Conclusions
The method of calculating the directivity index and radiated power was reviewed. The effects of resonances (break-up modes etc.) in the frequency response of a transducer can be identified by comparing the on-axis response curve to the predicted fall-off curve, due to the increase in impedance with frequency. The directivity index function for a piston of a particular size can be used as an approximate directivity index function for a transducer of same-sized diaphragm, up to the point where the diaphragm goes into break-up and the effective radiating area of the transducer decreases. Transducer off-axis frequency response and directivity can be improved through mechanical resonances in the diaphragm, but there are trade-offs:
It is difficult to have a well-behaved polar radiation pattern. Mechanical resonances in the diaphragm can also produce undesired large peaks in the on-axis frequency response. Mechanical resonances are often poorly dampedhard to control.
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References
Acoustics, Leo Beranek, 1993 edition. Reference chapter 4.

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Acoustics, Leo Beranek, 1993 edition.

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