Assessment of acoustic pressure holograms from membrane velocity measurements

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate experimentally the possibility of acquiring acoustic pressure holograms using a light membrane and a scanning laser vibrometer. The velocity of a light membrane placed in an acoustic field can be measured without contact by means of a laser vibrometer. The ideal membrane must be optically reflective, acoustically transparent (having as little mass as possible), impermeable, and mounted without tension. The measured velocity is equal for continuity reasons to the normal acoustic velocity, but differs from the acoustic velocity without the membrane because the membrane is never completely transparent to acoustic waves. The effect of the mass of the membrane can be taken into account to correct this difference. Then, acoustic pressure holograms can be deduced from velocity holograms using the 2D Discrete Fourier Transform. An experimental validation is carried out; acoustic pressures derived from laser measurements are compared with microphone measurements, with a very satisfying match over a wide frequency range.