Two-phase medium sound speed calculator
Calculate the low-frequency bulk sound speed of a two-phase homogeneous fluid mixture using Wood's model.
INPUTS:
c1 = sound speed of medium 1
rho1 = density of medium 1
c2 = sound speed of medium 2
rho2 = density of medium 2
VF = volume fraction (sometimes called void fraction). This is the fraction of the total volume occupied by medium 2. Mathematically,
VF = (V2)/(V1+V2),
Where V1 and V2 are the volumes of media 1 and 2, respectively.
OUTPUT:
Bulk sound speed of the mixture, in the same units as c1 and c2.
EXAMPLE:
VF = 0:.001:1;
c = c_wood2(1485,998,343,1.2,VF);
plot(VF,c)
xlabel('void fraction')
ylabel('bulk sound speed')
box off
This function can be employed to show some interesting physics. Namely, consider air bubbles in water: Water has a sound speed of about 1500 m/s and air has a sound speed of about 340 m/s. Yet, the introduction of just a small fraction of air bubbles into water will drop the bulk sound speed of the medium down to just tens of meters per second. Bubbly water has a sound speed below that of the water or the gas!
You'll find this model in A.B. Wood's 1930 work, "A Textbook of Sound: Being an Account of the Physics of Vibrations with Special Reference to Recent Theoretical and Technical Developments."
Cite As
Chad Greene (2026). Two-phase medium sound speed calculator (https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/36920-two-phase-medium-sound-speed-calculator), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .
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- Signal Processing > Audio Toolbox > Audio Processing Algorithm Design >
- Sciences > Physics > Thermodynamics & Statistical Physics >
Tags
Acknowledgements
Inspired by: Water sound speed calculator, Minnaert bubble models
Inspired: Seawater Acoustic Absorption Calculator, Prosperetti's Phi calculator
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