Steam whistle

For the beer brand, see Steam Whistle Brewing.

A steam whistle is a device used to produce sound with the aid of live steam, which acts as a vibrating system [1] (compare to train horn).

Operation

The whistle consists of the following main parts, as seen on the drawing: the whistle bell (1), the steam orifice or aperture (2), and the valve (9).

When the lever (10) is pulled (usually via a pull cord), the valve opens and lets the steam escape through the orifice. The steam will alternately compress and rarefy in the bell, creating the sound. The pitch, or tone, is dependent on the length of the bell; and also how far the operator has opened the valve. Some locomotive engineers invented their own style of whistling.

Uses of steam whistles

High-pitched plain whistle (left) and low-pitched plain whistle (right).
3-bell multi-tone (chime) whistle sounds a musical chord.
Single-bell multi-tone (chime) whistle with compartments of differing length and pitch tuned to a musical chord.
6-note "step-top" multi-tone (chime) whistle with 6 compartments of differing length and pitch. The mouth of each chamber is partially walled.
A partial mouth whistle ("organ whistle") in which the mouth extends less than 360 degrees around the whistle circumference.
"Gong" chime whistle, two whistles aligned on the same axis.
Variable pitch whistle; note the internal piston used for adjusting pitch.
“Ultrawhistle” with ring-shaped bell cavity.
Helmholtz whistle has a low pitch relative to its length.

Steam whistles were often used in factories, and similar places to signal the start or end of a shift, etc. Railway locomotives, traction engines, and steam ships have traditionally been fitted with a whistle for warning and communication purposes. Large diameter steam whistles were used on light houses, likely beginning in the 1850s.[2]

The earliest use of steam whistles was as boiler low-water alarms[3] in the 18th century[4] and early 19th century.[5] During the 1830s, whistles were adopted by railroads[6] and steamship companies.[7]

Railway whistles

For more details on this topic, see Train whistle.

Steam warning devices have been used on trains since 1833 [8] when George Stephenson invented and patented a steam trumpet for use on the Leicester and Swannington Railway.[9] Period literature makes a distinction between a steam trumpet and a steam whistle.[10] A copy of the trumpet drawing signed May 1833 shows a device about eighteen inches high with an ever-widening trumpet shape with a six-inch diameter at its top or mouth.[8] It is said that George Stephenson invented his trumpet after an accident on the Leicester and Swannington Railway where a train hit either a cart, or a herd of cows, on a level crossing and there were calls for a better way of giving a warning. Although no-one was injured, the accident was deemed serious enough to warrant Stephenson’s personal intervention. One account states that [driver] Weatherburn had `mouthblown his horn' at the crossing in an attempt to prevent the accident, but that no attention had been paid to this audible warning, perhaps because it had not been heard.

Stephenson subsequently called a meeting of directors and accepted the suggestion of the company manager, Ashlin Bagster, that a horn or whistle which could be activated by steam should be constructed and fixed to the locomotives. Stephenson later visited a musical instrument maker on Duke Street in Leicester, who on Stephenson's instructions constructed a ‘Steam Trumpet’ which was tried out in the presence of the board of Directors ten days later.

Stephenson mounted the trumpet on the top of the boiler's steam dome, which delivers dry steam to the cylinders. The company went on to mount the device on its other locomotives

Locomotive steam trumpets were soon replaced by steam whistles. Air whistles were used on some Diesel and electric locomotives, but these mostly employ air horns.

Music

An array of steam whistles arranged to play music is referred to as a calliope.

In York, Pennsylvania, a variable pitch steam whistle at the New York Wire Company has been played annually on Christmas Eve since 1925 (except in 1986 and 2005) in what has come to be known as "York's Annual Steam Whistle Christmas Concert". On windy nights, area residents report hearing the concert as far as 12 to 15 miles away. The whistle, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records, was powered by an air compressor during the 2010 concert due to the costs of maintaining and running the boiler.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Types of whistles

Whistle acoustics

Resonant frequency

A whistle has a characteristic natural resonant frequency[29] that can be detected by gently blowing human breath across the whistle rim, much as one might blow over the mouth of a bottle. The active sounding frequency (when the whistle is blown on steam) may differ from the natural frequency as discussed below. These comments apply to whistles with a mouth area at least equal to the cross-sectional area of the whistle.

Sound pressure level

Whistle sound level varies with several factors:

Terminology

Acoustic length [76] or effective length [77] is the quarter wavelength generated by the whistle. It is calculated as one quarter the ratio of speed of sound to the whistle’s frequency. Acoustic length may differ from the whistle’s physical length,[78] also termed geometric length.[79] depending upon mouth configuration, etc.[29] The end correction is the difference between the acoustic length and the physical length above the mouth. The end correction is a function of diameter whereas the ratio of acoustic length to physical length is a function of scale. These calculations are useful in whistle design to obtain a desired sounding frequency. Working length in early usage meant whistle acoustic length, i.e., the effective length of the working whistle,[80] but recently has been used for physical length including the mouth.[81]

Loudest and largest whistles

Loudness is a subjective perception that is influenced by sound pressure level, sound duration, and sound frequency.[74][75] High sound pressure level potential has been claimed for the whistles of Vladimir Gavreau,[82] who tested whistles as large as 1.5 meter (59-inch) diameter (37 Hz).[83] A 20-inch diameter ring-shaped whistle (“Ultrawhistle”) patented and produced by Richard Weisenberger sounded 124 decibels at 100 feet.[84] The variable pitch steam whistle at the New York Wire Company in York, Pennsylvania, was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the loudest steam whistle on record at 124.1dBA from a set distance used by Guinness.[85] The York whistle was also measured at 134.1 decibels from a distance of 23-feet.[12]

A fire-warning whistle supplied to a Canadian saw mill by the Eaton, Cole, and Burnham Company in 1882 measured 20 inches in diameter, four feet nine inches from bowl to ornament, and weighed 400 pounds. The spindle supporting the whistle bell measured 3.5 inches diameter and the whistle was supplied by a four-inch feed pipe.[86][87] Other records of large whistles include an 1893 account of U.S. President Grover Cleveland activating the “largest steam whistle in the world,” said to be “five feet” at the Chicago World's Fair.[88][89] The sounding chamber of a whistle installed at the 1924 Long-Bell Lumber Company, Longview, Washington measured 16 inches diameter x 49 inches in length.[90] The whistle bells of multi-bell chimes used on ocean liners such as the RMS Titanic measured 9, 12, and 15 inches diameter.[91] The whistle bells of the Canadian Pacific steamships Assiniboia and Keewatin measured 12 inches in diameter and that of the Keewatin measured 60 inches in length.[92][93] A multi-bell chime whistle installed at the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company in 1926 was composed of five separate whistle bells measuring 5 x15, 7 x 21, 8x 24, 10 x 30, and 12 x36 inches, all plumbed to a five-inch steam pipe.[94] The Union Water Meter Company of Worcester Massachusetts produced a gong whistle composed of three bells, 8 x 9-3/4, 12 x 15, and 12 x 25 inches.[95] Twelve-inch diameter steam whistles were commonly used at light houses in the 19th century.[96] It has been claimed that the sound level of an Ultrawhistle would be significantly greater than that of a conventional whistle,[97] but comparative tests of large whistles have not been undertaken. Tests of small Ultrawhistles have not shown higher sound levels compared to conventional whistles of the same diameter.[71]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steam whistles.
  1. Chanaud, Robert (1970). "Aerodynamic whistles". Scientific American (223): 40–46.
  2. Jones, Ray (2003). The Lighthouse Encyclopedia. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 0-7627-2735-7.
  3. Miller's Steam Boiler Alarm and Water Gage
  4. Stuart, Robert (1829). Historical and Descriptive Anecdotes of Steam Engines and of their Inventors and Improvers, London: Wightman and Cramp, page 301.
  5. Ommundsen, Peter (2007). "Pre-1830 steam whistles". Horn and Whistle (117): 14.
  6. Wood, Nicholas (1838). A Practical Treatise on Railroads. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, page 340.
  7. 1 2 Pringle, R.E. and J. Parkes (1839). The causes and means of prevention of steam-boat accidents. Mechanics Magazine 31:262.
  8. 1 2 Stretton, Clement Edwin (1903). The Locomotive Engine and its Development: a popular treatise on the gradual improvements made in railway engines between 1803 and 1903. Crosby Lockwood and Son.
  9. Ross, David. The Willing Servant: A History of the Steam Locomotive. Tempus. p. 42. ISBN 0-7524-2986-8.
  10. Russell, John Scott (1841). A Treatise on the Steam Engine. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black.
  11. "York steam whistle ready to play -- without the steam". www.inyork.com.
  12. 1 2 "York Town Square". York Town Square.
  13. "Steam whistle player's hospitalization won't stop concert". ydr.com.
  14. "York Town Square". York Town Square.
  15. http://www.witf.org/news/regional-and-state/2686-yorks-annual-christmas-steam-whistle-concert-endangered
  16. "York Pa wire company". YouTube.
  17. "Dampflokpfeifen / The Whistles of Steamtrains". YouTube.
  18. "Patent US186718 - Improvement in steam-whistles".
  19. "SL津和野稲荷号 走行シーン SL "Tsuwano-inari " Running scene". YouTube.
  20. "Patent US48921 - Improvement in steam-whistles".
  21. "Patent US131176 - Improvement in steam-whistles".
  22. "Patent US2755767 - High power generators of sounds and ultra-sounds".
  23. "Patent US2678625 - Resonant sound signal device".
  24. "Directional Isophasic Toroidal Whistle" Patent No. US 20130291784 A1 http://www.google.com/patents/US20130291784
  25. "Patent US4429656 - Toroidal shaped closed chamber whistle".
  26. "Patent US4686928 - Toroidal whistle".
  27. Fagen, Ed. (1996). Technical talk about flue pipes, cavities, and Helmholtz resonators. Horn and Whistle 71:8.
  28. Bangham, Larry (2002). The Resonator Whistle. Steam in the Garden 66 and 67, reprinted in Horn and Whistle 101:12-15.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Liljencrants, Johan (2006). "End correction at a flue pipe mouth".
  30. Tohyama, M. (2011) Sound and Signals. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 389 pp.
  31. 1 2 Ommundsen, Peter (2003). "Effects of pressure on whistle frequency". Horn and Whistle (101): 18.
  32. Science Magazine, Volume 2, No. 46 December 21, 1883 page 799.
  33. 1 2 Birch, A.D., D.J. Hughes, and F. Swaffield. (1987). Velocity decay of high pressure jets. Combustion Science and Technology. 52:161-171.
  34. Elliott, Brian S. (2006). Compressed Air Operations Manual. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-147526-5.
  35. Crocker, Malcolm J. (1998). Handbook of Acoustics. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-25293-X.
  36. Lerner, Lawrence S.(1996). Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volume 1. Boston : Jones and Bartlett.
  37. Heisler, S.I. (1998). Wiley Engineer's Desk Reference. John Wiley and Sons, pages 266-267.
  38. Menon, E. Sashi. (2005). Piping Calculations Manual. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  39. Ommundsen. Peter (2012). "Whistle steam and air consumption." Horn and Whistle (127):4.
  40. 1 2 Gilbert, T.M. (1897). "A test of the steam consumption of a locomotive whistle". Sibley Journal of Engineering (11): 108–110.
  41. 1 2 Ommundsen, Peter (2013). "Steam whistle harmonics and whistle length." Horn and Whistle 129:31-33
  42. Fletcher, N.H. (1974). Non-linear interactions in organ flue pipes. J. Acoustical Society of America, 56:645-652.
  43. Fletcher, N.H. and Lorna M. Douglas. (1980). "Harmonic generation in organ pipes, recorders, and flutes." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 68:767-771.
  44. Šafarík, P., Nový, A., Jícha, D. and Hajšman, M., 2015. On the speed of sound in steam. Acta Polytechnica, 55:422-426
  45. Soo, Shao L. (1989) Particulates and Continuum: A Multiphase Fluid Dynamics. CRC Press.
  46. Menon, E. Sashi. (2005) Piping Calculations Manual. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  47. 1 2 Liljencrants, Johan. (2011) Organ pipe sensitivity to pressure.
  48. Liljencrants, Johan (2006). "Q value of a pipe resonator".
  49. Ommundsen, Peter (2004). "Whistle mouth area and lip height in relation to manifold pressure". Horn and Whistle (103): 7–8.
  50. Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway 1925 engineering drawing, published 1984, Horn and Whistle 13:12-13.
  51. Ommundsen, Peter (2005). "Effect of mouth size on frequency of a single bell chime whistle". Horn and Whistle (110): 29–30.
  52. 1 2 Ommundsen, Peter (2007). "Observations on whistle cut-up and frequency". Horn and Whistle (116): 4–7.
  53. Airchime Manufacturing Company, May 15, 1960 Steam Whistle Installation: Adjustments. Horn and Whistle Magazine No. 25, page 37, July – August 1986.
  54. Nathan Manufacturing Company 1910, December 3, General Information, Pattern 30146.
  55. 1 2 Ommundsen, Peter (2007). "Factors to consider in whistle slot width prescriptions". Horn and Whistle (115): 6–8.
  56. Ommundsen, Peter (2006). "Observations on whistle resonance frequency". Horn and Whistle (112): 7–8.
  57. Barry, Harry, and Peter Ommundsen. (2012). "Whistle frequency differences on steam vs. compressed air." Horn and Whistle 126:5 - 6.
  58. Burrows, Lewis M. (1957). "Whistle Patent Number 2784693". United States Patent Office. column 5, lines 29-31
  59. 1 2 3 Ommundsen, Peter (2005). "Effect of slot width on whistle performance". Horn and Whistle (109): 31–32.
  60. 1 2 Barry, Harry and Peter Ommundsen (2015). "Whistle sound levels revisited." Horn and Whistle (133):4-5.
  61. Burrows, 1957, US2784693, column 5, lines 30-34
  62. Barry, Harry (2002). "Sound levels of my whistles". Horn and Whistle (98): 19.
  63. Weisenberger, Richard (1983). "The loudest whistle". Horn and Whistle (6): 7–9.
  64. U.S. Patent 4429656, Feb 7, 1984 "Toroidal Shaped Closed Chamber Whistle"
  65. Carruthers, James A. (1984). "More on loudest sounds". Horn and Whistle (10): 6.
  66. Elias, Isador (1962). Evaluation and application of the Levavasseur whistle. 1962 IRE National Convention Record. 36-42.
  67. Birch, A.D., D.R. Brown, M.G. Dobson and F. Swaffield. (1984) The structure and concentration decay of high pressure jets of natural gas. Combustion Science and Technology, 36:249-261.
  68. Auberlencher, H.J. and T. trommer (2009). Experimental jet velocity and edge tone investigations on a foot model of an organ pipe. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 126:878-886.
  69. Burrows, Lewis M. (1957). “Whistle Patent Number 2784693" United States Patent Office, column 5, lines 20-28.
  70. Rhodes, Tom (1984). Building a steamboat whistle. Live Steam, November:42-44.
  71. 1 2 Ommundsen, Peter (2008). "The Levavasseur toroidal whistle and other loud whistles". Horn and Whistle (119): 5.
  72. Ommundsen, Peter (2009). "Whistle engineering questions". Horn and Whistle (121): 26–27.
  73. Fagen, Edward (2005). "Whistles as Sound Sources". Horn and Whistle (107): 18–24.
  74. 1 2 Fagen, Edward (2005). "Whistles as Sound Sources, Part 2". Horn and Whistle (108): 35–39.
  75. 1 2 Piercy, J.E. and Tony F.W. Embleton (1979). Sound propagation in the open air. In: Harris, Cyril M. Handbook of Noise Control, Second Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  76. Talbot-Smith, Michael (1999). Audio Engineer’s Reference Book (2nd ed.). Oxford: Focal. ISBN 0-7506-0386-0.
  77. Serway, Raymond A. (1990). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. ISBN 0-03-005922-4.
  78. Rossing, Thomas D. (1990). The Science of Sound. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley
  79. Fahy, Frank (2001). Foundations of Engineering Acoustics. Academic press.
  80. Hadley, Harry E. (1926). Everyday Physics. London: Macmillan and Company
  81. Weisenberger, Richard (1986). Mathematics for the whistle builder. Horn and Whistle 23:10-16.
  82. Altmann, Jurgen (2001). Acoustic weapons – a prospective assessment. Science and Global Security 9:163-234.
  83. Gavreau, V. (1968). Infrasound. Science Journal 4:33-37.
  84. Weisenberger, Richard (1983). The loudest whistle. Horn and Whistle 6:7-9.
  85. Guinness World Records. "Explore Official World Records". guinnessworldrecords.com.
  86. The New York Times, May 26, 1882.
  87. The Chronicle – a journal devoted to the interests of insurance. Vol xxix page 346 1882.
  88. Crawfford, Maurice (2001). The rich cut glass of Charles Guernsey Tuthill. Texas A and M University Press, page 64.
  89. Anonymous (1893). Features of the opening. The New York Times, April 27.
  90. Drummond, Michael (1996) Steam whistle buffs abuzz over Big Benjamin. The daily News of Longview Washington, December 21, reprinted in Horn and Whistle 75:8-9.
  91. Fagen, Ed (1997). Titanic’s whistle blow a bit less than titanic. Horn and whistle 75:8-11.
  92. Barry, Harry (1983). The Assiniboia steam whistle. Horn and Whistle 4:13-14
  93. Barry, Harry (1998). A survey of large whistles. Horn and Whistle 79:6-7
  94. Louisville Herald, June 8, 1926.
  95. Barry, Harry (2002). The twelve inch diameter, three bell Union Water meter gong whistle. Horn and Whistle 98:14-15.
  96. Clarke, F.L. (1888). "Fog and fog signals on the pacific coast". Overland Monthly (12): 353.
  97. For example, Weisenberger, Richard (1986). Build an eight inch super whistle: an introduction to the toroidal whistle. Horn and Whistle 25:4-6.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.