A LOADED THERMOACOUSTIC ENGINE

Measurements and analysis of the performance of a thermoacoustic engin e driving a dissipative load are presented. The effect of the load can be explained qualitatively using a simple low-amplitude approximation and quantitatively by invoking a more accurate low-amplitude numerica l solution. The heater power Q and hot-end temperature T-H are found t o be simple functions of the load impedance and the unloaded values of Q and T-H. (C) 1995 Acoustical Society of America.