Novel ultrasonic bat deterrents based on aerodynamic whistles

Abstract

Novel ultrasonic bat deterrents based on aerodynamic whistles are investigated experimentally and numerically. The baseline deterrent, a single-whistle design inspired by Beeken [1], is examined first. It consists of two resonating cavities/chambers. The whistle is ``powered'' by a regulated high-pressure air supply and the performance of the whistle is examined for a range of supply pressures. Farfield acoustic measurements in the $20$ Hz - $50$ kHz frequency range are made in an anechoic chamber. The noise measurements are supplemented with two- and three-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (uRANS) simulations to investigate the mechanisms of ultrasound generation. The Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings acoustic analogy is used with the 3-D uRANS results to predict the far field radiation. The farfield acoustic predictions are in good agreement with the measurements in the anechoic chamber. The peak frequency (fundamental) of the radiated ultrasound of the baseline deterrent is approximately $23$ kHz. Harmonics and a sub-harmonic of the fundamental tone are also observed. The numerical simulations show that the two resonating chambers of the baseline deterrent operate out-of-phase and Helmholtz resonance determines the whistling frequency over the range of supply air pressure considered. A six-whistle deterrent targeting a broad spectral coverage in the $20-50$ kHz frequency range is designed, fabricated and tested in the anechoic chamber. Each whistle in the deterrent is obtained by geometrically scaling the baseline whistle. Measurements show that the six-whistle ultrasound deterrent generates ultrasound with six dominant peaks in the designed frequency range when the supply air pressure exceeds $5$ psig. The proposed ultrasound devices can serve as effective bat deterrents for a variety of purposes including reducing bat mortality at wind turbines.