Rationality and feasibility of replacing standing wave vibration with gas column piston-mode vibration in thermoacoustic refrigerators

The realization of a high-intensity acoustic field is the key technology in thermoacoustic refrigerators. On the basis of analysis of the longitudinal forced vibration law of the gas column in the resonant cavity of half-wavelength standing wave type thermoacoustic refrigerator, the idea of using the first-order piston-mode vibration of the gas column instead of standing wave vibration in the thermoacoustic refrigerator is proposed to improve the amplitude of gas vibration in the resonant cavity and achieve large alternating gas flow. From the perspective of gas column piston-mode vibration, including vibration patterns, pressure distribution, and temperature change laws of gas microgroups at the equilibrium position of vibration, the reasonableness and feasibility of heat transferring during the first-order piston-mode vibration of the gas column to enhance the refrigeration capacity is analyzed. The superiority of applying first-order piston-mode vibration of the gas column in thermoacoustic refrigerators is further illustrated by combining existing research results. The obtained results provide new research ideas and efforts to further enhance the sound field strength of thermoacoustic refrigerators.