Tubing systems for pneumatic averaging of fluctuating pressures

Pneumatic averaging techniques are being used increasingly for the evaluation of loading in wind engineering, and it has become imperative that a thorough understanding of these techniques is gained. An analysis backed by experimental work is presented here to describe the acoustic properties of manifold networks and their limitations. The results are easily programmed to enable systematic design of pneumatic tubing systems for averaging of several fluctuating input pressures such that the ideal pressure transfer function can be approached, and some design parameters are given. Attention is also paid to the settling time of typical manifold networks used in wind engineering.