Abstract
We built a prototype thermoacoustic Stirling engine that consisted of a looped tube and a mechanical (damped) oscillator. From measurements of the acoustic impedance of the acoustical part and that of the mechanical part as functions of temperature and frequency, we present that the self-sustained oscillations occur at the temperature and frequency at which these acoustic impedances mutually agreed. This result gives an experimental method for predicting the oscillating frequency and the hot-end temperature required for steady oscillation in thermoacoustic systems.
