Scattering and absorption of sound at flow duct expansions

The scattering of plane acoustic waves at area expansions in flow ducts is analysed using the vortex sheet model where the flow at the expansion is modelled as a jet, with a vortex sheet emanating from the edge. Of particular interest is the influence of the flow field on acoustic scattering and absorption. First, it is demonstrated that the stability properties of the shear layer can be simulated by modifying the edge condition within the vortex sheet model. To this end the accuracy for the region where the shear layer is changing from unstable to stable is improved by introducing a gradually relaxed Kutta edge condition with empirically derived coefficients. For low Strouhal numbers the vortex sheet model applies and for higher Strouhal numbers the two models converge. Second, it is demonstrated that the acoustic transmission through the jet expansion region can be determined by neglecting the scattering there. Incorporating this assumption, the vortex sheet model reproduces well the experimental results on transmission and absorption for an area expansion. This result supports the assumption that the main part of the scattering occurs at the area expansion at least for the low-frequency range. Furthermore, the influence of the flow field is particularly strong for small Strouhal numbers. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.