Feasibility study of the wave based method for high-frequency steady-state acoustic analysis

A recently developed wave based method (WBM) has proven to be a computationally efficient tool for analysing steady-state low- and mid-frequency acoustic problems. The method is based on an indirect Trefftz approach, in that the dynamic pressure field is approximated by wave functions, which are exact solutions of the governing Helmholtz equation. Several case studies have shown that the WBM exhibits a higher convergence rate than the finite element method (FEM) and is therefore able to tackle problems at higher frequencies, before reaching the same computational limitations which restrict the use of the FEM to low-frequency applications. This paper investigates the applicability of the WBM for high-frequency analysis and checks if the enhanced convergence properties, which are observed in the low- and mid-frequency range, become also apparent in the high-frequency range.