FINITE ELEMENT AND BOUNDARY ELEMENT MODELLING FOR THE ACOUSTIC WAVE TRANSMISSION IN MEAN FLOW MEDIUM

The frequency characteristics of the acoustic wave transmission in a medium with mean flow are considered. One approach is to solve the Helmholtz equation with mean flow medium in original co-ordinates, which is directly discretized for the one-dimensional and the axisymmetric FEM. Another approach is to transform the equation into the standard Helmholtz equation, which is discretized for the axisymmetric FEM and the three-dimensional BEM. The numerical models are examined first for a straight circular duct. The solutions by the numerical approaches are compared with the analytical solution. The examination is then extended to the case when the mean flow is locally present in the muffler with expansion chamber. To model the spatial mean flow in the BEM model, the partitioned domain approach is also developed. No shear effect between the two regions are included.