Direct formulation of the supersonic acoustic intensity in space domain

This paper proposes and examines a direct formulation in space domain of the so-called supersonic acoustic intensity. This quantity differs from the usual (active) intensity by excluding the circulating energy in the near-field of the source, providing a map of the acoustic energy that is radiated into the far field.

To date, its calculation has been formulated in the wave number domain, filtering out the evanescent waves outside the radiation circle and reconstructing the acoustic field with only the propagating waves. In this study, the supersonic intensity is calculated directly in space domain by means of a two-dimensional convolution between the acoustic field and a spatial filter mask that corresponds to the space domain representation of the radiation circle.

Therefore, the acoustic field that propagates effectively to the far field is calculated via direct filtering in space domain. This paper presents the theory, as well as a numerical example to illustrate some fundamental principles. An experimental study on planar radiators was conducted to verify the validity of the technique.

The experimental results are presented, and serve to illustrate the usefulness of the analysis, its strengths and limitations. © 2012 Acoustical Society of America.