A numerical method for determining the radial wave motion correction in plane wave couplers

Microphones are used for realising the unit of sound pressure level, the pascal (Pa). Electro-acoustic reciprocity is the preferred method for the absolute determination of the sensitivity. This method can be applied in different sound fields: uniform pressure, free field or diffuse field. Pressure calibration, carried out in plane wave couplers, is the most extended.

Here plane wave propagation is assumed. While this assumption is valid at low and mid frequencies, it fails at higher frequencies because the membrane of the microphones is not moving uniformly, and there are viscous losses. An existing solution is an analytical expression that estimates the difference between the ideal plane wave sound field and a more complex lossless sound field created by a non-planar movement of the microphone’s membranes.

Alternatively, a correction may be calculated numerically by introducing a full model of the microphone-coupler system in a Boundary Element formulation. In order to obtain a realistic representation of the sound field, viscous losses must be introduced in the model. This paper presents such a model, and the results of the simulations for different combinations of microphones and couplers.

The results are compared to experimental data, and the existing analytical solution.