Optimization of the Equivalent Source Configuration for the Equivalent Source Method

Abstract

The equivalent source method is widely applied to study structural acoustic radiation in an underwater environment. However, there is still uncertainty in arranging the equivalent source, and the current mainstream configuration method needs a large number of equivalent sources, limiting its practical applicability. In this paper, an equivalent source configuration method that is simple, effective, and easy to implement, and which based on a tradeoff between the ill condition of the transfer matrix and the adequacy of the simulated structure’s radiated sound field, is proposed. The optimization method can derive the appropriate positions and quantity of monopole equivalent sources simultaneously. The method does not yield an optimal solution in a strict mathematical sense but provides satisfactory results compared with those obtained by uniformly distributed equivalent sources. Numerical simulation results showed that the optimization method derives accurate sound field calculation results with a relatively small number of equivalent sources, significantly reducing the number of subsequent calculations needed. Finally, the experiments conducted with a cylindrical shell structure verified the validity and practicality of the proposed method.