Infinite Elements and Their Influence on Normal and Radiation Modes in Exterior Acoustics

Abstract

Acoustic radiation modes (ARMs) and normal modes (NMs) are calculated at the surface of a fluid-filled domain around a solid structure and inside the domain, respectively. In order to compute the exterior acoustic problem and modes, both the finite element method (FEM) and the infinite element method (IFEM) are applied. More accurate results can be obtained by using finer meshes in the FEM or higher-order radial interpolation polynomials in the IFEM, which causes additional degrees of freedom (DOF). As such, more computational cost is required. For this reason, knowledge about convergence behavior of the modes for different mesh cases is desirable, and is the aim of this paper. It is shown that the acoustic impedance matrix for the calculation of the radiation modes can be also constructed from the system matrices of finite and infinite elements instead of boundary element matrices, as is usually done. Grouping behavior of the eigenvalues of the radiation modes can be observed. Finally, both kinds of modes in exterior acoustics are compared in the example of the cross-section of a recorder in air. When the number of DOF is increased by using higher-order radial interpolation polynomials, different eigenvalue convergences can be observed for interpolation polynomials of even and odd order.