Paper 1, Section II, 37B

Waves
Part II, 2015

An acoustic plane wave (not necessarily harmonic) travels at speed c0c_{0} in the direction k^\hat{\mathbf{k}}, where k^=1|\hat{\mathbf{k}}|=1, through an inviscid, compressible fluid of unperturbed density ρ0\rho_{0}. Show that the velocity u~\tilde{\mathbf{u}} is proportional to the perturbation pressure p~\tilde{p}, and find u~/p~\tilde{\mathbf{u}} / \tilde{p}. Define the acoustic intensity I\mathbf{I}.

A harmonic acoustic plane wave with wavevector k=k(cosθ,sinθ,0)\mathbf{k}=k(\cos \theta, \sin \theta, 0) and unitamplitude perturbation pressure is incident from x<0x<0 on a thin elastic membrane at unperturbed position x=0x=0. The regions x<0x<0 and x>0x>0 are both occupied by gas with density ρ0\rho_{0} and sound speed c0c_{0}. The kinematic boundary conditions at the membrane are those appropriate for an inviscid fluid, and the (linearized) dynamic boundary condition

m2Xt2T2Xy2+[p~(0,y,t)]+=0m \frac{\partial^{2} X}{\partial t^{2}}-T \frac{\partial^{2} X}{\partial y^{2}}+[\tilde{p}(0, y, t)]_{-}^{+}=0

where TT and mm are the tension and mass per unit area of the membrane, and x=X(y,t)x=X(y, t) (with kX1|k X| \ll 1 ) is its perturbed position. Find the amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted pressure perturbations, expressing your answers in terms of the dimensionless parameter

α=ρ0c02kcosθ(mc02Tsin2θ).\alpha=\frac{\rho_{0} c_{0}^{2}}{k \cos \theta\left(m c_{0}^{2}-T \sin ^{2} \theta\right)} .

Hence show that the time-averaged energy flux in the xx-direction is conserved across the membrane.