The acoustic boundary layers: A detailed analysis (Q1334458)

The viscosity of the medium plays an important role in defining the characteristics of sound wave propagation in ducts. This effect, due to the difficulty of analysis, has been either completely neglected in the literature or considered only approximately. In this study, a mathematical model is constructed to describe the physical problem in its general form without imposing assumptions a priori. The physical quantities have been conveniently expressed through only two nondimensional quantities, a frequency or wave number \(bK\) and a Reynolds number Re. The set of equations describing the model is solved in two- dimensional ducts in the case of no mean flow. Closed-form, exact solutions for the acoustic parameters are obtained. The effects of both Re and \(bK\) are computed and presented graphically.