On the Propagation of Plane Acoustic Waves in a Duct with Flexible and Impedance Walls

This Technical Memorandum (TM) discusses the harmonic and random plane acoustic waves propagating from inside a duct to its surroundings. Various duct surfaces are considered, such as rigid, flexible, and impedance. In addition, the effects of a mean flow are studied when the duct alone is considered. Results show a significant reduction in overall sound pressure levels downstream of the impedance wall for both mean flow and no mean flow cases and for a narrow duct. When a wider duct is used, the overall sound pressure level (OSPL) reduction downstream of the impedance wall is much smaller. In the far field, the directivity is such that the overall sound pressure level is reduced by about 5 decibels (dB) on the side of the impedance wall. When a flexible surface is used, the far field directivity becomes asymmetric with an increase in the OSPL on the side of the flexible surface of about 7 dB.