Iterative three-dimensional Helmholtz Equation solutions using the Wave Expansion Method

Abstract

Modelling sound propagation often can present difficult challenges due to computational demands. In general, the direct solutions of the system equations arising from the full field discretization of many three-dimensional problems of practical engineering interest cannot be attempted. The current study consists of modelling sound propagation through a full field approach known as the Wave Expansion Method (WEM). The boundary conditions used in this study are Neumann and Free radiation conditions. The major advantage of the WEM is that it requires only around 2-3 nodes per wavelength to obtain accurate solutions which oflfers a significant computational advantage over conventional finite element, finite difference and boundary element approaches, which require around 8-10 nodes per wavelength.