Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-fluids-and-waves-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/3/d/solution
Past exam of the fluids and waves course of the University of Oxford 2015 3 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Let . The end-wall forcing has transverse factor , which already satisfies both fixed-wall Neumann boundary conditions. By linearity and separation of variables, seek its periodic response asSubstitution into the wave equation and the moving-wall condition givesThe acoustic waveguide cutoff is thereforeIt is the lowest nonzero transverse-mode frequency. The uniform transverse mode has no cutoff, but is not excited here because .
For , put . The axial equation has solutions . Boundedness removes the growing exponential, and fixes the coefficient. ThusThis evanescent wave oscillates in time but decays with penetration length . Its axial velocity is proportional to , while its excess pressure is proportional to . They are in phase quadrature, so their mean product, the axial acoustic energy flux, is zero.
For , put . The axial solutions are . The outgoing condition selects for the chosen time convention, andTaking the real part givesIts axial velocity is , so the moving-wall condition is satisfied with the correct sign. This is a traveling acoustic waveguide mode carrying energy toward positive . Its dispersion relation isThe larger axial phase velocity does not imply faster energy transport: the group velocity controls that transport.
At , the axial equation becomes . The imposed nonzero derivative forces a constant, which is unbounded. Thus there is no bounded periodic response at exact cutoff for this infinite, undamped, velocity-driven model. The divergent coefficients as or also show why the assumed small perturbations fail sufficiently close to cutoff at fixed forcing. Initial conditions can add free transients; the displayed formulas give the selected periodic forced response.
An oscillating end wall excites either an evanescent disturbance or an outgoing acoustic wave
. The transverse shape is . Below cutoff, the normalized axial potential decays exponentially; above cutoff it oscillates downstream with an outgoing phase. The right panel shows the common cutoff and the propagating dispersion branch. Details. New to topics? Read the docs here!
