Acoustic waveguide cutoff 2026-10-31
For an acoustic waveguide mode with transverse index , the dispersion relation permits a propagating axial wavenumber only above the displayed angular frequency. Below it the outgoing bounded response decays as , with . The mode has no positive cutoff. At cutoff, a nonzero imposed axial derivative requires , so no bounded periodic solution exists on a semi-infinite channel. Near cutoff, fixed wall-velocity forcing gives amplitudes proportional to , which can invalidate linearization.
The fixed upper and lower walls have zero normal velocity. Since , their no-penetration boundary conditions areFor the moving end wall, use its level-set equation . The kinematic boundary condition gives the exact impermeability relationBoth and are first order, so their product is second order. A Taylor expansion from to changes the first-order perturbation velocity only at second order as well. ThusAt infinity, select a bounded response with no waves incident from . A propagating acoustic waveguide mode must satisfy the outgoing radiation condition for a waveguide mode, while a nonpropagating mode must decay. For a time dependence , a propagating axial factor has the form , , and obeys . An evanescent factor is , .
Requiring for all frequencies would incorrectly exclude the radiated traveling waves. In this lossless channel they retain finite amplitude arbitrarily far downstream.
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. Radiation condition for a waveguide mode 2026-10-31
For a rightward acoustic waveguide mode with time convention , and real , the displayed condition selects and excludes waves incident from positive infinity. If with , the corresponding selection is the decaying factor . Boundedness alone cannot distinguish outgoing and incoming propagating waves, while requiring decay for every frequency would incorrectly remove the propagating response. The condition must match the chosen temporal phase convention.
