Redirection of sound in straight fluid channel with elastic boundaries

Abstract

A fluid channel clad between two solid plates is an acoustic waveguide where excitation of elastic waves at the channel boundaries has been usually neglected. This work develops a rigorous theory of scattering of sound by a finite-length fluid channel which takes into account excitation of elastic eigenmodes of two plates acoustically coupled through a fluid channel. The theory predicts an evidently contradictory result that the transmission and reflection coefficients of a nondissipative channel do not sum up to one. Moreover, they both exhibit deep minima at the same series of frequencies. It is shown that conservation of acoustic energy occurs due to redirection of sound, since part of the acoustic flux escapes into the solid plates. This scattering becomes possible because the uniform flatness of the boundaries of a straight channel is broken by vibrations. Theoretical predictions are supported by the experiments with ultrasound transmission through a narrow slit obtained between two brass or aluminum plates submerged in water. Measured transmission spectra exhibit deep minima exactly at the frequencies where the theory predicts strong redirection of sound.