Interaction of Acoustic Disturbances with Micro-Cavities for Ultrasonic Absorptive Coatings

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the interaction of acoustic waves with an array of equally-spaced two-dimensional micro-cavities on an otherwise flat plate without external boundary-layer flow. This acoustic scattering problem is important in the design of ultrasonic absorptive coatings (UAC) for hypersonic laminar flow control. The reflection coefficient, characterizing the ratio of the reflected wave amplitude to the incident wave amplitude, is computed as a function of the acoustic wave frequency and angle of incidence, for coatings of different porosity, at various acoustic Reynolds numbers relevant to hypersonic flight. Overall, the numerical results validate predictions from existing theoretical modeling. In general, the amplitude of the reflection coefficient has local minima at some specific frequencies. A simple model to predict these frequencies is presented. The simulations also highlight the presence of resonant acoustic modes caused by coupling of small-scale scattered waves near the UAC surface. Finally, the cavity depth and the porosity are identified as the most important parameters for UAC design. Guidelines for the choice of these parameters are suggested.