A method for computing acoustic fields based on the principle of wave superposition

A method for computing the acoustic fields of arbitrarily shaped radiators is described that uses the principle of wave superposition. The superposition integral, which is shown to be equivalent to the Helmholtz integral, is based on the idea that the combined fields of an array of sources interior to a radiator can be made to reproduce a velocity prescribed on the surface of the radiator. The strengths of the sources that produce this condition can, in turn, be used to compute the corresponding surface pressures. The results of several numerical experiments are presented that demonstrate the simplicity of the method. Also, the advantages that the superposition method has over the more commonly used boundary-element methods are discussed. These include simplicity of generating the matrix elements used in the numerical formulation and improved accuracy and speed, the latter two being due to the avoidance of uniqueness and singularity problems inherent in the boundary-element formulation.