The Nonlinear Pressure Acoustics, Time Explicit (nate) interface (
), found under the
Acoustics>Ultrasound subbranch (
) when adding a physics interface, is used to model the propagation of nonlinear finite amplitude acoustic waves in computational domains that contain many wavelengths. It is suited for time-dependent simulations with arbitrary time-dependent sources and fields. Absorbing layers are used to set up effective nonreflecting-like boundary conditions. Application areas include biomedical applications, for instance, ultrasonic imaging and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). The applications are not restricted to ultrasound. The interface exists in 2D, 2D axisymmetric, and 3D.
In the linear case it can be advantageous to use The Pressure Acoustics, Time Explicit Interface instead, for example, when modeling scattering phenomena using a scattered field formulation and a background acoustic field. This split is not possible for nonlinear problems. In the presence of a stationary background flow and linear propagation the
The Convected Wave Equation, Time Explicit Interface should be used, for example, when modeling ultrasonic flow meters.
The interface solves the second-order nonlinear governing equations for the acoustic pressure p and the acoustic velocity perturbations
u. The interface is suited for modeling progressive wave propagation phenomena when the cumulative nonlinear effects surpass the local nonlinear effects. Thus the model is consistent with the second-order Westervelt equation for the acoustic pressure (see also the
Nonlinear Acoustics (Westervelt) Contributions feature available with
The Pressure Acoustics, Transient Interface). General bulk dissipation (volumetric damping) can be added to model real fluids.
The Label is the default physics interface name.
The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the physics interface. Refer to such physics interface variables in expressions using the pattern
<name>.<variable_name>. In order to distinguish between variables belonging to different physics interfaces, the
name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and underscores (_) are permitted in the
Name field. The first character must be a letter.
The default Name (for the first physics interface in the model) is
nate.
To display this section, click the Show More Options button (
) and select
Advanced Physics Options in the
Show More Options dialog box. In the
Filter Parameters for Absorbing Layers section you can change and control the values set for the filter used in the
Absorbing Layers. The values of the filter parameters defined here are used in all absorbing layers added to the model and they override the value of filter parameters enabled in the material model (
Nonlinear Pressure Acoustics, Time Explicit Model). The default values of the filter parameters
α,
ηc, and
s are set to 0.1, 0.01, and 2, respectively. Inside the absorbing layer it is important to use a filter that is not too aggressive since this will result in spurious reflections.
To display this section, click the Show More Options button (
) and select
Stabilization in the
Show More Options dialog box. Only one option exists for the
Numerical flux formulation used in the numerical scheme when solving the dG problem. For
Lax–Friedrichs (the only option) enter the
Lax–Friedrichs flux parameter τLF (default is 0.2). The value of the parameter
τLF should be between 0 and 0.5. A parameter value of 0 represents a central flux, which is the least dissipative but also the least stable numerical flux. A parameter value of 0.5 gives a maximally dissipative global Lax–Friedrichs flux (see
The Lax–Friedrichs Flux).
To display this section, click the Show More Options button (
) and select
Stabilization in the
Show More Options dialog box. The limiter is used to control and stabilize highly nonlinear problems with shock formation. The limiter can only be used with linear discretization. For details see the
Solving Highly Nonlinear Problems section in
Modeling with the Nonlinear Pressure Acoustics, Time Explicit Interface.
Enter a value for the Maximum frequency to resolve fmax (the default is
1000[Hz]). This value is used to set up the physics-controlled mesh for the Nonlinear Pressure Acoustics, Time Explicit interface. Remember that this value should be set in order to resolve harmonics generated due to nonlinear effects.
In this section you can select the Element order for the acoustic pressure and acoustic velocity (the same is used for both). Per default the order is set to
Quartic (4th order). Using quartic elements together with a mesh size equal to approximately one and a half of the wavelength, leads to the best performance when using the dG method. For highly nonlinear problems it can be necessary to use a
Limiter in which case it is necessary to change the
Element order to
Linear.
The dependent variables are the Acoustic pressure, and the
Acoustic velocity. The names can be changed, but the names of fields and dependent variables must be unique within a model. The name for the
Acoustic velocity,
components can also be selected individually.