Acoustic response of a rectangular fluid region by the method of images

An abrupt excitation to a fluid contained in a system with flexible boundaries creates a coupling effect between the pressure response in the fluid and the flexible structure. Measurement of pressures within such a system may be contaminated by this coupling effect. A method to study acoustic wave propagation inside a rigid container is developed in this paper to address such a problem. With this method, the predicted pressure response for the fluid within a rigid container can be compared to test data from a flexible system. The results of this comparison can lead to a determination of the extent of contamination of the measured pressure response by the interaction of the fluid with the flexible structure. 6 refs