Band Gap Formation by Cylinder Arrays in an Acoustic Waveguide
Scattering of acoustic waves by arrays of identical circular cylindrical scatterers in a horizontal waveguide is studied. Although three-dimensional in its geometry, the waveguide permits only a finite number of modes of acoustic wave propagating in different directions with respect to horizontal, and the number of these propagating modes increases as the frequency increases. The horizontal wave numbers of these modes span a range of frequency limited by the total wave number. Numerical examples are used to explore a special case in which the cylinder height equals the depth of the waveguide and in which the cylinders and the waveguide have pressure-release boundaries at both top and bottom surfaces. In such a special case, there is no coupling among the modes permitted by the waveguide and hence is the simplest case for such problems. It is observed that the combination of the modes generally decreases the wave-blocking effects of a stop band; and it is likely that a stop band in one waveguide mode might correspond to a pass band in a different mode. However, numerical examples also show that the main characteristics of a stop band are maintained, despite the multiple modes; and it is possible to extend the stop band by cascading cylinders arrays of different arrangement.