Numerical simulation of parametric sound generation and its application to length-limited sound beam

In this study we propose a simulation model for predicting the nonlinear sound propagation of ultrasound beams over a distance of a few hundred wavelengths, and we estimate the beam profile of a parametric array. Using the finite-difference time-domain method based on the Yee algorithm with operator splitting, axisymmetric nonlinear propagation was simulated on the basis of equations for a compressible viscous fluid. The simulation of harmonic generation agreed with the solutions of the Khokhlov–Zabolotskaya–Kuznetsov equation around the sound axis except near the sound source. As an application of the model, we estimated the profiles of length-limited parametric sound beams, which are generated by a pair of parametric sound sources with controlled amplitudes and phases. The simulation indicated a sound beam with a narrow truncated array length and a width of about one-quarter to half that of regular a parametric beam. This result confirms that the control of sound source conditions changes the shape of a parametric beam and can be used to form a torch like low-frequency sound beam.