Parabolic equation for nonlinear acoustic wave propagation in inhomogeneous moving media

A new parabolic equation is derived to describe the propagation of nonlinear sound waves in inhomogeneous moving media. The equation accounts for diffraction, nonlinearity, absorption, scalar inhomogeneities (density and sound speed), and vectorial inhomogeneities (flow). A numerical algorithm employed earlier to solve the KZK equation is adapted to this more general case. A two-dimensional version of the algorithm is used to investigate the propagation of nonlinear periodic waves in media with random inhomogeneities. For the case of scalar inhomogeneities, including the case of a flow parallel to the wave propagation direction, a complex acoustic field structure with multiple caustics is obtained. Inclusion of the transverse component of vectorial random inhomogeneities has little effect on the acoustic field. However, when a uniform transverse flow is present, the field structure is shifted without changing its morphology. The impact of nonlinearity is twofold: it produces strong shock waves in focal regions, while, outside the caustics, it produces higher harmonics without any shocks. When the intensity is averaged across the beam propagating through a random medium, it evolves similarly to the intensity of a plane nonlinear wave, indicating that the transverse redistribution of acoustic energy gives no considerable contribution to nonlinear absorption. Published in Russian in Akusticheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2006, Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. 725–735. This article was translated by the authors.     

Nonlinear pulsed ultrasound beams radiated by rectangular focused diagnostic transducers

A numerical model for simulating nonlinear pulsed beams radiated by rectangular focused transducers, which are typical of diagnostic ultrasound systems, is presented. The model is based on a KZK-type nonlinear evolution equation generalized to an arbitrary frequency-dependent absorption. The method of fractional steps with an operator-splitting procedure is employed in the combined frequency-time domain algorithm. The diffraction is described using the implicit backward finite-difference scheme and the alternate direction implicit method. An analytic solution in the time domain is employed for the nonlinearity operator. The absorption and dispersion of the sound speed are also described using an analytic solution but in the frequency domain. Numerical solutions are obtained for the nonlinear acoustic field in a homogeneous tissue-like medium obeying a linear frequency law of absorption and in a thermoviscous fluid with a quadratic frequency law of absorption. The model is applied to study the spatial distributions of the fundamental and second harmonics for a typical diagnostic ultrasound source. The nonlinear distortion of pulses and their spectra due to the propagation in tissues are presented. A better understanding of nonlinear propagation in tissue may lead to improvements in nonlinear imaging and in specific tissue harmonic imaging. Published in Russian in Akusticheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2006, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 560–570. This article was translated by the authors.     

Sound propagation and scattering in media with random inhomogeneities of sound speed, density and medium velocity

This review presents both classical and new results of the theory of sound propagation in media with random inhomogeneities of sound speed, density and medium velocity (mainly in the atmosphere and ocean). An equation for a sound wave in a moving inhomogeneous medium is presented, which has a wider range of applicability than those used before. Starting from this equation, the statistical characteristics of the sound field in a moving random medium are calculated using Born-approximation, ray, Rytov and parabolic-equation methods, and the theory of multiple scattering. The results obtained show, in particular, that certain equations previously widely used in the theory of sound propagation in moving random media must now be revised. The theory presented can be used not only to calculate the statistical characteristics of sound waves in the turbulent atmosphere or ocean but also to solve inverse problems and develop new remote-sensing methods. A number of practical problems of sound propagation in moving random media are listed and the further development of this field of acoustics is considered.     

Sound propagation and scattering in media with random inhomogeneities of sound speed,density and medium velocity

Abstract

This review presents both classical and new results of the theory of sound propagation in media with random inhomogeneities of sound speed, density and medium velocity (mainly in the atmosphere and ocean). An equation for a sound wave in a moving inhomogeneous medium is presented, which has a wider range of applicability than those used before. Starting from this equation, the statistical characteristics of the sound field in a moving random medium are calculated using Born-approximation, ray, Rytov and parabolic-equation methods, and the theory of multiple scattering. The results obtained show, in particular, that certain equations previously widely used in the theory of sound propagation in moving random media must now be revised. The theory presented can be used not only to calculate the statistical characteristics of sound waves in the turbulent atmosphere or ocean but also to solve inverse problems and develop new remote-sensing methods. A number of practical problems of sound propagation in moving random media are listed and the further development of this field of acoustics is considered.     

Kerr非线性介质中聚焦像散高斯光束的传输特性

当高功率激光通过Kerr非线性介质传输时,Kerr效应会严重影响激光的传输特性.实际应用中常遇到像散光束.迄今为止,像散光束传输特性的研究大都局限于在线性介质中的传输,而在非线性介质中传输的研究较少,且还未涉及像散激光束通过含光学系统的Kerr非线性介质传输变换的研究.本文主要研究Kerr效应对聚焦光束像散特性和焦移特性的影响,以及聚焦像散高斯光束的自聚焦焦距和光束焦点调控.在光束扩展情况下,推导出了聚焦像散高斯光束在Kerr非线性介质中传输的束宽、束腰位置和焦移的解析公式,研究表明:在自聚焦介质中,随着自聚焦作用增强(如光束功率增强),光束像散越强,但焦移越小;在自散焦介质中,随着自散焦作用增强(如光束功率增强),光束像散越弱,但焦移越大.另一方面,在光束自聚焦情况下,推导出了自聚焦焦距的解析公式,研究表明利用光束像散可以调控光束焦点个数.     

Counterpropagation of waves with shock fronts in a nonlinear tissue-like medium

A numerical model for describing the counterpropagation of one-dimensional waves in a nonlinear medium with an arbitrary power law absorption and corresponding dispersion is developed. The model is based on general one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with absorption in the form of a time-domain convolution operator in the equation of state. The developed algorithm makes it possible to describe wave interactions in the presence of shock fronts in media like biological tissue. Numerical modeling is conducted by the finite difference method on a staggered grid; absorption and sound speed dispersion are taken into account using the causal memory function. The developed model is used for numerical calculations, which demonstrate the absorption and dispersion effects on nonlinear propagation of differently shaped pulses, as well as their reflection from impedance acoustic boundaries.     

Dissipative Vortex Solitons in Defocusing Media with Spatially Inhomogeneous Nonlinear Absorption

In this paper, by solving a complex nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation, radially symmetric dissipative vortex solitons are obtained analytically and are tested numerically. We find that spatially inhomogeneous nonlinear absorption gives rise to the stability of dissipative vortex solitons in self-defocusing nonlinear medium in the presence of constant linear gain. Numerical simulation reveals the interaction effect among linear gain and nonlinear loss in the azimuthal modulation instabilities of these vortices suppression. Apart from the uniform linear gain indeed affects the stability of vortex in this media, another noticeable feature of current setup is that the steep spatial modulation of the nonlinear absorption can suppress sidelobes effectively and support stable vortex solitons in situations with uniform linear gain.Under appropriate conditions, the vortex solitons can propagate stably and feature no symmetry breaking, although the beams exhibit radical compression and amplification as they propagate.     

Waveguide propagation of sound beams in a nonlinear medium

A possibility of a waveguide propagation of sound beams in the case of compensation of the diffraction divergence by the nonlinear refraction is demonstrated theoretically. A stationary (with respect to the longitudinal coordinate) solution is obtained to the nonlinear equation for a sound beam (the Khokhlov—Zabolotskaya equation); the solution describes the characteristic bow-shaped profile of the beam and the self-localized (with respect to the transverse coordinate) distribution of the peak values of this profile. The physical and mathematical features of this phenomenon belonging to nonlinear acoustics are discussed and compared with those of the well-known analog from nonlinear optics. A scheme of an experimental realization of the waveguide propagation of acoustic beams is proposed.     

Sound-absorbing media with two types of acoustic losses

Sound-absorbing media with two types of acoustic losses, namely, inertial and deformation are considered. Such a medium is described by a complex density and a complex compressibility. It is shown that a certain relation between the latter quantities imparts some specific properties to the medium: a real wave impedance, complete absorption of sound waves at the boundary with the external medium, the properties of a viscous or “superviscous” medium, etc. The results are generalized to the case of a layered inhomogeneous medium with two types of losses.     

Time domain simulation of nonlinear acoustic beams generated by rectangular pistons with application to harmonic imaging

A time-domain numerical code (the so-called Texas code) that solves the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation has been extended from an axis-symmetric coordinate system to a three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian coordinate system. The code accounts for diffraction (in the parabolic approximation), nonlinearity and absorption and dispersion associated with thermoviscous and relaxation processes. The 3D time domain code was shown to be in agreement with benchmark solutions for circular and rectangular sources, focused and unfocused beams, and linear and nonlinear propagation. The 3D code was used to model the nonlinear propagation of diagnostic ultrasound pulses through tissue. The prediction of the second-harmonic field was sensitive to the choice of frequency-dependent absorption: a frequency squared f2 dependence produced a second-harmonic field which peaked closer to the transducer and had a lower amplitude than that computed for an f1.1 dependence. In comparing spatial maps of the harmonics we found that the second harmonic had dramatically reduced amplitude in the near field and also lower amplitude side lobes in the focal region than the fundamental. These findings were consistent for both uniform and apodized sources and could be contributing factors in the improved imaging reported with clinical scanners using tissue harmonic imaging.     

A contrast source method for nonlinear acoustic wave fields in media with spatially inhomogeneous attenuation

Experimental data reveals that attenuation is an important phenomenon in medical ultrasound. Attenuation is particularly important for medical applications based on nonlinear acoustics, since higher harmonics experience higher attenuation than the fundamental. Here, a method is presented to accurately solve the wave equation for nonlinear acoustic media with spatially inhomogeneous attenuation. Losses are modeled by a spatially dependent compliance relaxation function, which is included in the Westervelt equation. Introduction of absorption in the form of a causal relaxation function automatically results in the appearance of dispersion. The appearance of inhomogeneities implies the presence of a spatially inhomogeneous contrast source in the presented full-wave method leading to inclusion of forward and backward scattering. The contrast source problem is solved iteratively using a Neumann scheme, similar to the iterative nonlinear contrast source (INCS) method. The presented method is directionally independent and capable of dealing with weakly to moderately nonlinear, large scale, three-dimensional wave fields occurring in diagnostic ultrasound. Convergence of the method has been investigated and results for homogeneous, lossy, linear media show full agreement with the exact results. Moreover, the performance of the method is demonstrated through simulations involving steered and unsteered beams in nonlinear media with spatially homogeneous and inhomogeneous attenuation.     

Evaluation of a wave-vector-frequency-domain method for nonlinear wave propagation

A wave-vector-frequency-domain method is presented to describe one-directional forward or backward acoustic wave propagation in a nonlinear homogeneous medium. Starting from a frequency-domain representation of the second-order nonlinear acoustic wave equation, an implicit solution for the nonlinear term is proposed by employing the Green's function. Its approximation, which is more suitable for numerical implementation, is used. An error study is carried out to test the efficiency of the model by comparing the results with the Fubini solution. It is shown that the error grows as the propagation distance and step-size increase. However, for the specific case tested, even at a step size as large as one wavelength, sufficient accuracy for plane-wave propagation is observed. A two-dimensional steered transducer problem is explored to verify the nonlinear acoustic field directional independence of the model. A three-dimensional single-element transducer problem is solved to verify the forward model by comparing it with an existing nonlinear wave propagation code. Finally, backward-projection behavior is examined. The sound field over a plane in an absorptive medium is backward projected to the source and compared with the initial field, where good agreement is observed.     

Sound Propagation in Shallow Water with an Inhomogeneous GAS-Saturated Bottom

We present the methods and results of numerical experiments studying the low-frequency sound propagation in one of the areas of the Arctic shelf with a randomly inhomogeneous gas-saturated bottom. The characteristics of the upper layer of bottom sedimentary rocks (sediments) used in calculations were obtained during a 3D seismic survey and trial drilling of the seafloor. We demonstrate the possibilities of substituting in numerical simulation a real bottom with a fluid homogeneous half-space where the effective value of the sound speed is equal to the average sound speed in the bottom, with averaging along the sound propagation path to a sediment depth of 0.6 wavelength in the bottom. An original technique is proposed for estimating the sound speed propagation in an upper inhomogeneous sediment layer. The technique is based on measurements of acoustic wave attenuation in water during waveguide propagation.     

Beam interaction in one-dimensional inhomogeneous Kerr nonlinear arrays

The interactions between two parallel and co-polarized beams in weakly coupled cubic focusing nonlinear waveguide arrays with transverse inhomogeneous modulation of the refractive index were investigated by means of beam propagation method. Results show that the in-phase beams attract each other and coalesce when the inhomogeneous parameter is smaller than a critical value. For the out-of-phase beams, oscillations exist at low power level, and the larger inhomogeneous parameter, the larger period and amplitude of oscillation. At a high power level, solitonlike propagation of weak coupling occurs. The inhomogeneity of waveguide arrays provide a flexible way to control the interactions of beams, and may find potential applications in all-optical systems.     

Airy光束在Kerr介质中的传输特性

通过对非线性薛定谔方程的研究,得出Airy光束在Kerr介质中的崩塌功率及有效束宽演化的解析表达式。经过数值计算发现,Airy光束在聚焦的Kerr介质中,其主瓣在开始传播时始终是会聚的;当输入功率小于临界崩塌功率时,Airy光束主瓣的中心部分出现局部崩塌。在不同的Kerr介质中, Airy光束的形状和传输轨道均能保持不变,如同在自由空间中传播,但光场大小的分布,随着不同的Kerr介质会发生改变:在Kerr的聚焦介质中,光场向中心聚焦;而在散焦的Kerr介质中,光场会发散。     

Distortion of waves with profile discontinuities in the medium with a periodic transverse inhomogeneity distribution

For the purpose of describing the joint influence of nonlinear effects and refractive inhomogeneities on the evolution of intense acoustic waves, a model of the medium the local velocity of sound of which is periodic in the transverse direction and decreases in the propagation direction, which generalizes the known models of the layered medium and of the infinitesimally thin phase screen, is proposed. An exact solution is found for the wave with arbitrary initial conditions: time profile and transverse profile. The spatial wave structure in the inhomogeneous medium is calculated; it is shown that narrow high-amplitude regions are formed and the rate of nonlinear effect accumulation changes. It is shown that the amplitude of the wave at long distances from the source may differ little from its initial value due to compensation for the effects of nonlinear attenuation and of focusing by inhomogeneities. Possibilities of amplification of intense waves depending on the proportion between parameters of the wave and those of the inhomogeneous medium are studied.     

Ray dynamics of the propagation of sound in nonuniform moving media

This paper presents a new ray theory for the propagation of sound waves in nonuniformly moving media. It is found that the ray equations in weakly inhomogeneous and slowly moving media are analogous to the equations of motion of charged particles in nonuniform electric and magnetic fields. The adiabatic approximation is used to study the problem of the propagation of sound rays in a model of near-ocean-bottom waveguide with horizontal flow and slowly varying parameters along the direction of propagation of the wave. A general formula is derived that describes the transverse displacement of the trajectory of the ray relative to the direction of propagation of the wave.     

强非局域介质中1+1维高斯型损耗空间双孤子的相互作用

研究了1+1维高斯型双光束在含小损耗的强非局域非线性介质中的传输特性。通过对该介质中光束传输遵循的非局域非线性薛定谔方程进行近似简化,得到了含小损耗强非局域非线性介质中1+1维高斯型双光束传输模型。在此基础上运用解析的方法研究了双光束传输的演化规律,得到了准双孤子解。经过进一步分析发现,在传输过程中两光束中心的轨迹为艾里函数;两光束会准周期性地碰撞、分离;随着传输距离的增大,两光束中心之间的最大距离会越来越大。另一方面,当损耗逐渐增大时,两光束的碰撞空间周期将变短,同时两光束中心之间的最大距离也越来越大。