On the effect of viscosity and thermal conductivity on sound propagation in ducts: A re-visit to the classical theory with extensions for higher order modes and presence of mean flow

The dispersion equation for the axisymmetric modes of viscothermal acoustic wave propagation in uniform hard-walled circular ducts containing a quiescent perfect gas is classical. This has been extended to cover the non-axisymmetric modes and real fluids in contemporary studies. The fundamental axisymmetric mode has been the subject of a large number of studies proposing approximate solutions and the characteristics of the propagation constants for narrow and wide ducts with or without mean flow is well understood. In contrast, there are only few publications on the higher order modes and the current knowledge about their propagation characteristics is rather poor. On the other hand, there is a void of papers in the literature on the effect of the mean flow on the quiescent modes of propagation. The present paper aims to contribute to the filling of these gaps to some extent. The classical theory is re-considered with a view to cover all modes of acoustic propagation in circular ducts carrying a real fluid moving axially with a uniform subsonic velocity. The analysis reveals a new branch of propagation constants for the axisymmetric modes, which appears to have escaped attention hitherto. The solution of the governing wave equation is expressed in a modal transfer matrix form in frequency domain and numerical results are presented to show the effects over wide ranges of frequency, viscosity and mean flow parameters on the propagation constants. The theoretical formulation allows for the duct walls to have finite impedance, but no numerical results are presented for lined ducts or ducts carrying a sheared mean flow.