Study of the nonlinear acoustic field produced by two uniform pistons

Based on the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya nonlinear parabolic wave equation, a simplified algorithm has been developed for calculating the scattering of sound by sound from two uniform pistons that intersect at small angles. By using the superposition technique of Gaussian beams, the multidimensional integral expressions for the scattered sound from pistons are simplified to one-dimensional integrals and hence the computation loading is significantly reduced. There is a good agreement between the proposed method and the farfield results calculated by using the method of Berntsen et al. [Berntsen et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 86, 1968-1983(1989)]. Furthermore, the new algorithm is compared with the work presented by Foote et al. [Foote et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 82, 1753-1757(1987)]. The effects of parameter variations on the predication of scattered sound have also been discussed.