ACTRAN 15 0 Users Guide Vol1 PDF

Actran 15 User’s Guide
Volume 1 Installation, Operations, Theory and Utilities

Actran 15 User’s Guide - Volume 1
Installation, Operations, Theory and Utilities
Free Field Technologies SA

www.fft.be
September 25, 2014

Free Field Technologies
Axis Park Louvain-la-Neuve
9 rue Emile Francqui
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Disclaimer and Notices

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cations and other information contained in this document without prior notice.
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and educational purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply
to any particular engineering problem or design. FFT assumes no liability or
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from the use of any information contained herein.
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c 1999 - 2014 Free Field Technologies SA . All
Rights Reserved.
This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of this documentation, in whole

or in part. Any reproduction or distribution of this document, in whole or in
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Contents
I Getting started with Actran 19
1 Actran in a Nutshell 21
2 Introduction to Actran Release 15 25
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Major new features of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Major bug fixes of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3 Documentation and Support 35
3.1 Overview of the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 How to get support on FFT products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4 Actran Installation 41
4.1 Supported platforms and FFT’s Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2 Online download of Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3 Setting Up Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4 Setting up the Actran licensing server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.5 Advanced - Parallel version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5
6 CONTENTS
II Computation Process 45
5 Actran Calculation Procedures 47
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.2 Direct frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.3 Time response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.4 Modal frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.5 Green analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.6 Pellicular analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.7 Modal extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.8 Compressible flow analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6 Algebraic Solvers 53
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2 Algebraic solvers for a direct frequency response . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.3 Algebraic solvers for a modal frequency response . . . . . . . . . 71
7 Running Actran 77
7.1 Running a sequential job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.2 Running a parallel job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.3 Memory allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
7.4 Process Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8 Execution Sequences for Modal Response 97
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.2 MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.3 MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8.4 TEST execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

CONTENTS 7
8.5 MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
8.6 LOCAL_DATA execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
8.7 DATABASE execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9 High-Performance Computing 105
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.2 Model preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
9.3 Using the right computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
9.4 An overview of Actran solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
9.5 Model partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
10 Files Produced by Actran 121
10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.2 Information files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
10.3 Results files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10.4 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
10.5 Frequency response functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
10.6 Actran units and output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
10.7 Global indicator on domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.8 Maps output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
III Actran Theory 143
11 Acoustic and Elastic Elements 145
11.1 Finite element topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
11.2 Convention on normal orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
11.3 Transverse elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

8 CONTENTS
11.4 2D, 3D and axisymmetric problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
11.5 Component and material definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
11.6 Finite elements for acoustic fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
11.7 Finite elements for thin layers or tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
11.8 Finite elements for solid visco-elastic continuum . . . . . . . . . . 163
11.9 Finite elements for visco-elastic solid shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
11.10 Finite elements for visco-elastic thin shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
11.11 Incompressible elastic materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11.12 Membrane elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
12 Beam Elements 179
12.1 Modelling equivalent beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
12.2 Supported topologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.3 Degrees of freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.4 Component properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.5 Material properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
12.6 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
13 Stiffener Elements 185
13.1 Modelling strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
13.2 Component properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
13.3 Equivalent material properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
13.4 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
14 Springs, Lumped Mass, Rigid Body and Mean Constrain Elements 189
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
14.2 Finite elements for springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

CONTENTS 9
14.3 Finite elements for lumped masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
14.4 Finite elements for rigid bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
14.5 Finite elements for mean constrains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
15 Poro-Elastic Elements 199
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
15.2 Finite elements for poro-elastic continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
15.3 Finite elements for rigid porous continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
15.4 Finite elements for lumped porous continuum . . . . . . . . . . . 208
15.5 Finite elements for Delany-Bazley porous continuum . . . . . . . 210
15.6 Finite elements for Miki porous continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
15.7 Biot theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
15.8 Variational statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
15.9 Interface and boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.10 Finite element formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
16 Acoustic Sources 233
16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
16.2 Acoustic problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
16.3 Incident vs. scattered field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
16.4 Description in terms of source density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
16.5 Incident field of acoustic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
16.6 Implementation aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
17 Infinite Elements 245
17.2 Degrees of freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

10 CONTENTS
17.3 Parameters of an infinite domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
17.4 Convergence conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
17.5 Convergence criterions for infinite elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
17.6 Orthogonality of principal axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
17.7 Geometrical conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
17.8 Discrete model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
18 Perfectly Matched Layer 255
18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
18.2 Finite elements for APML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
18.3 Finite elements for PML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
18.4 FWH integral formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
18.5 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
19 Modeling exterior acoustics 273
19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
19.2 Finite elements for Exterior Acoustic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
20 Rayleigh Boundary Elements 281
20.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
20.3 Boundary integral representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
20.4 Extension to nearly plane baffled structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
20.5 Discrete boundary element model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
20.6 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

CONTENTS 11
21 Coupling with Acoustic Duct Modes 289
21.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
21.2 Acoustic propagation in cylindrical ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
21.3 Modal coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
21.4 Rotating and non-rotating modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
21.5 Multiple load cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
21.6 Alternative definition of the acoustic intensity for duct modes . . 309
21.7 Specific output for analytical modal components . . . . . . . . . . 310
22 Random Excitations 313
22.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
22.2 Stationary random processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
22.3 Random response of a vibro-acoustic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
22.4 Random response using a modal approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
22.5 Diffuse incident pressure field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
22.6 Turbulent boundary layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
22.7 Delta Correlated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.8 Random kinematical excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.9 Sampling of random excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.10 Available implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
23 Kinematic Excitations 349
23.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
23.2 Discrete vibro-acoustic problem statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
23.3 Modal reaction method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
23.4 Kinematic excitations in a deterministic context . . . . . . . . . . . 351
23.5 Kinematic excitations in a random context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

12 CONTENTS
24 Combustion Excitations 353
24.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
24.2 Governing equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
24.3 Scalar wave equation for the no-flow case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
25 Incompatible Meshes 359
25.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
25.2 Projection of nodes on coupling surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
25.3 Handling of weak coupling constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
25.4 Handling of strong coupling constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
25.5 Handling aliasing constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
25.6 Boundary conditions on non-congruent meshes . . . . . . . . . . . 365
26 Perforated Plates 367
26.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
26.2 General expression of the transfer impedance . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
26.3 Inner effects contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
26.4 Length correction contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
26.5 Curved plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
27 Acoustic Propagation in Moving Fluids and Aeroacoustics 375
27.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
27.2 Derivation of the flow acoustic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
27.3 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
27.4 Discrete model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
27.5 Aerodynamic noise sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
27.6 Flow definition in Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

CONTENTS 13
27.7 Computation of the compressible flow field with Actran . . . . . 405
27.8 Managing supersonic flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
27.9 Visualizing the mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
28 Visco-Thermal Acoustic Propagation 409
28.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
28.2 Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
28.3 Dimensionless parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
28.4 Linearization of equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
28.5 An eXtension of the Low Reduced Frequency model . . . . . . . . 413
28.6 Distance-based reduced model for arbitrary 3D geometries . . . . 418
29 Modelling Shear Layers 423
29.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
29.2 Weak contribution of acoustic/elastic coupling in presence of flow 423
29.3 Shear layer modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
30 Composite Materials 427
30.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
30.2 Specification of a composite material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
30.3 Handling of the different reduction procedures . . . . . . . . . . . 437
30.4 Practical implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
31 Pre-Stressed Structures 445
31.1 Dynamic response of prestressed structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
31.2 Geometrical stiffness matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
31.3 Thin shell and beam elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
31.4 Modelling strategy for prestressed structures . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
31.5 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

14 CONTENTS
32 Coupling of Modal and Physical Components 451
32.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
32.2 Solution ingredients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
32.3 Derivation of the Modal/Physical vibro-acoustic model . . . . . . 453
32.4 Particular features of the coupled vibro-acoustic model with phys-

ical and modal components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
33 Superelements Import in Actran 455
33.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
33.2 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
33.3 Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
33.4 Functional specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
34 Pellicular Analysis 473
34.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
34.2 Pellicular modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
34.3 Use of pellicular modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
34.4 Practical Use of Pellicular Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
34.5 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
35 Time Domain Analysis 481
35.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
35.2 Time domain simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
35.3 Extraction of stiffness, damping and mass matrices . . . . . . . . . 482
35.4 Far field computations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
35.5 Time integration scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

CONTENTS 15
36 Harmonic Output Quantities Definition 485
36.1 Pressure spectrum and pressure signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
36.2 Sound pressure level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
36.3 Acoustic intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
36.4 Acoustic intensity in a mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
36.5 Microphone pressure spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
36.6 Incident and radiated power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
36.7 Dissipated power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
36.8 Power spectral density for random responses . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
36.9 Evaluation of random results for modal frequency responses . . . 496
36.10 Evaluation of random results with the sampling approach . . . . 498
36.11 Results on modal basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
36.12 Broadband Noise Level for Turbo Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
36.13 Forces and Moments on Constraint nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
IV Trimmed Body Simulation With Actran 505
37 Updated Modal Approach 507
37.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
37.2 Trim components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
38 Reduced Impedance (ZRED) Approach 513
38.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
38.2 Reduction of the trim component impedance matrix . . . . . . . . 514
38.3 Projection into the modal space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
38.4 Improving the performance of the ZRED Approach . . . . . . . . 514

16 CONTENTS
39 Trim Models Definition 517
39.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
39.2 Syntax of the trim model file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
39.3 Specific remarks for the TRIM data blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
40 Delta Fluid Approach 523
40.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
40.2 Incorporation of Equivalent Fluid into Cavity Modes . . . . . . . . 523
40.3 Practical Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
41 Trimmed Body Execution Sequences 527
41.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
41.2 TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
41.3 GENERATE_BC execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
41.4 RUN_ACTRAN execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
41.5 NRJ execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
41.6 MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
41.7 TEST_TRIM execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
V Utilities for Actran and Interface with Other CAE Soft-

ware 535
42 iCFD 537
42.1 ICFD in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
42.2 Computation of the aeroacoustic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
42.3 Aeroacoustic sources for Fan noise simulations . . . . . . . . . . . 553
42.4 Transformation into the frequency domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
42.5 Importing the mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
42.6 Automatic Rotation and Translation of the CAA Model . . . . . . 587

CONTENTS 17
43 iTM 591
43.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
43.2 The Triple Plane Pressure matching method (TPP-method) . . . . 592
43.3 iTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
43.4 The iTM input file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
43.5 The iTM result files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
43.6 Helpful hints and error checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
43.7 Running iTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
43.8 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
44 Transfer Matrix Method 607
44.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
44.2 Acoustic prediction using a Transfer Matrix Method . . . . . . . . 608
44.3 Using the TMM utility program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
44.4 TMM command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
44.5 TMM output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
45 Exchanging Data with Nastran 619
45.1 Accessing data in Output2 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
45.2 Export the modal damping matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
45.3 Exporting the modal reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
46 Acoustic Radiation with RADACT 627
46.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
46.2 RADACT command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
46.3 RADACT execution sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
46.4 RADACT input file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

18 CONTENTS
47 Other Utilities for Actran 641
47.1 plt_get utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
47.2 mapget utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
47.3 nff_get utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
47.4 plt_save rescue utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
47.5 plt_merge utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
47.6 cutget utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
47.7 get_equivfluid utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
47.8 get_freq utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
47.9 ODB2ACT utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
47.10 nas2act conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
47.11 reducecomposite utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
47.12 plt2audio utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
47.13 broadband utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
47.14 symasym utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
VI Appendix 685
Bibliography 687
Index 693
General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Actran keywords and data blocks index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

Part I
Getting started with Actran
19
One
Actran in a Nutshell
Actran is a general purpose finite element program for modelling sound propa-
gation, transmission and absorption in an acoustic, vibro-acoustic or aero-acoustic
context. Actran is characterized by:
• a large material library:
– acoustic fluid;
– thin acoustic layer and narrow tubes (or channels) including visco-
thermal effects;
– visco-elastic solids, solid shells, thin shells and beams;
– incompressible solids;
– composite materials;
– lumped mass and springs (discrete structural elements);
– rigid porous, lumped porous and poro-elastic materials (Biot theory);
• a complete element library:
– linear and quadratic;

– 2D, 3D and axisymmetric;
– standard volume elements and special transverse elements for the
accurate modelling of special configurations: shells, stiffeners, thin
acoustic layers, . . .
– conjugated infinite elements or adaptive PML elements for acoustic
radiation;
• a rich set of boundary conditions, operating conditions and sources:
21
22 Actran in a Nutshell
– acoustic sources;
– incident and free duct modes for rotating machines;
– pressure, velocity, acceleration and admittance boundary conditions;
– kinematical excitations : imposed displacements and rotations;
– mechanical excitations : point load, distributed load, distributed pres-
sure, momentums;
– in-build models of real-life excitations : incident diffuse sound field or
various models of turbulent boundary layer;
– interface with the leading structural FEA software packages (Nastran,
Ansys and Abaqus) for the import of dynamical results;
– interface with the leading CFD software packages (among others:
Fluent, star-CD and CFX) for the import of the heterogeneities of the
acoustic medium and the computation of the aero-acoustic sources;
– volume-based and surface-based aerodynamic source terms (Lighthill’s
and Möhring’s analogies) for analyzing broad-band noise generation
by turbulent flows;
• several unique features (non exhaustive list):
– sound propagation and absorption in a non-uniformly moving fluid;

– sound propagation in non-isothermal conditions;
– sound propagation in rotating acoustic components;
– sound propagation taking into account visco-thermal losses occurring
in thin air layers or tubes;
– random acoustics in both modal and physical coordinates;
• multiple calculation procedures:
– direct frequency response analysis;

– modal frequency response analysis using existing Actran, Ansys or
Nastran normal modes;
– compressible flow analysis;
– modal extraction;
• various solution strategies:
– restart capability;
– multiple load capability;
– strong or weak vibro-acoustic coupling;
– multi-level sequence tree to avoid unnecessary re-computations;
– hybrid Modal/Physical approaches;
23
– in-core and out-of-core solvers supporting sequential and parallel

(SMP and DMP) computer architectures;
– fast frequency response synthesis using the KRYLOV solver.
All the Actran features are seamlessly integrated in ActranVI, the dedicated
pre-post processing tool for Actran.
24 Actran in a Nutshell
Two
Introduction to Actran
Release 15
Contents
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Major new features of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Major bug fixes of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.1 Introduction
Dear Actran Users,
Free Field Technologies, MSC Software company, is very proud to introduce

the Actran Release 15. Indeed, some major improvements are included in this
revision. Please refer to the next sections for more details. The new features
and bug fixes of Actran DGM are presented in the dedicated section of the
Actran DGM manual.
2.1.1 Important note concerning this release

The current revision requires the usage of IntelMPI for running parallel com-
putations. More information on running parallel computations can be found in
Section 7.2.
2.2 Major new features of Release 15.0

2.2.1 Transient simulations
A new calculation procedure is now available within the current revision of
Actran, the time domain analysis. This procedure allows to model the transient
25
26 Introduction to Actran Release 15
response of a vibro-acoustic problem. The proposed implementation, based on

a Newmark scheme and KCM extraction of impedance matrices in frequency
domain, allows to handle frequency-dependent properties. The boundary condi-
tions can be assumed constant in frequency or fully transient. The time domain
analysis is activated by the presence of a TIME_DOMAIN data block, whereas the
parameters of the integration scheme can be specified through the usage of the
TIME_INTEGRATION data block.
2.2.2 Modeling exterior acoustics

This new release integrates an adaptive exterior acoustic component
(EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC component), which allows to model the (semi) free field
radiation of radiating structures without generating the acoustic domain sur-
rounding the excitation. It is supported by a surface mesh (which can be closed
or not), representing the geometry of interest, and automatically generates the
surrounding mesh using the same adaptivity method as for the APML component.
The free field radiation condition is modeled using Infinite Elements or Perfectly
Matched Layers. This approach allows to only describe the useful part of the
model, while optimizing the computational time. More information about this
component can be found in Chapter 19.
2.2.3 Meshless RADACT models

The integration of the EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC component and meshing tools allows
the radact utility to generate the acoustic mesh for automated acoustic radiation.
The acoustic media is thus modeled using an EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC component,
while the wrapped mesh supporting this component can be generated automati-
cally by requiring a shrinkwrap mesh to be created. Additionally, the filling of
existing holes within the model can be automated as well. More information on
the radact utility and its usage can be found in Chapter 46.
2.2.4 Perforated plate model

This new revision includes the support of a perforated plate model. This model
allows to describe a perforated plate of different geometrical shapes (square,
hexahedral or triangular geometrical distribution) by its geometrical characteris-
tics and to transform these into an equivalent transfer admittance model. The
perforated plate model does not require the modeling of the actual perforations,
but accounts correctly for the viscous and constrictions losses induced by the per-
forations. It is both supported in a compatible way between acoustic components
using a RIGID_PERFORATED_SHELL component, while it can also be introduced
between incompatible meshes by assigning a PERFORATION material within an
INTERFACE . More information on the formulation can be found in Chapter 26.
2.2.5 Convected PML

The current revision supports a modified formulation of the Perfectly Matched
Layers (PML) technique, allowing the specification of a heterogeneous or constant
2.2 Major new features of Release 15.0 27
flow propagation. This extended formulation allows to handle turbomachinery

application at high frequency, by avoiding an increase of interpolation order of
Infinite Elements. In addition, the handling of a heterogeneous flow allows to
reduce the size of the acoustic component in comparison with a standard method.
It is both supported by the PML or APML component. The far field propagation
using the FWH formulation automatically accounts for the imposed flow.
2.2.6 Anisotropic solid elements

This new revision includes support of anisotropic solid elements. The specification
of axis of anisotropy is done using the REFERENCE_DIRECTION keyword of SOLID
components, and allows to handle anisotropic solid elements along arbitrary
directions.
2.2.7 Anisotropic porous elements
This new revision includes support of anisotropic porous elements. These are
usually used to represent complex components such as air filters with different
structural and porous properties along the transverse and normal directions, or
honeycomb components for instance. The skeleton can be assumed to behave
using a anisotropic shell formulation (for thin porous layers such as air filters) or
solid formulation. In addition, the porous characteristics such as resistivity or
porosity are also anistropic. These new elements are supported by a POROUS_UP or
RIGID_POROUS component, which are pointing towards an ANISOTROPIC_POROUS
material. Further details can be found in Chapter 15.
2.2.8 Complex 3D viscothermal elements

The current release of Actran includes support of complex visco-thermal ele-
ments, based on a new reduced method handling the simulation of visco-thermal
acoustics within 3D arbitrarily-shaped geometries. Using the Distance-Based
Linearized Navier-Stokes-Fourier (DBLNSF) method, it involves a semi-analytic
formulation based on the estimation of a wall distance field. It allows to handle
arbitrary small geometries, such as arbitrary ducts, cell phone cavities, ... This
new method is activated within the VISCOTHERMAL component by specifying the
DBLNSF method. More information on this method can be found in Section 28.6.
2.2.9 Coupling with SOL 700/LS-Dyna for sloshing noise analy-
sis
The current revision allows to read binout files produced by a SOL 700/LS-Dyna
sloshing analysis to perform the acoustic radiation analysis. These files being
expressed in time domain, they can either directly be used within the BC_MESH
data block within a time domain analysis, or transformed in frequency domain
using iCFD.
2.2.10 Higher order TMM solution

The tmm Transfer Matrix Method available in Actran has been extended in the
current revision to account for higher order modes at the intersection between
numerical or analytical components. This allows to assemble different ducts to

much higher frequencies. More information on the tmm utility and its outputs
can be found in Chapter 44.
2.2.11 Extended orientation methods for transverse elements

The automatic reorienting method called using the AUTO_ORIENT keyword is now
enhanced with 2 new methods. The default reorienting method uses the smallest
thickness of the transverse element as a reference direction. A second technique
makes use of the free edges of the element to select the transverse direction.
Finally, a last method makes use of the external node numbering to select the
transverse direction. The complementary methods allow the user to easily insure
a correct orientation of particular transverse elements. Please refer to Section
11.3 for more information.
2.2.12 Evaluation of the radiated power of a plane structure us-

ing modal radiation impedance
The current revision of Actran contains an additional post-processing capa-
bility, the evaluation of the power radiated by a planar vibrating structure us-
ing a radiation impedance based on an analytical modal representation. This
particular process provides a very fast manner of evaluating this radiated
power response indicator without modelling the exterior fluid domain, thus
assuming to have a weak coupling. This indicator can be obtained by spec-
ifying the MODAL_RADIATION_IMPEDANCE and other related keywords within a
RADIATING_SURFACE data block.
2.2.13 Improvements for MODAL components

In the current revision of Actran, the specification of the modal damping for
different modal components available in a direct frequency response or a modal
frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL ) has been easened. The damping value for each
individual mode can be edited using a MODAL_DAMPING data block. In addition,
the participation factors of any modal component can now be exported into a
pch or plt file using the MODAL_PARTICIPATION_OUTPUT keyword.
2.2.14 Integration of the PARDISO solver

The new release of Actran provides an interesting alternative to the MUMPS
solver, the Intel MKL PARDISO solver (for Parallel Direct Sparse Solver Interface).
This solver has the advantage of including a multithreaded implementation,
whereas the MUMPS solver provides an MPI implementation, but can use mul-
tithreading during BLAS calls during the factorization stage. It can thus be
considered as an complementary alternative to the MUMPS solver. Moreover, the
PARDISO solver is known to be memory efficient. It offers an in-core (IC) and
out-of-core (OOC) implementation, with a minimal required memory estimated
during the analysis phase of the solver. This solver can be used directly to solve
the algebraic system by specifying it within the SOLVER data block, but can also
be used in combination with the KRYLOV or the STAGGERED_SOLVER solver. All

available solvers are described in Chapter 6.
2.2.15 Computation of the temperature field

Using the compressible flow analysis, the current revision allows to compute a
temperature gradient for applications where boundary temperature values are
known. For exhaust line applications typically, the intermediate temperature
values are known and the new utility allows to evaluate an intermediate temper-
ature field between the defined boundaries. The temperature gradient can be
computed isotropically between the values, or using a combination of isotropic
and convective conductivity. More information on the temperature computation
can be found in Section 27.7.
2.2.16 Integration of the triple plane pressure matching method

The iTM utility has been enhanced to allow the computation of incident modes
from CFD unsteady data. The current revision now allows to extract data from
any type of CFD data supported by iCFD, and supports, if required, access to
rotating CFD domains. More information on the usage of iTM can be found in
Chapter 43.
2.2.17 ICFD: Support of SCTETRA native format

An input driver for the results files produced by the CRADLE SCTetra solver
(http://www.cradle-cfd.com/products/sctetra/) has been implemented in the
current revision of iCFD. The iCFD module is used to interface Actran with
CFD solvers with the goal of performing aero-acoustic studies or convected
acoustics. More details can be found in Chapter 42.
2.2.18 ICFD: Support of ACUSOLVE format

An input driver for the results files produced by the AcuSolve solver through
the Acutrans translator has been implemented in the current revision of iCFD.
The iCFD module is used to interface Actran with CFD solvers with the goal
of performing aero-acoustic studies or convected acoustics. More details can be
found in Chapter 42.
2.2.19 ICFD: New flow regularization toolkit

The current revision of Actran allows to use multiple regularization treatments
when projecting mean flow from CFD data to an acoustic mesh using iCFD.
This is activated with consecutive FLOW_TREATMENT data blocks that allow to
execute different regularizations on particular regions of the acoustic domain,
by specifying the DOMAIN of interest. This provides a better control on the
regularization process and allows to directly handle an Actran analysis file as
target mesh. More details can be found in Section 42.5.1.2.
2.2.20 ICFD: Interactive CFD files selection

A new idle mode is available within iCFD, which allows to wait for additional
CFD files to be handled. This allows to compute the aero-acoustic source during
the CFD computation, which reduces the overall computational time and makes
it possible to suppress intermediate CFD data if the total size of the data is too
important. This idle mode is activated using the CHECK_CFD_FILES within the
CAASOURCES data block.
2.2.21 Various other improvements
• DISCRETE components can now have 2 different transverse stiffnesses.
• The solid acceleration can now be exported in terms of g, by specifying

sa_g within the OUTPUT_REQUEST datablock;
• The edition of the TABLE data block has been improved to allow specifying
table values in decibels, through the specification of a REF_DB keyword
specifying the reference pressure. In addition, the table can be provided in
octave or third octave band, insuring a constant value across the band.
• The DIFFUSE_FIELD data block can now be applied on INFINITE_DOMAIN ,

PML or APML domains in 2D simulations.
• The current revision of iCFD supports star-CCM+ up to version 9.04;
• The current revision of iCFD supports Fluent up to version 15.0;
• The sym-asym utility now supports a modal duct of type NUMERICAL, allow-
ing to handle symmetric models of non conventional ducts.
• The convergence indicator for the iterative CG_ILU solver can be exported
by specifying a PRINT_ITER value within the SOLVER data block.
• Datablocks 15 and 18 are now correctly interpreted within unv files.
• The name of the database produces by the distance execution sequence for
a PML , APML , EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC or VISCOTHERMAL can now be specified
within the component.
2.2.22 ActranVI new features and improvements

2.2.22.1 Integration of meshing tools
This revision introduces different meshing tools within the graphical user in-
terface. All these tools accept an element set as input. The objective of these
meshing tools is multiple:
• Generate acoustic meshes for the acoustic radiation of structural objects;
• Modify existing meshes for topological optimization;

• Complement existing meshes for generating field meshes or surrounding

acoustic domain;
• Refine or adapt an existing mesh for handling different frequencies;
• ...
For this purpose, different types of meshing tools have been introduced:
• Creation tools to generate typical geometries, such as structured meshes,

box meshes, ellipsoids or circles.
• Surface tools to generate or manipulate surface meshes. In these tools, the

Shrinkwrap or Convex Hull tools allow to generate new meshes based on
the provided input mesh. The Fill Holes tools allows to fill in holes that
could be detected within solid or surface elements based on a provided
diameter of the holes. The Plane from Edges tool allows to fill in the
surface specified by different edges. The Mesh on Mesh tool allows to adapt
a surface mesh to a different element size. The Skin tool allows to generate
the exterior skin of volume or surface meshes, which can then be edited. The
Split Quads allows to separate quadrangular elements into 2 triangular
elements. Finally, the Merge Nodes tool allows to equivalence close nodes
to obtain compatible meshes.
• Volume tools to generate volume meshes. The Tetmesh tool allows to fill
in an enclosed surface. The Extrude and Revolve tools allow to generate
meshes by extrusion or revolution. The Radiation tool allows to gener-
ate exterior acoustic meshes, in an identical way to EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC
component.
• Transformation tools to modify existing meshes using a translation, rota-

tion, scaling or mirror method. In addition, an Align tool allows to align a
particular set of nodes to a defined plane.
More details about the available meshing tools and their usage can be found in
Chapter 14 of the VI Volume.
2.2.22.2 Improved picking operations
Complementary with the new meshing tools, the picking of elements, nodes or
element sets has been improved to easen the manipulation of complex meshes. A
new organized selection panel allows to easily select PIDs, elements or nodes by
picking, by the specification of their name or identification number or to select
nodes being the closest to a particular coordinate. The edition of the selected
entities has been improved, allowing to move a particular selection from one PID
to another, or to move to a different topology. More details about the available
selection tools and their usage can be found in Chapter 13 of the VI Volume.
2.2.22.3 Support of CFD meshes and results files

The new release of Actran allows to import the same CFD formats as supported
within iCFD within the graphical user interface. Both the meshes and results file
can be imported, to visualize the provided CFD data. In addition, the imported
meshes can be used to perform an acoustic analysis. The star-CCM+ format can
be used directly as input format for any topology, while the other formats can be
handled using the meshing tools to support an acoustic analysis.
2.2.22.4 Visualization of semi-infinite boundaries for infinite elements
The current release of Actran allows to visualize semi-infinite boundaries gen-
erated by infinite elements when the surface supporting these is not enclosed.
The visualization of these boundaries allows to better understand the generated
domain and to correctly place the center of the coordinate system. It is activated
using the View Geometry option.
2.2.22.5 Frequency sweep animation
Besides the harmonic frequency or time animation, a new animation is now
available. The Frequency sweep animation allows to sweep along all frequencies
to visualize the frequency behavior of a model interactively.
2.2.22.6 Frequency integration maps
The current revision of ActranVI allows to show the sum or integration of a
particular operator across the frequency range.
2.2.22.7 Improvement of the output request edition
The edition of particular output request has been easened in the current revision
of the graphical user interface. All supported quantities and their related options
(direction, layer identification number, ...) can now be selected without needing
to manually enter corresponding output codes.
2.2.22.8 PLTViewer: RMS and Rw(CCtr) global indicators
Two new global indicators haven been added in the current revision of the
PLTViewer. The RMS, also known as root mean square value, is an alternative to
the OSPL value, while the Rw(CCtr) indicator is used to globally characterize the
transmission of structures subjected to an incident diffuse sound field. They can
only be computed if the TL operator is selected.
2.2.22.9 WaterfallViewer: Extraction of engine orders
The current revision of the WATERFALLViewer allows to extract, besides the
horizontal and vertical cuts across the waterfall, cuts across the different orders.
2.3 Major bug fixes of Release 15.0

2.3.1 Frequency distribution for parallel computations involv-
ing APMLs
In the previous release of Actran, the frequency distribution for APML component
only occurred within a particular mesh iteration. When handling only one
2.3 Major bug fixes of Release 15.0 33
frequency within a particular mesh iterator, only one process was working. In
the current revision of Actran, the frequency distribution is performed before
the mesh iterations, providing an optimal distribution.
2.3.2 Propagation of boundary conditions for APMLs

The current revision of Actran now correctly propagates the imposed PRESSURE
or ADMITTANCE boundary condition to the exterior boundaries of the APML com-
ponents, similarly to what is done when using INFINITE_DOMAIN component.
The specific handling of the far field computation using the FWH_SYMMETRY and
FWH_SYMMETRY_FACTOR still has to be defined within the component.
2.3.3 Handling of rotational degrees of freedom for rigid, inter-

polation or discrete elements
The handling of rigid, interpolation and discrete elements has been improved in
the current revision of Actran, to provide a better flexibility in the handling of
complex connections between thin and solid elements. By default, the rotational
degrees of freedom are activated on all elements to allow a rigid-body motion,
and a particular process has been introduced to account for singular degrees
of freedom. The current revision therefore provides a more accurate and stable
representation of these elements.
2.3.4 Performance of Diffuse Field applied on APMLs

When applying a DIFFUSE_FIELD on an APML component, the CPU time was
not optimal in particular steps of the computations. Meanwhile, the memory
consumption was increasing between each mesh iterations. Both issues are now
resolved in the current revision.
2.3.5 Handling of large number of tables

The translation of TABLE from the nas2act utility and their handling within
Actran was not efficient. The current revision of Actran now allows to translate
loads from a bdf file efficiently, and the handling of these table entries within the
solver is now efficient. Moreover, for BDF files produced by JMAG, an additional
option to concatenate the particular loads allows to optimize the translation of
these files.
2.3.6 Axisymmetric modal components

The previous revisions of Actran did not correctly handled axisymmetric cases
with Modal components. The current revision now allows to use a modal
component using NFF or Output2 files in a direct frequency response or a modal
frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL ).
2.3.7 Known issues resolved

• The tmm utility is now able to correctly interpolate between the computed
frequencies of the numerical components;
• The nas2act utility now detects invalid reference directions for bar and
beam elements and re-orients these correctly;
• An internal limitation of iCFD to handle extremely huge CFD model sizes

is now suppressed;
• The FWH utility can now use an FWH database produced by an APML
component containing different meshes;
• Combined usage of a quadratic mesh and a LOCAL_SYSTEM was causing an

error;
• Results provided by a STORAGE_NODE located in between two different parti-

tions were not correct;
• The evaluation of dissipated powers for a DSHELL component in axisymmet-

ric or 2D computations were not correct;
• The usage of a STAGGERED_SOLVER on thin shells and with the usage of

incident sources is now correctly handled;
• The BC_MESH feature is now supported for axisymmetric computations using

an order above 0;
• The output of stress and strains for solid elements within a MODAL_ELASTIC
has been modified. The order of appearance of the outputs has been
modified to comply with Nastran outputs.
2.3.8 Known ActranVI issues resolved

• The MAC utility now allows to perform an analysis on fluid results;
• Handling of multiple load results in the PLTViewer using the dB operators

has been corrected;
• The visualization of the sources within ActranVI has been improved,

allowing to select a size for each source and to quickly hide or show all
sources;
• The visualization of axis values within the PLTViewer has been extended
to provide more formats and number of axis indicators;
• The results provided by the projection manager are now strictly identical to
the actual projection performed within the solver;
• The quality of the exported animation movies has been improved while
reducing the output size.
Three
Documentation and Support

Contents
3.1 Overview of the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 How to get support on FFT products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.1 Overview of the documentation

This User’s manual covers the modules Actran/Acoustic,
Actran/VibroAcoustic, Actran/AeroAcoustic, Actran/TM and Actran
for Nastran.
The modules of Actran DGM and ActranVI are covered in dedicated manuals.
This User’s manual is organized in three volumes.

The Volume 1 regroups all the information regarding installation, operations,
theory and utilities of Actran. It is divided in 5 parts:
Part I - Getting started with Actran - contains an overview of the Actran

features (Chapter 1), an introduction to this new revision (Chapter 2), the
present overview of the documentation and tips for an efficient support
(Chapter 3) and the guidelines for the installation (Chapter 4).
Part II - Computation Process - contains six chapters:
• The Actran calculation procedures chapter (Chapter 5) details the
different types of analysis that are available.
• The Algebraic solvers chapter (Chapter 6) describes all solvers avail-
able in the software and their compatibility with the different types of
analysis.
35
36 Documentation and Support
• The Running ACTRAN chapter (Chapter 7) explains how to launch

an Actran job (in sequential and parallel modes) and provides infor-
mation about the memory allocation.
• The Execution sequences for a modal frequency response chapter
(Chapter 8) describes the different computational steps involved in a
standard modal frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL).
• The HPC with ACTRAN chapter (Chapter 9) deals with issues related
to high performance computations.
• The Files produced by ACTRAN chapter (Chapter 10) details the
output files produced by an Actran job.
Part III - Actran Theory - contains several chapters providing the theory
and advanced information, from a detailed review of Actran’s element
library to a mathematical description of some specific Actran features.
Part IV - Trimmed Body Simulation With Actran - Two approaches for
handling trimmed body simulations are implemented in Actran. They are
the Updated Modal Approach and the Reduced Impedance Approach. The theory
behind these two approaches are presented in Chapter 37 and Chapter 38.
Chapter 39 provides the general trim model definition method for both
approaches. Chapter 40 presents a strategy for incorporating the trim
component within the fluid modes. Chapter 41 describes the different
computational steps involved in a trimmed body simulation.
Part V - Utilities for Actran - contains six chapters about the utility
programs provided with Actran.
• The Processing CFD results with iCFD chapter (Chapter 42) gives an
overview of the exchange of data between CFD codes and Actran
using the iCFD program. Some aspects of signal processing are also
covered.
• Chapter 44 explains how Actran can be used together with a Transfer
Matrix Method to solve ducted systems.
• The Exchanging data with Nastran for the computations of modal
frequency responses chapter (Chapter 45) describes how to exchange
data with Nastran in the framework of a modal frequency response.
• The use of radact for the automation of radiation analysis is pre-
sented in Chapter 46.
• The Other utilities for Actran chapter (Chapter 47) describes
the use of plt_get, mapget, nff_get, plt_save, plt_merge,
cutget, get_equivfluid, get_freq odb2act, nas2act plt2audio,
broadbandand sym-asym.
The Volume 2 extensively describes all the Actran data blocks for the EDAT
syntax. The new EDAT syntax is introduced in the Chapter 1 of Volume 2.
3.2 How to get support on FFT products 37
Chapter 2 of Volume 2 describes the general syntax of the Actran input file.
Chapter 3 of Volume 2 reviews all Actran data blocks in alphabetical order. Each
data block is described in details and examples are provided.
Please note that an electronic version of the latest revision of this documentation
is available in PDF format on the FFT website (http://www.fft.be) or upon
request at your local FFT Support Team.
3.2 How to get support on FFT products

Contents
3.1 Overview of the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 How to get support on FFT products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2.1 Contact FFT

For any technical question, the FFT Support Team may be contacted by e-mail or
phone:
• for Japan :
– e-mail : support.japan@fft.be
– phone :+81-3-5326-3054
• for USA and North-America :
– e-mail : support.na@fft.be
– phone :1-855-432-2675
• for France :
– e-mail : support.france@fft.be
– phone :+33-5-34-51-96-33
• for all other countries : please contact your local distributor or FFT support
at:
– e-mail : support@fft.be
– phone :+32-10 48-79-53
3.2.2 Submit a technical issue

To help us providing you an efficient support, please follow the guidelines below
when submitting a technical issue:
• specify your name, company, department, e-mail address and phone num-
ber;
• specify the concerned product name and version;
• describe the issue by giving as many relevant details as possible:
– a small picture can be very useful to understand the issue;

– provide the full command line used to launch Actran;
– provide the error message displayed by Actran;
– ZIP and attach the input file and all related files (include files, output
files, report directory, script used to launch Actran, mesh files . . .); if
the total files size is larger than 10Mb, please refer to the section below
specifying how to send large files.
• explain which investigations have already been done to solve the issue;
• give the computer configuration (hardware type, number of CPUs, Operat-

ing System, available RAM, local scratch disk size. . .).
Your submitted issue will receive a Ticket ID (included in the subject field of the
FFT Support Team answer). When replying to the email, please do NOT modify
the subject field as it contains important tracking information. If you want to
submit another technical issue not related to a previous one, please do not use a
previous subject including a Ticket ID already assigned and start from a blank
e-mail. It will ease the treatment of your issue.
3.2.3 Start to solve an issue

Determine where the error message is coming from by looking the output mes-
sages such as the *.log file:
• is it an Actran error message?
• is the error message generated by the operating system?
If an Actran error message is related to a specific data block, try to reproduce

the issue after removing this data block from the data file.
Send these preliminary conclusions to FFT together with the other documents.
3.2.4 Exchange files

The FFT e-mail server blocks e-mails containing large attachment (larger than
10Mb) but there are several other ways of exchanging large files. Be confident
that all files provided to FFT will be handled as confidential material.
• FFT support can download file from anywhere very easily;
• FFT support can provide an account on the FFT secure exchange server;
3.2 How to get support on FFT products 39
– Request a login and password from the FFT Support Team

– Go to http://www.fft.be/
– Log on the Member Area with your Username and your password
– Navigate to the "Exchange zone" tab and click "Access the exchange
zone"
∗ Upload:
· From your webspace, enter the directory TO_FFT
· Click on "Browse" and select the file to upload.
· Click on "upload", the file name should appear in the folder
· The file will be available to FFT after about 1/2 hour (security
filters and uploading time)
∗ Download:
· From your webspace, enter the directory FROM_FFT
· On the right of the name, there is a small icon. Click on it
· A new window asks you where to save the file
· Choose the location on your hard disk
· The file is being downloaded.
∗ How to logout
· From your webspace, click on the icon "Logout" (left-upper
side of the webspace)
∗ How to delete a file that you just placed in the TO_FFT folder
· From your webspace, enter the directory TO_FFT
· On the left of the name, there is a small icon. Click on it to
select the desired file
· On the right of the webspace, there is a roll command "Chose
Action:", select "Delete items"
· A window opens to confirm your choice, click on "OK"
· The file is deleted
Four
Actran Installation
Contents
4.1 Supported platforms and FFT’s Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2 Online download of Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3 Setting Up Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4 Setting up the Actran licensing server . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.5 Advanced - Parallel version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.1 Supported platforms and FFT’s Lifecycle

FFT is committed to providing the Actran community with releases on the
most suitable and popular platforms for numerical simulation. FFT constantly
monitors the market and evaluate the customers needs in order to remove old-
fashion platforms from the supported list and add new ones that are the most
relevant.
In this framework, Actran has been compiled and tested on several platforms.
The list of the supported platforms is available in the platform definition docu-
ment, available on the FFT’s website:
https://extranet.fft.be/download/platform_definitions.html.
Please contact FFT if your platform is not in the list.
4.1.1 FFT’s lifecycle

In order to rationalize the portfolio of platforms, a Product Lifecycle Manage-
ment (PLM) has been set-up. A dedicated platform evolves in time from the
BeginOfSales status to successively the EndOfSales, the EndOfLife and finally the
EndOfSupport status.
41
42 Actran Installation
4.1.2 BeginOfSales
A platform supporting Actran is at BeginOfSales when we provide an external
release built on this platform.
4.1.3 EndOfSales
At any point in time, any supported platform can be decided to be at it’s End-
OfSales. This may happen when a platform is unpopular or if the vendor of the
platform marked the platform to be at its EndOfSales. From this point onward, we
target to perform one last major release of Actran on this platform. Afterwards,
this platform reaches its EndOfLife.
4.1.4 EndOfLife
At that time, a last minor release of Actran is performed. Bug-fixes on this
platform may be provided until its EndOfSupport, depending on their origin.
4.1.5 EndOfSupport
At this point, no support at all will be provided anymore on this platform. The
time between EndOfLife and EndOfSupport is maximally one year.
4.2 Online download of Actran

Actran can be downloaded from the member area of the FFT web site (www.
fft.be). Once you are logged on the member area, define your machine in the
"Machines" tab. If your machine corresponds to one of the platform supported, the
productline of Actran corresponding to your machine will be directly available
for download in the "Products" tab. You can define several machines. If your
machines does not correspond to a supported platform, please contact the FFT
Support Team.
4.3 Setting Up Actran

To properly install Actran, please preferably refer to the complete instruc-
tions available on our server at https://extranet.fft.be/download/install_
actran.html. Installation guidelines are provided in the following sections.
4.3.1 Windows platforms

Simply launch the graphical installer and follow the given instructions.
Windows Firewall may block some features of smpd.exe on all public and private
networks. In case of a Windows Security Alert pop-pup appears, please press the
button Allow access to allow smpd.exe to communicate on these networks.
4.3.2 Unix/Linux platforms

Execute the installer in a prompt and follow the given instructions.
4.4 Setting up the Actran licensing server 43
4.4 Setting up the Actran licensing server

The Actran usage is controlled by FLEXnet. The set up of a minimal FLEXnet
server is described here. It is however strongly advised to contact your organiza-
tion’s FLEXnet manager, who will be able to set up the server in compliance with
your local rules related to licensing management.
The Actran licensing tool can be downloaded from the member area of the FFT
web site (www.fft.be). Once you are logged on the member area, navigate to the
"Licenses" tab and define a license server. As soon as one license server is defined,
the FLEXnet tools are directly available for download for the platform of your
choice. Please, exclusively use the last Actran licensing tool available on the FFT
web site (www.fft.be) to manage the Actran licensing. If your license server
does not correspond to a supported platform, please contact the FFT Support
Team.
To setup the Actran licensing, execute the installer downloaded and follow the
given instructions. Then, to correctly pursue the installation, please refer to the
https://extranet.fft.be/download/install_licensing.html page.
To obtain a valid license file for this server, please contact the FFT Support Team.
4.5 Advanced - Parallel version

Please refer to the platform definition document https://extranet.fft.be/
download/platform_definitions.html for more details about:
• the MPI libraries used within the parallel Actran version;
• the supported interconnects.
For Linux 64-bit platforms, the selected standard is IntelMPI . This version is
entirely integrated within the Actran productline.
44 Actran Installation
Part II
Computation Process
45
Five
Actran Calculation
Procedures
Contents
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.2 Direct frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.3 Time response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.4 Modal frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.5 Green analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.6 Pellicular analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
5.7 Modal extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.8 Compressible flow analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.1 Introduction
Actran offers different calculation procedures :
1. direct frequency response for the computation of the vibro-acoustic or aero-

acoustic response of a system (including radiation) in the frequency domain
in physical coordinates (Section 5.2);
2. Time response for the computation of the vibro-acoustic response of a sys-
tem (including radiation) in the time domain in physical coordinates (Sec-
tion 5.3);
3. modal frequency response for the computation of the vibro-acoustic response
of a system using a preliminary representation of the structure and the
cavity in the modal space (Section 5.4);
47
48 Actran Calculation Procedures
4. green analysis for the computation of the radiation of a system using the
Green theorem (Section 5.5);
5. pellicular analysis for the computation of the radiation of a system using
pellicular modes (Section 5.6);
6. modal extraction for computing the modes of an uncoupled and closed
acoustic or undamped structural model (Section 5.7);
7. compressible flow analysis for computing a compressible and irrotational flow
field on an acoustic domain (Section 5.8);
According to the calculation procedures, a choice of algebraic solvers is available,

see Chapter 6. The calculation procedures are further detailed in the following
sections.
5.2 Direct frequency response

The direct frequency response is a computation procedure which is used to compute
the response of a vibro-acoustic or aero-acoustic system to a specific excitation in
physical coordinates. This is the most common Actran analysis type. A direct
frequency response computation is activated through the combination of the ACTRAN
and FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data blocks.
The following system of equations is set-up and solved for various pulsations
ω = 2π f :
(K + iωC − ω 2 M)x(ω ) = F(ω ) (5.1)
yielding values of the unknown vector x(ω ) for every pulsation ω.
To solve the system of equations, a solver must be selected. The available solvers
in Actran that can be used for a direct frequency response are:
• SPARSE
• CG_ILU
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
• KRYLOV (with SPARSE, MUMPS and PARDISO as internal solver)
• STAGGERED_SOLVER
These solvers and associated parameters are defined in the SOLVER data block.
5.3 Time response 49
5.3 Time response

Time response is a computation procedure which is used to compute the transient
response of a vibro-acoustic system to a specific temporal excitation. This com-
putation procedure is not compatible with all types of materials and boundary
conditions. A time domain computation is activated through the TIME_DOMAIN
data block.
The following system of ordinary differential equations is set-up and solved over
a given time interval [t1, t2]:
Kẍ(t) + Cẋ(t) + Mx(t) = F(t) (5.2)
yielding the variation of the unknown vector x(t) over time.
5.4 Modal frequency response

The modal frequency response is a computation procedure which is used to com-
pute the response of a vibro-acoustic system to a specific excitation in modal
coordinates. The boundary conditions compatible with a modal frequency response
are listed in Table 3.1 of Volume 2. The modal frequency response computation is
activated through the combination of the ACTRAN_MODAL and FREQUENCY_DOMAIN
data blocks in the input file.
When the command line option --executionsequence=MODAL_SOLVER is speci-

fied, the following system of equations is set-up and solved for various pulsations
ω = 2π f :
!
ΦS T · FS (ω )

ZSS ZSF αS (ω )
· = F (ω ) (5.3)
ZSF T ZF F α F (ω ) ΦF T · Fω2
with

ZSS = ΦS T · KS − ω 2 MS · ΦS = δij (ωS,i 2
− ω2 ) (5.4)
1 1
ZF F = 2 ΦF T · KF − ω 2 MF · ΦF = 2 δij (ω 2F,i − ω 2 ) (5.5)
ω ω
ZSF = ΦS T · CSF · ΦF (5.6)

αS (ω )
yielding values of the unknown vector for every pulsation ω.
α F (ω )
To solve the system of equations, a solver must be selected. The available solvers
in Actran that can be used for a modal frequency response are:
• STRONG
• WEAK
• ITERATIVE
• REFERENCE
These solvers and associated parameters are defined in the MODAL_SOLVER data
block. Please refer to Section 6.3 for more details.
5.5 Green analysis

The Green analysis is a computation procedure which is only used to compute
the radiation of a vibrating system. The vibration of the system may be computed
(by a preliminary Actran computation or by a structural Finite Element Analysis
software) or measured.
A Green analysis is activated through the combination of the ACTRAN and

GREEN_ANALYSIS data blocks in the input file.
When using the Green solution sequence, the Actran computation process is
made of two steps:
1. evaluation of the incident pressure field at the position of the radiating

component due to spherical sources located at the virtual microphones
positions. From these results, the transfer matrix of the system is computed;
2. integration of the transfer matrix of the system (computed in step 1) multi-

plied by the excitation field on the radiating surface to deduce the acoustic
pressure at the microphones.
The steps of the Green analysis can be launched separately allowing fast restart
possibilities. Each phase is launched through the --execute argument in the
command line (see Section 7.1).
5.6 Pellicular analysis

The pellicular analysis is a computation procedure which is used to compute the
radiation of a vibrating system. The vibration of the system may be computed (by
a preliminary Actran computation or by a structural Finite Element Analysis
software) or measured. A pellicular analysis is activated through the combination
of the ACTRAN and PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS data blocks in the input file.
The pellicular solution sequence is made of three steps:
1. creation of a pellicular modal basis on the radiating surface (external skin

of the radiating component);
2. acoustic radiation of the pellicular modes computed in step 1. From these

results, the transfer matrix of the system is computed;
5.7 Modal extraction 51
3. projection of the excitation in the pellicular modal basis, solution and results
post-processing.
These three steps can be handled separately. Each phase is launched through the
--execute argument in the command line (see Section 7.1). The results of each
steps are stored in a dedicated database allowing a fast restart. In particular, the
acoustic radiation of the pellicular modes does not need to be re-computed for
different structural vibration patterns.
The available solvers for the radiation step are:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
For more theoretical details on the pellicular analysis, please refer to Chapter 34.
5.7 Modal extraction

The modal extraction procedure is used to compute the modes of a closed acoustic
cavity or an undamped structure. A modal extraction is activated through the
combination of the ACTRAN and MODAL_EXTRACTION data blocks in the input file.
The modal extraction procedure consists in solving the following algebraic eigen-
value problem:
Kp = ω 2 Mp
with K the stiffness matrix and M the mass matrix.
Both matrices are real symmetric, and M is positive-definite. The eigenvectors

corresponding to different eigenvalues are M orthogonal. The eigenvectors are
scaled so that their M norms are equal to one (unit modal mass). It is also
possible to request the extraction of eigenvalues and related eigenvectors in a
fixed range [ωmin , ωmax ]; this is useful when handling large K and M matrices.
The modal extraction procedure uses a linear solver; the following solvers may
be selected:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
These solvers and associated parameters are defined in the MODAL_EXTRACTION

and SOLVER data block.
Remark. Modal extraction works only for real problems. Therefore, the
model cannot include damping mechanisms (structural damping, acoustic
damping, liners, etc). Moreover, the problem must be either purely acoustic
or purely structural. Modes of coupled systems cannot be calculated; a
frequency response approach should rather be used in this case.
5.8 Compressible flow analysis

The compressible flow analysis is used to compute with Actran an irrotational
and compressible flow velocity field v f . A compressible flow analysis is activated
through the combination of the ACTRAN and COMPRESSIBLE_FLOW data blocks in
the input file.
The compressible flow analysis relies on the solution of the following equation:

ρ
∇ · v = 0. (5.7)
ρ¯0 f
The problem can be formulated using a velocity potential φ such that:
v f = ∇φ . (5.8)
The compressible flow computation uses a linear solver; the following solvers
may be selected:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
More details are available in Section 27.7.

Six
Algebraic Solvers
Contents
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2 Algebraic solvers for a direct frequency response . . . . . . . 56
6.3 Algebraic solvers for a modal frequency response . . . . . . . 71
6.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the different algebraic linear systems solvers used in
Actran. A linear system solver solves a system with the following form:
Zx = B (6.1)
The available linear systems solvers depend on the computation procedure (Sec-
tion 5) that is selected.
For most calculation procedures, the solver parameters are defined in the SOLVER
data block, except for a modal frequency response where it is specified in the
MODAL_SOLVER data block.
The following sections detail which solver should be used for a specific computa-
tion.
6.1.1 Direct frequency response without Krylov nor Staggered

Solvers
The following algebraic solvers are supported for a direct frequency response com-
putations in the SOLVER data block:
53
54 Algebraic Solvers
1. Sequential computation
• SPARSE
• CG_ILU
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
2. Frequency and azimuthal order parallelism computation
• SPARSE
• CG_ILU
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
3. Domain parallelism computation
• SPARSE
• CG_ILU
• MUMPS
4. Matrix parallelism computation
• MUMPS
Note that if no block SOLVER is defined, the MUMPS solver is selected.
6.1.2 Direct frequency response with Krylov solver

The KRYLOV solver is different from the other solvers as it is a multi-frequency
solver. Additionally, the use of the KRYLOV solver requires the selection of an
inner direct solver (see Section 3.130 of Volume 2).
• KRYLOV with SPARSE

• KRYLOV with MUMPS
• KRYLOV with PARDISO
2. Frequency parallelism computation
• KRYLOV with SPARSE

• KRYLOV with MUMPS
• KRYLOV with PARDISO
6.1 Introduction 55
6.1.3 Direct frequency response with Staggered solver

The STAGGERED_SOLVER solver is different from the other solvers as it solves
sequentially several parts of the model. Additionally, the use of the
STAGGERED_SOLVER solver requires the definition of an inner direct or iterative
solver (see Section 3.130 of Volume 2) for each part solved.
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with SPARSE

• STAGGERED_SOLVER with MUMPS
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with PARDISO
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with CG_ILU
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with SPARSE

• STAGGERED_SOLVER with MUMPS
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with PARDISO
• STAGGERED_SOLVER with CG_ILU
6.1.4 Modal frequency response

The following algebraic solvers are supported for modal frequency response
computations in the MODAL_SOLVER data block:
• STRONG
• WEAK
• ITERATIVE
• REFERENCE
• STRONG
• WEAK
• ITERATIVE
• REFERENCE
Note that if no block MODAL_SOLVER is defined, the STRONG solver is selected.

6.1.5 Modal extraction

The following algebraic solvers are supported within the eigenvalues solver:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
Remark. Parallel computations are not allowed for the modal extraction
sequence.
6.1.6 Time analysis

The following algebraic solvers are supported for a Time domain response:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
Remark. Parallel computations are not allowed for the Time domain
analysis.
6.2 Algebraic solvers for a direct frequency response

6.2.1 Introduction
Several algebraic linear system solvers are available in Actran and can be selected
in the SOLVER data block. The matrix of the system of equations resulting from
the spatial discretization (finite or infinite elements) of a typical vibro-acoustic
problem has a sparse structure i.e. most coefficients are zeroes as shown in
Figure 6.1. Therefore, sparse direct solvers are selected as a main approach for
solving such problems.
A typical feature of sparse direct solvers is that during the matrix factorization
phase a large number of zero elements of the matrix become non-zero. This is
called fill-in and leads to a memory cost of a few tens to a few hundreds of times
the storage cost of the sparse matrix before factorization. A large amount of fill-in
does not only affect the memory cost but also the computation time.
The basic idea of a direct linear solver is to decompose the matrix Z into the
product Z = LU where L is a lower triangular matrix with ones on the main
6.2 Algebraic solvers for a direct frequency response 57
Figure 6.1: Example of a symmetric FEM/IFEM matrix. Non zero coefficients are labelled
with a cross (×).
diagonal and U is an upper triangular matrix. This procedure is called LU-

decomposition. The solution of the linear system
Zx = b
then takes place in two steps: first Ly = b is solved for y and then Ux = y is
solved for x. The two steps thus become triangular linear systems, which are easy
to solve. If Zij is the non-zero element in column j of Z with smallest row index
i, then Uij is the non-zero element in column j with smallest row index i. This
implies that U is also sparse. Typically most elements in column j with index
larger than i are non-zero. This defines the skyline profile of a sparse matrix as
illustrated in Figure 6.2.
6.2.2 Resolution process of direct solvers based on a LU decom-

position
This part explains the different approaches used by direct solvers based on a LU
decomposition in Actran. However, in the implementation, each direct solver uses
specific properties and algorithms.
6.2.2.1 Sequential approach
Assemble and solve
Zx = B (6.2)
consists in:
1. assemble the matrix Z
2. factorize the matrix, i.e. perform the LU decomposition:
Z = LU (6.3)
Figure 6.2: Grey cells denote the part of the matrix stored by a skyline solver like our
SPARSE solver.
where L is an unit lower triangular matrix and U is an upper triangular

matrix. This operation is done in successive iterations, for which the original
factors ai,j are replaced. At each iteration, from k = 0 to k = n − 2:
1 0 0 ... 0 0 ... 0
 
 l1,0
 1 0 ... 0 0 ... 0  
 l2,0
 l2,1 0 ... 0 0 ... 0  
[k]
 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
L =  (6.4)
 lk,0
 lk,1 lk,2 ... 1 0 ... 0  
 l
 k+1,0 lk+1,1 lk+1,2 ... lk+1,k 1 ... 0  
 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
ln−1,0 ln−1,1 ln−1,2 ... ln−1,k 0 ... 1
 
u0,0 u0,1 u0,2 ... u0,k u0,k+1 ... u0,n−1

 0 u1,1 u1,2 ... u1,k u1,k+1 ... u1,n−1 


 0 0 u2,2 ... u2,k u2,k+1 ... u2,n−1 

 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
U[k]
 
=
 0 0 0 ... uk,k uk,k+1 ... uk,n−1

 (6.5)
 [k] [k] 
 0
 0 0 ... 0 ak+1,k+1 ... ak+1,n−1 

 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 
 
[k] [k]
0 0 0 ... 0 an−1,k+1 ... an−1,n−1
Note that the LU decomposition fills the matrix with new coefficients. This
explains why, even performed on a sparse matrix, the method requires
memory (compared to iterative methods).
3. assemble the right hand side B
4. perform:
• the forward substitution

    
1 0 0 ... 0 y0 b0

 l1,0 1 0 ... 0 
 y1  
  b1 

 l2,0 l2,1 1 ... 0  y2 = b2  (6.6)
    
 ... ... ... ... ...  ...   ... 
ln−1,0 ln−1,1 ln−1,2 ... 1 yn−1 bn−1
j <i
where yi = (bi − ∑ j=0 lij y j )/lii for i = 0, ..., n − 1
• the backward substitution
    
u0,0 u0,1 u0,2 ... u0,n−1 x0 y0
 0
 u1,1 u1,2 ... u1,n−1 
 x1  
  y1 

 0 0 u2,2 ... u2,n−1  x2 = y2 
    
 ... ... ... ... ...  ...   ... 
0 0 0 ... un−1,n−1 xn−1 yn−1
(6.7)
j<n
where xi = ( y i − ∑ j = i +1 uij x j )/uii for i = n − 1, ..., 0
6.2.2.2 Algebraic decomposition

The algebraic decomposition is similar to the sequential approach. The impedance
matrix Z is first distributed on several processes, and then resolved in parallel by
the selected solver. The parallel resolution is dependent on the selected solver,
and is thus not further explained:
1. assemble the global system:

 
Z00 0 ... 0 Z0ø
p −1  0 Z11 ... 0 Z1ø 
∑ [i]
 
Z= Z = 
 ... ... ... ... ... 
 (6.8)
i =0  0 0 ... Zp−1p−1 Zp−1ø 
Zø0 Zø1 ... Zp−1p−1 Zøø
where τ refers to the unknowns located on the interfaces and p the number
of processes on every process i:
!
[i] Zii Ziø
Z = [i] (6.9)
Zøi Zøø
The system is thus distributed on all processes.
2. factorize the matrix in parallel, i.e. perform the LU decomposition in parallel
Z = LU (6.10)
3. assemble the right hand side on the process i

t
B[i] = Bi Bø
[i]
(6.11)
as part of the global right hand side

t
B= B0 B1 ... Bp−1 Bø (6.12)
4. perform the forward substitution in parallel
Ly = B (6.13)
and the backward substitution in parallel
Ux = y (6.14)
6.2.2.3 Domain decomposition

The domain decomposition consists in partially factorizing a local sequential prob-
lem in order to extract a contribution to the interface problem (Schur complement
of the local problem) and treat the interface problem like a sub system:
1. assemble the matrix on the process i, corresponding to domain i:

!
[i] Zii Ziø
Z = [i] (6.15)
Zøi Zøø
where τ refers to the unknowns located on the interfaces and p the number
of processes
2. perform the LU decomposition of the matrix until the unknowns located on

the interface:

[i] Lii 0 Uii Uiø
Z = (6.16)
Løß I 0 S[i]
where S[i] is the Schur complement matrix of the local problem
3. assemble the right hand side on the process i

t
[i]
B= Bi Bø (6.17)
4. perform the reduction of the system, i.e. perform

! !
yi Bi

Lii 0
[i] = [i] (6.18)
Løß I yø Bø
5. treat the interface problem
• assemble the matrix of the interface problem:
p −1
S= ∑ S[i] (6.19)
i =0
• assemble the right hand side of the interface problem:
p −1
∑ yø
[i]
yø = (6.20)
i =0
• solve the interface problem in parallel
Sxτ = yτ (6.21)
6. perform the expansion of the system, i.e. perform

Uii Uiø xi yi
= ≡ Uii xi = yi − Uiø xø (6.22)
0 0 xø 0
This latest operation allows retrieving the solution within the selected domain.
6.2.3 SPARSE solver

6.2.3.1 Description
The SPARSE solver is a direct sequential solver.
The SPARSE solver stores in RAM only non-zero coefficients of the matrix (this is
called the in-core storage), but performs the LU-factorization in a block skyline
fashion, i.e. columns are stored in a series of dense blocks. This allows using
BLAS3 kernels for efficient use of the cache and local pivoting within a single
block for numerical stability.
The storage format also allows for the out-of-core storage (i.e. on a disk drive)
of the matrix factors. The out-of-core scheme is automatically selected if the
allocated core memory is not sufficient for factorization. The in-core part of the
solver corresponds to the remaining memory when the factorization starts; the
total memory used by Actran is the one specified by the user with the --mem
option. Further details are given in Section 7.
6.2.3.2 Applications
This solver is very robust and contains an out-of-core version, which allows
treating very large problems. It is compatible with all Actran applications,
including the parallel features.
6.2.3.3 Remarks and further information

• A parallel version is available, which can be used to speed-up the com-
putations by using the resources of several CPUs. The parallel version is
invoked with the command-line option --parallel and requires that an
MPI startup mechanism is available on the machine. See Section 7.2 for
more details.
• In most cases, the SPARSE solver can be replaced by the MUMPS and PARDISO
solvers as these latter solvers show better performance. The MUMPS solver is
the default Actran solver.
6.2.4 MUMPS solver

6.2.4.1 Description
The MUMPS solver is a direct solver dealing with symmetric and nonsymmetric
matrices. MUMPS (Multifrontal Massively Parallel Solver) is developed by CER-
FACS, ENSEEIHT-IRIT and INRIA[41] and has been integrated in Actran by
FFT. The MUMPS solver becomes the default Actran solver.
Both a domain decomposition and a algebraic decomposition approach using

MUMPS are available within Actran.
6.2.4.2 Matrix parallelism vs Domain parallelism with MUMPS
The matrix parallelism (or algebraic decomposition) is a parallel solution, directly
managed by MUMPS, allowing to distribute and solve a model on distributed
resources. A memory overhead can be observed on a small number of processes
and some limitations remain such as the limited memory reduction for a larger
number of processors (centralized analysis phase, etc.). This solution has however
the advantage of being well predictable in terms of memory consumption and
remains scalable on a high amount of processors.
In the domain decomposition approach, each sequential instance of MUMPS (one

per process) returns its contribution to the interface problem from the local
problem. Thus, on each process, the local problem is treated with less memory
than the global problem. Once the interface problem is assembled, both MUMPS
(sparse solver) and LAPACK (dense solver) are available to factorize and solve it.
The domain decomposition approach is very sensitive to the size of the inter-
process interfaces. This problem leads to a matrix with a large bandwidth that is
more dense than the local matrices previously treated. The size of the interface is
closely related to the number of processes involved in the domain decomposition
and to the model partitioning.
Domain partitioning can help balancing the memory requirements between the
local problems and the interface problems more efficiently, in order to reduce the
global memory consumption of the whole problem. The ordering of the interface
dofs (controlled by the interface solver) will also minimize the bandwidth of the
inter-process interfaces.
In order to reduce the global memory consumption and free memory to solve
the interface problem, the MUMPS solver will always be used in out-of-core for the
local problems.
In practice, domain decomposition should be more competitive (in term of

memory consumption) than the matrix decomposition on a small number of
processes. This is essentially due to the use of sequential instances of MUMPS which
avoid the memory overhead required by the matrix parallelism implemented in
the solver. On a large number of processes, the size of the interface problem
can become too large, resulting in a memory consumption increase. Matrix
parallelism becomes then more competitive.
6.2.4.3 Solving the parallel interface problem
A parallel approach is used for assembling and solving the interface problem.
Both MUMPS (sparse solver) and SCALAPACK (dense solver) are available to perform
this operation.
The MUMPS solver should be used only when the interface problem becomes
sufficiently sparse. This can typically occur when the global interface problem
consist in an important amount of small non-connected interfaces.
The dense SCALAPACK solver is used by default if no sub-solver is specified. Both

assembling and solving are parallelized. The parallel behavior of this solver is
more efficient for the treated problems than the MUMPS solver.
• MUMPS can be used in all applications. Because it is a very fast solver, it can
replace the most of solvers in most cases. It can be used as inner solver for
the KRYLOV solver.
• A parallel version is available, which can be used to speed-up the com-

putations by using the resources of several CPUs. The parallel version is
invoked with the command-line option --parallel and requires that an
MPI startup mechanism is available on the machine. See Section 7.2 for
more details.
6.2.5 Comparison between SPARSE and MUMPS

For solving a same problem, the minimum memory (few Mega-bytes) required
by SPARSE (for an out-of-core computation) is lower than the minimal memory
required by MUMPS. This is not without consequence: using SPARSE leads to higher
computation times than using MUMPS. However, the memory required by the in-
core version of MUMPS is usually lower than the memory required by the in-core
version of SPARSE.
6.2.6 PARDISO solver

6.2.6.1 Description
The PARDISO solver is a direct solver dealing with symmetric and nonsymmetric
matrices. PARDISO (PARallel DIrect Sparse sOlver) or better known as Intel MKL
PARDISO is developed by Intel[49] and has been integrated in Actran by FFT.
PARDISO solver is high-performance, robust and memory efficient solver for solv-
ing large sparse linear systems of equations on shared memory multiprocessors.
The solver is not a multi-frontal factorization algorithm as MUMPS but uses a combi-
nation of left- and right-looking Level-3 BLAS supernode techniques. To improve
sequential and multithreaded sparse numerical factorization performance, the
algorithms are based on a Level-3 BLAS update and pipelining parallelism is used
with a combination of left- and right-looking supernode techniques. The multi-
threaded pivoting methods allow complete supernode pivoting to compromise
numerical stability and scalability during the factorization process.
Unlike MUMPS, PARDISO does not support domain and matrix parallelism.
6.2.7 32-bit and 64-bit versions of PARDISO

Both 32- and 64-bit integer versions are implemented in the PARDISO solver. The
32-bit version is used as a default. It is advisable to use PARDISO 64-bit version for
solving large matrices. During the computation, 64-bit version consumes slightly
more memory than the 32-bit version. When the number of non-zeros in the
input matrix is larger than about a quarter of the largest 32-bit integer value, an
automatic switch takes place from 32-bit to 64-bit version.
6.2.8 Comparison between PARDISO and MUMPS

PARDISO exhibits high performance in terms of CPU time and memory consump-
tion as compared to MUMPS when dealing with symmetric system matrices, both
in sequential and parallel computations. For unsymmetric matrices, however,
the performance in-terms of computational time is less efficient especially when
out-of-core version of PARDISO is selected. However, for all the cases, PARDISO
consumes less memory than MUMPS during the computation. For out-of-core
computations with symmetric matrices, as much as 50 percent reduction in the
memory consumption could be achieved as compared to MUMPS.
The performance of PARDISO is highly attractive as compared to MUMPS when

multithreading is used, especially with the in-core version of the solver. This is
because PARDISO has an extended multithreaded implementation as compared to
MUMPS. In the latter, multithreading can be implemented only through BLAS calls.
As a result of which, multithreaded PARDISO exhibits nearly optimal scalability
properties. Since only the internal BLAS calls are multithreaded in MUMPS and not
the algorithm itself, such optimal scalability properties are not observed when
MUMPS solver is used with multithreading.
Moreover, the 64-bit integer interface of PARDISO allows to solve larger models
than MUMPS is capable to do.
• PARDISO can replace all the other solvers in most cases. It consumes less
memory as compared to all the other solvers. In terms of computational
time, it also exhibits high performance although there are a few anomalies.
Its performance is mainly attractive when multithreading is implemented.
• It can be used as an inner solver for the KRYLOV and STAGGERED solvers.
6.2.9 The CG_ILU solver

6.2.9.1 Description
The CG_ILU solver is based on an iterative method. It relies on a stabilized
bi-conjugated gradient technique (BiCGStab) and a preconditioning scheme,
with incomplete factorization (ILU) as a preconditioner. The solver produces
an approximate solution by successive iterations. Convergence is checked by
comparing the residual to a user-defined tolerance (TOLERANCE). The user may
stop the process after a given number of iterations (parameter MXITER). The
preconditioner uses an incomplete factorization of level 0 or 1, chosen by the
user (parameter ILU_LEVEL). The ILU_LEVEL equals to 0 should be used for linear
elements while for quadratic elements it is advised to use 1. Details on the use of
this solver are given in Section 3.130 of Volume 2.
The advantage of this method is that the memory cost remains low. Another
advantage is that the computational time may be low. However, a drawback of
this method is that the iterative process may not converge.
Note that this solver uses its own algebraic renumbering scheme that is based
on the actual mesh numbering given in the input file. As a consequence, its
performance may vary with the numbering scheme read from the input file.
The iterative method works best with:
• acoustic finite and infinite elements;
• modal components;
• porous materials.
The iterative method does not work for structural nor vibro-acoustic models, i.e.
with DSHELL elements, SHELL elements or SOLID elements.

• This solver is usually faster than the SPARSE solver. However, the conver-
gence of this solver is never guaranteed and there might be frequencies for
which the convergence is not reached. It is often not possible to know if
the convergence will be achieved before launching the run. To increase the
chances of convergence, a possibility is to increase the maximal number of
iterations (using the keyword MXITER, see Section 3.130 of Volume 2). An
alternative is to make a new computation with a direct solver (MUMPS or
PARDISO for example) for the frequencies for which the convergence has not
been obtained.
• The memory required by the iterative solver increases with the order of the
incomplete factorization, while each iteration will require more computa-
tional resources. However, a higher order also increases the chances to get
convergence.
• The solution sequence is slower and the convergence is less often obtained
when a small TOLERANCE is selected.
• The computation time of this solver tends to increase with the frequency
(for a given model), while it does not change if a direct solver is selected.
• Usually, the CG_ILU solver is slower than MUMPS solver, but requires less
memory.
• The CG_ILU solver has no out-of-core capabilities.
6.2.10 Krylov solver

6.2.10.1 Description
The KRYLOV solver is an iterative multi-frequency solver which must be used
together with an inner solver : SPARSE, PARDISO or MUMPS. It is aimed to be used
to quickly calculate the frequency response of a system where all materials and
boundary conditions have a simple relation with the frequency so that the linear
system of equations can be reduced to the following form:

2 f0 + ωf1
(A0 + ωA1 + ω A2 )x(ω ) = . (6.23)
f 0 + ω −1 f 1
with Z(ω ) = A0 + ωA1 + ω 2 A2 and f(ω ) = f0 + ωf1 we can rewrite Eq. (6.23)
as Z(ω )x(ω ) = f(ω ). The selection of A0 , A1 , A2 , f0 , and f1 is completely
automatic.
The KRYLOV solver approximates X (ω ) by a vector-Pade approximation around

a shift (center) frequency σ. This approximation matches the first terms of the
Taylor series of X (ω ) around σ. The solver also estimates the approximation
error. The number of terms in the Taylor series is governed by the parameter
K_NBVECTORS.
The KRYLOV solver makes an approximation of the impedance matrix, and uses
SPARSE, PARDISO or MUMPS to perform the needed factorization. By default, the
MUMPS solver is selected. The out-of-core capabilities depend on the inner solver
used by KRYLOV.
The KRYLOV solver produces an approximation of the frequency response function

of the original system but also estimates the error due to this approximation. If
the estimated relative error becomes larger than the user-defined K_TOLERANCE
(default value 10−8 ), the solver automatically selects a new shift (center) frequency.
It is also possible to manually select when KRYLOV chooses a new shift frequency:
a list of frequencies where the Krylov solver is forced to recompute the right-
hand side and re-factorize the impedance matrix can be provided using the
K_FREQUENCY block (see Section 3.68 of Volume 2).
This solver is efficient if lots of frequencies are computed: the cost of the procedure
is nearly independent of the number of individual frequencies in the band. For
example, if the spectrum between 10Hz and 1000Hz is needed, a frequency step
of 2Hz and a frequency step of 1Hz will lead to very similar timings with KRYLOV,
whereas it would double the timing with any other solver.
There are however some important restrictions :
• This solver cannot be used with random excitations (DIFFUSE_FIELD and

TURBULENT data blocks, Sections 3.45 of Volume 2, 3.145 of Volume 2 and
Chapter 22)
• This solver cannot be used with duct modes (MODAL_BASIS data block,
Section 3.24 of Volume 2)
• This solver cannot be used together with excitations imported from external
solvers (like for a BC_MESH or aero-acoustic sources).
• This solver cannot be used with porous material (like for a LUMPED_POROUS ,
RIGID_POROUS , MIKI_POROUS or POROUS_UP formulations).
• For details about the compatibility restrictions, please refer to Table 3.51
of Volume 2 (for the different material libraries), Table 3.52 of Volume 2
(for the excitation type) and Table 3.53 of Volume 2 (for the acoustic source
definition) in Section 3.130 of Volume 2.

• It is possible (sometimes advised) to manually split the frequency band in
sub-bands (using the K_FREQUENCY data block, see Section 3.68 of Volume
2); KRYLOV is then forced to recompute the impedance matrix for each
sub-band.
• The KRYLOV solver only returns correct results if the materials and boundary
conditions are frequency-independent. To meet the requirements to solve
problems with frequency dependent right-hand side, it is allowed to split
the frequency band in sub-bands (see the above bullet). For each sub-
band, Actran generates the matrices K, C, and M and the right-hand
f independently. The selected right-hand side corresponds to the first
frequency in the frequency sub-band. If the right-hand side within a sub-
band is well represented by a linear function, the KRYLOV solver may still
produce relatively accurate results within this sub-band. The division of
the frequency band into sub-bands is not automated and requires some
experience; best practice rules may also be problem-dependent.
• For a coarser approximation of the FRF, the tolerance can be increased up

to 10−2 to speed-up the computation time.
• Increasing the number of Krylov vectors (keyword K_NBVECTORS, default

value 40) increases the accuracy of the procedure and therefore enlarges
the frequency range that can be addressed with a single shift frequency.
But it also increases the amount of memory required by the procedure
and the marginal cost for each frequency line. It is suggested to select less
than 40 Krylov vectors for low frequency problems where the number of
singularities is low, and to select more than 40 vectors for higher frequency
problems where many singularities are found in the frequency band.
• The default shift frequency is the lowest one in the frequency domain. Note
that Actran automatically chooses a new shift frequency if the required
accuracy is not reached.
6.2.11 Staggered Solver - Staggered Approaches
6.2.11.1 Introduction
Vibro-acoustic simulations based on a discrete finite element method are leading

to the solution of large-size systems of algebraic or differential equations. In
the frequency domain, the assumption of a time-harmonic behavior leads to the
solution of complex valued algebraic systems. Such solution relies on implicit
schemes. The cost of such computations can become large if the response is
sought at high frequencies when the related finite element meshes involve a very
large number of degrees of freedom in order to capture the short wavelengths
involved. A possible reduction of the computation time is therefore desirable.
This chapter refers to staggered solution schemes where coupling effects are
either neglected or treated in an iterative way.
6.2.11.2 Direct staggered approach

Weak coupling The usual vibro-acoustic model accounts for reciprocal coupling
effects and is described by the following equation:
Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms

C u(ω ) f s (ω )
= ,
ω2 CT Ka + iωDa − ω 2 Ma p(ω ) f a (ω )
(6.24)
The assumption of a weak coupling between the structure and the acoustic fluid
allows to rewrite Eq. (6.24) as:
Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms

0 u(ω ) f s (ω )
= (6.25)
ω2 CT Ka + iωDa − ω 2 Ma p(ω ) 0( ω )
In this equation, it has been assumed that the system is only subjected to a
structural excitation (ie f a ≡ 0).
The same solution scheme is available for an acoustic excitation. The numerical
treatment of this case is similar except that the acoustic model (instead of the
structural model) drives the whole simulation process.
The weak coupling option leads to the evaluation of the structural response using
the first sub-set of equations:
h i
Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms u(ω ) = f s (ω ) (6.26)
while the acoustic solution is obtained through:

h i
Ka + iωDa − ω 2 Ma p(ω ) = −ω 2 C T u(ω ) (6.27)
The main advantage of such solution strategy is the solution of two algebraic
systems (one for the structure, one for the fluid) with a lower size. This option
should be retained when the coupling effect is weak (ie when the additional
pressure loading induced by the fluid along the structure is negligible). For a
very light structure or an heavy fluid (water for example), this approximation
is usually not acceptable. It should be stressed however that many automotive
and aerospace problems involve stiff structures interacting with the air. For such
applications, the one-way (weak) coupling is certainly a good modeling option.
Operation counts The efficiency of such a direct staggered approach can be

estimated using the (approximate) number of arithmetic operations involved in
matrix factorization and right-hand side (RHS) reduction and back-substitution:
1 2
• Matrix factorization: 2 NB ;
• RHS reduction and back-substitution: 2NB;
where N is the number of degrees of freedom (dofs) and B is the bandwidth.
It should be stressed that these operation counts do not incorporate RHS assem-
blage and error evaluation.
Dofs can be partitioned into structural dofs (index s) and acoustic dofs (index a)
so that:
N = Ns + Na (6.28)
and particular Na /Ns ratios can be considered:
Na
= 1, 2, 5, 10 (6.29)
Ns
One can further assume that the bandwidth of the structural sub-problem is pro-
portional to Ns1/2 while the bandwidth of the acoustic sub-problem is proportional
to Na2/3 .
These assumptions allow for the evaluation of the ratio of the number of oper-
ations involved in the direct staggered approach and the number of operation
involved in a conventional direct solution scheme as a function of the number of
dofs N (Figure 6.3). In this figure, the ratio is plotted for the considered Na /Ns
values.
Examination of this figure shows clearly that the efficiency of the direct staggered
approach is higher when the sizes of the two sub-problems are close to each other.
If the size of the acoustic problem is much higher than the size of the structural
problem (as for example Na /Ns = 10), the efficiency is reduced.
6.2.12 Iterative staggered approach

Strong coupling For vibro-acoustic applications where reciprocal effects are
significant, the above simplification is not valid anymore. An updated procedure
has been designed in order to incorporate these effects in an iterative way. Starting
from a solution obtained with a zero coupling, one computes the pressure loading
along the structure as induced by the acoustic response and evaluate the related
structural response. This process is continued until convergence. If one denotes
by u(i) the solution at iteration i, the convergence test is organized according to:
k u ( i +1) − u ( i ) k
<ε (6.30)
k u (i ) k
where ε is the fixed tolerance value.
If the procedure is (quickly) convergent, one can expect a significant reduction of

the computation time since each iteration relies on the solution of two decoupled
systems of equations. The matrices related to these two systems are factorized
once so that the cost of iterations should remain small.
6.3 Algebraic solvers for a modal frequency response 71
Figure 6.3: Ratio of numbers of arithmetic operations involved in staggered and direct
solution procedures.
Operation counts Based on previously defined operation counts, one can es-
timate the maximum number of iterations allowed by the iterative staggered
approach in order to keep the total computational time below the time required
by a direct solution procedure (Figure 6.4).
Examination of this figure shows that a larger problem’s size and a ratio Na /Ns
close to 1 should lead to the best efficiency of the iterative staggered approach.
6.2.13 Suggested further reading

Please refer to Section 3.130 of Volume 2 about the STAGGERED_SOLVER for the
practical use of this staggered approach.
6.3 Algebraic solvers for a modal frequency response

6.3.1 Introduction
There are different solution strategies to solve the system of equations 5.3
that either introduce simplifications (lumping of out-of-diagonal terms, neglect
fluid/structure retroaction) or that directly use the peculiar structure of the modal
impedance matrix.
The first subsections formulates the vibro-acoustic problem in modal coordinates

Eq. (5.3) from the problem in physical coordinates and presents the aspects related
to the coupling between the fluid part and the structure part. The four different
Figure 6.4: Maximum number of iterations in order to keep the computational time of the
iterative staggered solution below the time required by a direct solution.
linear algebraic solvers available in Actran for a modal frequency response are then
described in the next subsections.
6.3.2 Discrete vibro-acoustic problem statement

Let us consider the undamped vibro-acoustic configuration, that is the linear
elastic undamped structure S coupled to the undamped acoustic cavity F. In a
finite element context, such a model is usually described in terms of displacements
for the structure and acoustic pressures for the fluid. Discretization of the weak
variational statement (see Morand and Ohayon [24]) leads to the following system
of algebraic equations:

KS − ω 2 MS · U (ω ) = FS − CSF · p(ω ) (6.31)

KF − ω 2 MF · p(ω ) = FF − ω 2 CSF T · U (ω ) (6.32)
where :
• U (ω ) are the nodal displacements of the structure;
• p(ω ) are the nodal pressures in the cavity;

R
• FS and FF = ( f F i ) = iω Γ vn Ni dΓ are the terms of nodal excitations on
the structure and the cavity, respectively;
• KS and MS denote the stiffness and mass matrices of the structure, respec-
tively;
R R
• KF = k Fij = Ω 1ρ ∂k Ni ∂k Nj dΩ and MF = m Fij = Ω ρc12 Ni Nj dΩ
denote the stiffness and mass matrices of the cavity;
• CSF is the fluid/structure coupling matrix.
The coupled discrete problem can be concisely written in terms of the following
linear algebraic system of equations :
!
KS − ω 2 MS FS (ω )

CSF U ( ω )
· = FF (ω ) (6.33)
CSF T 1
ω2
KF − ω 2 MF p(ω ) 2ω
6.3.3 Modal representation for the structure and cavity parts

The modal approach implemented in Actran assumes a modal representation
for both the structure and the cavity parts. If one denotes by US (ω ) the frequency-
dependent response of the structure S, a modal representation of the structure
response can be written as :
NS
US (ω ) = ∑ αS,i (ω )ΦS,i (6.34)
i =1
where NS is the number of structure in-vacuo modes ΦS,i (i = 1, . . . , NS ) and

αS,i (ω ) are the associated frequency-dependent modal coordinates. The structure
in-vacuo modes are identified by the solution of an associated eigen problem :
KS · ΦS,i = λS,i MS · ΦS,i (6.35)
where KS and MS are the stiffness and mass matrices of the structure, respectively,
and λS,i , the associated eigenvalues. Assuming the normalization of the modes
with respect to the mass, the following relations hold :
T
ΦS,i · KS · ΦS,j = δij λS,i (6.36)
T
ΦS,i · MS · ΦS,j = δij (6.37)
2
λi = ωS,i (6.38)
Note that the number of modes NS in the structure modal basis is theoretically
equal to the number of dofs NdofsS in the structure model. Accurate modal
superpositions are however obtained with a truncated modal basis keeping the
modes with an associated eigenfrequency in the neighborhood of the frequency
range of interest. For practical situations, the modal extraction in Eq. (6.35) thus
consists in the identification of the first ÑS modes ( ÑS NS ) and, with an abuse
of notation, we will denote ÑS by NS in the sequel. The NdofsS × NS matrix

containing the structural modes is written ΦS .
A similar modal representation for the frequency-dependent response of the

cavity F can be written as :
NF
p F (ω ) = ∑ αF,i (ω )ΦF,i (6.39)
i =1
where NF is the number of cavity rigid-wall modes Φ F,i (i = 1, . . . , NF ) and α F,i (ω )

are the associated frequency-dependent modal coordinates. The fluid rigid-wall
modes satisfy the relation :
KF · Φ F,i = λ F,i MF · Φ F,i (6.40)
with the mass normalization convention :
Φ TF,i · KF · ΦS,j = δij λ F,i = δij ω 2F,i and Φ TF,i · MF · Φ F,j = δij (6.41)
The considerations about modal truncation of structural modes hold for the cavity
modes and the number of truncated fluid modes will be denoted NF in the sequel.
The Ndofs F × NF matrix containing the fluid modes is written ΦF .
6.3.4 Projection into the modal space

The projection of the coupled system Eq. (6.33) into the modal space is obtained by
substituting the modal representations Eq. (6.34) and Eq. (6.39) for the structure
displacement U (ω ) and cavity pressure p(ω ) :
!
ΦS T · FS (ω )

ZSS ZSF αS (ω )
· = F (ω ) (6.42)
with

ZSS = ΦS T · KS − ω 2 MS · ΦS = δij (ωS,i
2
− ω2 ) (6.43)
1 1
ZF F = 2 ΦF T · KF − ω 2 MF · ΦF = 2 δij (ω 2F,i − ω 2 ) (6.44)
ω ω
ZSF = ΦS T · CSF · ΦF (6.45)
6.3.5 Fluid/structure modal coupling

While the modal impedances of the structure and the cavity are diagonal matrices,
the fluid/structure modal coupling matrix ZSF is a dense matrix of size NS × NF .
Each term of this matrix can be written as :
Z
ZSF ij = (ΦS,i · n)Φ F,j dΓSF (6.46)
ΓSF
In the above equation, the surface supporting the integration ΓSF has a unit
normal n pointing outward the structure domain. Due to the additivity property,
the surface can be split into several contributing parts. In general, the fluid
and structure meshes are incompatible and the integration must be performed
on a surface on which both structural modes and cavity modes are projected.
In Actran, the surface ΓSF is a collection of surfaces extracted from the cavity
mesh or an external mesh and identified in the INTERFACE section (Section 3.66
of Volume 2). From the computational point of view, it is important to avoid
a memory overflow that could be caused by very large number of modes. The
evaluation of the fluid/structure coupling matrix is therefore performed block-
wise during the MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence (Section 8.2).
6.3.6 Reference solver

The reference solver is the most generic (but also the one with the weakest
performance) that is available in Actran. In this solver, the modal impedance
matrix of the coupled system is regarded as a dense matrix of order ( NS + NF )
and factorized using LAPACK tools. Non-diagonal modal impedance matrices for
the structure and cavity parts are thus supported by this solver.
6.3.7 Weak coupling solver

The weak coupling solver neglects the retroaction of the fluid on the structure and
therefore provides an approximated solution for the modal coordinates. Under
this assumption, the linear algebraic system Eq. (6.42) is rewritten :
!
ΦS T · FS (ω )

ZSS 0 αS (ω )
· = F (ω ) (6.47)
Due to the diagonal nature of ZSS , the solution for αS (ω ) is directly obtained
from the first block of equations. This solution can then be substituted in the
second block of equation for obtaining α F (ω ) (again, the diagonal nature of ZF F
facilitates the computation).
6.3.8 Iterative solver

An iterative solution strategy is implemented
in the iterative solver of Actran.
(0) (0)
The first iteration αS (ω ), α F (ω ) is given by the weak coupling solver
Eq. (6.47). The iteration loop is based on the following relations:

( n +1) (n)
αS (ω ) = ZSS −1 ΦS T · FS (ω ) − ZSF · α F (ω ) , (6.48)

( n +1) F (ω ) ( n +1)
αF (ω ) = ZF F −1 ΦF T · F 2 − ZSF T · αS (ω ) . (6.49)
ω
The iteration loop is stopped when the residual on both blocks of equations is
lower than a prescribed threshold or when the maximal number of iterations is
reached. Note that the convergence is not guaranteed and depends on the norm
of the fluid/structure modal coupling. If the convergence of the iterative solver is
not reached, the strong coupling solver described in section 6.3.9 is launched.
6.3.9 Strong coupling solver

The strong coupling solver is a direct solver that provides the exact solution. In
opposition to the reference solver described in Section 6.3.6, the peculiar structure
of the system to be inverted is used. First, a reduction of the system is done on
the fluid dofs for obtaining the fluid modal coordinates α F (ω ) :
FF (ω )
ZF F ,red · α F (ω ) = ΦF T · − ZSF T · ZSS −1 · ΦS T · FS (ω ), (6.50)
ω2
with the reduced modal impedance of the fluid part :

ZF F ,red = ZF F − ZSF T · ZSS −1 · ZSF . (6.51)
Note that the matrix ZF F ,red is a dense matrix of order NF that should be
factorized (using LAPACK tools). An alternative to the reduction on fluid dofs
is a reduction on the structure dofs, but is less interesting in most cases as the
number of fluid modes is generally lower than the number of structure modes, i.e.
NF < NS . Once the solution α F (ω ) is obtained, a substitution in the first block of
equations in the system Eq. (6.42) leads to :

αS (ω ) = ZSS −1 ΦS T · FS (ω ) − ZSF · α F (ω ) . (6.52)
The efficiency of this solution sequence directly relies on the fact that the modal
impedance matrices of the structure and the cavity, ZSS and ZF F respectively,
are diagonal matrices.
Seven
Running Actran
Contents
7.1 Running a sequential job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.2 Running a parallel job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.3 Memory allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
7.4 Process Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
7.1 Running a sequential job

A sequential job is a job using only one process. The process is not managed by
the operating-system but is automatically bound to a core. Further details about
the process binding are avaible in Section 7.4.
7.1.1 Graphical User Interface

A Graphical User Interface (GUI) (see Figure 7.1) is available on the installation
folder under the name actranw. The GUI offers a simplified way to launch
Actran. On Windows platforms, a shortcut to this script is automatically created
during the installation in the START menu.
7.1.2 Use of sourcing shell scripts in batch mode

In order to secure the execution of Actran in batch mode, a configuration shell
script is available in the Actran installation directory. The execution of this
script has two major effects:
• it updates the PATH environment variable and adds the bin directory to the
current PATH;
77
78 Running Actran
Figure 7.1: Graphical User Interface illustration
• it updates the LD_LIBRARY_PATH (LIBPATH on AIX) environment variable

and adds the lib directory to the current LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
As those modifications are done in a shell script, they do not survive the session.
As soon as the terminal is closed, the modifications are lost. Only one single
version of Actran can be used per session of terminal.
7.1.2.1 Use on Linux/Unix platforms

To call the shell script using BASH, please enter the following line (productline
in lowercase) :
source <actran-path>/[productline]
For example, to use Actran revision 14.0 that is installed in the directory
/opt/FFT/, type :
source /opt/FFT/actran_14.0
To call the shell script using SH, please enter the following line (be careful to
write DOT SPACE before the productline):
. <actran-path>/[productline]
7.1 Running a sequential job 79
You will then be able to run the executables contained in the Actran productline.
To use multiple productlines, it is required to open a new session for each
different productline. Undesired effects could occur if this general rule is not
respected.
7.1.2.2 Use on Windows platforms
To call the shell script, simply call (productline in lowercase):
<actran-path>/[productline]
For example, to use Actran revision 14.0 that is installed in the directory C:\FFT\,
type :
C:\FFT\actran_14.0
You will then be able to call the executables contained in the productline. To use
multiple productlines, it is needed to open a new command prompt for each
different productline. Undesired effects could occur if this general rule is not
respected.
7.1.3 Syntax of the command line in sequential

The execution of Actran (or one of the utilities) is started at the operating system
prompt by typing a specific command line.
7.1.3.1 Launching the Actran solver
To launch an Actran calculation procedure (see Chapter 5), type the following
command line:
actranpy --inputfile=inputfile.dat [options]
or
actranpy -i inputfile.dat [options]
where the different options available are listed here below. Table 7.1 presents the
compatibility between the command line options and the calculation procedures.
--apl : specifies the path of the productline used. This option allows to avoid
the sourcing (see Section 7.1.2).
80 Running Actran
--inputfile, -i : is followed by the path to the Actran input file;

--executionsequence, -e : this option is specific for computation requiring
multiple computation steps. One can distinguish five types of multi-stage
computation :
1. modal frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL ) calculation procedure (see
Section 5.4). It is followed by the execution sequence or a list of
execution sequences to be launched. Please refer to Chapter 8 for
a description of the different execution sequences used is a modal
frequency response and to Chapter 41 for the sequences specific to a
trimmed body analysis.
2. Pellicular and Green analysis calculation procedures (Sections 5.6 and
5.5). It is followed by the step of the calculation procedure:
• When using the PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS for the so-called direct
problem, three steps must be launched in the following order :
EXTRACTION → RADIATION → SOLUTION.
• When using the PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS for the so-called inverse
problem, three steps must be launched in the following order :
EXTRACTION → RADIATION → INVERSE.
• When using the GREEN_ANALYSIS , two steps must be launched in
the following order : RADIATION → SOLUTION.
3. Any Direct, Pellicular or Green analysis using PML or APML COMPONENT to
model non-reflecting boundary condition (see Chapter 18). Whatever
calculation procedure used, the DISTANCE execution sequence must be
used prior any RADIATION or SOLUTION solution sequence.
4. A Direct analysis involving numerical duct MODAL_BASIS , for which an
EXTRACTION execution sequence is mandatory to extract the numerical
modes.
5. For a Direct analysis involving duct MODAL_BASIS , the computation
of the cut-on modes handled during the computation can be per-
formed using the CUTOFF execution sequence. The further usage of
the extracted modes is activated through the USE_EXTRACTED_MODES
keyword within the PARAMETER data block.
--mem, -m : is followed by the total amount of memory allocated to Actran in
MB (see Section 7.3). For a modal frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL ), this
option is only used in the MODAL_COUPLING and MODAL_SOLVER sequences
(See Chapter 8);
--scratch, -s : is followed by the name of the directory where Actran will
store its temporary files. This directory (default: scratch) is erased at the
end of the simulation if the computation is successful;
--keepscratch : allows not removing the scratch directory at the end of the
run;
7.1 Running a sequential job 81
--cutsos : allows to replace the supersonic values of the mean flow by a value
equal to the provided ratio times the speed of sound;
--errorlevel : defines at which error level the code stops. Five error levels are
distinguished in Actran. EFFICIENCY, WARNING, CAUTION, FATAL.
EFFICIENCY is the lowest error level and FATAL is the highest one. If for
instance the --errorlevel : option is followed by CAUTION, then the code
will be stopped if a CAUTION or FATAL message occurs. By default, the
code will stop when a FATAL error is encountered. It is possible to disable
the stop when a FATAL error is encountered by selecting the NONE level.
--radical : is followed by the radical name of the information (*.log and *.trace)
files. Please refer to Section 10.2 for more information about the information
files;
--report : is followed by the name of the directory where Actran will store the
information files (default: report_radical_input_name.id). The Id starts from
1 and is incremented each time a the computation is launched through the
same working directory. Please refer to Section 10.2 for more information
about the information files;
--threads : defines the number of threads used by each Actran process.

Indeed, Actran is able to multiplex some of its basic matrix operations
(through the use of BLAS libraries, see Section 9.3.5) on different processors
or cores of the computer hosting the Actran process. The multi-threading
should not be mistaken with parallel computing which involves multiple
Actran processes (see Section 7.2). Please note that the multithreading
is activated only if enough Actran_Parallel tokens are available in the
Actran license file. By default, the number of threads is equal to 1;
--test : activates the test option where the input data are checked but the
solution is not computed. In test mode, Actran outputs the mesh in a
formatted file (according to the selected output format).
--merge_components : activates the compression of equivalent components to

reduce the assembling time of the computation.
--affinity : specifies the kind of affinity to use for ensuring the binding process:
• auto: (default value) for automatic detection of already bound pro-

cesses on the calculation node and the binding of the Actran process
on the remaining resources.
• exclusive: for automatic binding of the Actran process without
concern of already existing bound processes.
• none: for skipping binding operation.
82 Running Actran
Compressible Flow
Pellicular Analysis
Modal Freq. Resp.
Direct Freq. Resp.
Modal Extraction
Green Analysis
Command Line Option
--inputfile X X X X X X
--executionsequence X
--mem X X X X X X
--execute X X
--scratch X X X X X X
--keepscratch X X X X X X
--cutsos X X X
--errorlevel X X X X X X
--radical X X X X X X
--threads X X X X X X
--test X X X X
--merge_components X X X X
--affinity X X X X X X
Table 7.1: List of command line options
7.1.4 Examples
actranpy --inputfile=actran.dat --mem=200...
--scratch=/local_disk/scratch
7.1.4.1 Launching an Actran utility

In order to launch a utility program (such as iCFD, partition, ...) available in
the Actran distribution:
actranpy -u TOOL [options]
where TOOL is the name of the utility to be executed. The options that are
available depend on the utility program. Please refer to the help specific to the
utility by typing the following command line:
actranpy -u TOOL --help
The different utilities that can be launched with Actran are:

7.2 Running a parallel job 83
• FWH • plt_merge
• PLTViewer • sym-asym
• WATERFALLViewer • cutget
• iCFD
• get_equivfluid
• iTM
• odb2act
• radact
• nas2act
• tmm
• reducecomposite
• plt_get
• mapget • plt2audio
• nff_get • broadband
• plt_save • partition
Their usages are described in Chapters 42 to 47.
7.1.4.2 Launching the Actran Python interpreter

In order to use the Actran Python interpreter to execute a python script, type
the following command line :
actranpy script.py
where script.py is the name of the Python script.
7.2 Running a parallel job

7.2.1 Introduction
A parallel job is a multi-process job. The objective is to distribute several sub-
tasks to several CPUs to obtain the result in a smaller wall-clock time. There
are different available types of parallelism. The performance of each technique
is measured by comparing the wallclock-time of a sequential job with the time
required using multiple processes. This is the definition of the speed-up. We
say that a simulation running 4 times quicker when using 4 processes when
compared to the same simulation running on only one process presents a linear
speed-up.
7.2.1.1 Parallel solutions available for a direct frequency response

Actran allows six types of parallelism for a direct frequency response :
84 Running Actran
• Azimuthal order parallelism where the computation of the system response

at different azimuthal orders is partitioned between the different processes.
The speed-up is usually almost linear.
• Domain parallelism where the domain is partitioned between the different

processes. The performance varies depending on numerous factors.
• Frequency parallelism where the computation of the system response at

different frequencies is divided between the different processes. The speed-
up is usually almost linear.
• Loadcase parallelism where the excitation (right hand side) is partitioned

between the different processes. This kind of parallelism is efficient when
the number of loadcase becomes important. The loadcase parallelism allows
a lower memory consumption and faster computation.
• Matrix parallelism directly managed by the MUMPS solver, allows to distribute

and solve a model on different computation resources. The performance
varies depending on numerous factors and is usually efficient if a large
number of processors is available.
• Matrix_centralized parallelism directly managed by the MUMPS solver, allows

to only solve a model on different computation resources. The assembly and
finalization process are performed as running sequentially. The performance
varies depending on numerous factors and is usually efficient if a large num-
ber of processors is available. The master process can be suppressed from
the factorization by setting the FACTORIZATION_INVOLVED_MASTER keyword
in the SOLVER to 0.
In addition to these parallel solutions, dual parallelism configurations are sup-

ported. These configurations can only be launched in command line mode from
a command prompt or terminal.
• Azimuthal order parallelism combined with Matrix parallelism or Ma-

trix_centralized parallelism can be launched with the following option in the
command line:
--parallel=axisymmetricorder:n,matrix:m
or
--parallel=axisymmetricorder:n,matrix_centralized:m
where the axisymmetrical orders are distributed on n sets. Each of these

sets is distributed on m procs using matrix parallelism. The total number
of processors involved in this process is m ∗ n.
• Frequency parallelism with Matrix or Matrix_centralized parallelism can be

launched with the following option in the command line:
--parallel=frequency:n,matrix:m
or
--parallel=frequency:n,matrix_centralized:m
where the frequencies are distributed on n sets. Each of these sets is

distributed on m procs using matrix parallelism. The total number of
processors involved in this process is m ∗ n.
For instance, if 8 CPUs are available, the following command line will distribute
the treated frequencies over 2 sets of 4 CPUs handling each frequency in matrix
parallelism.
--parallel=frequency:2,matrix:4
Figure 7.2: One frequency per set, one quarter matrix per processor
7.2.1.2 Parallel solutions available for a modal frequency response

For a modal frequency response, the type of parallelism varies according to the
concerned execution sequence:
• The MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence uses frequency parallelism only;

• The MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence uses coupling parallelism. This
consist in computing the different INTERFACE data blocks over several
processes;
86 Running Actran
• The TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence uses frequency parallelism.
Note that the optimal number of CPUs depends on the parallelism type. In the
case of a coupling parallelism, the optimal number of CPU’s corresponds to the
number of couplings to be taken into account. When more CPU’s are assigned,
these latest are considered as inactive during the MODAL_COUPLING execution
sequence.
7.2.2 Actran options specific to parallel computations

The execution of Actran is started using the MPI2 implementation described in
the following sections. However some additional options are specific to parallel
computations:
... actranpy_mp [--apl=<absolute-path>/Actran_15.0]...

--parallel={loadcase|frequency|...}...
where:
--parallel specifies the kind of parallelism to use:

• axisymmetricorder: for azimuthal order parallelism (see Sec-
tion 7.2.8).
• domain: for domain parallelism (see Section 7.2.9)
• frequency: for frequency parallelism (see Section 7.2.10)
• loadcase: for loadcase parallelism (see Section 7.2.11)
• matrix: for matrix parallelism (see Section 7.2.12)
• matrix_centralized: for centralized matrix parallelism (see Sec-
tion 7.2.13)
Note that this option is mandatory for parallel computation except. How-
ever the parallelism type does not need to be specified for a modal frequency
response.
--apl specifies the absolute path of the productline used and allows to set the
environment variable ACTRAN_PRODUCTLINE on all the nodes involved in the
parallel computation.
All the other options are similar to the ones used for sequential runs.
The types of parallelism allowed following the solution sequence are listed in
Table 7.2
Compressible Flow
Pellicular Analysis
Modal Freq. Resp.
Direct Freq. Resp.
Modal Extraction
Green Analysis
Parallelism Type
azimuthal order X
domain X
frequency X Xa X Xb
loadcase X
matrix X
matrix_centralized X
a Only for the MODAL_SOLVER sequence
b Not available for the EXTRACTION sequence
Table 7.2: Parallelism Following Solution Sequence
7.2.3 Prerequisites
For all inter-process communication in parallel runs, Actran uses MPI2 , a
standard communication protocol that is implemented for numerous types of net-
works. An MPI2 implementation, compatible with Actran must be installed on
the nodes involved in the parallel computation. There are, for each combination
of platform, operating system and network switch, multiple MPI implementa-
tions and the performance of the resulting parallel solver may vary from one to
another.
The main MPI2 implementations supported by Actran are described in the

platform definition document (platform_definitions.html) available on our
server at https://extranet.fft.be/download/platform_definitions.html.
The Actran parallel executable, the necessary shared libraries and the input
file must be copied or shared on each node. The scratch path directory must
be the same on each node and writable (note that the scratch directories may
be physically different). Moreover, the first node must be able to connect to
the other nodes without manual intervention (i.e. no password required). The
installation and use of parallel versions of Actran is very specific to each IT
environment, constraints, objectives, problem types and other criteria. For this
reason, please contact the FFT support group for having details on the parallel
Actran installation.
88 Running Actran
7.2.4 Intra-Node versus Extra-Node parallelism

One can distinguish two types of parallelism following the physical location of
the processes. The term "intra-node parallelism" is used if all the processes of a
parallel job are running on the same node (i.e. the same physical computer using
the same operating system instance). On the contrary, if one of the processes is
running on a different node, the term "extra-node parallelism" is used.
Both extra and intra-node parallel computations are supported by Actran (ex-
cept for windows platform for which only intra-node parallelism is officially
supported). The prerequisites are identical for both methods.
The current generation of computers are made of processor(s) with multiple cores
(from 2 to 32 or more). These type of computers can run efficiently multiple
processes at the same time and thus take benefit of solutions having intra-node
parallelism implemented.
A simplified way to launch computations with intra-node parallelism has been

developed in order to ease the launching processus for users unfamiliar with a
parallel mechanism (see Section 7.2.5). However, the extra-node procedure to
launch a parallel job works for both intra and extra-node parallelism.
The start-up mechanism of Actran in parallel varies following the platform used.
Linux 64-bits users should refer to Section 7.2.6, whereas Windows users should
refer to Section 7.2.7.
7.2.5 Intra-Node parallelism

For Linux 64-bit and Windows platforms, the easiest way to launch an Actran
parallel job on a single node is achieved by using the graphical user interface (see
Section 7.1.1).
However the following command line may also be used on platform using
IntelMPI (for Linux 64-bit machines) :
actranpy.sh [--np=number_of_processes]...
[--inputfile=inputfile.dat]...
[actran options]
where:
--np specifies the number of parallel processes to be created.
--parallel specifies the kind of parallelism to use:

• axisymmetricorder: for azimuthal order parallelism (see Sec-

tion 7.2.8).
• domain: for domain parallelism (see Section 7.2.9)
• frequency: for frequency parallelism (see Section 7.2.10)
• loadcase: for loadcase parallelism (see Section 7.2.11)
• matrix: for matrix parallelism (see Section 7.2.12)
• matrix_centralized: for centralized matrix parallelism (see Sec-
tion 7.2.13)
actran options are the optional parameters described in the sequential run
section. For a parallel run, the --mem option specifies the allocated memory
per process.
For Windows platforms, the following shortened command line is also available
using the same options:
actranpy.bat [--np=number_of_processes]...
[--inputfile=inputfile.dat]...
[actran options]
7.2.6 Execution with IntelMPI (Linux)

The IntelMPI MPI implementation should be used on Linux 64-bit platforms to
launch intra or extra node parallel jobs. IntelMPI is redistributed with Actran,
there is no need to download additional software to run Actran in parallel. The
graphical user interface of Actran may be used to launch parallel computations
(see 7.1.1).
7.2.6.2 Command syntax
To start execution of Actran in parallel mode with IntelMPI , the command to
type at the operating system prompt is :
<absolute-path>/mpirun -n N [mpirun options]...

<absolute-path>/Actran_15.0/bin/actranpy_mp...
[--apl=<absolute-path>/Actran_15.0]...
[actran options]
where :
90 Running Actran
• mpirun is the name of the IntelMPI startup mechanism;

• -n is followed by the total number of processes used in the parallel run.
Note that this number does not take into account the total number of
threads that might be used;
• mpirun options are the optional parameters related to mpirun such as :
– -hostfile is used to specify a file containing a sorted list of the
computing nodes.
– -genv followed by an environment variable and its value is used to set
the variable on all the nodes where the computation is launched (i.e.
-genv ACTRAN_LICENSE 7007@license.fft).
For further information about these options, please refer to the IntelMPI
documentation or the mpirun command help:
<absolute-path>/mpirun -n N [mpirun options]...
• actranpy_mp is the name of the Actran parallel version executable;

• --apl specifies the path of the productline used;
• actran options are the optional parameters described in the sequential
run section. For a parallel run, the --mem option specifies the allocated
memory per process.
7.2.6.3 Example
The following command line will launch a parallel job on 4 processes located on
two different nodes named ’machine1’ and ’machine2’ :
/home/FFT/Actran_15.0/mpi/intelmi/bin/mpirun -np 4...

-hostfile hostfilename...
/home/FFT/Actran_15.0/bin/actranpy_mp...
--inputfile=<absolute-path>/actran.edat...
--mem=200 --parallel=frequency
where the file hostfile contains :
machine1
machine2
machine1
machine2
The first and third processes will be launched on the node "machine1" while the
second and fourth processes will be launched on the node "machine2".
7.2.7 Execution with IntelMPI (Windows)

The IntelMPI MPI implementation should be used on Windows 64-bit platforms
to launch intra node parallel jobs. IntelMPI is redistributed with Actran, there is
no need to download additional software to run Actran in parallel. The graphical
user interface of Actran may be used to launch parallel computations (see 7.1.1).
Please note that only intra-node parallelism is currently supported (see 7.2.4).
7.2.7.2 Command syntax

To start execution of Actran in parallel mode with IntelMPI , the command to
type at the operating system prompt is :
mpiexec -localonly N ...

[mpiexec options]...
<absolute-path>/actranpy_mp ...
[actran options]
where :
• mpiexec is the name of IntelMPI startup mechanism;
• actranpy_mp is the name of the Actran parallel executable;
• -localonly is followed by the number of processes;
• mpiexec options are the optional parameters concerning IntelMPI . For

further information about these options, please refer to the IntelMPI docu-
mentation;
• actran options are the optional parameters described in the sequential

run section; Note that the --mem option specifies the allocated memory per
processor in a parallel computation.
7.2.7.3 Example
The following command line will launch a parallel job on 4 processes :
C:\FFT\Actran_15.0\mpi\intelmpi\bin\mpiexec -localonly 4 ...

C:\FFT\Actran_15.0/bin/actranpy_mp...
--inputfile=<absolute-path>/actran.dat...
--scratch=c:\temp\scratch...
--parallel=domain --mem=200
92 Running Actran
7.2.8 Remarks and further reading for azimuthal order paral-

lelism
• Azimuthal order parallelism is invoked by the following command line
option: --parallel=axisymmetricorder;
• All solvers allow azimuthal order parallelism (see Chapter 6);
• There is no communication between the different processes handling the
different azimuthal orders. Each process is therefore independent from
the others. A computation distributed on n processes of equal power will
run approximately n times faster (wall-clock time) than on a single process
(linear speed-up)1 ;
• The user is responsible for checking that the input file is available on all the
nodes involved in the parallel computation. This is also required for the
files called with the INCLUDE_FILE keyword (see Section 2.10 of Volume 2).
7.2.9 Remarks and further reading for domain parallelism

• Domain parallelism is invoked by the following command line option:
--parallel=domain;
• Before starting a parallel run, it is possible to use the option --test of
Actran to perform basic checks;
• Concerning memory allocation, see the guidelines in section 7.3;
• Avoid to use scratch disks mounted via NFS as they offer a very low
bandwidth and prefer a local filesystem;
• Check the compatibility of the different solvers with domain parallelism in
Chapter 6;
7.2.10 Remarks and further reading for frequency parallelism

• Frequency parallelism is invoked by the following command line option:
--parallel=frequency;
• All solvers allow frequency parallelism (see Chapter 5);
• There is no communication between the different processes handling the
different frequencies. Each process is therefor independent from the others.
A computation distributed on n processes of equal power will run approx-
imately n times faster (wall-clock time) than on a single process (linear
speed-up)2 ;
1 This is true for direct solvers.
2 This is true for direct solvers.
files called with the INCLUDE_FILE keyword (see Section 2.10 of Volume 2);
• When using pellicular analysis (see Section 3.113 of Volume 2), only the
radiation and solution sequence can be computed in parallel;
7.2.11 Remarks and further reading for loadcase parallelism

• Loadcase parallelism is invoked by the following command line option:
--parallel=loadcase;
• All solvers allow loadcase parallelism;
files called with the INCLUDE_FILE keyword (see Section 2.10 of Volume 2);
• When using Green analysis (see Section 3.61 of Volume 2), only the radiation
sequence can be computed in parallel;
• When using pellicular analysis (see Section 3.113 of Volume 2), only the
radiation sequence can be computed in parallel;
7.2.12 Remarks and further reading for matrix parallelism

• matrix parallelism is invoked by the following command line option:
--parallel=matrix;
• Only the MUMPS solver (see Sections 3.130 of Volume 2 and 6.2.4) allows
matrix parallelism;
• Unless a high-performance network disk is available (SAN type), avoid the

use of scratch disks mounted via NFS. Use a local filesystem instead.
• Check the compatibility of the different solvers with matrix parallelism in

Chapter 6;
7.2.13 Remarks and further reading for centralized matrix par-

allelism
• matrix parallelism is invoked by the following command line option:
--parallel=matrix_centralized;
• Only the MUMPS solver (see Sections 3.130 of Volume 2 and 6.2.4) allows
matrix parallelism;
94 Running Actran
• Compared to a traditional matrix parallelism, the assembly and finalization

phases are kept sequential. This causes a higher memory consumption
compared to the matrix parallelism, but allows to handle cases where a
domain partitioning is not supported.
• Unless a high-performance network disk is available (SAN type), avoid the

use of scratch disks mounted via NFS. Use a local filesystem instead.
• Check the compatibility of the different solvers with matrix parallelism in

Chapter 6;
7.3 Memory allocation

7.3.1 Overall strategy
Actran allocates memory up to the limit specified by the --mem option.
The total amount of memory that is available to Actran will determine if an

in-core or out-of-core solver will be used. The selection strategy is as follows:
• During the pre-processing, the memory is automatically allocated for build-

ing the system of equations. The required amount of memory depends on
the size of the problem.
• An estimation of the memory required by the solver is computed, both for

solving the system in-core and out-of-core.
• If the available memory is larger than the memory required to run in-core,
the in-core solver will be selected.
• If the available memory is lower than the memory required to run in-core,
but high enough to run out-of-core, the out-of-core solver will be selected.
• If the available memory is not sufficient to run out-of-core, the computation

will be stopped.
Note that the total amount of memory consumed by Actran as reported by some
operating systems tools might be up to 0.5 GB larger than what Actran actually
reports. This difference is mainly due to the fact that these operating systems do
or do not take into account the memory used by the different shared libraries
used by Actran.
7.4 Process Binding 95
7.3.2 Notes on memory handling with SPARSE

• When running out-of-core, the in-core part should ideally be a few GB large
for optimal performance.
• The memory allocation for the SPARSE solver is limited to a total amount of
32GB in-core when running either in-core or out-of-core.
7.3.3 Notes on memory handling with CG_ILU

The CG_ILU iterative solver is only available as an in-core solver. If not sufficient
memory is available to run this solver in-core, the computation will be stopped.
7.3.4 Notes on memory handling with MUMPS

The minimum amount of memory to use MUMPS is generally larger than the
minimum amount of memory required to use SPARSE.
7.3.5 Notes on memory handling with PARDISO

PARDISO consumes less amount of memory than MUMPS for almost all cases.
7.3.6 Remarks and Further Reading

See descriptions of the different solvers in Chapter 6.
7.4 Process Binding

The process binding is used to bound an (or several) Actran process(es) to one
(or several) core(s). Therefore the process is not managed by the operating-system
but is automatically bound to a core. This method ensures to:
• Get the best runtime on a specific architecture,

• Get reproducible runtimes (because the kernel scheduler won’t not move it
across the available resources).
At the launching of the computation the architecture of the node/cluster is firstly

detected. The computation will correctly work if the architecture is homogeneous
over all the nodes used.
The process affinity is compatible with a parallel computation and the multi-
threading use. The process affinity is written in the *.trace files at the beginning
of the calculation. Please refer to Section 10.2 for more information about the
information files.
The processes are bound in function of the core numbering, and in function of
the core availability when using --affinity=auto.
By using 2 processes of 2 threads on a calculation node containing 4 cores, the

following process affinity will automatically be applied (--affinity=auto ):
96 Running Actran
actranpy_mp.0.trace : Process affinity: 0:0 1:0 2:1 3:1

actranpy_mp.1.trace : Process affinity: 0:1 1:1 2:0 3:0
The first process is bound to cores 2 and 3. The second process is bound to cores
0 and 1.
By launching consequently the previous calculation on a node containing 8 cores,

the following process affinity will automatically be applied (--affinity=auto):
Calculation 1:
actranpy_mp.0.trace : Process affinity: 0:0 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:0 5:0 6:1 7:1
Calculation 2:
The first process of the first calculation is bound to cores 6 and 7. The second
process of the first calculation is bound to cores 4 and 5. The first process of the
second calculation is bound to cores 2 and 3. The second process of the second
calculation is bound to cores 0 and 1.
If a resource conflict is detected an EFFICIENCY message is displayed at the

beginning of the calculation in the *.log and *.trace files. The calculation still run,
unless --errorlevel=EFFICIENCY is specified in the command line (see Section
7.1.3.1 ), but the computing performance may be degraded.
Eight
Execution Sequences for a

Modal Frequency Response
Contents
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.2 MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.3 MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
8.4 TEST execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.5 MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . 101
8.6 LOCAL_DATA execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
8.7 DATABASE execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
8.1 Introduction
This section concerns only the modal frequency response calculation procedure
(see Chapter 5). A modal frequency response analysis is divided in different
sequences. These execution sequences (which are specified by the user at launch
time when invoking the Actran executable, see Chapter 7) can be invoked in
two types of computation:
• Standard modal frequency response : this concerns most vibro-acoustic

analysis in modal coordinates. It includes the computation of the fluid-
structure coupling in the modal space (MODAL_COUPLING sequence) and
computation of the frequency response function (MODAL_SOLVER sequence).
Three additional sequences, TEST, MAPPING_CONTROL and LOCAL_DATA, are
also included. These are useful sequences that can be launched respec-
tively to check the consistency of the analysis, reduce the size of the data
97
98 Execution Sequences for Modal Response
exchanged with Nastran and reduce the time required to access the data
on disks. In addition, the execution sequence is dedicated to the usage of a
RAYLEIGH_SURFACE component.
• Modal frequency response for a trimmed body analysis : this concerns
the sequences dedicated to a trimmed body analysis. Beside the sequences
described here above, the entire analysis involves the TRIM_DATABASE se-
quence. The objective of this sequence is to compute the contribution from
the trim components before computing the response of the system.
Several additional sequences are also available: MODAL_FILTERING,
GENERATE_BC, RUN_ACTRAN, NRJ and TEST_TRIM. These sequences can be
used by the advanced user for a fine tuning of the computational process.
All the execution sequences for a standard modal frequency responses are further
detailed in the following sections of the present chapter. The sequences specific
to a trimmed body simulation are described in Chapter 41.
Figure 8.1: Modal frequency response - standard execution sequences
8.2 MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence

8.2.1 Description
The MODAL_COUPLING sequence is used to compute the fluid-structure modal
coupling.
During this sequence, Actran identifies all the regions selected by the user
on which the fluid-structure interaction occurs. Typically, collections of faces
(in 3D models) on which fluid-structure interaction is active should be defined
by specific PID’s in the fluid and the structure models. The structure modes
are projected on each of these coupling surfaces. The fluid-structure modal
coupling matrix is then evaluated and stored on the disk. Actran fully supports
incompatible meshes.
8.3 MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence 99
Figure 8.2: Modal frequency response - advanced execution sequences
8.3 MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence

8.3.1 Description
The MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence is the final step of the Actran modal
frequency response.
It involves:
• the evaluation of the modal impedance matrix (diagonal modal impedance

of the structural model, diagonal modal impedance of the cavity model,
fluid-structure modal coupling matrix);
• for a trimmed body analysis, the update of the modal impedance matrix in
order to take into account of the effect of each considered trim component;
• the identification of observation points or elements (field points, storage
nodes, storage elements and/or field point meshes) and the reading of the
values of structural and/or fluid modes at these locations;
• the computation of modal forces that are equivalent to the load configura-
tions (structure and acoustic excitation);
• the solution for the modal participation factors for all frequencies;
• the modal combination in order to obtain the physical response at observa-
tion points;
• the storage of the physical response in plt files (field points, storage nodes
and storage elements) and/or map files (field meshes).
Figure 8.3: MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence
Several solvers in modal coordinates are implemented in Actran. Please refer to

Section 3.96 of Volume 2 for more details.
For a trimmed body analysis, Actran is organized in such a way that the trim
models are only combined during the MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence. As the
MODAL_SOLVER sequence is much faster than the TRIM_DATABASE sequence, several
global trim scenarios can be investigated easily and an optimization is made
possible by this mechanism. Similarly, changes in the excitation or in driving
frequencies need a new launch of the MODAL_SOLVER sequence but not of the other
sequences.
8.4 TEST execution sequence

8.4.1 Description
The TEST execution sequence checks the consistency of an Actran computation
of a modal frequency response. It should be launched when the modal bases
are available. This sequence launches successively the MODAL_COUPLING and
MODAL_SOLVER sequences for a single structure mode, a single cavity mode and a
single solving frequency.
This sequence is usually fast. It can be used to detect most of the problems
(incomplete projection, errors in the trim components models, ...) prior to the
complete analysis. This sequence can be launched in parallel.
Important messages are contained in the Actran report and screen files (see
8.5 MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence 101
Figure 8.4: MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence
Section 10.2).
8.5 MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence

8.5.1 Description
The modal extraction on a wide frequency range of a large structure or cavity
model can lead to a large amount of data (several hundreds of Gigabytes).
Figure 8.5: MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence
As a modal frequency response is based on structure and cavity modes, the

modal results are required only where:
• fluid/structure couplings occur;
• the excitations are applied;
• the results are requested;

• the trim components are located (for a trimmed body analysis).
These above regions often represent only a small part of the model.
The MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence allows the user to define the regions
of structure and cavity meshes where results are required.
This execution sequence should be launched prior to the modal extractions. A

directory mapping_control is created. In this directory, a Nastran SET of GRID
points is created for each item listed above. For both structure and cavity a global
SET including all the above SET is also created. To limit the export of data the
global SET of structure and cavity should be included by the user in the Nastran
SOL103 input file. In the Nastran SOL103 input file, the command that controls
the export of data should also be defined in such a way that results are output on
the same SET (see the example below).
SOL 103
[...]
SET 10000= 1,2 [...] [...] [...], 2900
DISP=10000
The SET for the structural model is always defined with ID 10000, while the SET
for the acoustic model is always defined with ID 20000.
The MAPPING_CONTROL sequence also stores the result of the projection in the
directory mapping_control. In the other sequences, the projection will be read
from this directory instead of being re-computed. Note that Actran results
computed from Output2 files generated on basis of a MAPPING_CONTROL sequence
are only valid for the excitations and the fluid/structure couplings specified in the
MAPPING_CONTROL sequence. Any change in their definition may lead to incorrect
results.
8.6 LOCAL_DATA execution sequence

8.6.1 Description
Some execution sequences, such as MODAL_COUPLING, require a constant and
intensive read access to the Output2 files. When these files are stored on a
remote disk (e.g. NFS mounted, ...) a large amount of time may be wasted for
the data transfer through the network. This may increase significantly the overall
computational time. To avoid such problem, the LOCAL_DATA execution sequence
allows to copy the Output2 files in the scratch directory (usually located on a
local disk). The access to the data is thus much faster.
Note that files read by an INCLUDE command will not be copied to the local disk.
8.7 DATABASE execution sequence 103
8.7 DATABASE execution sequence

8.7.1 Description
The DATABASE execution sequence is only used for computing the radiation
impedance matrices for RAYLEIGH_SURFACE components. This execution sequence
must be prior to the MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence.
Nine
High-Performance
Computing with Actran
Contents
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.2 Model preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
9.3 Using the right computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
9.4 An overview of Actran solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
9.5 Model partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
9.1 Introduction
The issue of high-performance computing is manifold:
• model size increases considerably as users attempt to analyze problems at

higher frequencies;
• simulation speed is a legitimate request from users who want to obtain

results as quickly as possible;
• the number of simulations to be performed also tends to increase, either

because the solution must be obtained at more frequencies or because the
response to a large number of excitations must be evaluated at once.
In this section, High Performance Computing relates to timing optimization.
105
106 High-Performance Computing
The scalability S(n) and efficiency E(n) performance indicators for a parallel
computing are defined below:
t1
S(n) = , (9.1)
tn
S(n)
E(n) = . (9.2)
n
Where tn is the computation time on n processor(s) and t1 is the computation
time on 1 processor (i.e. the computation for a sequential job). An efficient
parallel computation is defined by a scalability close to n and therefore by an
efficiency close to 1. Indeed, even if the timings of a parallel job are better than
the one of a sequential job, it does not mean that all the processors have worked
during a same amount of time. The efficiency gives an information about this:
if all the processors have worked during a same amount of time, the efficiency
should be close to 1.
Running many simulations on large models while maintaining simulation time

at a reasonable level is a goal that can only be reached by combining:
• the selection of the optimum solution strategy: for a given physical problem,
the choice between a direct frequency response and a strategy relying on
a modal approach (one or several modal extractions followed by a modal
frequency response);
• a careful model preparation;
• the use of an appropriate computer (hardware and operating system (OS));
• the selection of the appropriate solver and optimal execution settings pa-
rameters.
This chapter gives some indications that should help the Actran users win the
high-performance challenge.
9.2 Model preparation

The calculation time associated to a given model does not only depend on the
number of nodes, elements and degrees of freedom (or the number of modes for
a modal frequency response). Here are some features of the model that influence
the calculation time related to a direct frequency response :
Element size - The number of nodes is definitely a dominant factor affecting

the computation time. It is therefore essential to use the right mesh density
ensuring the required accuracy but maintaining the number of degrees of
freedom as low as possible.
9.2 Model preparation 107
Connectivity - The density of connections linking the various degrees of free-

dom will define the matrix bandwidth or profile which will have a major
impact on computation time. For a given number of degrees of freedom,
a 3D problem will, for instance, always take more time to solve than a 2D
problem. The element type also influences the connectivity and in turn the
performance.
Infinite elements - Infinite elements add a significant number of degrees of free-

dom to the problem and increase the size of the matrix profile thus reducing
performance. This effect increases steadily with radial interpolation order.
It is therefore essential to choose the appropriate order and it is sometimes
worth performing a few tests in order to identify an optimal order before
launching a large number of simulations. It is also possible to use different
orders for infinite elements in different region, so as to use high accuracy
only where it is really needed.
Strong or weak coupling - Solving fully coupled vibro-acoustics problems re-

quires the handling of both fluid and solid degrees of freedom. The
impedance matrix of the entire system is made of the fluid impedance
matrix, the solid impedance matrix and cross-coupling terms. The shape of
this matrix is less favorable that for purely acoustic or structural problems,
leading to higher memory requirements and computational times. It is
therefore advised to take advantage of the assumption of weak coupling
when it is applicable (neglect the fluid retro-action on the structure vibra-
tion) or to use a staggered solver (see Section 6) with an iterative loop. The
solution process is then decomposed in two steps: the computation of the
structure’s dynamic response (step 1) and the acoustic propagation (step 2)
of the results of step 1.
Number of loadcases - The number of loadcases (mainly related to the exci-

tation) is related to the number of RHS (right hand sides) and unknown
vectors in the system of equations that is solved by Actran. The CPU time
and the memory requirements increase with the number of loadcases. Sam-
pled random or duct modes excitations may lead to computations involving
a large amount of these loadcases. These multiple loadcases can be handled
by the solver in different blocks during the back-transformation step, using
the RHS_BLOCKSIZE option in the SOLVER data block, leading to a reduction
of the memory consumption.
Duct modal basis - Defining boundary conditions in terms of incident or re-

flected duct modes has also an impact on the performance. Indeed, the
definition of duct modes introduce additional degrees of freedom and often
lead to multiple RHS (see above). Moreover, when the problem is solved in
parallel, the modal basis introduces an additional constraint. Since all the
degrees of freedom in contact with a given modal basis are connected, they
must also lie in the same partition.
Hybrid Modal/Physical coupling - Defining a coupling between modal compo-

nents and physical components can impact the performance. Indeed, a
component described in term of modes introduces additional degrees of
freedom (equivalent to the number of modes). Additionally, each physical
degrees of freedom coupled to the modal component carries a non-zero
term which leads to a denser matrix. Such model cannot be solved with a
domain parallelism.
Symmetry - The model size can be significantly reduced if one or more sym-
metry planes exist in the geometry allowing to mesh only one half or one
quarter of the model.
9.3 Using the right computer

The following aspects impact the performance of Actran:
• the processor type and mode (32- or 64-bits);
• the number of processors and their architectures ;
• the amount of memory available on each processor;
• the available disk space and the storage architecture;
• the operating system type, level and patch level;
• the BLAS library type;
• the MPI library type and level (for parallel processing only);
• the type of networking hardware that connects the different nodes of a

cluster;
• the CPU, memory and disk affinity.
Each of these attributes may influence the performance of Actran and will be
reviewed in the following sections. A final section will define what FFT generally
considers as the optimal configuration for launching large Actran calculations.
9.3.1 Processor type and mode

Actran is compatible with various types of processors. Please read the
platform_definitions.html file provided by FFT to know which processors
are supported. Different processors have different speed, instruction set, number
of registers, amounts and levels of cache which will all influence the performance.
The latest generation of computers are now equipped with 64-bit processors. As
a consequence, the 64-bit version of Actran should always be preferred (with
respect to a 32-bit version) when a certain level of performance is expected. In
9.3 Using the right computer 109
particular, the 64-bit version of Actran allows to assign much more memory in
comparison to a 32-bit version.
The importance of the available memory is discussed below in Section 9.3.3

dedicated to memory.
9.3.2 Number of processes

9.3.2.1 Parallel computing architectures
Massive Parallel Processing (MPP) machines consist of a number of nodes con-
nected using a network. Each node contains (one or more) CPU or core, memory
and an I/O interface and runs its own instance of the operating-system.
There are two main types of computing architecture that allow parallel processing:
• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP): SMP machines consist of a number of

CPU or core that share memory and an I/O interface. An SMP machine is
always running one instance of an operating-system.
• Non-Uniform Memory-Access (NUMA): NUMA machines consists of a
number of cpu’s where every cpu has its own local memory but is also able
to access the memory attached to the other cpu’s. All cpu’s however share
the I/O interface.
Such parallel architectures can generally be exploited in two different ways:
• Multi-threading: Inside a multi-threaded application, multiple call-paths

are executed simultaneously inside one process. These threads are able to
share all their data and thus the memory-overhead is low. Multi-threading
can only be used on SMP and NUMA machines and can be done only on
all the processors contained in a given node.
• Message-passing: Inside a message-passing application, multiple processes
are able to communicate by sending and receiving messages from one
process to the other. To be able to share data, such applications need
to communicate the data explicitly. This makes that there is a memory-
overhead compared to multi-threading. Message-passing however can be
exploited on all architectures, on all the processors of the cluster.
For reducing the memory consumption and decreasing the computation time,
FFT has implemented various algebraic and domain decomposition procedures.
These procedures are implemented using the message-passing technique (using
MPI) to be able to exploit all architectures.
Additionally, depending on the platform, the BLAS libraries used by Actran

are able to run using multiple-threads. This allows each (MPI-)process to exploit
multi-threading.
In order to run large models using Actran, FFT recommends using multiple
SMP nodes in an MPP configuration and to run in mixed mode, i.e. launch one
MPI-process per SMP node and use a number of threads equal to the number of
cores inside each SMP node.
9.3.3 Memory
The memory available on a computer consists of physical and virtual memory. If
the total data volume that must be stored in memory is larger than the physical
memory, the operating system stores the least frequently or least recently used
data on disk. This part of the disk is called the virtual memory. The flexibility
brought by virtual memory has a price: accessing data stored on virtual mem-
ory is much slower than accessing data stored in physical memory. For best
performance, Actran simulations should thus work as much as possible with
data stored in physical memory. The use of virtual memory is not recommended
because it severely degrades performance.
The size of the physical memory on current computers typically ranges from
1 gigabyte to several hundred gigabytes. Part of the memory is used by the
operating system and part by Actran and other running programs. To reach
optimal performance Actran should have as much physical memory as possible
and thus the concurrent execution of other memory-hungry applications must be
avoided.
The maximum amount of memory that can effectively be controlled (addressed)

by Actran depends on the computer architecture. On 32-bit machines the
maximum addressable memory is 232 bytes or 4 gigabytes (GB) but in practice,
roughly only half of that (i.e. 2GB), is available to external programs like Actran.
On a 64-bit machines the maximum addressable memory is 264 bytes which is,
for all practical purposes, unlimited.
9.3.4 Disk
Actran features both in-core (IC) and out-of-core (OOC) solvers. The resolution
is said to happen in-core when all data are stored in memory. The resolution is
said to be out-of-core when the allocated memory is too small to keep all data in
memory so that some data needs to be written on disk. The difference between
the two modes is not always straightforward; for instance, if the allocated memory
is smaller than the available physical memory, some operating systems may store
the content of the out-of-core files in memory.
The I/O performance of the disk and the way it is accessed by the system
(directly or through a network) has a major impact on the performance of out-of-
core solvers. Whenever possible use a temporary storage directory (--scratch
command line parameter) that is locally mounted on your system and not NFS-
mounted.
9.3 Using the right computer 111
9.3.5 BLAS Library

BLAS is a library implementing Basic Linear Algebra functions. Actran direct
solvers rely on BLAS for many operations and a large fraction of the calculation
time is actually spent running low-level BLAS routines. There are, on each type
of machine and operating system, multiple BLAS implementations and their
performance vary significantly. On each platform, Actran has been compiled
with an optimized BLAS. During the installation, the installer program will
prompt to choose a BLAS library to install. The installer automatically detects
and proposes the most suitable BLAS library for the system (See Section 4.3). The
different BLAS library available are:
• Openblas;
• Intel Mkl;
• Amd Acml;
• Netlib reference library.
9.3.6 MPI
MPI is a library used on parallel machines to communicate information among
processors. There are, for each type of networking hardware and switch, multiple
MPI implementations and the performance of the resulting parallel solver may
vary accordingly. Please refer to Chapter 4 for a discussion of the various MPI
implementations available for your machine.
9.3.7 Networking hardware and switch

One factor that significantly affects the parallel performance of clusters of com-
puters is the type of networking hardware used. The hardware will affect the
capability of the different nodes to exchange information. The time t needed to
transmit m MB of information between two processors approximately follows the
formula
t = L + m/B (9.3)
where L is the latency and B is the bandwidth. These two parameters affect
the parallel performance in a way that is algorithm-dependent. Algorithms that
require many exchanges of small chunks of data are more sensitive to the latency
than to the bandwidth, whereas the situation is reversed for algorithms that
exchange a few large chunks of data.
In practice the networking hardware consists of the network cards and the switch
they are connected to. To take the best advantage of high-performance networking
hardware, it is often necessary to compile an application to make it use a version
of MPI that is tuned for that hardware.
9.3.8 Recommended hardware and software architecture

This section recommends a platform that we have found to offer the best perfor-
mance to price ratio. Your FFT Support Team can be contacted for any question
or information regarding the selection of a hardware configuration.
9.3.8.1 Processor and memory
We recommend Actran users to choose the latest x86-64 processors. The amount
of physical memory is the limiting factor for the model size (see Section 9.3.3).
Our reference configuration uses a two-ways with 8-cores CPU’s with 64GB of
RAM.
9.3.8.2 Operating system
We recommend using at least a 64-bits Linux OS (with a GLIBC 2.5 or later) such
as Red Hat 5.6 or Suse 11.4.
9.3.8.3 Storage
Actran-dedicated /scratch (--scratch command line parameter) space signifi-
cantly improves the performance of out-of-core runs. Consequently, the scratch
directory access must be as fast as possible (high bandwidth). If disks are phys-
ically connected to each node, we recommend using SAS disks configured in
RAID0.
9.4 An overview of Actran solvers

9.4.1 Solver for direct frequency responses
Actran features several solvers for direct frequency responses:
• The SPARSE direct solver.

• The MUMPS direct solver.
• The PARDISO direct solver.
• The CG_ILU iterative solver.
The KRYLOV and the STAGGERED solvers internally call one of the three solvers
above.
They differ by the following attributes:
• support of in-core (IC) and out-of-core (OOC) modes;

• direct or iterative;
• support of parallel processing;
• support of multiple right-hand side (RHS).
Table 9.1 and Table 9.2 give an overview of the solvers with respect to these
attributes.
9.4 An overview of Actran solvers 113
Solver IC OOC Convergence Multi-RHS

SPARSE Yes Yesa Always Yes
MUMPS Yes Yes Always Yes
PARDISO Yes Yesb Always Yesb
CG_ILU Yes No May diverge No
aFor parallel computations, the Schur complement always runs in-core
b When dealing with unsymmetrical matrices and several right-hand sides,
PARDISO is currently not functional with out-of-core version
Table 9.1: Overview of Actran solvers - 1.
Solver Azimuthal order Domain Frequency Loadcase Matrix

SPARSE Yes Yes Yes Yes No
MUMPS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PARDISO Yes No Yes Yes No
CG_ILU Yes No Yes No No
Table 9.2: Overview of Actran solvers - 2.
9.4.1.1 Serial runs

This section is devoted to problems that are run on a single processor. Different
solution strategies may be selected for such problems: iterative or direct, in-core
or out-of-core.
Small size problems may run in-core i.e. with the full factorized matrix stored
in memory. If the memory allocated by the --mem option is not sufficient for
in-core factorization of the matrix, the solver will automatically switch to out-
of-core mode. If this amount is not sufficient for running out-of-core, the run is
automatically stopped. If the allowed memory does not fit in the physical memory
(RAM), the performance of the solver will be low because virtual memory is used.
If, in addition, this amount does not fit in the virtual memory of the machine, an
allocation error is produced.
The size of problems that may run in-core on a given machine depends on the
available and allocated memory, on the addressable memory space (32 vs. 64
bit processors), on the selected solver (direct or iterative) and on the problem
itself. Indeed, memory usage is not simply a function of the number of degrees
of freedom but also on the dimensionality (2D or 3D), the connectivity (high or
low bandwidth), the presence of modal excitations or infinite elements and the
interpolation order chosen for these infinite elements.
Some practical guidelines for selecting the solver:
• The performance of an in-core solver is not always significantly better than

that of an out-of-core solver;
• Disk I/O performance is a critical issue when running problems with an

out-of-core solver as a lot of resources are spent writing, and later reading
matrix blocks to and from the disk;
• The iterative solver requires less memory than a direct solver so that larger
problems may be run in-core with the iterative solver. Please remember that
the iterative solver is limited to purely acoustic problems;
• The memory required by the iterative solver increases with the order of the
incomplete factorization (see the description of the parameter ILU_LEVEL in
Section 6.2.9);
• The convergence of the iterative solver is never certain and there might
be some frequencies for which convergence is not attained and for which
the direct solver must be used; one must be aware that a problem running
in-core with the iterative solver might require an out-of-core run with the
direct solver;
• The computation time of the direct solvers does not change with frequency
(for a given model) while it increases with frequency when the iterative
solver is used.
9.4.1.2 Frequency and azimuthal order parallelisms

When the acoustic response must be computed at many frequencies or at many
azimuthal orders, it may be wise to distribute the computations on multiple
machines. This is often referred to as coarse-grain parallelism. There is only a
low amount of data exchanged between the different processors or machines
handling the different frequencies or azimuthal orders and each run happens
quite independently from the others. This means that:
• a computation distributed on n machines of equal power will run approx-

imately n times faster (wall-clock time) than on a single machine (linear
speed-up)1 ;
• the computation may be distributed on machines of very different per-

formance because one machine does not have to wait until the other has
completed its task before proceeding to the next calculation (no inter-process
communication, no synchronization).
In practice, a frequency parallel run is started using the command

1 This is only true for direct solvers because with the iterative solver the number of iterations, and
in turn the solution time, is different at each frequency.

9.5 Model partitioning 115
<absolute-path>/mpirun -np 4 <absolute-path>/actranpy_mp

--apl=<absolute-path>/Actran_15.0...
--mem=200 --parallel=frequency
and an azimuthal order parallel run is started using the command:

--mem=200 --parallel=axisymmetricorder
The syntax of the AXISYMMETRY data block is described in Section 3.6 of Volume 2.
9.4.2 Solver for modal frequency responses

Actran features several solvers for modal frequency responses:
• STRONG
• WEAK
• ITERATIVE
• REFERENCE
Only the in-core mode is supported for these modal solvers.
9.5 Model partitioning

Remark. Please note that in the current version of Actran, the domain
and matrix parallelism are limited to direct frequency responses.
9.5.1 Introduction
For direct frequency responses, Actran uses algebraic- and domain-decomposition
approaches to solve large problems on parallel computers. As the algebraic ap-
proach allows dynamic scheduling between the different processes, the partition
of the model does not affect the efficiency of the computation. For the domain
partitioning however, the partitioning will define the repartition of the compu-
tational efforts between the different processes, and will also influence the size
and shape of the interface problem to be resolved. Therefore, this partitioning
operation is of great importance when using domain-decomposition approaches.
Partitioning the problem consists in grouping finite elements, infinite elements,

and boundary conditions into different sets named partitions. The number of
partitions usually equals the number of processors.
In large Actran direct frequency response simulations, most of the time is spent
in the solver. The different aspects of the solvers of Actran are examined in
Chapter 6. For an optimized parallel efficiency, these solvers require a domain
partitioning that:
• leads to an equal workload per processor;
• leads to the smallest possible interface size, the lowest communication

between processes and a reduction of the overhead computation time due
to the interprocess interface problem.
To summarize, the quality of the model partitioning governs the overall efficiency
of the computation.
When running a parallel computation, Actran partitions the model automatically

by default. When running on N processors, N partitions are created, this leads to
a fairly equal number of elements on the different processors. However, this does
not always lead to a fairly equal workload for all processors (see how this can be
improved in Section 9.5.4).
In practice, a parallel run is started using the command :

--mem=200 --parallel=domain
• The different partitions can be visualized in ActranVI.
• The partitioning information can be saved and re-used in a later computa-

tion involving the same model.
• The user can provide its own partitioning information.
• The effect of the partitioning is transparent for the user: the results are
identical for serial and parallel runs.
It is advised to use the partitioning tool prior to the actual actranpy_mp run. This
tool iteratively creates a number of partitions and selects the optimum partition
(see Section 9.5.4 for more details).
9.5.2 Partitioning strategy

9.5.2.1 The Metis library
Different methods exist to partition finite element models and have been imple-
mented in different libraries. These methods all aim at producing partitions of
equal weight, while minimizing the size of the interface between the partitions.
One of the most widespread partitioning library is the Metis [38] library, devel-
oped by the university of Minnesota. This is the library that Actran uses to
partition its models.
The algorithms in Metis are based on multilevel graph partitioning, and lead
to a very quick calculation of partitions of fairly equal weights. However, the
weight associated to each element cannot be predicted a priori. Indeed, the
partitioning influences the total computation time, so that the weight of each
element depends on the partitioning itself. This is why a partitioning produced by
Actran should be refined iteratively for obtaining the best parallel performance
(see Section 9.5.4).
9.5.3 Partitioning an Actran model

9.5.3.1 Visualizing the partitions
The different partition IDs (as defined in the PARTITION data block) are given on
the elements (not on the nodes) and can be visualized in ActranVI. Moreover,
infinite elements are always in the same partition as the finite elements they share
a face with. Finally, all the nodes that are in contact with a modal surface or
Rayleigh surfaces must belong to elements that are in the same partition. The
automatic partitioning tool is also not able to automatically partition elements of
a dimension lower than the dimension of computation (thin shells for instance),
except when those are connected to elements of a higher dimension.
9.5.3.2 Re-using the partitioning information in different runs
Actran automatically saves the result of the partitioning in a file named par-
tition.act. The format of this file corresponds to the PARTITION data block (see
Section 3.112 of Volume 2). To reuse this information in a subsequent run, the
user must add the line
INCLUDE_FILE partition.act
in its Actran input file.

9.5.3.3 Manually providing the partitioning information
The user can provide his own partitioning information to Actran through the
PARTITION data block. This data block specifies the partition assigned to each
element external number. Its format is detailed in Section 3.112 of Volume 2.
9.5.4 Iterative optimization of the partitioning

The major difficulty with distributing the data for a direct linear solver (such as
the MUMPS solver) is that the partitioning algorithm does not know the cost due
to fill-in of the sparse matrix. The fill-in depends on the partitioning and the
related interface. Consequently, it is not possible for Actran to estimate a priori
the weight of each element and to compute a balanced partition. One possible
approach to circumvent this problem is to refine iteratively the partitioning. This
involves the following steps:
1. Compute a partitioning using equal weights per element and ask Actran
to estimate the cost of solving the system (symbolic factorization), for each
processor.
2. Using the estimate of the cost of solving the system, for each processor,
update the weights of all elements of that processor.
3. Compute a new partitioning using the updated weights and ask Actran to
estimate the cost of solving the system, for each processor.
4. Go to point 2, unless the maximum number of iterations has been reached.
5. Select the partitioning that leads to the smallest maximum estimation over
all processes of the cost of solving the system.
The experience is that the best partitioning is usually not the last one, which is
why point 5 is necessary.
FFT provides a utility that performs the different steps mentioned above automat-
ically. This utility, partition, calls Actran repeatedly, in parallel, and updates
the element weights based on an estimation of the selected criterion like the
number of flops2 or the memory consumption, counted for the factorization (in
most practical cases, the factorization time is by far the largest component of the
total solution time). Hence, the aim is to obtain a more realistic contribution of
each element to the local cost. The best partitioning is the one that produces the
smallest maximum estimation over all processes.
The criterion to be optimized during the iterative process ( --criterion op-

tion on the command line, see below) depends on the solver and the aim of
the partitioning. For the SPARSE solver, it is advised to optimize the workload
of each process. This can be done by specifying the optional command line
option --criterion=flops on the command line. For the MUMPS solver, it is
recommended to optimize the memory consumption, in other words use the op-
tion --criterion=mem on the command line. By default, the --criterion=flops
option is selected.
2 flop: floating point operations
A reasonably good balance is obtained with a few iterations, i.e. 10–30.
If command is the Actran command for the parallel execution (without -symbolic
or -repartition options), then the following command should be run to initiate
the iterative optimization of the partitioning.
actranpy -u partition --n_iterations=number_of_iterations...

--criterion=selected_criterion ...
--command="command"
Without the optional option --criterion the option --criterion=flops is im-

plicitly used. The following criteria are supported:
• flops : minimize the workload over all the processes. Supported by both
SPARSE and MUMPS, it is advised to use this criterion with SPARSE.
• mem : minimize the memory over all the processes. Supported by both
SPARSE and MUMPS, it is advised to use this criterion with MUMPS.
• sparse : shortcut to the best criterion for SPARSE (flops).
• mumps : shortcut to the best criterion for MUMPS (mem).
Once the partitioning is computed, the actual computation can be launched.

Make sure that the input file contains the following line:
INCLUDE_FILE partition_optimized_np
This line includes the optimized partition, so that the best partition will be
used for the actual computation. Here np should be replaced by the number of
partitions.
Note that partition creates a directory partition_scratch storing the data for
each iteration. This directory is not deleted after the run.
9.5.5 Example of use

A first partitioning is performed using
actranpy -u partition --n_iterations=10...

--command="<absolute-path>/mpirun -np 4 ...
<absolute-path>/actranpy_mp...
--mem=200 --parallel=domain"
In this above example, 10 iterations are used. Note that it is important to use
the same arguments of actranpy_mp in both the partitioning command and in
the actual Actran computation. In this example, the same option --mem is used.
Using another option --mem might lead to a partitioning that is not adapted to
the actual simulation.
Then, the following line is included in the Actran input file used for the main
computation:
INCLUDE_FILE partition_optimized_4
in the
BEGIN TOPOLOGY
...
END TOPOLOGY
block and call
<absolute-path>/mpirun -np 4
<absolute-path>/actranpy_mp...
--mem=200 --parallel=domain
from the command line.

Ten
Files Produced by Actran

Contents
10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.2 Information files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
10.3 Results files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10.4 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
10.5 Frequency response functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
10.6 Actran units and output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
10.7 Global indicator on domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.8 Maps output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
10.1 Introduction
Output files created by Actran can be grouped in two categories:
• Information files : these files are report files providing further information
about the computations. They do not have a specific format (which can
change from one release to the other). The information files (mainly the
Screen, Report and trace files) created by Actran are contained in a folder
whose name is specified by the --report option of the command line (de-
fault: report). Moreover, the information relevant for the user is displayed
on the screen (standard output).
• Results files : these files contain all the information to create maps or
frequency response functions. Mesh and maps can be stored in multiple
formats (see Section 3.126 of Volume 2). The default extension of the
frequency response function files is *.plt.
121
122 Files Produced by Actran
Actran does not impose particular limits on the length of an output file’s
absolute path. However, this length is generally limited by the operating system.
When this limit is exceeded by an output file path or by a file path in the scratch
folder, the user will be informed by an error message at run time.
10.2 Information files

Actran automatically generates output files whose number depends if the run
is sequential or parallel.
10.2.1 Screen file (*.x.log)

The information displayed on the screen (standard output) is automatically
redirected into the screen file (*.log). This screen file contains all messages
printed by Actran during its execution. These messages are general information
about the different steps of the analysis. Each sequence of the job is encapsulated
in a milestone. Here below is an example of milestone:
Analysis setup (time:0s, total:7s,mem:9.4MB)

...done (Analysis setup) (time:0s, total:7s,mem:9.4MB)
It must be noted that the memory information related to a milestone is the instan-
taneous physical memory consumption. It can be different than the maximum
memory consumption of the sequence.
Important information messages are also provided. These messages can have
different severity levels, see Table 10.1. By default, the Actran computation is
stopped when a FATAL error message is displayed.
In addition, statistics about the resources usage are provided at the end of the file
if the computation is successful. Please note that this information is also available
in the user-friendly Report file (*.pdf), see Section 10.2.2.
10.2.2 Report file (*.x.pdf)

In order to provide relevant statistics about the resources consumed during the
Actran computation, a report file in *.pdf format is available in the report folder.
This report file is divided in four sections:
Run information : groups the information about the revision tag of Actran, the
description of the platform, the command line options and the user settings
and permissions.
Host information : concerns the hardware and software configurations of the

machine(s) hosting the Actran computation.
10.2 Information files 123
Level Description
INFO Actran is communicating information to the user. A problem
was not encountered.
EFFICIENCY An inefficient use of Actran is suspected. Users
should examine the input file for a better way to
perform the analysis.
CAUTION A possible problem was detected. The output of the program
is still usable, but the results may not be what users
expect.
WARNING A probable problem was encountered. The program continues
to process from this point, but the output or the results
are likely to be incorrect.
FATAL A definite problem was encountered. The output produced
from this point forward is unusable.
Table 10.1: The different severity levels associated to Actran messages.
Resources usage : about the resources consumption for data (under the form of
plots on Windows and Linux platforms). The various indicators available
are :
• free physical memory (fpm): the memory that is currently available. It

is the difference between the total memory and the memory that is
currently consumed by all the applications;
• process memory (pm): the memory that is currently used by Actran;
• load average : it is the average system load over a period of time. It
is conventionally given as three numbers that represent the system
load during the last one (l1), five (l5), and fifteen minutes (l15) periods.
These indicators are only available on Linux platforms;
• free disk space in the current directory (fdc): the available disk space in
the directory where Actran has been launched;
• free disk space in the scratch directory (fds): the available disk space in
the directory specified by the --scratch option.
Resources usage (complementary info): the server names and the global mem-
ory usage information are available.
All this information is also available in the Server Information file (ac-
tive_servers.info) or in the Resource Information file (*.x.resources).
10.2.3 TRACE file (*.x.trace)

The *.x.trace is a file which contains detailed, internal information output by
Actran. The letter x corresponds to the process number. During a parallel
computation, one report file is created on each processor.
The trace file contains more detailed information than the screen file. Con-
sequently, the amount of information can be very large. However, in case of
problem, the content of this file is often helpful for the FFT’s support team.
10.2.4 Convergence frequencies file (freq_non_conv.act)

This file lists all the frequencies for which the iterative solver did not converge.
This file is created only if the iterative solver CG_ILU is activated in the solver
data block.
10.2.5 Modal Extraction file (blzpack_report)
The blzpact_report file is generated by the modal extraction solver. It contains
various information and error and warning messages.
10.3 Results files

The overall analysis results can be seen as a table whose lines are the different
nodes and whose columns are the frequencies (see Figure 10.1). Actran doesn’t
store the entire table but rather:
• a selection of columns called output maps as they are typically used to

display color maps on (parts of) the finite element mesh using a dedicated
post-processor (see Figure 10.2);
• a selection of rows called FRF or frequency response functions (see Figure 10.3).
Figure 10.1: Results of an analysis: columns list all values at a given frequency, a row
corresponds to the frequency response function at a given node.
Actran is able to generate several of these tables in one computation. This

feature is usually named multiple load. Actran stores the response of a model for
different excitations in different loadcases. The user can afterwards combine/post-
process the response of each excitation/loadcase using the linearity of the system
solved by Actran. This feature is activated by the use of the MULTIPLE_LOAD
data block (see Section 3.101 of Volume 2).
The result tables or loadcases have a unique ID. The loadcases ID may be defined
in two ways :
10.4 Maps 125
• automatically by ACTRAN when the MULTIPLE_LOAD data block is empty

(see Section 3.101 of Volume 2).
• directly by the user through the LOADCASE data block (see Section 3.73 of
Volume 2).
10.4 Maps
Columns of the output matrix (see Figure 10.2) are used to produce color maps
or deformed plot of the mesh at a given frequency.
The output is controlled by the OUTPUT_MAP data block (see Section 3.107 of
Volume 2). The results will be saved for the frequencies (or part of them)
mentioned in the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN , GREEN_ANALYSIS or PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS
data blocks. Two ways are possible to control the output:
• in the SAVE (except for a modal frequency response) or FIELD_SAVE data blocks
(see Section 3.126 of Volume 2 and 3.56 of Volume 2) specifying an integer
m : the results will be saved every m computation. It is deactivated by
setting m to zero.
• in the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN , PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS or GREEN_ANALYSIS data

blocks (see Section 3.60 of Volume 2, 3.113 of Volume 2, 3.61 of Volume
2) with the OUTPUT_MAP tag. If this option is selected, results maps will be
generated on meshes specified in the SAVE or FIELD_SAVE data blocks at all
the tagged frequencies.
The following output formats are supported:
• NFF: NFF files can be imported in ActranVI for post-processing, or be

converted to a variety of formats (I-deas Universal files, Patran nod file,
Nastran op2 file) using the mapget utility;
• IDEAS (I-deas Universal files);
• OP2 (Nastran binary Output2 for results, BDF for the mesh);
• PATRAN (Patran nod2 file for results, BDF for the mesh);
• FLOW: It should be used in the frame of a compressible flow analysis. Actran

will save an ASCII file that contains a FLOW data block. It can be included in
the Actran data file for conducting a convected wave propagation analysis;
• FLOW_PVD: It should be used in the frame of a compressible flow analysis.

Actran will save an ASCII file that contains a FLOW data block and an
ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY data block. It can be included in the Actran
data file for conducting a convected wave propagation analysis;
• INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT: Actran will save an ASCII file that contains an

INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT and an INITIAL_ROTATION (for thin shells and
beams) data blocks. It can be included in the Actran data file for conduct-
ing an analysis taking into account the initial stress state related to this
displacement field (handling of an additional geometrical stiffness effect
due to this initial stress state);
Figure 10.2: Output maps corresponds to one or more full column(s) of the response table.
10.5 Frequency response functions

10.5.1 Introduction
Rows of the output matrix (see Figure 10.3) are used to produce frequency
response functions and is controlled by the OUTPUT_FRF section of the data file
(Section 3.106 of Volume 2).
Figure 10.3: FRFs corresponds to one or more rows of the response table.
The actran.plt file can contain results defined on nodes, field points, incident,
radiating, coupling and Rayleigh surfaces, interfaces, materials and modal sur-
faces. The syntax of the actran.plt file is described below. Individual results in
this file are extracted using the plt_get utility program (see Section 47.1) or can
be directly plotted using the PLTViewer available inside ActranVI.
10.5 Frequency response functions 127
10.5.2 Structure of the actran.plt file

The content of the Actran FRF (or plot) file (Actran.plt) is controlled by the
OUTPUT_FRF data block (Section 3.106 of Volume 2). It follows the general syntax
of the Actran files (see Chapter 2 of Volume 2) and contains the following blocks
and sub-blocks:
BEGIN LOADCASE_INDEX
for each loadcase
external_loadcase_id internal_loadcase_id
end for
END LOADCASE_INDEX
BEGIN OUTPUT_FRF
BEGIN TITLE
title
END TITLE
[BEGIN OBJECT object_id

/* Comment line */
number of frequencies, number of loadcases,...
number of results, list of results codes
/* Comment line */
for each frequency
for each loadcase
real frequency, external number of loadcase,...
list of complex results
end for
end for
END OBJECT object_id]
END OUTPUT_FRF
where ... indicates line continuation.
An OBJECT can be one of the following (non exhaustive list) :
• AUTO_INTERFACE
• DOMAIN
• INTERFACE
• MODE
• MODAL_BASIS
• NODE
• POINT
• ELEMENT
• COMPONENT
• SURFACE
The object_id naming convention depends on the OBJECT and is defined in

Section 10.7.
10.6 Actran units and output quantities

10.6.1 Default Units
In Actran, all quantities are defined in the MKSA international system of units.
The default units are therefore:
• the meter [m];
• the kilogram [kg];
• the second [s];
• the kelvin [K];
• the ampere [A].
10.6.2 Actran output quantities for a direct frequency response,

a time domain, a Green and a Pellicular analysis
Table 10.2 describes the indicators available in the FRF files (.plt file extension)
produced by a direct, Green or pellicular frequency response.
In the context of random acoustics, these indicators can also be provided in the
form of Power Spectral Densities (PSD) thanks to the PSD_FILENAME keyword in
the OUTPUT_FRF data block (Section 3.106 of Volume 2).
Result identifier Result name Units PSD units

cDP Coupling deformation power [W] [W]
cKP Coupling kinetic power [W] [W]
fDP Fluid deformation power [W] [W]
fKP Fluid kinetic power [W] [W]
fmp Fluid microphone pressure [Pa] -
continued on next page
10.6 Actran units and output quantities 129

fp Fluid pressure [Pa] [Pa2 ]
fpo Fluid potential [Pa.m−1 ] [Pa2 .m−2 ]
fix,fiy,fiz Fluid intensity [W.m−2 ] [W.m−2 ]
fvx,fvy,fvz Fluid velocity [m/s] [m2 /s2 ]
Fx, Fy, Fz Resulting force [N] [N 2 ]
iP Incident power [W] [W]
imnv Incident mean square normal velocity [m2 .s−2 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
imp Incident mean square pressure [Pa2 ] [Pa2 ]
imv Incident mean square velocity [m2 .s−2 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
isnv Incident square normal velocity [m4 .s−2 ] [m4 .s−2 ]
isp Incident square pressure [Pa2 .m2 ] [Pa2 .m2 ]
isv Incident square velocity [m4 .s−2 ] [m4 .s−2 ]
lgt Length [m] -
ma Modal amplitude [Pa] -
mi Modal intensity [W.m−2 ] -
mid Modal intensity in dB [dB] -
mka Modal axial wavenumber [m−1 ] -
mno Modal normalization factor [−] -
mnv Normal mean square velocity [m2 .s−2 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
mp Mean square pressure [Pa2 ] [Pa2 ]
mv Mean square velocity [m2 .s−2 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
Mx, My, Mz Resulting moment [N.m] [N 2 .m2 ]
rho Fluid density [kg.m−3 ] -
rP Radiated power [W] [W]
rP2 Radiated power excluding the contri- [W] [W]
bution of the last infinite element or-
der
sDP Structural deformation power [W] [W]
sKP Structural kinetic power [W] [W]
snv Square normal velocity [m4 .s−2 ] [m4 .s−2 ]
sos Speed of sound [m.s−1 ] -
sp Square Pressure [Pa2 .m3 ] [Pa2 .m3 ]
srf Surface [m2 ] -
srx,sry,srz Solid rotation [−] -
sux,suy,suz Solid displacement [m] [m2 ]
sv Square velocity [m4 .s−2 ] [m4 .s−2 ]
vol Volume [m3 ] -
Table 10.2: Codes of results stored in FRF files (direct frequency response).
10.6.3 Actran output quantities for a modal frequency re-

sponse or for modal components in a direct frequency
response or a time domain analysis
Table 10.3 describes the indicators available in the FRF files (.plt file extension)
produced during a modal frequency response.
In the context of random acoustics these indicators are provided in the form of
Power Spectral Densities (PSD) when using:
• a conventional method;
• a sampled method with the definition of the PSD_FILENAME keyword in the

OUTPUT_FRF data block (Section 3.106 of Volume 2).

element_force Element force [N] [N 2 ]
fDP Fluid deformation Power [W] [W]
fKP Fluid kinetic Power [W] [W]
fp Fluid pressure [Pa] [Pa2 ]
fv Fluid velocity [m.s−1 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
fi Fluid intensity [W.m−2 ] [W.m−2 ]
ijP Injected power [W] [W]
iP Incident power [W] [W]
mp 1 Mean square pressure [Pa2 ] [Pa2 ]
mpc_moment MPC resulting moment [N.m] [N 2 .m2 ]
mpc_reaction MPC resulting force [N] [N 2 ]
mvn 2 Mean square normal velocity [m2 .s−2 ] [m2 .s−2 ]
reaction SPC resulting force [N] [N 2 ]
sDP Structural deformation power [W] [W]
sKP Structural kinetic power [W] [W]
sigma Solid stress [Pa] [Pa2 ]
strain Solid strain [−] [−2 ]
sp Square pressure [Pa2 .m3 ] [Pa2 .m3 ]
sr Solid rotation [−] [−]
su Solid displacement [m] [m2 ]
sun Normal Solid displacement [m] [m2 ]
sa Solid acceleration [m.s−2 ] [m2 .s−4 ]
sa_g3 Solid acceleration expressed in g [-] [-]
san Normal Solid acceleration [m.s−2 ] [m2 .s−4 ]
1 Average over the field points attached to an acoustic domain

2 Average over the field points attached to an structure domain
3 Value of gravity is provided using the GRAVITY keyword in the PARAMETER data block
Table 10.3: Codes of results stored in FRF files (modal frequency re-
sponse).
When the quantity has more than one component (displacement, velocity, stress,
strain, force and intensity), its different components can also be requested
separately. The keyword DIRECTION is added to the quantity identifier in an
OUTPUT_REQUEST data block. Table 10.4 lists the different DIRECTION IDs that can
be requested and their related quantities.
Vectorial Quantities
Result identifier Direction Result description
1 or x fv along x axis
2 or y fv along y axis
fv DIRECTION
3 or z fv along z axis
xyz fv along vector defined by x y z
1 or x fi along x axis
2 or y fi along y axis
fi DIRECTION
3 or z fi along z axis
xyz fi along vector defined by x y z
mpc_reaction/ 1 or x reaction/moment along x axis
mpc_moment 2 or y reaction/moment along y axis
DIRECTION 3 or z reaction/moment along z axis
1 or x reaction along x axis
2 or y reaction along y axis
reaction DIRECTION
3 or z reaction along z axis
xyz reaction along vector defined by x y
z
1 or x su along x axis
2 or y su along y axis
su DIRECTION 3 or z su along z axis
n su along normal direction to the
structure
xyz su along vector defined by x y z
1 or x sa along x axis
2 or y sa along y axis
3 or z sa along z axis
sa(_g) DIRECTION
n sa along normal direction to the
structure
xyz sa along vector defined by x y z
Element Force

1 membrane force x
2 membrane force y
3 membrane force xy
element_force
4 bending moment x
DIRECTION for shell
5 bending moment y
elements
6 bending moment xy
7 shear x
8 shear y
1 bending moment End A plane 1
3 bending moment End B plane 1
element_force
4 bending moment End B plane 2
DIRECTION for
5 shear plane 1
CBAR
6 shear plane 2
7 axial force
8 torque
3 web shear End A plane 1
element_force
4 web shear End A plane 2
DIRECTION for
5 axial force End A
CBEAM
6 total torque End A
7 warping torque End A
8 to 14 points to the same information for
End B
1 force along x axis
2 force along y axis
element_force
3 force along z axis
DIRECTION for
4 moment along x axis
CBUSH
5 moment along y axis
6 moment along z axis
element_force DIREC- 1 force
TION for CELAS1/
CELAS2 elements
Stress or Strain

1 bending stress at End A Point C
2 bending stress at End A Point D
3 bending stress at End A Point E
sigma/ strain 4 bending stress at End A Point F
DIRECTION for 5 axial stress
CBAR 6 bending stress at End B Point C
7 bending stress at End B Point D
8 bending stress at End B Point E
9 bending stress at End B Point F
1 longitudinal stress at End A Point
sigma/ strain C
DIRECTION for 2 longitudinal stress at End A Point
CBEAM D
3 longitudinal stress at End A Point E
4 longitudinal stress at End A Point F
5 to 8 points to the same information for
End B
1 translation along x axis
2 translation along y axis
sigma/ strain
3 translation along z axis
DIRECTION for
4 rotation along x axis
CBUSH
5 rotation along y axis
6 rotation along z axis
sigma/ strain DIREC- 1 stress/ strain
TION for CELAS1/
CELAS2 elements
1 z1 =Fiber distance 1
2 σx at z1
3 σy at z1
sigma/ strain
4 τxy at z1
DIRECTION for
5 z2 =Fiber distance 2
conventional shell
6 σx at z2
elements
7 σy at z2
8 τxy at z2
vmises Von Mises Stress/Strain
1 z1 =Lamina Number
sigma/ strain 2 σnormal −1
DIRECTION for 3 σnormal −2
composite shell 4 τ12
elements 5 τ1z
6 τ2z

1 σx
2 σy
3 σz
sigma/ strain 4 τxy
DIRECTION for solid 5 τyz
elements 6 τzx
7 N/A
8 N/A
vmises Von Mises Stress/Strain
Table 10.4: Component that can be requested for output quantities.
For example:
BEGIN OUTPUT_REQUEST 1
fv DIRECTION 1
su DIRECTION n
su DIRECTION 1 0 0
sigma DIRECTION 2
END OUTPUT_REQUEST 1
Will define the output of the fluid velocity along x, the solid displacement along
the normal of the structure and along the vector (1,0,0) and the stress σx at z1 .
The keyword NCOMP can be used to request to output all available components
of stress, strain and element forces. The following are some remarks on usage of
this keyword:
• NCOMP keyword does not allow to output von Mises stress/strain. vmises
keyword can only be used in association with DIRECTION keyword.
• The value of NCOMP should not exceed the number of available compo-
nents can be retrieved (for example, NCOMP should be <=8 for request of
stress on shell elements and <=6 for request of element forces on CBUSH
elements).
For example:
10.7 Global indicator on domains 135
BEGIN OUTPUT_REQUEST 1
su DIRECTION n
sigma NCOMP 8
sigma DIRECTION vmises
element_force NCOMP 6
END OUTPUT_REQUEST 1
will define the output of the solid displacement along the normal of the structure,
the 8 first components of stress and vmises stress and 6 first components of
element force.
When the structure is a composite structure made of several plies, the stress and
the strain can be output for each different ply (assuming that the stress or strain
modal values are available in the Output2 structure modal basis). The keyword
LAYER followed by the ply ID is then inserted between the quantity identifier
(sigma or strain) and the DIRECTION indication.
For example:
sigma LAYER 2 DIRECTION 2
will output the stress σNormal −1 in the second layer of the composite structure.
10.7 Global indicator on domains

In Actran, global indicators are computed automatically on different parts of
the model and stored as a collection of domains, surface or interfaces.
• A DOMAIN entry is created for each COMPONENT defined in the input file
(except for a MODAL_BASIS COMPONENT ).
• For a modal frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL), a COMPONENT entry is created

for each COMPONENT defined in the input file.
• A SURFACE entry is created for each specific surface (mainly boundary

condition surfaces) defined in the input file.
• An INTERFACE entry is created for each INTERFACE defined in the input file.
• Actran also creates a set of AUTO_INTERFACE to store information at the

interface of two domains.
10.7.0.1 Domains naming conventions

In order to allow the user to recover results on domains, interfaces, or sur-
faces from the actran.plt file using the plt_get utility (Section 47.1), a unique
identifier should be provided as an argument of the program.
For domains related to components, the names are constructed as:
component_name + component_id
where the different values for component_name are listed in Table 10.5 and
component_id is the component ID specified by the user in the input file. For
example, an acoustic component with ID 3 will be named Acoustic3.
Component name Description

Acoustic Fluid domain
Beam Beam domain
DelanyBazleyPorous Delany-Bazley porous domain
Discrete Discrete 1D domain
Dshell 2D shell domain
InfiniteAcoustic Infinite fluid domain
LumpedPorous Lumped porous domain
Membrane Membrane domain
PorousUp PorousUp domain
RigidPorous Rigid porous domain
SolidShell 3D shell domain
ViscoElastic Solid domain
ViscothermalAcoustic Visco thermal fluid domain
Table 10.5: Names of domain related to components.
For surfaces related to boundary conditions, the names are constructed as:
surface_name + surface_id
where the different values for surface_name are listed in Table 10.6 and
surface_id is the surface ID specified by the user in the input file. For ex-
ample, an admittance boundary condition with ID 7 will be named Admittance7.
Surface name Description

Acceleration Acceleration boundary condition
Admittance Admittance boundary condition
BcMesh boundary condition mesh
CouplingSurface Coupling surface used for interface or BC_MESH
Displacement Displacement boundary condition
DistributedPressure Distributed pressure boundary condition
IncidentSurface Incident surface
LighthillSurface Lighthill surface boundary condition
LighthillSurfaceSampled Sampled Lighthill surface boundary condition
MohringSurface Möhring surface boundary condition
MohringSurfaceSampled Sampled Möhring surface boundary condition
RadiatingSurface Radiating surface
Rotation Rotation boundary condition
SampledRandomDeltaCorrelated Delta correlated boundary condition
SampledRandomDiffuse Diffuse field boundary condition
SampledRandomTurbulent Turbulent field boundary condition
RayleighSurface Rayleigh surface
Velocity Velocity boundary condition
Table 10.6: Names of surfaces related to boundary conditions.
For results on interfaces, the names are constructed as:
Interface + interface_id
where the interface_id is the surface ID specified by the user in the input file.
For the AUTO_INTERFACE automatically created by Actran, the names are con-
structed as:
cpt_name_1 + cpt_id_1 + cpt_name_2 + cpt_id_2
where cpt_names and cpt_ids defines the two domains between which the
interface is located. For example, an AUTO_INTERFACE between an acoustic and a
solid domain with the respective ID 1 and 3 will be named Acoustic1Solid3.
10.7.0.2 Output quantities for a direct frequency response
Table 10.7 and Table 10.8 provide the indicators output by Actran following the
domain and surface involved in the computation. The indicators are defined in
Table 10.2. Table 10.9 provides the indicators output for all other entries.
Component name Provided Indicator

Acoustic sp mp fDP1 fKP1 vol
Beam sv mv sDP1 sKP1 lgt
DelanyBazleyPorous sp mp fDP1 fKP1 vol
Discrete sv mv sDP1 sKP1 vol
Dshell sv snv mv mnv sDP1 sKP1 srf
InfiniteAcoustic rP 1 rP2 2 srf
LumpedPorous sp mp fDP1 fKP1 vol
Membrane sv mv srf
sv mv sp mp fDP1 fKP1 sDP1
PorousUp 1 1
cDP cKP vol
RigidPorous sp mp fDP1 fKP1 vol
SolidShell sv mv sDP1 sKP1 vol
ViscoElastic sv mv sDP1 sKP1 vol
ViscothermalAcoustic sp mp fDP1 fKP1 vol
1 These indicators are output if the POWER_EVALUATION keyword is set to 1.

2 These indicators are output if the POWER_EVALUATION keyword is set to 3 or 4.
Table 10.7: Indicators provided following domains.

Entity name Provided Indicator

Acceleration mv sv srf rP1
mv mp sv sp mnv snv
Admittance
Fx Fy Fz rP srf
mv mp sv sp mnv snv
BcMesh
Fx Fy Fz rP1 srf
CouplingSurface mv sv mnv snv srf mp rP
Displacement2 Fx Fy Fz rP
DistributedLoad mv sv srf mp
DistributedPressure mv sv srf mp
iP imp imv imnv isp isv isnv
Incident Surface
srf
LighthillSurface mv sv mnv snv srf rP
mv mp sv sp mnv snv rP
LighthillSurfaceSampled
Fx Fy Fz rP srf
MohringSurface mv sv srf rP
MohringSurfaceSampled mv sv srf rP
PointLoad mv sv srf mp
RadiatingSurface mv sv mnv snv rP srf mp
Rotation2 Mx My Mz rP
SampledRandomDeltaCorrelated mv sv srf
SampledRandomDiffuse mv sv srf
SampledRandomTurbulent mv sv srf
iP imp imv imnv isp isv isnv
Rayleigh Surface
sp sv snv srf
Velocity mv sv srf rP1
1 Radiated Power is provided if the POWER_EVALUATION is set to 1 (see data block definition).
2 Indicators are provided if the REACTION is set to 1 (see data block definition).
Table 10.8: Indicators provided following surfaces related to boundary conditions.

Entity name Provided Indicator

fix fiy fiz fvx fvy fvz fp
Field Point2
fpo sux suy suz srx sry srz
Interface iP rP
Modal Basis iP rP
Mode1 ma mi mid mka mno
fix fiy fiz fvx fvy fvz fp
Storage Node2 fpo sux suy suz srx sry srz
Fx3 Fy3 Fz3 Mx3 My3 Mz3
1 Specification of the modes are not provided if the OPTION is set to 0 (default value).
2 Indicators provided change following the location of field point.
3 Indicators are provided if the REACTION is set to 1 (see data block definition).
Table 10.9: Indicators provided for additional output types.
10.7.0.3 Output quantities for a modal frequency response
For each COMPONENT in a modal frequency response (ACTRAN_MODAL), a COMPONENT

entry is created, which varies depending if the COMPONENT is elastic or acoustic.
Table 10.10 provides the indicators output by Actran following the type of
domain involved in the computation. The indicators are defined in Table 10.2.
Component type Provided Indicator

Acoustic fDP fKP ijP sp
Structure iP ijP sDP sKP
Table 10.10: Indicators provided following domains in a modal frequency response.
10.8 Maps output quantities
The output quantities in NFF files contains both global and local indicators, which
can be dynamic (frequency dependent) or static. The type of quantity that is
available depends on the type of component present within the model.
10.8 Maps output quantities 141
Component name Provided Indicator

fluid_power13 fluid_power_density23 fp
Acoustic fi fpo fv3
sp
solid_power13 solid_power_density23 su3
Beam
sv sr3
DelanyBazleyPorous fi fpo fv3
sp
Discrete
sun3 sv
InfiniteAcoustic rP2 rP_density2
LumpedPorous fi fpo fv3
sp
Membrane solid_power13 solid_power_density13 su3
fi fpo fv3
PorousUp solid_power13 solid_power_density23
coupling_power13 coupling_power_density23 su3
sv sp
RigidPorous fi fpo fv3
sp
SolidShell
sv
ThinShell
sv sr3
ViscoElastic
sv
ViscothermalAcoustic fi fpo fv3
sp sos rho
1 Power is provided if the POWER_EVALUATION is set to 1 (see data block definition).

2 Power is provided if the POWER_EVALUATION is set to 2 (see data block definition).
3 Indicator is vectorial and thus consists in different components.
Table 10.11: Results indicators provided in maps following the component.
The *_power are referring to quadratic quantities if POWER_EVALUATION is set

to 1 and to local quantities (discontinuous) if POWER_EVALUATION is set to 2.
The *_power_density quantities are only referring to local indicators, which
correspond to the *_power value divided by the volume of the finite elements.
To go in further details about the *_power and *_power_density quantities:
• The first component of the fluid_power and fluid_power_density corre-

sponds to fDP.;
• The second component of the fluid_power and fluid_power_density corre-

sponds to fKP.;
• The first component of the solid_power and solid_power_density corre-

sponds to sDP.;
• The second component of the solid_power and solid_power_density corre-

sponds to sKP.;
• The first component of the coupling_power and coupling_power_density

corresponds to cDP.;
• The second component of the coupling_power and coupling_power_density

corresponds to cKP.;
10.8.1 Suggested further reading

The following sections of the documentation present useful information related
to this section on producing frequency response functions:
• Sections 3.126 of Volume 2 and 3.107 of Volume 2 present the syntax of the
SAVE and OUTPUT_FRF data block;
• Section 47.1 explains how to extract FRF functions from the *.plt file;
• Section 47.4 describes the use of plt_save to rescue some results of ongoing
or crashed computations;
• Section 47.5 describes the use of plt_merge to merge different plt files
together.
• Please refer to the ActranVI manual for explanations about post processing
operations using ActranVI and PLTViewer.
Part III
Actran Theory
143
Eleven
Acoustic and Elastic

Elements
Contents
11.1 Finite element topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
11.2 Convention on normal orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
11.3 Transverse elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
11.4 2D, 3D and axisymmetric problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
11.5 Component and material definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
11.6 Finite elements for acoustic fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
11.7 Finite elements for thin layers or tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
11.8 Finite elements for solid visco-elastic continuum . . . . . . . 163
11.9 Finite elements for visco-elastic solid shells . . . . . . . . . . 166
11.10 Finite elements for visco-elastic thin shells . . . . . . . . . . . 170
11.11 Incompressible elastic materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11.12 Membrane elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
11.1 Finite element topology

Actran supports the various finite element topologies summarized in Table 11.1.
The list of nodes defining each element topology must be given in a precise order
defined in Figures 11.1–11.6.
145
146 Acoustic and Elastic Elements
Short name Topology Interpolation order

POINT Point -
LIN02 Line Linear
LIN03 Line Quadratic
TRI03 Triangle Linear
TRI06 Triangle Quadratic
QUA04 Quadrangle Linear
QUA08 Quadrangle Quadratic
TET04 Tetrahedron Linear
TET10 Tetrahedron Quadratic
PEN06 Pentahedron (Wedge) Linear
PEN15 Pentahedron (Wedge) Quadratic
HEX08 Hexahedron (Brick) Linear
HEX20 Hexahedron (Brick) Quadratic
PYR05 Pyramid Linear
PYR13 Pyramid Quadratic
Table 11.1: Overview of element library.
Figure 11.1: Topology of line elements (2 and 3 nodes).
Figure 11.2: Topology of triangular elements (3 and 6 nodes).

11.1 Finite element topology 147
Figure 11.3: Topology of quadrangular elements (4 and 8 nodes).
Figure 11.4: Topology of tetrahedral elements (4 and 10 nodes).
Figure 11.5: Topology of pentahedral elements (6 and 15 nodes).

Figure 11.6: Topology of hexahedral elements (8 and 20 nodes).
Figure 11.7: Topology of pyramidal elements (5 and 13 nodes).

11.2 Convention on normal orientation 149
11.2 Convention on normal orientation

Some boundary conditions and thin shell properties are defined with respect
to a reference normal direction. This section explains how Actran defines the
normal direction on 2D domains.
11.2.1 User-defined normal

The user normal of a 2D domain is the normal pointing in the direction of the 2D
element definition (right-handed screw rule applied to the element connectivity).
If all elements of a given element set are not aligned, the direction of the first
element will be used and propagated to all other elements. A warning message
is issued, though, to inform the user about this action.
11.2.2 Normals of Boundary Conditions

Boundary conditions might be applied through 2D domains. The normal vector
definition of these 2D domains depends on the domains configuration. Please
find bellow an enumeration resuming these configurations and the way Actran
will consider the normal vectors:
• In case of a boundary condition applied on the skin of a 3D domain touching

one or more 2D domains, the normal on the 2D domains is oriented towards
the exterior of the 3D domain.
• In case of a boundary condition applied between two 3D domains having

different PID, the normal is directed towards the exterior of the 3D domain
having the lower PID. It thus points from lower to higher PID.
• In case of a boundary condition applied between two 3D domains having

the same PID, the normal vector will be in the direction of the user normal
of the 2D boundary. The user normal is selected only as a fallback, so that
the user does not have to control 2D element direction in most cases.
11.2.3 Normals of Components

In case of components associated to 3D domains, Actran assumes that the
normal vectors of the 3D domains skins are oriented from the inside towards the
outside of the 3D domains.
For components associated to 2D domains, typically DSHELL or MEMBRANE
components, the user defined normal is used.
To ease the use of normals, auto-orient and user-defined normal vectors (respec-
tively normals used for boundary conditions and components) can be visualized
within ActranVI when double-clicking on the 2D mesh domain within the topol-
ogy (Figure 11.8).
Figure 11.8: User-orient and Auto-orient normal visualization option.
11.3 Transverse elements

11.3.1 Definition
Most Actran elements are fully isotropic and have no preferential direction. This
is for instance the case for visco-elastic and poro-elastic solids or for standard
acoustic elements. There are however important elements (visco-elastic solid shell
elements and visco-thermal acoustic elements) for which there is a preferential
direction across the thickness of the element (normal direction). The normal
direction is deduced from the node numbering as shown in Figure 11.9. The first
4 (or 8) nodes of an HEX08 (or HEX20) element define the transversal surface. In
the same way, the first 3 (or 6) nodes of a PEN06 (or PEN15) element define the
transversal surface. The preferential direction is precisely related to the normal
to this transversal surface. In 2D or axi, the first 2 (or 3) nodes of the QUA04
(or QUA08) element define the transversal direction, the preferential direction is
normal to this transversal direction.
Remark. Erroneous results will be obtained if the node numbering defines

an inconsistent normal direction.
11.3.2 Automatic orientation of transverse elements

Actran can automatically check and also adapt the orientation of transverse
elements. This is obtained by adding the AUTO_ORIENT complement after the
component type in the relevant COMPONENT data block:
BEGIN COMPONENT 1
SHELL AUTO_ORIENT [1, 2 or 3]
MATERIAL 1
END COMPONENT 1
The use of AUTO_ORIENT is therefore recommended. 3 methods are existing for

adapting the orientation.
• If only AUTO_ORIENT is defined or set to 1, the normal direction will be

defined along the element’s smallest thickness. A wrong orientation could
therefore be assigned to elements whose transverse edges are smaller than
their thickness.
11.4 2D, 3D and axisymmetric problems 151
Figure 11.9: Definition of normal direction and transverse plane.
• If the AUTO_ORIENT is set to 2, the normal direction will be defined follow-

ing free edges (in 2D or axisymmetric computations) or free faces. The
orientation is therefore not correct if multiple layers of transverse elements
of same identification are superposed.
• If the AUTO_ORIENT is set to 3, the normal direction will be defined by the

node numbering. The first 3 nodes having the lowest identification number
(not accounting for their order of appearance within concerned element)
define the transversal surface. In 2D or Axi, the 2 nodes having the lowest
ID defines the transversal edge.
11.4 2D, 3D and axisymmetric problems

Actran can be used to analyze two-dimensional, three-dimensional and axisym-
metric problems. The mesh of two-dimensional problems must lie in the XY
plane. The mesh of axisymmetric problems must lie in the right half (X ≥ 0) of
the XY plane, the Y axis being the axis of revolution. See Section 3.6 of Volume 2
for more information about axisymmetric computations.
11.5 Component and material definition

The notions of physical material and numerical representation are distinguished
through the usage of the MATERIAL and COMPONENT data blocks. Elements defined
inside the ELEMENT data block are referring to a COMPONENT data block, which
specifies the finite element numerical model to use, the additional fields and/or
numerical parameters. This COMPONENT data block is also referring to a specific
MATERIAL data block, that contains physical material properties only.
Multiple COMPONENT data blocks can refer to a same MATERIAL (for instance, an
ACOUSTIC and a VISCOTHERMAL component can both refer to the same FLUID
material). In this case, it should be noted that some components do not require
all the physical material properties supported within the MATERIAL data block.
For instance, viscosity and thermal conductivity defined within a FLUID material
are only needed if this latest is pointed by a VISCOTHERMAL component.
The next sections contain both information on the required material and compo-
nent properties.
11.6 Finite elements for acoustic fluids 153
11.6 Finite elements for acoustic fluids

11.6.1 Supported topologies
1D Elements 2D Elements AXI Elements 3D Elements
LIN02 No. QUA04 Yes. QUA04 Yes. HEX08 Yes.
TRI03 Yes. TRI03 Yes. PEN06 Yes.
TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.
11.6.2 Degrees of freedom

Each node carries a single degree of freedom: the acoustic pressure.
Remark. Internally, Actran is using a potential variable instead of the

acoustic pressure. This choice is required for handling the convected wave
equation (acoustic propagation with flow - see Section 27).
11.6.3 Component properties

One property which drives the numerical model of the acoustic component is
the MODIFIED_INTEGRATION keyword. If this keyword is activated (by setting it
at 1 or 3), then modified integration rules are used inside the numerical model.
These rules have been optimized to decrease the dispersion error related to the
numerical scheme (see [42]). These rules are available only for linear acoustic
elements and are incompatible with the usage of the KRYLOV solver.
The optional keyword INCIDENT_SOURCE activates the conventional decomposi-

tion procedure into an incident and a scattered pressure field for a list of sources
in the concerned acoustic component. The list of sources can be defined by using
the following syntax:
• The keyword ALL points to all sources defined within the Actran input
file;
• Each sources can be added separately by entering the source_id of the
related source;
• Each source can be suppressed from the list separately by entering the
-source_id of the related source.
Following numerical parameters affect the post-processing of acoustical compo-

nents:
• The optional keyword POWER_EVALUATION set to 1 activates the computation

of the dissipated power in the component;
• The optional keyword SKIP_VELOCITY set to 1 de-activate the storage of

velocity and intensity indicators.
De-activating the storage of velocity and intensity indicators leads to a reduc-

tion of the memory used by Actran during the model assembling and post-
processing. If this keyword is defined in the frame of a computation with mean
flow, no pressure information will be computed in the finite element domain
(i.e. no maps can be output and no information on field points located within
the finite element domain can be stored). However pressure values within the
infinite element domain are computed normally.
11.6.4 Material properties

The propagation of acoustics in fluids is governed by the equations described in
Chapter 27. The wave propagation depends on mean flow quantities which are
related by thermodynamical and material properties.
On each point of the acoustic medium, the fluid properties can be defined by
means of the following quantities:
Quantity notation unit

pressure p Pa
density ρ kg.m−3
temperature T K
sound speed c m.s−1
(specific) enthalpy h J.kg−1
(specific) entropy s J.kg−1 .K −1
A set of values (p, ρ, T, c, h, s) represents the local state at a given position. Based
on two of these quantities and the velocity (~v), one can compute any other by
use of thermodynamical equations or tables. The equations or tables are material
dependent, and will vary depending on the flow type acting on the component.
Three type of flows can be handled and will be described:
• Non moving air :it corresponds to a no-flow condition.
• Isentropic mean flow : flow that is both adiabatic (no energy is added to the
flow) and reversible (no energy losses occur due to friction or dissipative
effects). The entropy level of each fluid particle may vary from particle to
particle but the entropy of the system remain constant.
• Homentropic mean flow : isentropic flow with a constant and uniform

entropy.
Three types of MATERIAL are supported:
• Standard fluid (FLUID material);
• Perfect Gas (PERFECT_GAS material);
• Water (WATER material).
11.6.4.1 Static and Total values

Before describing into the details all materials available in Actran for acoustic
components, we introduce the concept of static and total values associated to
each of the before mentioned quantities :
• The static state represented by (p, ρ, T, c, h, s), is the local state correspond-
ing to the local fluid equilibrium,
• The total state represented by (p T , ρ T , TT , c T , h T , s T ), is a fictive state

representing the value one could measure by slowing down isentropically
the flow field up to the measurement device.
These two states are related by the following transformations :
k~vk2
hT = h + (11.1)
2
sT = s (11.2)
If the fluid is at rest the static and total state coincide.
The total or static character of the measure is directly related to the design of the
measurement device. In the remaining of the document, the subscript T denotes
the total values, the subscript S which could have been used for static values is
generally omitted.
Some measurement devices provide measured values in a reference flow which

differs from zero or the local flow velocity. The measure is an intermediate value
between static and total values and is translated automatically into a total value
by Actran as long as a reference flow (REFERENCE_FLOW keyword) velocity is
specified in the Actran simulation.
Before describing the different materials supporting the acoustic propagation, we

remind two important thermodynamic equations (v = 1ρ ):
!
∂v
dh = c p dT + v−T dp (11.3)
∂T p
cp

∂v
ds = dT − dp (11.4)
T ∂T p
where c p and cv are respectively the specific heat at constant pressure and specific
heat at constant volume. The speed of sound c is defined as the pressure variation
for an infinitesimal density variation in an isentropic process:

2 ∂p
c = (11.5)
∂ρ s
11.6.4.2 Flow Types

• Non moving air: it corresponds to a no-flow condition.
The acoustic fluid is then characterized by the following parameters:
– the fluid density ρre f kg/m3 ;

– the sound speed cre f [m/s].
Those thermodynamic quantities are constant in the whole domain and are
the only one needed.
• A homentropic mean flow corresponds to an isentropic flow with a constant

and uniform entropy. In Actran, this means that a FLOW is specified within
the concerned acoustic component.
The acoustic fluid is then characterized by its total values, which are as-
sumed constant in the whole domain:
– a reference mean velocity Vre f defined through the REFERENCE_FLOW

keyword;
– the reference fluid density ρre f kg/m3 at the Vre f condition;

– the reference sound speed cre f [m/s] at the Vre f condition;

– heat capacity at constant pressure c p [ J/ (kg · K )];
– heat capacity at constant volume cv [ J/ (kg · K )] (for a FLUID material)
or the ideal gas constant R [ J/ (kg · K )] (for a PERFECT_GAS material).
The reference density and the reference speed of sound corresponds to the
local values in the mean flow at a reference point with a Vre f mean velocity.
Total values are deduced from the reference values and velocity. Because
of the presence of the flow, the local mean density and the local speed of
sound are modified at each node.
• An isentropic mean flow is both adiabatic (no energy is added to the flow)
and reversible (no energy losses occur due to friction or dissipative effects).
The entropy level of each fluid particle may vary from particle to particle
but the entropy of the system remain constant. Within Actran, it can be
specified by defining both a FLOW and an acoustic heterogeneity over the
domain. Three possibilities are offered to the user for the specification of
such heterogeneous acoustic medium:
– Specification of static density and static pressure values at the nodes

of the heterogeneous acoustic domain;
– Specification of static temperature and static pressure values at the

nodes of the heterogeneous acoustic domain;
– Specification of static density and static sound speed values at the

nodes of the heterogeneous acoustic domain.
The acoustic fluid is only then only characterized by the two following
quantities:
– heat capacity at constant pressure c p [ J/ (kg · K )];
– heat capacity at constant volume cv [ J/ (kg · K )] (for a FLUID material)

or the ideal gas constant R [ J/ (kg · K )] (for a PERFECT_GAS material).
Because of the characteristics of the mean flow, the remaining unknown

local values are deduced from the local values available, depending on the
material properties.
11.6.4.3 Standard fluid (FLUID material)
A standard fluid is a generic material for all gas characterized by
1. The equation p = ρRT;
2. The constant c p specific heat at constant pressure which is constant and not
temperature dependent;
3. The constant cv specific heat at constant volume which is constant and not
temperature dependent.
Based on the above hypothesis and the thermodynamics equations, we derive the
following formulas:
p
c = γRT (11.6)
r
γp
c= (11.7)
ρ
γ−1 V 2
TT = T (1 + ( ) ) (11.8)
2 c
γ − 1 V 2 γ−γ 1
p T = p (1 + ( ) ) (11.9)
2 c
γ − 1 V 2 γ−1 1
ρ T = ρ (1 + ( ) ) (11.10)
2 c
cp
=γ (11.11)
cv
The equations 11.6, 11.8, 11.9 and 11.10 illustrate a complex set of relationships
between the static and total state quantities. Depending on the provided fields
(imported from CFD results, or specified in the input file), Actran will use dif-
ferent path to identify the necessary quantities to setup the acoustic propagation
operator (see chapter 27).
11.6.4.4 Perfect Gas
A perfect gas is a generic material for all gas characterized by
1. The equation p = ρRT,

2. The constant R is the (specific) perfect gas constant, defined for each gas
according to its molecular weight,
3. A polynomial form for the specific heat at constant pressure c p temperature
dependance (c p ( T ) = ∑i ai T i )
By definition, the specific heat at constant pressure c p is related to the specific

heat at constant volume cv and to gas constant R : c p − cv = R. Based on the
above hypothesis and the thermodynamics equations, we derive the following
formulas:
s
c p (T )
c= RT (11.12)
c p (T ) − R
k~vk2
Z TT
c p ( T )dT = (11.13)
TS 2
p 1 TT c p ( T )
Z
ln( T ) = dT (11.14)
p R TS T
1 TT c p ( T ) − R
Z
ρT
ln( ) = dT (11.15)
ρ R TS T
The equations 11.12, 11.13, 11.14 and 11.15 illustrate a complex set of relationships
between the static and total state quantities. Depending on the provided fields
(imported from CFD results, or specified in the input file), Actran will use dif-
ferent path to identify the necessary quantities to setup the acoustic propagation
operator (see chapter 27).
In a PERFECT_GAS block , the c p value is temperature dependent and can be

approximated by a polynomial interpolation c p ( T ) = ∑i ai T i . The coefficients ai
are specified in the input file following the CP parameter. The gas constant is not
temperature dependent and should be set following the R parameter.
11.6.4.5 Water
The WATER material allows modelling in particular the water (both in liquid and
vapor state depending on the thermodynamic state). The computation of the
thermodynamic state is not described by mathematical relationships, but is based
on search in thermodynamic tables implemented into Actran. Based on two
supplied mean flow fields, the material will find the corresponding static enthalpy
and static entropy values. This defines the thermodynamic state which is used to
find requested fields (static/total density, static/total speed of sound) by looking
into the thermodynamic tables.
The water thermodynamic tables implemented in Actran are based on standard

water properties found in [58]. The computation of the sound speed which is not
part of the these thermodynamic tables is done using the sound speed definition
(c2 =
∂p
∂ρ for the vapor phase and using a mathematical expression [17] for the
s
liquid phase (which offers a better accuracy). The WATER material is not a generic
material and is specific to common water properties and should not be used for
other liquids/gases.
11.6.4.6 Complex speed of sound - Molecular Relaxation
Three dissipation processes can take place into flows: thermal dissipation, viscous
dissipation and thermal relaxation of molecular vibrational level of energy. The
two first mechanisms are usually neglected while establishing the acoustic propa-
gation operator, see Section 27.2.3 for more details and Chap. 28 for propagation
with visco-thermal effects. However last mechanism can be taken into account
through a modified speed of sound.
The dissipation phenomena is due to the deviation from equilibrium of molecules

submitted to pressure oscillations. Time variations of fluid density ρ can be
written in term of pressure and entropy fluctuations [52]:

∂ ∂ρ ∂ ∂ρ ∂ ∂ρ ∂
ρ= p+ s+∑ ξν (11.16)
∂t ∂p s,ξ ν ∂t ∂s p,ξ ν ∂t ν ∂ξ ν p,s ∂t
and in term of complex perturbation (0 variables):

∂ρ ∂ρ ∂ρ
ρ0 = p0 + s0 + ∑ ξ ν0 (11.17)
∂p s,ν ∂s p,ν ν ∂ξ ν p,s
where s is the entropy of the fluid and ξ ν is a mesure of the deviation from
equilibrium.

ξ ν0 = jαMR p0 [52],
∂ρ
If we neglect fluctuations of entropy and rewrite ∑ν ∂ξ ν
p,s
the preceding relation writes :

0 1 1 0
ρ = + jα RM p0 = p (11.18)
c2 c ∗2
with c∗ a complex speed of sound.
The complex speed of sound can be specified in MATERIAL datablock through

CONSTANT, TABLE or FIELD.
If the material properties are specified inside the COMPONENT in terms of

FIELD, the complex part of the speed of sound is computed thanks to a damping
factor defined as the ratio of imaginary and real part of the speed of sound.
This speed of sound is specified by the MATERIAL datablock referenced in the
COMPONENT.
11.7 Finite elements for thin layers or tubes 161
11.7 Finite elements for thin acoustic layers or tubes in-

cluding visco-thermal effects
These elements are used to model thin air layers or tubes where visco-thermal
loss effects are expected to be significant.

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.


A visco-thermal component should always refer to a FLUID material. The needed
material properties are defined in the following section.
Additionally, it is required to specify the restrained dimension of the layer or the

tube in order to take into account visco-thermal losses. If the model consists in a
thin layer, then only the THICKNESS parameter will be required. If it consists in a
tube, then either the RADIUS (for a circular cross-section) or the THICKNESS and
WIDTH (for a rectangular cross-section) parameters need to be defined.
The computation of the dissipated powers can be activated by adding the

POWER_EVALUATION keyword. The output quantities are described in Section 36.7.

The material properties defining this material are:
• fluid density ρ f [kg/m3 ];
• sound speed c [m/s];
• heat capacity at constant pressure c p [J/(K.kg)];
• heat capacity at constant volume cv [J/(K.kg)];
• thermal conductivity k [W/(K.m)];

• dynamic viscosity η [Pa.s].
See Section 11.6.4 for more information on the first four parameters (ρ f , c, c p , cv ).
The thermal conductivity of air is 25.6 · 103 [W/(K.m)]. The air dynamic viscosity
is 18.2 · 10−6 [Pa.s].
11.7.5 Normal direction

Modelling thin acoustic layers including visco-thermal effects can be achieved
using either transverse elements (see Section 11.3) or either standard elements.
Using transverse elements allows to find the (variable) thickness automatically
when only one layer of elements is used along the normal direction. Using
standard elements require the parameter THICKNESS to be defined for retrieving
the thickness of the layer. In this case, all element types can be used.
To model a tube (with a rectangular or circular cross-section), all types of ele-

ment are supported, requiring the definition of the tube’s dimension inside the
COMPONENT.
11.7.6 Suggested Further Reading
• The implementation in Actran of visco-thermal elements relies on the
theory developed by Beltman [30].
• Further details on the implementation of the visco-thermal elements can be

found in Chapter 28.
• Equivalent fluid properties can be retrieved using the get_equivfluid

utility (see Section 47.7).
• The adapted fluid properties at each location and frequency is available in

the output maps (see Section 10.8).
11.8 Finite elements for solid visco-elastic continuum 163
11.8 Finite elements for solid visco-elastic continuum

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

11.8.2.1 3D case
Each node supports three degrees of freedom, i.e. the displacement components
u x , uy and uz of the node along the x, y and z directions.
11.8.2.2 2D case
Each node supports two degrees of freedom, i.e. the displacement components
u x and uy of the node along the x and y directions.
11.8.2.3 Axisymmetric case

For azimuthal order m = 0, each node supports two degrees of freedom, i.e.
the displacement components ur and uz of the node along radial and vertical
directions. For azimuthal order m 6= 0, each node supports three degrees of
freedom i.e. the displacement components ur , uz and uθ of the node along the
radial, vertical and circumferential directions.

The evaluation of dissipated powers can be activated using the
POWER_EVALUATION keyword. Visco-elastic solid components can refer to
ISOTROPIC_SOLID, TRANSVERSE_ISOTROPIC_SOLID and ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID
material (ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID material is not supported in axisymmetric case).
When using TRANSVERSE_ISOTROPIC_SOLID or ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID materials,

the local reference material coordinate system can be defined by using
REFERENCE_DIRECTION_1 and REFERENCE_DIRECTION_2.
Remark. See Section 11.11 for a description of the parameters controlling

incompressible components.

Tree different material formulations are available for solid in Actran.
An isotropic solid material is characterized by three parameters which are either:
• Young modulus E;
• Poisson ratio ν;
• density ρs .
or:
• first Lamé constant λ;
• second Lamé constant µ;
• density ρs .
The relationship between (λ,µ) and (E,ν) is as follows:
νE
λ= (11.19)
( 1 + ν ) (1 − 2ν)
E
µ= (11.20)
2 (1 + ν )
One also often refers to the shear modulus G and elastic bulk modulus K which
are also linked to E and ν by:
E
G=µ= (11.21)
2 (1 + ν )
E
K= (11.22)
3 (1 − 2ν)
To account for dissipative effects, E and ν (or λ and µ ) can be complex and
frequency dependent.
A transverse isotropic solid material is characterized by six parameters which are:
• normal Young’s modulus En and Poisson’s ratio νn defining deforma-

tions due to applied tension in the direction perpendicular to the plane of
isotropy;
• transverse Young’s modulus Et and Poisson’s ratio νt defining deformations

due to applied tension in the orthogonal direction within the plane of
isotropy;
11.8 Finite elements for solid visco-elastic continuum 165
• shear modulus G relating shear deformation to shear load in the plane of

isotropy;
• density ρs .
An orthotropic solid material is characterized by ten parameters which are:
• the three Young’s modulus E1 , E2 and E3 ;
• the three Poisson’s ratios ν12 , ν13 and ν23 ;
• the three shear modulus G12 , G13 and G23 ;
• the solid density ρs .

11.9 Finite elements for visco-elastic solid shells

Actran’s shell element library features a complete solid shell element library
and a unique proprietary formulation ensuring that no thickness locking and no
shear locking effects occur, even for very thin solid shells.

TRI03 No. TRI03 No. PEN06 Yes.
TRI06 No. TRI06 No. PEN15 Yes.
TET04 No.
TET10 No.
PYR05 No.
PYR13 No.

11.9.2.1 3D case
Each node supports three degrees of freedom i.e. the displacement components
11.9.2.2 2D case
Each node supports two degrees of freedom i.e. the displacement components u x
and uy of the node along the x and y directions.
For azimuthal order m = 0, each node supports two degrees of freedom i.e. the
displacement components ur and uz of the node along the radial and vertical
directions. For azimuthal order m 6= 0, each node supports three degrees of
freedom i.e. the displacement components ur , uz and uθ of the node along the
radial, vertical and circumferential directions.
The evaluation of dissipated powers can be activated using the POWER_EVALUATION
keyword. Visco-elastic solid shell components can refer to any ISOTROPIC_SOLID,
TRANSVERSE_ISOTROPIC_SOLID, ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID and COMPOSITE_SOLID ma-
terial.
When using ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID or COMPOSITE_SOLID materials, the definition

of a REFERENCE_DIRECTION becomes mandatory and allows to define a local
reference material coordinate system (more information on the modelling of such
components can be found in Section 30.4) .

11.9 Finite elements for visco-elastic solid shells 167

Four different material formulations are available for solid shells in Actran.
An isotropic solid material is characterized by three parameters which are either:
• density ρs .
or:
• density ρs .
A transverse isotropic solid material is characterized by six parameters which are:
• normal Young’s modulus En and Poisson’s ratio ν defining deformations

due to normal (i.e. across the thickness) loads (see Figure 11.10);
• transverse Young’s modulus Et and Poisson’s ratio ν defining deformations

due to transverse (i.e. in plane) loads (see Figure 11.11);
• shear modulus G relating transverse shear deformation to transverse shear

load (see Figure 11.12);
• density ρs .
An orthotropic solid material is characterized by ten parameters which are:
• the three Young’s modulus E1 , E2 and E3 ;
• the three Poisson’s ratios ν12 , ν13 and ν23 ;
• the three shear modulus G12 , G13 and G23 ;
• the solid density ρs .
Additionally, a composite material is also available for solid shells through

the COMPOSITE_SOLID material. Further information about composite material
modelling can be found in Chapter 30.
Figure 11.10: Deformations due to normal loads.
Figure 11.11: Deformations due to in plane loads.
Figure 11.12: Deformation due to shear loads.

11.9 Finite elements for visco-elastic solid shells 169
11.9.5 Normal direction

Visco-elastic shell elements fall in Actran’s transverse element category (see
Section 11.3) and the nodes must be numbered so that the normal direction
(normal to the first face of the element) is across the element thickness. Erroneous
results will be obtained if the nodes are not properly numbered.
11.10 Finite elements for visco-elastic thin shells

Actran’s thin shell element library allows for modeling thin plates using a
simplified representation (2D elements). It represents a component with one very
small dimension and two larger dimensions. One main condition for using such
element library is to insure this condition is achieved (having roughly a factor
1/15 between thickness and next highest dimension).
11.10.1 Assumptions and implementation

Following assumptions are made when modeling thin shells:
• Compression of the thin shell is not modeled; compressive stress is assumed

nul over the whole thickness of the shell;
• The normal to the neutral plane remains straight during bending.
Formulation of the shell elements makes use of the drilling part of the rotations to
improve the shell membrane behavior using the Allman/Cook formulation ([35]).
It uses the discrete shear gap technique ([25]) to avoid shear-locking. Anisotropic
membrane, bending and coupling stiffness are supported, and both translational
and rotational inertia are taken into account. Offset of the mid-plane is supported
for both the stiffness and inertia terms.
Residual bending correction of shear stiffness([35]) is used for thin shells, leading
to an improved convergence rate for low mesh refinement.

Thin shells are elements having a dimension one unit lower than the dimension
of space (or surrounding acoustic elements), as shown in the table below:
2D Computations AXI computations 3D Computations

LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes. QUA04 Yes.
LIN03 No. LIN03 No. QUA08 No.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 No.

11.10.3.1 3D case
Each node supports six degrees of freedom i.e. the displacement components u x ,
uy and uz of the node along the x, y and z directions and the rotation components
θ x , θy and θz of the node along the x, y and z axis.
11.10 Finite elements for visco-elastic thin shells 171
11.10.3.2 2D case
u x and uy of the node along the x and y directions and the rotation component
θz of the node along z axis.
For azimuthal order m = 0, each node supports three degrees of freedom i.e. the
displacement components ur and uz of the node along the radial and vertical di-
rections and the rotational component rθ along the azimuthal axis. For azimuthal
order m 6= 0, each node supports six degrees of freedom.

One mandatory component property for thin shell is the THICKNESS property,
that defines the thickness of the plate.
Additionally, an OFFSET can be defined, which represents the offset of the neutral
fiber to the element definition. This OFFSET can be made relative to the THICKNESS
by activating the OFFSET_RELATIVE keyword. By default, no offset is defined on
thin shells.
A pre-stress state can be included using the keyword TENSION followed by

the tension second-order tensor. The first values are corresponding to the
inplane tensions along the REFERENCE_DIRECTION and the orthogonal inplane
direction, while the third value corresponds to the inplane shear tension.
Please note that a pre-stress state can be alternatively introduced through
the INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT and INITIAL_ROTATION keywords of the related
COMPONENT (see Section 3.10 of Volume 2 and Section 3.53 of Volume 2) data
blocks. Please refer to Chapter 31 for more details on the handling of pre-stressed
structures.
One property which drives the numerical model of the thin shell component is
the LUMPED_MASS keyword, which activates the lumping of the mass matrix. Two
mass lumping strategies are available. More information on the implementation
of mass lumping can be found in Section 11.10.6.

keyword. Visco-elastic thin shell components can refer to any ISOTROPIC_SOLID,
TRANSVERSE_ISOTROPIC_SOLID, ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID and COMPOSITE_SOLID ma-
terial.
When using ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID or COMPOSITE_SOLID materials, the definition

of a REFERENCE_DIRECTION becomes mandatory and allows to define a local
reference material coordinate system (more information on the modeling of such
components can be found in Section 30.4).


The material properties for thin shells are identical to the solid shells. For more
information about the required material properties, please refer to Section 11.9.4.
11.10.6 Mass matrix lumping

Not lumping the mass matrix (default behavior) is more accurate and secure but
has a tendency to overestimate the eigenfrequencies when using a coarse mesh
(less than 8 elements per bending wavelength). This is due to the overestimation
of low wavelength stiffness, which is typical to FE methods.
Lumping the mass matrix is a simplified formulation which tends to overesti-

mate the inertia of the structure, especially on a coarse mesh, by having only
diagonal translational and rotational components inside the mass matrix. This
overestimation compensates the typical FE overestimation of stiffness, leading to
a more accurate estimation of eigenfrequencies. This mass lumping strategy can
be activated for the component by defining the LUMPED_MASS parameter at 1.
A second mass lumping strategy consist in using an average of the two mass
matrices. This mass lumping strategy can be activated for the component by
defining the LUMPED_MASS parameter at 2.
11.11 Incompressible elastic materials 173
11.11 Incompressible elastic materials

Incompressible isotropic materials are characterized by a Poisson’s coefficient
equal to or very close to 0.5 in which case the first Lamé constant λ becomes infi-
nite. Actran handles incompressible materials by splitting, first, the constitutive
matrix D into two components D 0 and D 00 :
λ + 2µ 0 0 0
 
λ λ

 λ λ + 2µ λ 0 0 0 


 λ λ λ + 2µ 0 0 0 
=

 0 0 0 µ 0 0 

 0 0 0 0 µ 0 
0 0 0 0 0 µ
| {z }
D
2µ 0 0 0 0 0 λ 0 0 0
   
λ λ

 0 2µ 0 0 0 0  
  λ λ λ 0 0 0 

 0 0 2µ 0 0 0  
+ λ λ λ 0 0 0 
  (11.23)

 0 0 0 µ 0 0  
  0 0 0 0 0 0 

 0 0 0 0 µ 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 µ 0 0 0 0 0 0
| {z } | {z }
D0 D 00
and, then, by under-integrating stiffness contributions related to D 00 . By doing

this, one avoids the classical locking problem related to incompressible or nearly
incompressible materials (see Figure 11.13). Incompressibility is automatically
activated by Actran when the ratio of the first and second Lamé constants is
larger than 105 (or when the Poisson’s ratio is equal to 0.5). Under-integration
can be enforced by including the following line in the corresponding material
definition section of the input file:
INCOMPRESSIBLE 1
Alternatively, one could decide to force a normal integration by using:
INCOMPRESSIBLE 0
The number following the keyword INCOMPRESSIBLE indicates how much the
integration order must be reduced. One can specify any reduction . . . . up to the
point where the volume strain term is no longer calculated. This feature should
be used by advanced users only.
Remark. The linear tetrahedral elements do not support the

INCOMPRESSIBLE keyword and should therefore not be used in conjunc-
tion with Poisson ratio close to 0.5. Hexahedral (linear or quadratic) or
quadratic tetrahedral element should be used.
Figure 11.13: Handling of incompressibility in Actran. The model represents a cube

under compression. Models on the left use reduced integration and correctly handle
incompressibility even when Poisson’s ratio is very close to 0.5. Models on the right use
standard integration and exhibit an overestimated stiffness when ν is close to 0.5.
11.12 Membrane elements 175
11.12 Membrane elements

Membrane elements are intended to model extremely thin structure, loaded in
the normal direction only, and resisting normal loads by the way of an in-plane
tension only. Shear and bending effects are neglected.

Membrane elements are, like thin shells, elements having a dimension one unit
lower than the dimension of space (or surrounding acoustic elements), as shown
in the two tables below.

TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.

Each node supports 1 degree of freedom i.e. the normal displacement components
un along the normal of the elements.

keyword. Membrane components can only refer to SHEET materials.
No additional component properties are available.

A membrane component refers to the properties of a SHEET material. Such
material has the following characteristics:
• Tension T;
• density ρ.
A thin planar membrane located in the x − y plane having an isotropic tension T

and loaded by a distributed normal stress (pressure) − p( x, y) is modelled. Such
a membrane obeys an equation similar to the Helmholtz equation for its normal
displacement uz :
∇ xy · T ∇ xy uz ( x, y) − ω 2 ρuz = − p( x, y) (11.24)
The classical weak formulation can be written by using weighting functions δu,
integrating by parts and using the Gauss theorem:
Z Z
T ∇ xy δuz · ∇ xy uz ( x, y)dS + ω 2 ρδuz uz dS
Z Z
∂uz
= p( x, y)δuz dS + dL (11.25)
∂n xy
This weak formulation is strictly valid in 2D. It can be generalized to 3D non-
planar geometries like this:
Z Z
T ∇S δun · ∇S un dS + ω 2 ρδun un dS
Z Z
∂un
= pδun dS + dL (11.26)
∂(n ⊗ l )
with ∇S the surface gradient (∇ − n ∂n∂
) and l the tangent vector on membrane
edges (n ⊗ l is the normal to the edge parallel to the membrane).
It is important to stress that this generalization is strictly correct in 2D planar

geometries only: it is not correct for non-planar geometries. However, albeit
incorrect, it is a useful approximation even in non-planar case. Indeed, non-
planar membranes in 3D are usually loaded with an anisotropic and non-constant
tension which has to be pre-computed. The simplified formulation only requires
a constant isotropic tension, which is simpler to estimate. The approximation is
sufficient for low tension non-planar membranes which add mostly mass. For
accurate modelling of more complex cases, pre-loaded thin shells can be used.
11.12.5 Applications
The most common usage of this formulation is a low-mass, low-stiffness mem-
brane, which allows to go from a pressure (or potential) based formulation
(acoustic fluid) to a displacement based formulation. This is especially useful for
modelling correctly a shear layer in the context of convected acoustic propagation
(see Section 29).
Membrane elements also provide a way for modelling extremely thin structures,
whose main stiffness comes from tension. They differ from plates/shells that
are thicker or have no tension, and whose stiffness comes from bending and/or
traction/shear/compression. Such structures can be encountered for example in
loudspeaker applications.
Membrane elements are also useful as “virtual” elements, for transition between
a pressure or velocity potential formulation (used in classical acoustic finite
elements for example) and a displacement based formulation (used in solid finite
elements for example). Indeed, a membrane of very low density and tension
applied to a fluid gives access to the normal displacement of the fluid as a
primary variable, in contrast with the displacement obtained as a secondary
variable, obtained by spatial derivation of the potential. They thus allow to
impose pressure as a weak boundary condition (see below).
11.12 Membrane elements 177
11.12.6 Applicable boundary conditions

An essential boundary condition (normal displacement) can be imposed on
the nodes of membrane elements (see section 3.105 of Volume 2). A normal
displacement is usually imposed to 0 to fix the membrane at support points. The
natural boundary corresponds to no normal force at the edges of the membrane
elements.
Membrane elements can also be loaded by a distributed pressure (see Section 3.48
of Volume 2); it is mostly useful to impose pressure on fluids as a weak boundary
condition, instead of imposing it as a strong boundary condition. It is done by
covering the fluid interface with a membrane of very low mass and stiffness, and
by imposing the pressure as a distributed pressure on the membrane.
In presence of a surrounding mean flow, it is the only way to impose pressure, as

the variable is the (scaled) velocity potential and only potential can be fixed by a
strong boundary condition.
11.12.7 Current limitations

Actran membrane elements are able to model accurately the behavior of flat
(planar) membranes with constant isotropic tension, no bending stiffness and
a purely normal displacement. Non-planar membranes are allowed, but the
Actran model is only approximated. Non-normal behavior is not accounted for.
Those membrane elements are for coupling with fluid only, multiple membrane
element cannot be stacked, and a membrane must be planar, or at least smooth
(no edges, no branching). Indeed, edges and branching are incompatible with a
displacement field modelled by a normal displacement only.
Twelve
Beam Elements
Contents
12.1 Modelling equivalent beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
12.2 Supported topologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.3 Degrees of freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.4 Component properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
12.5 Material properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
12.6 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
12.1 Modelling equivalent beams

Stiffeners provide a way for getting stiffer structures without increasing the mass
too significantly. For this reason, stiffeners are widely used in applications where
such compromise is searched (aircraft fuselage, ship hull, etc.). In these applica-
tions, stiffeners are characterized by their strong interactions with a primary shell
structure.
The modelling strategy for stiffeners should therefore be compatible with the
particular option selected for modelling plates and shells. As the thin shell for-
mulation used in Actran is characterized by the selection of 2D elements which
refer to displacement and rotation degrees of freedom, local beams elements also
involve such degrees of freedom. Local beams are thus relying on the definition
of 1D elements between the 2D elements of the plates by using a congruent mesh.
This modelling strategy means that the usage of such beams on solid or solid
shell elements should be done carefully: the rotational degrees of freedom of the
beam cannot be connected to solids which do not carry such degrees of freedom.
This may be problematic, especially for torsion/rotation along the beam axis.
179
180 Beam Elements
12.2 Supported topologies

POI01 No. POI01 No. LIN02 Yes.
LIN03 No.
12.3 Degrees of freedom

12.3.1 3D case
12.3.2 2D case and Axisymmetric case

Beams are not supported for 2D and axisymmetric computations.
12.4 Component properties

For beam elements, the local element coordinates system must be oriented in the
global coordinate system through the REFERENCE_DIRECTION and the POINT_REF
keywords (Figure 12.1). Three options for orienting the local coordinate system
are available:
• If the POINT_REF parameter is equal to 1, then the REFERENCE_DIRECTION

defines the coordinate of a point for defining the local axis x 0 . The local
z0 axis is automatically defined by the beam orientation, following the
numbering order of the nodes in the element. The x 0 and y0 directions
therefore defines a plane perpendicular to this axis. Local axis x 0 is defined
as the projection of the vector defined by the first point of the beam and
the coordinate REFERENCE_DIRECTION on this plane while y0 is computed in
such a way that one obtains a direct (right-handed) orthonormal system.
• If the POINT_REF parameter is equal to 0 (default value), then the
REFERENCE_DIRECTION defines the cosine directors of a reference vector
for defining the local axis x 0 . Local axis x 0 is then defined as the projection
of this vector on the plane perpendicular to axis z0 .
• If the REFERENCE_DIRECTION parameter is undefined, then the local axis x 0
is defined by the positive normal direction of the 2D element in contact with
the beam. Note that when the beam elements are defined on more than 2 2D
elements, the positive normal direction could be undefined. In such cases, or
when the beam is not supported by any 2D element, REFERENCE_DIRECTION
should be provided.

keyword. Beam components can only refer to BEAM_INERTIA materials.
12.5 Material properties 181
Figure 12.1: Definition of the local element coordinate system
12.5 Material properties

An beam material is characterized by fourteen parameters which are:
• the elongation modulus E;
• the shear modulus G;
• the solid density ρs ;
• the area of the section A;
• the area moment of inertia Ixx with respect to axis y0 ;
• the area moment of inertia Iyy with respect to axis x 0 ;
• the product moment of inertia Ixy ;
• the torsional constant Iz ;
• the shear area factor Kx in plane xx 0 ;
• the shear area factor Ky in plane yy0 ;
• the offset of the center of gravity along the x 0 axis;
• the offset of the center of gravity along the y0 axis;
• the offset of the center of shear along the x 0 axis;
• the offset of the center of shear along the y0 axis.
The elongation modulus E, shear modulus G and the solid density ρs are assumed
to be homogeneous along the section of the stiffener and thus equivalent to the
values of the isotropic material, which is usually the case.
The center of shear and of gravity have an important effect on the vibrational
behavior of the beams. By default, the beams are centered on the supporting
182 Beam Elements
nodes (offsets are zero). The different offsets are indicated within the local
coordinate system of the bar elements. The center of gravity of the local stiffener
can easily be retrieved from the following formula:
R
xρs dS
x G = RS . (12.1)
S ρs dS
The center of shear is usually identical to the center of gravity.
The area moments of inertia Ixx , Iyy and Ixy for the local stiffeners are mandatory
values, as no default value exist. They can be retrieved using the following
formula:
xG )2 dS
R
S ( x R−
Ixx = , (12.2)
S dS
2 dS
R
S ( y R− y G )
Iyy = , (12.3)
S dS
R
S (x − xG )(y − yG )dS
Ixy = R . (12.4)
S dS
The torsional constant, which defines the section’s torsional stiffness, differs
depending on the type of cross-section. If the analyzed section is an invariant
circular cross-section with no significant warping, then the polar moment of
inertia can be used as the torsional constant. This can be retrieved as follows:
k x − x G k2 dS
R
S
Jz = R = Ixx + Iyy . (12.5)
S dS
For any different case (rectangular cross-sections, I-frames, ...), the torsional
constant can be retrieved from different bibliographic sources (see [51]) or from
different meshing tools offering the computation of such values for different
typical shapes. Some torsional constants for some typical cross-sections are
available:
The shear area factor Kx and Ky adjust the effective transverse shear area as
K ∗ A ∗ G in plane X and Y. Their default value of 1 activates the standard shear.
If the shear factors are set to zero, the beam would then be infinitely flexible.
They differ depending on the type of geometry. Typical values are available:
Cross-section Kx
Rectangular section 5/6,
Circular section 9/10,
Hollow circular section 1/2.
12.6 Limitations 183
Figure 12.2: Calculation of the torsional constant for different cross-sections
12.6 Limitations
The limitation of Actran beam elements is closely related to the choice of
modelling equivalent beams. Local dynamic behaviors of the stiffener cannot be
taken into account as well as the acoustic radiation.
184 Beam Elements
Thirteen
Stiener Elements
Contents
13.1 Modelling strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
13.2 Component properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
13.3 Equivalent material properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
13.4 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
13.1 Modelling strategy

Stiffeners provide a way for getting stiffer structures without increasing the mass
too significantly. For this reason, stiffeners are widely used in applications where
such compromise is searched (fuselage, ship hull, etc.). In these applications,
stiffeners are characterized by their strong interactions with a primary thin
structure.
When modelling the global structure with solid shell elements (being defined only
by displacement degrees of freedom), one can not directly use beam elements,
which rely on rotational dofs. Torsion effects, in particular, can not be correctly
represented. An alternative modelling strategy relies on the use of particular
plane elements with equivalent material properties. These elements are interposed
between shell elements at the location of stiffeners and are further described in
the sequel.

Stiffeners are planar elements having a dimension one unit lower than the di-
mension of space (or surrounding solid shell elements), as shown in the table
below:
185
186 Stiffener Elements

LIN02 No LIN02 No QUA04 Yes.
LIN03 No. LIN03 No. QUA08 Yes.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.

13.1.2.1 3D case
13.1.2.2 2D case and Axisymmetric case

Stiffeners are not supported for 2D and axisymmetric computations.
13.2 Component properties

keyword. Stiffener components can only refer to a valid any STRINGER material.
Stiffener elements fall in Actran’s transverse element category (see Section 11.3)
and the nodes must be numbered so that the normal direction (normal to the
first face of the element) is across the thickness of the solid shells to which the
stiffener elements are attached. Erroneous results will be obtained if the nodes
are not properly numbered. The optional AUTO_ORIENT complement allows for
the automatic orientation of the stiffener elements.
Remark. A new formulation of STIFFENER has been implemented

in Actran. In order to use the previous Actran implementation of
STIFFENER components, the R10 keyword can be set to 1.
13.3 Equivalent material properties

A typical stiffener is shown in Figure 13.1. Stiffener material properties (Young
modulus E, shear modulus G and density ρ) are usually homogeneous, but could
be z dependent. The objective is to replace the original stiffener by an equivalent
plane element whose height is equal to shell thickness h. This element is inter-
posed between adjacent shell elements at stiffener’s location. The formulation
of equivalent properties relies on a two step procedure. The first step consists
in the evaluation of the global equivalent stiffness and mass properties of the
original stiffener. The second step is related to the setting of equivalent discrete
properties for a particular plane element which should be viewed as two elastic
stringers connected by a core membrane.
13.3 Equivalent material properties 187
Figure 13.1: Typical stiffener and equivalent plane element
13.3.1 Elastic properties

If one denotes by ET , E f , G and e f the following properties:
ET = Tension modulus (13.1)

E f = Flexural modulus (13.2)
G = Shear modulus (13.3)
e f = Flexural offset
the equivalence is governed by the following relations expressing that both

systems have the same axial and bending stiffnesses:
h
R
Z Z
2 EdS S
EdS = ET dz → ET = (13.4)
S − 2h h
h
R 2
Z Z
2 12 S z EdS
z2 EdS = 2
z E f dz → E f = (13.5)
S − 2h h3
and share the same shear flexibility:

h
1 1 1 1 H2
Z Z
2
dS = 2 dz → G = R . (13.6)
H2 S 2
Gw (z) h − 2h G h S Gw12 (z) dS
These conditions are supplemented with the requirement of equal bending neutral
axis for both systems:
h
ef = df (13.7)
2
with the bending neutral axis defined by
Z
(z − d f ) EdS = 0 . (13.8)
S

incompressible materials.
188 Stiffener Elements
13.3.2 Mass properties

In the same way, if one denotes by ρ T , ρ R , and e R the following properties:
ρ T = Axial density (13.9)

ρ R = Rotatory density (13.10)
e R = Rotatory offset
the mass equivalence is governed by the following relations:

Z Z h R
2 ρdS
ρdS = ρ T dz → ρ T = S (13.11)
S −2h h
Z h
12 S z2 ρdS
Z R
2 2 2
z ρdS = z ρ R dz → ρ R = (13.12)
S − 2h h3
h
eR = dR (13.13)
2
with the rotation neutral axis defined by
Z
(z − d R )ρdS = 0 . (13.14)
S
13.4 Limitations
Actran stiffener elements are able to model the main effects associated to stiffen-
ers, i.e. increase of longitudinal traction and bending stiffnesses, together with
added translation and rotation masses. However, due to their 2D nature and the
absence of rotation degrees of freedom, they are not able to model transversal and
torsional stiffnesses associated to actual 3D stiffeners. In order to model these 3D
effects, one should model explicitly these stiffeners using 3-D continuum elements
or use BEAM components. Alternatively, one can use thin shells associated with
beams.
Fourteen
Springs, Lumped Mass,

Rigid Body and Mean
Constrain Elements
Contents
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
14.2 Finite elements for springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
14.3 Finite elements for lumped masses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
14.4 Finite elements for rigid bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
14.5 Finite elements for mean constrains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
14.1 Introduction
Discrete bar and node elements are often used for modeling complex connections
between different structural components or local masses to be added. In Actran,
four types of discrete components are supported: the DISCRETE , POINT_MASS ,
RIGID_BODY and MEAN_CONSTRAIN components. The first allows modeling any
type of springs and or masses, while the second is used for modeling local lumped
masses with an added inertia or center of gravity. The rigid body component
allows modeling local rigid body elements while the mean constrain component
allows distributing mass and loads, for modeling weld spot for instance.
14.2 Finite elements for springs

Actran supports two types of spring elements (see Figure 14.1):
189
190 Springs, Lumped Mass, Rigid Body and Mean Constrain Elements
• springs connecting two nodes where the longitudinal direction is defined

by the line connecting the two nodes and the two transverse directions are
perpendicular to that line;
• springs connecting a node to the ground where the longitudinal direction
is the local normal to the mesh at the node to which the spring is attached.
a. Node-to-node spring element b. Node-to-ground spring element
Figure 14.1: Discrete elements (spring and lumped mass).

POI01 Yes. POI01 Yes. POI01 Yes.
LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes.

14.2.2.1 3D case
14.2.2.2 2D case
θz of the node along the z axis (out-of-plane).
θz of the node along the z axis. Spring elements are not supported for azimuthal
orders m 6= 0.
Remark. If the SPRING material associated to the component does not

define any stiffness (resp. rotational stiffness), the displacement degrees of
14.2 Finite elements for springs 191
freedom (resp. the rotational degrees of freedom) are automatically suppressed

from the spring element.
Remark. If the connected entities are not supporting rotational degrees of

freedom, these are automatically suppressed from the spring element.

Springs are supported through the DISCRETE component. Discrete components
can only refer to SPRING materials.

keyword. For a node to the ground spring, the optional REFERENCE_DIRECTION
allows to specify the normal direction when this latest is not explicit enough.
14.2.3.1 Springs with rigid body motion
A generalized spring element can be defined as a spring with rigid-body equilib-
rium requirements when using the optional keyword ALLOW_RIGID_BODY. In such
a case, both rotational and displacement degrees of freedom are created. In order
to avoid singularities in the matrix system, small diagonal contributions are con-
trolled through the node-to-ground rotation stiffness parameter ROTATION_MASS
and the node-to-ground displacement stiffness parameter DISPLACEMENT_MASS.
The displacement u of a spring with stiffness k subject to rigid body motion
follows from a superposition of the Euler rigid-body equations (see Eq. (14.7))
and Hooke’s law (Eq. (14.1)). It holds that:
F
− u( j) − u(i) + θ ( j) × d(ij) = ,
k
where d(ij) expresses the relative position of node j with respect to node i, ‘×’ is
the cross vector product and F is the force applied to the spring.

Spring elements (node-to-ground or node-to-node) are characterized by their:
• stiffnesses k x , k y and k z [N/m] along x, y and z directions or stiffnesses k n

and k t [N/m] along longitudinal and transverse directions;
• rotational stiffnesses kr x , kry and krz [N.m/rad] along the x, y and z axes
or rotational stiffnesses krn and krt [N.m/rad] along longitudinal and
transverse axis;
• mass m [kg].
The properties are the absolute mass and stiffness, not the mass and stiffness per
unit length, so one have to be aware that two nodes connected by a single spring
or by several shorter springs having the same properties will not lead to the same
results.
The displacement d of a spring stiffness k loaded by a force F is equal to:
F
d= (14.1)
k
The rotation θ of a spring rotational stiffness kr loaded by a moment M is equal

to:
M
θ= (14.2)
kr
Remark. If a node-to-ground spring has a zero stiffness, it degenerates to

a lumped mass, see next section.
14.3 Finite elements for lumped masses 193
14.3 Finite elements for lumped masses

Lumped masses can only be added to singular points.

POI01 Yes. POI01 Yes. POI01 Yes.

14.3.2.1 3D case
Each node supports three degrees of freedom, i.e. the displacement components
14.3.2.2 2D case
Each node supports two degrees of freedom i.e. the displacement components u x
and uy of the node along the x and y directions.

Each node supports two degrees of freedom i.e. the displacement components ur
and uz of the node along the radial and vertical directions. Discrete elements are
not supported for azimuthal orders m 6= 0.

Lumped masses are supported through the POINT_MASS component. Punctual
mass components do not refer to any type of material.
A Point Mass element defines a rigid body whose mass is concentrated at a grid
point. Given the mass moments of inertia about its center of gravity and the
products of inertia, the moment of inertia matrix is given by
 
INERTIA_XX −INERTIA_XY −INERTIA_XZ
I =  −INERTIA_XY INERTIA_YY −INERTIA_YZ  . (14.3)
−INERTIA_XZ −INERTIA_YZ INERTIA_ZZ
When the center of gravity is defined by a vector OFFSET_DISTANCE from the grid
point, the moment of inertia matrix about the grid point can be reconstructed by
applying the parallel axis theorem. This yields:
I = I g + MASS((OFFSET_DISTANCE · OFFSET_DISTANCE)E3 (14.4)

−OFFSET_DISTANCE ⊗ OFFSET_DISTANCE), (14.5)
where MASS is the mass of the element, E3 is a 3 × 3 identity matrix and I g

corresponds to Eq. (14.3). In Eq. (14.4), ‘·’ denotes the inner vector product and
‘⊗’ the outer vector product.
From the properties of rigid body motion - see Eq. (14.7), we have the following
relationship between the displacement u and rotation θ at an OFFSET_DISTANCE
from the center of gravity:
u g = u + θ × OFFSET_DISTANCE, (14.6)
where u g is the displacement of the center of gravity and 0 ×0 represents the

cross vector product. As a result of Eq. (14.6), the rotational and translational
degrees of freedom of the point mass element become coupled when a non-zero
OFFSET_DISTANCE is defined.
14.4 Finite elements for rigid bodies 195
14.4 Finite elements for rigid bodies

Rigid body elements can only be supported by bar elements, where the first node
represents the independent node. One independent node can thus point towards
an important number of dependent nodes. Moreover, RBE2 elements contained
within BDF mesh files can be automatically translated in several bar elements,
insuring a correct numbering for the independent node.


14.4.2.1 3D case
14.4.2.2 2D case
θz of the node along the z axis.
u x and uy of the node along the x and y directions and the rotation component θz
of the node along the z axis. Rigid body elements are not supported for azimuthal
orders m 6= 0.
14.4.2.4 Acoustic cases
In particular cases where the rigid body element is connecting two or more
acoustic components, each node supports one degree of freedom, the pressure p.
Remark. If the FORCE_ROTATION keyword is deactivated in the com-

ponent, the creation of the rotational degrees of freedom depends on the
DOF_TO_LINK keyword defined by the user (See Section 3.21 of Volume 2).
By default, it is activated and the rotational degrees of freedom are always
created.

freedom and if the displacement are not requested through the DOF_TO_LINK
keyword, the rigid body component is not created given that it has no
dynamical effect on the connected structure.
Remark. In order to avoid singularities in the matrix system, the param-

eters TORSION_STIFFNESS, TORSION_MASS and ROTATION_MASS control
some diagonal contributions, respectively the node-to-node torsion stiffness,
the node-to-ground torsion mass and the node-to-ground rotation mass.

Rigid body motion occurs when an unconstrained mesh (body) does not deform
under external forces. As a result, the distance between any two points of the
rigid body remains constant, regardless of the external forces that are exerted on
it. The displacement of a node j, denoted by u( j) , can therefore be completely
determined from the degrees of freedom of a node i.
In a 3D simulation, the position of a node i is generally characterized by three

(i ) (i ) (i )
displacement components, u(i) = (u x , uy , uz ) and three rotational components,
(i ) (i ) (i )
θ (i) = (θ x , θy , θz ). When only translational rigid body motion occurs and no
rotation is present, the displacement u( j) equals the displacement u(i) of node i:
u ( j ) = u (i ) .
When both translational and rotational rigid body motion occur, the Euler rigid-
body equations [22] lead to the following constraint:
u( j) = u(i) + θ ( j) × d(ij) , (14.7)
where d(ij) expresses the relative position of node j with respect to node i and
0 ×0 represents the cross product of two vectors. The constraint Eq. (14.7) can be
reformulated by introducing the Lagrange multiplier λ = (λ x , λy , λz ). This gives:
λ = u(i) + θ ( j) × d(ij) − u( j) . (14.8)
In 2D, a rigid body node is characterized by only two displacement components

(i ) (i ) (i )
u(i) = (u x , uy ) and one rotation component θ (i) = θz . The resulting Lagrange
multiplier equations Eq. (14.8) then reduce to
(i ) (ij) ( j)
λ x = u x − θ ( j) dy − ux ,
(i ) (ij) ( j)
λy = uy + θ ( j) d x − uy .
When acoustic components are linked, the "rigid body" link takes another mean-
ing: its forces equality of the pressure dofs p at nodes i and j :
p ( j ) = p (i ) .
By defining such "rigid" links between pressure dofs, a region of equal pressure
can be easily built, whose value will be computed by Actran .
14.5 Finite elements for mean constrains 197
14.5 Finite elements for mean constrains

Mean constrain elements can only be supported by bar elements, where the
first node represents the dependent node. One dependent node can thus point
towards an important number of independent nodes. Moreover, RBE3 elements
contained within BDF mesh files can be automatically translated in several bar
elements, insuring a correct numbering for the dependent node.


14.5.2.1 3D case
14.5.2.2 2D case
θz of the node along the z axis.

u x and uy of the node along the x and y directions and the rotation component θz
of the node along the z axis. Rigid body elements are not supported for azimuthal
orders m 6= 0.
14.5.2.4 Acoustic cases

In particular cases where the mean constrain element is connecting two or more
acoustic components, each node supports one degree of freedom, the pressure p.

freedom, these are automatically suppressed from the mean constrain element.
Remark. In order to avoid singularities in the matrix system, the param-

eter ROTATION_MASS controls the small non-zero contributions acting as a
node-to-ground rotation stiffness.

Mean constrain elements are modeling a rigid body connection under a different
formulation than Rigid Body elements in Actran. The dependent nodes are
translated into a ponderated sum of independent nodes. This models a partially
rigid connection where the motion of the first node is the average rigid body
motion of all the connected nodes.
The displacement of a dependent node j, denoted by u( j) , can therefore be

completely determined from the degrees of freedom of the n master nodes i.
Without any ponderations, this is deduced as:
∑in=1 u(i)
u( j) = (14.9)
n
Using ponderations enables the modeling of welded spot connections, where the
influence of the different independent nodes is not identical. For each independent
node i, a ponderation p(i) is specified:
∑in=1 p(i) ∗ u(i)

u( j) = (14.10)
∑in=1 p(i)
The constraint Eq. (14.10) can be reformulated by introducing the Lagrange

multiplier λ = (λ x , λy , λz ). This gives:
∑in=1 p(i) ∗ u(i)

λ= − u( j) (14.11)
∑in=1 p(i)
When the DOF_TO_LINK keyword mentions both displacement and rotations, a

coupling between displacement and rotation is introduced in the form of rigid-
body motion.
∑in=1 p(i) ∗ (u(i) + θ ( j) × d(ij) )

u( j) = (14.12)
∑in=1 p(i)
and
∑in=1 p(i) ∗ θ (i)

θ ( j) = (14.13)
∑in=1 p(i)
Fifteen
Poro-Elastic Elements
Contents
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
15.2 Finite elements for poro-elastic continuum . . . . . . . . . . . 200
15.3 Finite elements for rigid porous continuum . . . . . . . . . . 206
15.4 Finite elements for lumped porous continuum . . . . . . . . . 208
15.5 Finite elements for Delany-Bazley porous continuum . . . . 210
15.6 Finite elements for Miki porous continuum . . . . . . . . . . 212
15.7 Biot theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
15.8 Variational statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
15.9 Interface and boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.10 Finite element formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
15.1 Introduction
Four formulations of porous elements are available within Actran:
• Porous u − p;
• Rigid porous;
• Lumped porous;
• Delany-Bazley Porous;
• Miki Porous.
The u − p formulation is related to porous materials with an elastic skeleton,

while the rigid and lumped are related to porous materials with a perfectly rigid
199
200 Poro-Elastic Elements
or a perfectly soft skeleton respectively. The Delany-Bazley and Miki formulations

are semi-empirical models valid within a specific frequency range.
The u − p formulation involves both the fluid and the skeleton of the porous
material, while the four additional formulations are equivalent fluid formulations
involving only pressure degrees of freedom.
The different formulations and their usage are first described in Sections 15.2,
15.3, 15.4, 15.5 and 15.6, while the theoretical aspects are given in Section 15.7.
15.2 Finite elements for poro-elastic continuum

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

15.2.2.1 3D case
Each node of a u − p element carries four degrees of freedom:
• skeleton displacement components u x , uy and uz of the node along the x, y

and z directions;
• acoustic pressure p at the node.
15.2.2.2 2D and Axisymmetric cases

2D and axisymmetric models of order m = 0 have only two displacement compo-
nents. These components are related to x and y directions for 2D models and to
radial and vertical directions for axisymmetric models. Axisymmetric problems
of order m > 0 have three displacement components along the radial, vertical
and circumferential directions.

keyword. Porous components can only refer to POROUS or ANISOTROPIC_POROUS
materials.
15.2 Finite elements for poro-elastic continuum 201

The Biot parameters are used to describe anisotropic poro-elastic materials and
can be classified in three different sets: elastic parameters, acoustic parameters
and poro-mechanical parameters. All of these parameters are needed when using
the isotropic, transverse isotropic or orthotropic u − p formulation, except for the
parameters driving the used micro-model. Elastic parameters are either:
• solid density ρs .
or:

Acoustic parameters are:
• fluid density ρ f ;
• fluid specific heat at constant pressure c p ;
• fluid specific heat at constant volume cv ;
• fluid dynamic viscosity η;
• fluid thermal conductivity λ;
• fluid bulk modulus Q.
Poro-mechanical properties are:
• porosity Ω;
• resistivity R;
• Biot factor α;
• tortuosity α∞ ;
• characteristic viscous length Λv ;
• characteristic thermal length Λt ;
• Static thermal permeability k00 ;
• Static viscous tortuosity α0 ;
• Static thermal tortuosity α00 .
15.2.5 Micro-models
At a microscopic level, porous materials appear as a complex network of pores or
channels. Local viscous and thermal effects have a strong influence on the macro-
scopic bulk modulus and flow resistivity. The related frequency dependence of
these characteristics can be defined by referring to appropriate micro-models.
Actran implements the following models: Johnson-Champoux-Allard

[2], Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Lafarge and Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Pride-
Lafarge.
• Johnson-Champoux-Allard model: The so-called ’Johnson-Champoux-

Allard’ model (or in abbreviated form: JCA model) relies on five parameters:
φ, k0 , α∞ , Λ and Λ0 . It should be noted that Actran is using σ instead of
k0 but these two parameters are related through k0 = ηφ/σ.
The static thermal permeability k00 is assumed to be given by the relation

k00 = φΛ02 /8 while static viscous and thermal tortuosities (α0 and α00 ) are
not used.
This semi-phenomenological model may be used to describe the dissipation
behavior of fibrous materials or materials with arbitrary pore shapes without
important pore section variations.
• Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Lafarge model: The so-called ’Johnson-

Champoux-Allard-Lafarge’ model (or in abbreviated form: JCAL model)
relies on six parameters: φ, k0 , k00 , α∞ , Λ and Λ0 . In Actran, this model is
activated through the specification of the additional k00 property.
behavior of materials with arbitrary pore shapes without important pore
section variations.
• Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Pride-Lafarge model: The so-called ’Johnson-

Champoux-Allard-Pride-Lafarge’ model (or in abbreviated form: JCAPL
model) relies on eight parameters: φ, k0 , k00 , α∞ , Λ, Λ0 , α0 and α00 . In Actran,
this model is activated through the specification of the three additional
properties k00 , α0 and α00 .
behavior of materials with arbitrary pore shapes and important pore section
variations.
Remark. A micro-model introduces frequency dependent material proper-

ties which are generally not compatible with the fast FRF synthesis (Krylov)
solver (see Section 6.2.10).
15.2.5.1 Material properties

The following material properties are involved in the description of micro-models:
• Porosity φ;
• Flow resistivity σ;
• Tortuosity α∞ ;
• Characteristic viscous length Λ;
• Characteristic thermal length Λ0 ;
• Static thermal permeability k00 ;
• Static viscous tortuosity α0 ;
• Static thermal tortuosity α00 .
It is assumed that the interstitial fluid can be characterized by the following

properties:
• Density ρ;
• Sound speed c;
• Specific heat at constant volume Cv ;
• Specific heat at constant pressure C p ;
• Dynamic viscosity η;
• Thermal conductivity λ.
Such properties allow for the evaluation of other material parameters:
• Static viscous permeability k0 = ηφ/σ;
• Ratio of specific heats γ = C p /Cv ;
• Kinematic viscosity ν = η/ρ;
• Thermal diffusitivity ν0 = λ/(ρC p ).

15.2.5.2 Unified presentation of JCA, JCAL and JCAPL models

A unified presentation of JCA, JCAL and JCAPL models relies on the following
expressions for the equivalent fluid density ρ̃ and the equivalent bulk modulus
K̃:
ρ̃(ω ) = ρα̃(ω ) (15.1)
and
K̃ (ω ) = K/ β̃(ω ) (15.2)
where α̃(ω ) and β̃(ω ) are given by:

α∞ 1
α̃(ω ) = 1+ f (ω̄ ) (15.3)
φ i ω̄
and
−1

1
β̃(ω ) = γ − (γ − 1) 1 + 0 f 0 ω̄ 0 (15.4)
i ω̄
Function f (ω̄ ) and f 0 (ω̄ 0 ) can be expressed as:
r
M
f (ω̄ ) = 1 − P + P 1+ i ω̄ (15.5)
2P2
and r
0 0 0 0 M0
i ω̄ 0

f ω̄ = 1−P +P 1+ (15.6)
2P02
where ω̄ and ω̄ 0 are dimensionless viscous and thermal angular frequencies given
by:
ωk0 α∞
ω̄ = (15.7)
νφ
and
ωk00
ω̄ 0 = (15.8)
ν0 φ
The quantities M, M0 , P and P0 are again dimensionless parameters that should
be computed in the following way:
• JCAPL model:
8k0 α∞
M= (15.9)
Λ2 φ
8k0
M0 = 020 (15.10)
Λ φ
M
P= (15.11)
α0
4 α∞ − 1
M0
P0 = (15.12)
4 α00 − 1

• JCAL model: α0 and α00 are not provided so that P and P0 are set to 1 while
M and M0 are still evaluated using the above expressions.
• JCA model: k00 , α0 and α00 are not provided so that M0 , P and P0 are set to 1
while M is still evaluated using the above expression.
The previous releases includes the Johnson-Champoux-Allard model. The equiv-

alent fluid bulk modulus K̃ of this model can be defined as:
 q  −1
iωΛ02
1+ 16ν0
β̃(ω ) = γ − (γ − 1) 1 + 0 2
 (15.13)
iωΛ
8ν0
while the equivalent flow resistance R̃(ω ) can be defined as:
 r 
iω4α2∞ k20
1+ νφ2 Λ2
ρ̃(ω ) α∞  
α̃(ω ) = = 1 +
iωα∞ k0
 (15.14)
ρ φ  
νφ
One can note that for very low frequencies, the fluid bulk modulus (called the
static fluid bulk modulus Q0 ) tends to the isothermal bulk modulus, equal to p0 .
On the other hand, for very high frequencies, the fluid bulk modulus tends to
the adiabatic bulk modulus, equal to γp0 .
15.3 Finite elements for rigid porous continuum

Rigid porous elements are used to model a porous material whose flexibility can
be neglected (i.e. skeleton is infinitely rigid).

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

Each node of a rigid porous element carries one degree of freedom (nodal acoustic
pressure).

keyword. Porous components can only refer to POROUS or ANISOTROPIC_POROUS
materials.

The Biot theory (Section 15.7) is simplified in order to describe porous materials
with a rigid frame. This assumption leads to a description of the material as
an equivalent fluid. Porous materials are then defined by two different sets
of parameters: acoustic parameters and poro-mechanical parameters. Acoustic
parameters are:

15.3 Finite elements for rigid porous continuum 207
• porosity Ω;
• resistivity R;
• Biot factor α;
• characteristic thermal length Λt ;
• static thermal permeability k00 ;
• static viscous tortuosity α0 ;
• static thermal tortuosity α00 .
Remark. A micro-model (see Section 15.2.5) is used as soon as Λv and

Λt (or k00 , α0 and α00 ) are defined and are positive.

Remark. Equivalent fluid properties can be retrieved using the

get_equivfluid utility (see Section 47.7).
15.4 Finite elements for lumped porous continuum

Lumped porous elements are used to model a porous material whose stiffness
can be neglected (i.e. infinitely compliant skeleton).

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

Each node of a lumped porous element carries one degree of freedom (nodal
acoustic pressure).

keyword. Porous components can only refer to POROUS materials.

The Biot theory (Section 15.7) is simplified in order to describe porous materials
with a very soft frame. This assumption leads to a description of the material as
an equivalent fluid.
Compared to the rigid porous formulation, one additional skeleton parameter

is because the inertia of the skeleton has to be taken into account. The elastic
parameters are:
Acoustic parameters are:

15.4 Finite elements for lumped porous continuum 209
• porosity Ω;
• resistivity R;
• Biot factor α;
• characteristic thermal length Λt
• static thermal permeability k00 ;
• static viscous tortuosity α0 ;
• static thermal tortuosity α00 .
Remark. A micro-model (see Section 15.2.5) is used as soon as Λv and

Λt (or k00 , α0 and α00 ) are defined and are positive.


15.5 Finite elements for Delany-Bazley porous continuum

Delany-Bazley porous elements are used to model a porous material using an
empirical numerical model.

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

Each node of a Delany-Bazley porous element carries one degree of freedom
(nodal acoustic pressure).


From a large number of measurements on fibrous materials with porosities close
to 1.00, Delany and Bazley have proposed empirical expressions for modelling
such type of porous materials. The semi-empirical Delany-Bazley model relies on
the specification of equivalent complex sound speed cequ and fluid density ρequ .
These are deduced from the expressions of the characteristic impedance and the
wave number obtained by Delany and Bazley ([13]):
" −0.75 −0.73 #

f f
Zc = ρ0 c0 1 + 9.08 103 − j11.9 103 (15.15)
σ σ
" −0.70 −0.59 #

ω 3 f 3 f
k= 1 + 10.8 10 − j10.3 10 (15.16)
c0 σ σ
where ρ0 and c0 are the density of air and the sound speed in air, ω = 2π f is the
angular frequency and σ is the static air flow resistivity in the wave direction of
propagation (expressed in N.m-4.s).
15.5 Finite elements for Delany-Bazley porous continuum 211
The validity of these expressions are:
f
0.01 < < 1.00 (15.17)
R
This empirical model, which can provide reasonable estimations in the approxima-
tive frequency range defined by Eq. (15.17), is still widely used for its simplicity:
only one parameter, R, is needed to describe the acoustic behavior of a material.
The needed acoustic parameters are:
while only one poro-mechanical property is needed: resistivity R.

15.6 Finite elements for Miki porous continuum

Miki porous elements are used to model a porous material using an empirical
numerical model.

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.

Each node of a Miki porous element carries one degree of freedom (nodal acoustic
pressure).


From a large number of measurements on fibrous materials with porosities close
to 1.00, Miki has proposed an extensions of Delany and Bazley’s formulation for
modelling such type of porous materials. The semi-empirical Miki model relies
on the specification of equivalent complex sound speed cequ and fluid density
ρequ . These are deduced from the expressions of the characteristic impedance and
the wave number obtained by Miki ([59]):
" −0.632 −0.632 #

3f 3f
Zc = ρ0 c0 1 + 5.50 10 − j8.43 10 (15.18)
σ σ
" −0.618 −0.618 #

ω 3 f 3 f
k= 1 + 7.81 10 − j11.41 10 (15.19)
c0 σ σ
where ρ0 and c0 are the density of air and the sound speed in air, ω = 2π f is the
angular frequency and σ is the static air flow resistivity in the wave direction of
propagation (expressed in N.m-4.s).
15.6 Finite elements for Miki porous continuum 213
The validity of these expressions are:
f
0.01 < < 1.00 (15.20)
R
This empirical model, which can provide reasonable estimations in the approxima-
tive frequency range defined by Eq. (15.20), is still widely used for its simplicity:
only one parameter, R, is needed to describe the acoustic behavior of a material.
The needed acoustic parameters are:
while only one poro-mechanical property is needed: resistivity R.

15.7 Biot theory

15.7.1 Main hypothesis
The Biot model is based on the following main assumptions:
• the heterogeneous medium is treated as an equivalent homogeneous

medium where the solid phase occupies a fraction (1 − Ω) of the volume
while the fluid phase (air) occupies a fraction Ω of the volume;
• the flow resistivity R and the tortuosity α∞ are defined as second order
tensors in order to derive the general anisotropic poro-elastic formulation;
• elastic stress and pressure are defined at every point;
• the wave length λ is much greater than any feature of the porous material
(pore size, fiber diameter);
• displacements are small so that the theory of linear elasticity applies;
• the air phase is continuous;
• closed pores are considered as part of the skeleton and any effects related
to the movement of air inside closed pores is not taken specifically into
account.
The state variables are the displacement vectors u of the solid phase and U of the
fluid phase.
15.7.2 Description of porous materials

15.7.2.1 Porosity (Ω)
A sample of total volume Vt of a porous material contains a volume Vf of fluid
and Vs of solid. The porosity is defined as:
Vf Vs
Ω= = 1− . (15.21)
Vt Vt
Porosity can be accurately measured by placing a small material sample (volume
Vs ) in a small cavity (volume Vc ) in a thick metal cylinder with a large thermal
inertia. The cavity containing the sample is sealed and a small volume change
∆ is imposed by a micrometric device. The pressure in the cavity is monitored
before and after the volume change and is denoted by p1 and p2 , respectively.
Assuming an isothermal compression process and neglecting the compression of
the solid (small vs. the compression of the fluid), one can write that:
p1 (Vc − Vs + ΩVs ) = p2 (Vc − Vs + ΩVs − ∆) . (15.22)
The porosity is then equal to:
p2 ∆ − ( p2 − p1 ) (Vc − Vs )
Ω= . (15.23)
( p2 − p1 ) Vs
15.7 Biot theory 215
Figure 15.1: Schematical test set-up for the measurement of the resistivity.
15.7.2.2 Resistivity (R)

The fluid flow through a porous material encounters a resistance related to
the viscous interaction forces between the fluid and the solid skeleton. The
corresponding viscous force is proportional to the relative speed between the
skeleton and the fluid:
FR = R u̇ − U̇ , (15.24)
where u is the displacement of the skeleton, U is the displacement of the fluid
and R is the resistivity of the media. R is measured using the test cell depicted
in Figure 15.1. A pressure difference is imposed between the two sides of the
sample and the global air flux v is measured. Note that the air velocity within
the porous sample U̇ is related to the air flux v by:
v = ΩU̇ . (15.25)
The resistivity is then given by:
∆p Ω∆p
R= = , (15.26)
hU̇ hv
where R is measured in N.s/m4 or Rayls/m. The resistivity coefficient measured
by the above device is the static flow resistivity as it is measured in steady flow
conditions. At a microscopic level, porous materials appear as a complex network
of pores or channels. Local viscous and thermal effects have a strong influence
on the macroscopic bulk modulus and flow resistivity. The related frequency
dependence of these characteristics can be defined by referring to appropriate
micro-models. Actran implements the Allard and Johnson model 15.2.5.
On the following, the flow resistivity is defined as a second order tensor R. Such
formalism handles the anisotropic nature of a given poro-elastic material in which
the resistivity depends on some privileged directions.
Figure 15.2: Schematic set-up for the electrical measurement of the tortuosity.
15.7.2.3 Biot factor (α)
The Biot factor α is equal to 1 for most materials.
15.7.2.4 Fluid bulk modulus (Q)
The bulk modulus Q measures the compressibility of the fluid within the pores :
Q = ρ f c2 . (15.27)
For pores filled with air, Q = 140000N/m2 in adiabatic condition, and Q =

101325N/m2 in isothermal conditions.
15.7.2.5 Tortuosity (α∞ )
The tortuosity coefficient measures the complexity of the path an air particle must
follow to proceed from one point to another point. In a fluid, the particle follows
a straight path, in a porous media, it needs to follow a tortuous path around
the solid frame. The tortuosity creates a mass coupling between the skeleton
and the fluid which is proportional to (1 − α∞ ). Two techniques are currently
available to measure tortuosity. In the electrical technique, the test cell is filled by
a conducting electrolyte and the conductivity of fluid alone is compared to the
conductivity in presence of a saturated sample (Figures 15.2) In the ultrasonic
technique (Figure 15.3) a thin sample is placed between an ultrasound source and
a receiver. The propagation speed with and without the sample characterizes the
tortuosity. On the following, the tortuosity is defined as a second order tensor α∞ .
Such formalism handles the anisotropic nature of a given poro-elastic material in
which the tortuosity depends on some privileged directions.
Figure 15.3: Schematic set-up for the ultrasonic measurement of the tortuosity.
15.7.3 Equilibrium equations

Using the classical Biot theory, a set of two second order tensors depending on
the Biot parameters described above is introduced here:

∞
ρ12
ij = Ωρ f δij − α ij , (15.28)
b̃ij = ΩRij , (15.29)
i b̃ij
ρ̃11 12
ij = (1 − Ω ) ρs δij − ρij − , (15.30)
ω
i b̃ij
ρ̃22 12
ij = Ωρ f δij − ρij − , (15.31)
ω
iω b̃ij
ρ̃12 12
ij = ρij + , (15.32)
ω2
h i −1
ρ̃ij = ρ̃11 12
ij − ρ̃ik ρ̃kl
22
ρ̃12
lj (15.33)
One can note that,

ρ̃12 22
ij + ρ̃ij = Ωρ f δij , (15.34)
and it is assumed that b̃ and α∞ tensor are definite positives, leading to the
following relationship:
h i −1
ρ̃22 22
ik ρ̃kj = δij . (15.35)
Considering an harmonic field, the equilibrium equation for the fluid phase
writes:
− Ω∂i p + ρ̃22 2 12 2
ij ω U j + ρ̃ij ω u j = 0, (15.36)
yielding to the expression of the fluid velocity:

Ω h i −1
Uj = 2 ρ̃22 ∂ p − ρ̃ 12 22
jk ρ̃kl ul , (15.37)
ω jk k
Consequently, one can write the equilibrium equation for the solid phase:
h i −1
∂ j σijS + ω 2 ρ̃ij u j + Ωρ̃12 22
ik ρ̃kj ∂ j p = 0. (15.38)
where σijS is the elastic stress tensor in the skeleton.
15.7.4 Constitutive relations

15.7.4.1 Acoustic fluid
The constitutive equation for the fluid expresses the fact that the pressure variation
in an infinitesimal sample is related to (1) the volumetric deformation of the
sample and (2) the net flow of fluid through the sample. This leads to the
expression:
− p = QeV + αQeS , (15.39)
where Q is the fluid bulk modulus, eV = Ω∂ j Uj − u j is the net flow of fluid

through the sample, eS = ∂ j u j is the volumetric deformation of the sample and

α is the Biot constant equal to one in most cases. One usually write this first
constitutive equation as:
− Ωp = QΩ2 ∂ j Uj + ΩQ (α − Ω) ∂ j u j , (15.40)
| {z } | {z }
R̃ Q̃
i.e.
− Ωp = R̃∂ j Uj + Q̃∂ j u j . (15.41)
15.7.4.2 Elastic skeleton

The constitutive relation for the skeleton writes:
σijS = C̃ijkl ekl − Q(α − Ω)2 ∂k uk δij − (α − Ω) pδij . (15.42)

| {z }
σ̂ijS
where Q̃ is the dilatation coupling coefficient identical to the one involved in

Eq. (15.41) and C̃ the four order solid frame Hooke’s tensor. Moreover, σ̂ijS is the
stress tensor that would exist in an elastic solid having the same composition
and undergoing the same displacements as the skeleton.
Remark. For the case of an isotropic solid frame, the first term of the
previous equation expresses as:
C̃ijkl ekl = λekk δij + 2µeij , (15.43)

where λ and µ are the usual Lamé constants defined in terms of Young’s
modulus and Poisson coefficient by:
νE
λ= , (15.44)
(1 + ν) (1 − 2ν)
E
µ= . (15.45)
2 (1 + ν )
15.7.5 u-p model for poroelastic materials

Let us introduce Eq. (15.42) into Eq. (15.38) in order to obtain the basic equation
for the solid phase:
∂ j σ̂ijS + ω 2 ρ̃ij u j + γ̃ij ∂ j p = 0, (15.46)
which is very similar to the equilibrium equation for an elastic solid but with
an adapted density tensor ρ̃ and an additional term coupling the skeleton’s
deformations to the pore pressure γ̃ which expresses as:
Ωρ̃12 ρ̃12 Ω2 ρ f
!
ij ij
γ̃ = − (α − Ω) = Ω +1 −α = −α . (15.47)
ρ̃22
ij ρ̃22
ij ρ̃22
ij
Let us take the divergence of Eq. (15.37): and solve Eq. (15.41) for ∂ j Uj in order to
obtain the basic equation for the fluid phase:
2Ω
h i −1 2
Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ ij p + ω p − ω 2 γ̃ij ∂i u j = 0. (15.48)
R̃
This equation is also very similar to the Helmholtz acoustic equation with equiv-
alent fluid properties and an additional coupling term the pore pressure to the
skeleton’s displacement which is identical to the one which appears in Eq. (15.46).
15.7.6 u-ψ model for poroelastic materials

Equations (15.46) and (15.48) can be rewritten in a more convenient form using
the velocity potential ψ introduced in Chapter 27. For poroelastic materials in
harmonic regime, this velocity potential is defined by Eq. (27.44) and should be
seen as a simple scaling of the pressure field:
p = −iωψ . (15.49)
For the solid phase, Eq. (15.46) becomes
∂ j σ̂ijS + ω 2 ρ̃ij u j − iω γ̃ij ∂ j ψ = 0. (15.50)
For the fluid phase, introducing ψ in Eq. (15.48) and multiplying by i/ω yields
h i −1 Ω2
Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ij ψ + ω 2 ψ − iω γ̃ij ∂i u j = 0. (15.51)
R̃
15.8 Variational statements

In order to build a finite element model of a composite sandwich, one must
provide a variational statement for the three subdomains of interest i.e.:
• the elastic domain VE bounded by the boundary SE ;
• the acoustic domain VA bounded by the boundary S A ;
• the poroelastic domain VP bounded by the boundary SP .
The three subdomains will be coupled together along their interfaces and will
be connected to the outside world through their boundaries. In the following
sections, the variables related to each subdomain will be designated by the
superscript:
• E for elastic;
• A for acoustic;
• S for the elastic skeleton of poroelastic materials;
• F for the fluid phase of poroelastic materials.
15.8.1 Variational statement for the elastic subdomain

The (weak) variational statement for the elastic subdomain is well known:
Z Z
σijE δeijE − ω 2 ρ E uiE δuiE dV = σijE n j δuiE dS . (15.52)
VE SE
15.8.2 Variational statement for the acoustic subdomain

The (weak) variational statement for the velocity potential inside an acoustic fluid
at rest is:
ω2 A A
Z
1 1
Z
− ∂i ψ A ∂i δψ A + ψ δψ dV = ∂n ψ A δψ A dS. (15.53)
VA ρA ρ A c2 SA ρ A
15.8.3 Variational statement for the poroelastic subdomain

The variational form of Eq. (15.50) is:
Z
∂ j σ̂ijS + ω 2 ρ̃ij uSj − iω γ̃ij ∂ j ψ F δuiS dV = 0. (15.54)
VP
15.8 Variational statements 221
The first term can be integrated by part:

Z Z Z
∂ j σ̂ijS δuiS dV = σ̂ijS · n j δuiS dS − σ̂ijS δeijS dV, (15.55)
VP SP VP
yielding the weak form:

Z Z Z
σ̂ijS δeijS − ω 2 ρ̃ij uSj δuiS dV + iω γ̃ij ∂ j ψ F δuiS dV = σ̂ijS · n j δuiS dS .
VP VP SP
(15.56)
15.8.3.2 Fluid in the open pores
Similarly, the variational form of Eq. (15.51) is:
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
F F S
Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ ij ψ + ω ψ − iω γ̃ ∂ u
ij i j δψ F dV = 0. (15.57)
VP R̃
The first term can be integrated by part:

Z h i −1 Z h i −1
F F
Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ ij ψ δψ dV = − Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ j ψ F ∂i δψ F dV
VP VP
h i
−1
Z
F F
+ Ω2 ρ̃22
ij · n j ∂i ψ δψ dS
SP
The third term can also be integrated by part:

Z Z Z
−iω γ̃ij ∂i uSj δψ F dV = iω γ̃ij uSj ∂i δψ F dV − iω (γ̃ij uSj ) · ni δψ F dS , (15.58)
VP VP SP
yielding the weak form:
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
F F F F
−Ω 2
ρ̃22
ij ∂i ψ ∂ j δψ + ω ψ δψ + iω γ̃ij uSj ∂i δψ F dV
VP R̃
Z h i −1
= −Ω2 ( ρ̃22
ij · n j )∂i ψ F + iω (γ̃ij uSj ) · ni δψ F dS . (15.59)
SP
15.8.4 Alternative form of the poroelastic variational statement

The boundary integrals appearing in Eq. (15.56) and (15.59) can be rewritten in a
more suitable form for the imposition of classical boundary conditions:
The total stress in the poroelastic material is the sum of the fluid pressure and
the solid stress:
σijP = σijS −Ωp F = σ̂ijS − αp F δij = σ̂ijS + iωαψ F δij . (15.60)

| {z }
σijF δij
This allows to write the boundary contribution in Eq. (15.56) as:

Z Z Z
σ̂ijS · n j δuiS dS = σijP · n j δuiS dS − iωαψ F δuiS ni dS
SP SP SP
Z Z
= σijP · n j δuiS dS − iωα∂i ψ F δuiS dV
SP VP
Z
− iωαψ F ∂i δuiS dV, (15.61)
VP
and the weak form Eq. (15.56) becomes:

Z Z
σ̂ijS δeijS − ω 2 ρ̃ij uSj δuiS dV + iω (γ̃ij + αδij )∂ j ψ F δuiS dV
VP VP
Z Z
+ iωαψ F ∂i δuiS dV = σijP · n j δuiS dS . (15.62)
VP SP
15.8.4.2 Fluid in the open pores

Equations (15.41), (15.49) allow to rewrite the gradient of ψ:
iω 22 iω 12
∂i ψ = ρ̃ U + ρ̃ u . (15.63)
Ω jk k Ω jk k
This, together with the definition of γ̃, allows to write the boundary term in
Eq. (15.59) as:
Z h i −1
2 22
−Ω ( ρ̃ij · n j )∂i ψ + iω (γ̃ij u j ) · ni δψ F dS
F S
SP
 
Z  h i −1 h i −1 h i −1 
S S F F
= iω  Ωρ̃12 22
− ( − Ω ) u − Ω 12 22
u − Ω 22 22
U j  · ni δψ dS

ik ρ̃ kj α δij j ρ̃ ik ρ̃ kj j ρ̃ ik ρ̃ kj
SP  | {z } 
δij
Z Z
=− iωΩ(UnF − uSn )δψ F dS − iωαuSn δψ F dS . (15.64)
SP SP
Rewriting the second surface contribution in term of the volume integral yields:
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
2 22 F F F F
−Ω ρ̃ij ∂i ψ ∂ j δψ + ω ψ δψ dV
VP R̃
Z
+ iω (γ̃ij + αδij )uSj ∂i δψ F + iωα∂i uiS δψ F dV
VP
Z
=− iωΩ UnF − uSn δψ F dS. (15.65)
SP
15.8.5 Rigid porous formulation

The rigid porous model use this last statement Eq. (15.65) with one additional
assumption : the displacement of the solid phase (uSn ) is set to zero. This
additional assumption allows to write Eq. (15.65) as:
15.9 Interface and boundary conditions 223
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
F F F F
−Ω2 ρ̃22
ij ∂ i ψ ∂ j δψ + ω ψ δψ dV
VP R̃
Z
=− iωΩ UnF δψ F dS. (15.66)
SP
15.9 Interface and boundary conditions

In this section, the different boundary conditions that can be applied on SP will
be reviewed. The boundary conditions that can be applied on the boundary S A of
the acoustic domain have been reviewed earlier. Those applied to the boundary
SE of the elastic domain are discussed in most finite element textbooks and will
not be commented here.
The section will then proceed with an analysis of all interface conditions:
• elastic-acoustic;
• elastic-poroelastic;
• acoustic-poroelastic;
• poroelastic-poroelastic;
and will derive updated variational statements for all cases.
15.9.1 Natural boundary conditions for poroelastic domain

Examination of Eq. (15.62) shows that the natural boundary condition for the
solid phase is:
σijP n j = 0 . (15.67)
For the fluid phase, examination of Eq. (15.65) provides the simple natural
condition:

iωΩ UnF − uSn = 0
UnF = uSn , (15.68)
i.e. no normal relative displacement between the solid and the fluid phase, or, in
other words, an impervious boundary condition. The natural boundary condition
for a poroelastic material described by variational statements Eq. (15.62) and
(15.65) is thus a stress-free impervious surface.
15.9.2 Prescribed normal acceleration along acoustic boundary

The Neumann condition
∂p ∂ψ
= −iω = −ρ F ān A , (15.69)
∂n A ∂n A
modifies the right hand side of the variational statement Eq. (15.53) as follows:
1 1 ān A A
Z Z Z
∂n ψ A δψ A dS = ∂n ψ A δψ A dS + δψ dS . (15.70)
SA ρA S A /Saccel ρA Saccel iω
acoustic
S AP nP
nA
poroelastic
Figure 15.4: Prescribed normal acceleration along acoustic boundary
Sstress n
Figure 15.5: Distributed load along elastic boundary
15.9.3 Distributed load along elastic boundary

The condition
σijE n j = T̄i , (15.71)
modifies the right hand side of the variational statement Eq. (15.52) as follows:
Z Z Z
σijE n j δuiE dS = σijE n j δuiE dS + T̄i δuiE dS . (15.72)
SE SE /Sstress Sstress
15.9.4 Porous surface with permeability κ

A pervious surface with permeability κ is characterized by the boundary condi-
tions:
iω UnF − uSn = κ p F = −iωκψ F . (15.73)
S per n
Figure 15.6: Pervious surface

S f ree n
Figure 15.7: Free and totally pervious boundary condition
Accounting for this boundary condition in the right hand side of the variational
statement Eq. (15.65) gives:
Z Z
− iωΩ UnF − uSn δψ F dS = − iωΩ UnF − uSn δψ F dS
SP SP /S per
Z
+ iωΩκψ F δψ F dS . (15.74)
S per
The impervious case is obtained by setting κ = 0, as already discussed above for

porous material natural boundary conditions (see Section 15.9.1). This condition
is similar to the one of acoustic normal admittance boundary condition.
15.9.5 Free porous surface

The free boundary condition is equivalent to the pervious case with infinite
surface permeability κ → ∞. The boundary condition becomes:
p F = ψ F = 0, (15.75)
ψ F = 0 must be enforced at the discrete level before solving the global system of
equations.
15.9.6 Elastic-acoustic coupling conditions
acoustic
SEA nE
nA
solid
Figure 15.8: Elastic-acoustic interface
Two conditions must be met:
∂n p A = −iω∂n ψ A = ρ A ω 2 unE , (15.76)

σijE n j = − p A ni = iωψ A ni , (15.77)
poroelastic
SEP nE
nP
solid
Figure 15.9: Elastic-poroelastic interface
n being either n A or n E . The updated variational statement Eq. (15.53) for the
acoustic fluid is:
ω2 A A
Z
1
Z
− ∂i ψ A ∂i δψ A + ψ δψ dV − iωunEE δψ A dS
VA ρA ρ A c2 SEA
1
Z
= ∂n ψ A δψ A dS . (15.78)
S A /SEA ρ A
The updated variational statement for the elastic solid Eq. (15.52) is:
Z Z
σijE δeijE − ω 2 ρ E uiE δuiE dV − iωψ A δunEE dS
VE SEA
Z
= σijE n j δuiE dS . (15.79)
SE /SEA
It should be stressed that the elastic-acoustic coupling is symmetric.
15.9.7 Elastic-poroelastic coupling conditions

Three conditions must be satisfied.
• displacement continuity:
uiS = uiE , (15.80)
• impervious boundary condition:

Ω UnFP − uSnP = 0 , (15.81)
• stress continuity:
σijE n j = σijP n j , (15.82)
where n is either n P or n E .
The variational statements for the elastic solid, the poroelastic skeleton and the
poroelastic fluid must be updated as follows:
• elastic solid (Eq. (15.52)):

Z Z
σijE δeijE − ω 2 ρ E uiE δuiE dV − σijE n Ej δuiE dS
VE SEP
Z
= σijE n j δuiE dS , (15.83)
SE /SEP
• poroelastic skeleton (Eq. (15.62)):

Z Z
σ̂ijS δeijS − ω 2 ρ̃ij uSj δuiS dV + iω (γ̃ij + αδij )∂ j ψ F δuiS dV
VP VP
Z Z
+ iωαψ F ∂i δuiS dV + σijE n Ej δuiE dS
VP SEP
Z
= σijP n j δuiS dS . (15.84)
SP /SEP
Note that the integrals of σijE on SEP in the variational statement for the elas-
tic solid and the poroelastic skeleton cancel each other, no net contribution
to the overall variational statement is needed.
• poroelastic fluid (Eq. (15.65)): The updated variational statement for the
fluid inside the poroelastic domain incorporates the impervious condition
along the poroelastic-elastic interface:
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
F F F F
−Ω2 ρ̃22 ij ∂ i ψ ∂ j δψ + ω ψ δψ dV
VP R̃
Z
+ iω (γ̃ij + αδij )uSj ∂i δψ F + iωα∂i uiS δψ F dV
VP
Z
= − iωΩ UnF − uSn δψ F dS . (15.85)
SP /SEP
Impermeability is the natural condition, no particular contribution is needed

on the elastic/poroelastic interface for the poroelastic fluid phase.
The equality of solid displacement between the poroelastic skeleton and the elastic
solid is enforced automatically at the discrete level during the assembly procedure.
Coupling between poroelastic and elastic materials occur thus naturally.
15.9.8 Acoustic-poroelastic coupling conditions

Three conditions must be met:
• pressure continuity in the fluid phase:
− iωψ F = p F = p A = −iωψ A , (15.86)

acoustic
S AP nP
nA
poroelastic
Figure 15.10: Acoustic-poroelastic interface
• continuity of average normal displacement:

−i 1 S F S

F S

∂n ψ A = ∂ n p A = ( 1 − Ω ) u n + ΩUn = u n + Ω Un − u n ,
ρAω ρ A ω2
(15.87)
σijP n j = − p A ni = iωψ A ni , (15.88)
where n is either n P or n A .
The variational statements for the acoustic fluid, the poroelastic fluid and the
poroelastic skeleton must be updated as follows:
• acoustic fluid (Eq. (15.53)):
ω2 A A
Z
1 1
Z
A A
− ∂i ψ ∂i δψ + ψ δψ dV + ∂n A ψ A δψ A dS
VA ρA ρ A c2 S AP ρ A
1
Z
= ∂n A ψ A δψ A dS , (15.89)
S A /S AP S AP ρ A
• poroelastic fluid (Eq. (15.65)):
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
F F F F
−Ω2 ρ̃22 ij ∂ i ψ ∂ j δψ + ω ψ δψ dV
VP R̃
Z
iω (γ̃ij + αδij )uSj ∂i δψ F + iωα∂i uiS δψ F dV
VP
1
Z Z
− iωuSnP δψ A dS − ∂n A ψ A δψ A dS
S AP ρ
S AP A
Z
= − iωΩ UnFP − uSnP δψ F dS . (15.90)
SP /S AP
We note that the integrals of ∂n A ψ A on S AP in the variational statement for

the acoustic fluid and the poroelastic fluid cancel each other, so the only net
contribution to the overall variational statement is:
Z
iωuSnP δψ A dS , (15.91)
S AP
poroelastic 1
SPP n P2
n P1
poroelastic 2
Figure 15.11: poroelastic-poroelastic interface
• poroelastic skeleton (Eq. (15.62)):

Z Z
S S S S
2
σ̂ij δeij − ω ρ̃ij u j δui dV + iω (γ̃ij + αδij )uSj ∂i ψ F δdV
VP VP
Z Z
+ iωαψ F ∂i δuiS dV − iωψ A δunEP dS
VP S AP
Z
= σijP n j δuiS dS . (15.92)
SP /S AP
We see that the acoustic/poroelastic coupling is symmetric, and is equivalent to

the simple acoustic/elastic coupling, with one additional condition (equality of
fluid pressure between the poroelastic and acoustic fluid, i.e. ψ A = ψ F ) which is
automatically enforced at the discrete level during assembly.
15.9.9 Poroelastic-poroelastic coupling conditions

Four conditions must be met:
• displacement continuity in the fluid phase:
uiS1 = uiS2 , (15.93)
• pressure continuity in the fluid phase:
− iωψ F1 = p F1 = p F2 = −iωψ F2 , (15.94)
• continuity of normal flow rate:

Ω1 UnF1 − uS1 n = Ω2 UnF2 − uS2
n , (15.95)
σijP1 n j = σijP2 n j , (15.96)
where n is either n P1 or n P2 .
The two first conditions are automatically handled at the discrete level during
matrix assembly. The last two conditions are accounted for by updating the
variational statements of the two poroelastic domains as follow:
• poroelastic fluid 1 (Eq. (15.65)):

!
2 Ω1
Z h i −1 2
F1 F1 F1 F1
−Ω21 ρ˜1 22
ij ∂i ψ ∂ j δψ +ω ψ δψ dV
VP1 R̃1
Z
+ iω (γ̃ij1 + α1 δij )uS1 F1 1 S1
j ∂i δψ + iωα ∂i ui δψ
F1
dV
VP1
Z
+ iωΩ1 UnF1P1 − uS1 F1
n P1 δψ dS
SPP
Z
= − iωΩ1 UnF1P1 − uS1 F1
n P1 δψ dS , (15.97)
SP1 /SPP
• poroelastic fluid 2 (Eq. (15.65)):

!
2 Ω2
Z h i −1 2
F2 F2 F2 F2
−Ω22 ρ˜2 22
ij ∂i ψ ∂ j δψ +ω ψ δψ dV
VP2 R̃2
Z
+ iω (γ̃ij2 + α2 )uS2 F2 2 S2
j ∂i δψ + iωα ∂i ui δψ
F2
dV
VP2
Z
− iωΩ1 UnF1P1 − uS1 F1
n P1 δψ dS
SPP
Z
= − iωΩ2 UnF2P2 − uS2 F2
n P2 δψ dS , (15.98)
SP2 /SPP
• poroelastic skeleton 1 (Eq. (15.62)):

Z Z
σ̂ijS1 δeijS1 − ω 2 ρ̃1ij uS1
j δu S1
i dV + iω (γ̃ij1 + α1 δij )∂ j ψ F1 δuiS1 dV
VP1 VP1
Z Z
+ iωα1 ψ F1 ∂i δuiS1 dV − σijP1 n P1 j δuiS1 dS
VP1 SPP
Z
= σijP1 n P1 j δuiS1 dS , (15.99)
SP1 /SPP
• poroelastic skeleton 2 (Eq. (15.62)):

Z Z
σ̂ijS2 δeijS2 − ω 2 ρ̃2ij uS2 S2
j δui dV + iω (γ̃ij2 + α2 δij )∂ j ψ F2 δuiS2 dV
VP2 VP2
Z Z
+ iωα2 ψ F2 ∂i δuiS2 dV + σijP1 n P1 j δuiS1 dS
VP2 SPP
Z
P2 S2
= σij n P2 j δui dS . (15.100)
SP2 /SPP
There is no net contribution of the coupling surface PP to the overall variational

statement, i.e. coupling occurs naturally between two poroelastic materials.
15.10 Finite element formulation 231
15.10 Finite element formulation

15.10.1 Summary of weak variational forms
• For the solid (elastic or poroelastic):
Z Z
σ̂ij δeij − ω 2 ρ̃ij u j δui dV + iω (γ̃ij + αδij )∂ j ψδui dV
V V
Z
+ iωαψ∂i δui dV
ZV Z
− iωψδunE dS − iωψδunP dS
SEA SEP
Z
= T̄i δu j dS . (15.101)
Sstress
For an elastic solid, γ̃ij = 0, α = 0 and σ̂ij = σij
• for the fluid (acoustic or poroelastic):
2Ω
Z h i −1 2
2
−Ω ρ̃22
ij ∂i ψ∂ j δψ + ω ψδψ + iω (γ̃ij + αδij )u j ∂i δψ + iωα∂i ui δψ dV
V R̃
Z Z
− iωunE δψdS − iωunP δψdS
SEA S AP
ān
Z
= − δψdS , (15.102)
Saccel iω
where the normal acceleration ān is taken along the normal to the acoustic
or poroelastic surface. For an acoustic material:
h i −1 1
Ω2 ρ̃22
ij δji = , (15.103)
ρa
Ω2 1
= , (15.104)
R̃ ρ a c2
γ̃ij = 0 , (15.105)
α=0. (15.106)
15.10.2 Discretization
Applying the standard Galerkin finite element discretization process, we can
write:
u ' uh = Nu · U, (15.107)
h
ψ ' ψ = Nψ · Ψ, (15.108)
δu ' δuh = Nu · δU, (15.109)
h
δψ ' δψ = Nψ · δΨ, (15.110)
and for the stress, strain and velocity potential gradients:
e ' eh = Bu · U, (15.111)
∇ · U ' ∇ · Uh = Gu · U, (15.112)
h
∇ψ ' ∇ψ = Bψ · Ψ, (15.113)
h
δu ' δu = Nu · δU, (15.114)
σ̂ ' σ̂ h = D · eh . (15.115)
Introducing these expressions in the variational statements for the poroelastic

skeleton or elastic solid, we get:
δU T · KS · U − ω 2 δU T · MS · U + iωδU T · C P · Ψ + iωδU T · CSF · Ψ = δU T · FS ,

(15.116)
with:
Z
KS = ∑ Ve
BuT · D · Bu dV, (15.117)
e
Z
MS = ∑ Ve
ρ̃NuT · Nu dV, (15.118)
e
Z
CP = ∑ Ve
(γ̃ + α)NuT · Bψ + αGuT · Nψ dV, (15.119)
e
Z
CSF = ∑ Sf
n f NuT · Nψ dS, (15.120)
f
Z
FS = ∑ Sf
NuT · T̂dS . (15.121)
f
Similarly, for the poroelastic fluid or acoustic fluid, we get:
δΨ T · K F · Ψ − ω 2 δΨ T · M F · Ψ + iωδΨ T · C TP · U + iωδΨ T · CSF

T
· U = δΨ T · F T ,
(15.122)
with:
Z h i −1
KF = ∑ −Ω2 ρ̃22ij BψT · Bψ dV, (15.123)
e Ve
− Ω2 T
Z
MF = ∑ Ve R̃
Nψ · Nψ dV, (15.124)
e
ā
Z
FF = ∑ Sf
NψT ·
iω
dS. (15.125)
f
The stationary condition leads to the symmetric system of equation:
KS − ω 2 MS iω (C P + CSF )

U FS
· = (15.126)
iω C TP + CSF
T KF − ω2 MF . Ψ FF
Sixteen
Acoustic Sources
Contents
16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
16.2 Acoustic problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
16.3 Incident vs. scattered field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
16.4 Description in terms of source density . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
16.5 Incident field of acoustic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
16.6 Implementation aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
16.1 Introduction
The possibility to handle acoustic excitations is an important feature of any
acoustic simulation tool. Several options should be available for defining acoustic
sources in a wide sense. In this section, attention will be focused on a compact
description of (simple) acoustic sources that does not require the definition of a
pressure or velocity profile along a discrete surface. This particular requirement
leads to the selection of simple source models (spherical, cylindrical and plane
wave sources).
The acoustic field generated by such sources in a free field can easily be described
using analytical models. The treatment of the interaction of acoustic sources with
obstacles (rigid or treated boundaries) requires some attention since reflection
and partial absorption processes can be involved. The effective handling of
these effects calls for appropriate analysis procedures. Basically two options are
available. The first one refers to a conventional decomposition procedure (the total
acoustic pressure is presented as the sum of incident and scattered components
which are solutions of the homogeneous Helmholtz equation) while the second
one relies on the handling of source densities together with the non-homogeneous
233
234 Acoustic Sources
Helmholtz equation formulated in terms of the total acoustic pressure. These two
approaches are reviewed below as well as the particular options selected for the
implementation.
16.2 Acoustic problem

The propagation of acoustic disturbances in a non-moving homogeneous acoustic
fluid of density ρ and sound speed c is governed by the Helmholtz equation
written in terms of the total acoustic pressure p :
4 p + k2 p = 0 . (16.1)
This equation is supplemented with appropriate boundary conditions. Usu-

ally these boundary conditions reduce to either Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin
conditions respectively expressed as :
p = α on Γ1 , (16.2)
∂p
= β on Γ2 , (16.3)
∂n
∂p
= γp on Γ3 , (16.4)
∂n
where α, β and γ are related to acoustic boundary values through:
α = p, (16.5)
β = −iρckvn , (16.6)
γ = −iρckAn . (16.7)
In these expressions, p, vn and An denote a fixed pressure value, a fixed normal

velocity value and a fixed normal admittance value, respectively.
16.2.1 Propagation in uniform mean flow

The propagation of acoustic perturbations within a homogeneous moving
medium, described in Chapter 27, can be expressed in term of acoustic pressure:
2
~ · ∇ p + 4p = 0
− ik + M (16.8)
where k is the wave number and M~ the uniform mean velocity vector divided by
the speed of sound. This equation is also called convected Helmoltz equation.
16.3 Decomposition into incident/scattered components

This conventional procedure relies on the decomposition of the total acoustic
pressure p into incident and scattered components pi and ps :
p = pi + p s . (16.9)
16.4 Description in terms of source density 235
It is implicitly assumed that the incident field is related to free field conditions (i.e.
sources are radiating in a free space without any obstacle). In these conditions, the
incident pressure pi should be a solution of the Helmholtz equation supplemented
by the Sommerfeld radiation condition. The basic analytical models for acoustic
sources comply with these requirements except for the plane wave source (which
doesn’t satisfy the Sommerfeld radiation condition). In all cases, the incident
field is assumed to be known.
The scattered component ps is unknown and should also verify the Helmholtz
equation :
4 ps + k2 ps = 0 . (16.10)
The original boundary conditions written in terms of the total acoustic pressure
p have to be reformulated in terms of the unknown scattered pressure. This leads
to the following updated Dirichlet, Neumann or Robin boundary conditions :
p s = α1 , (16.11)
∂ps
= β2 , (16.12)
∂n
∂ps
= γ3 ps + β 3 , (16.13)
∂n
where α1 , β 2 , β 3 and γ3 are given by :
α1 = α − p i , (16.14)
∂pi
β2 = β − , (16.15)
∂n
∂p
β 3 = γpi − i , (16.16)
∂n
γ3 = γ . (16.17)
The solution of Eq. (16.10) subjected to these boundary conditions provides the
scattered pressure ps . It should be observed however that the procedure requires
to update boundary values related to all boundary surfaces subjected to the
incident field. This means, for instance, that rigid boundaries are giving rise to
non-homogeneous boundary conditions. Additionally updated boundary values
exhibit some frequency dependence due to the involvement of the incident field.
16.4 Description in terms of source density

16.4.1 Non-homogeneous Helmholtz equation
The presence of acoustic sources can be accounted for by handling a volume
source density. In this context, a source field can be described by its volume
flow density q. The incorporation of this volume flow density into the mass
conservation equation leads to the non-homogeneous Helmholtz equation :
4 p + k2 p = −iρckq . (16.18)
Actran uses a velocity potential instead of a pressure variable. The pressure p

can be deduced from the potential ψ using :
p = −ikcψ . (16.19)
Eq. (16.18) can therefore be rewritten as :

1
4 ψ + k2 ψ = q . (16.20)
ρ
16.4.2 Non-homogeneous Convected Helmoltz equation

The presence of acoustic sources can be accounted for by handling a volume
source density. In this context, a source field can be described by its mass flow
qm . The incorporation of this mass flow qm into the mass conservation equation
leads to the non-homogeneous convected Helmholtz equation:
2
~ · ∇ p + 4 p = −c ik + M
− ik + M ~ · ∇ qm . (16.21)
Actran uses a velocity potential instead of a pressure variable. The pressure p

can be deduced from the potential φ using :
ρ
~ · ∇φ .
p = − c ikφ + M (16.22)
ρT
Eq. (16.21) can therefore be rewritten as :

2
~ · ∇ φ + 4φ = ρ T qm .

− ik + M (16.23)
ρ
16.4.3 Variational form and discrete model

The weak variational form of Eq. (16.20) is :
∇δψ · ∇ψ k2 δψψ
Z Z
− dΩ = − δψqdΩ . (16.24)
Ω ρ ρ Ω
The discretization proceeds as usually. Local potential and potential gradient can
be obtained by interpolation of nodal potentials :
ψ( x, y, z) = N ( x, y, z)Ψ, (16.25)
and
∇ψ( x, y, z) = B( x, y, z)Ψ, (16.26)
where Ψ is the vector of nodal potentials while N ( x ) and B( x ) are matrices
of interpolation functions and their gradients. The resulting algebraic system
appears as :
K − ω 2 M Ψ = Fψ , (16.27)
16.4 Description in terms of source density 237
where
B T ( x, y, z) B( x, y, z)
Z
K= dΩ, (16.28)
Ω ρ
N T ( x, y, z) N ( x, y, z)
Z
M= dΩ, (16.29)
Ω ρc2
and Z
Fψ = − N T qdΩ . (16.30)
Ω
16.4.4 Acoustic volume source

If one considers, with reference to a 3-D or axisymmetric problem, a spherical
source at location ( xS , yS , zS ), the related source density q can be expressed as:
q( x, y, z) = Qδ( x − xS )δ(y − yS )δ(z − zS ), (16.31)
where Q is the volume flow rate of the source which can easily be related to the
pressure amplitude A of the source through:
1 + ikaS
Q = 4π Ae−ikaS , (16.32)
iρck
with aS = source radius. If kaS 1, this expression reduces to:
4π A
Q= . (16.33)
iρck
In the discrete context, a point source with a volume flow rate Q leads to the
following right hand side:
Z
Fψ = − N T ( x, y, z) Qδ( x − xS )δ(y − yS )δ(z − zS )dΩ = − N T ( xS , yS , zS ) Q .
Ω
(16.34)
The 2-D problem can be solved in a similar way for a cylindrical source located
in ( xS , yS ). The related source density q can be expressed as:
q( x, y) = Qδ( x − xS )δ(y − yS ), (16.35)
where Q is the volume flow of the source which can easily be related to the
pressure amplitude A of the cylindrical source through:
(2)
aS H1 (kaS )
Q = −2π A , (16.36)
ρc
with aS = source radius. If kaS 1, the following approximation is valid:
2i
H02 (kaS ) ' , (16.37)
πkaS
so that Eq. (16.36) reduces to:

4A
Q= . (16.38)
iρck
Examination of equations Eq. (16.33) and (16.34) shows that a single source
produces a discrete right hand side Fψ that can be represented as the product of
a constant (ie frequency independent) vector Fψc and the scalar function B(ω ) =
A(ω )/k:
Fψ = Fψc B(ω ) . (16.39)
In the case of multiple sources, this representation remains valid if all source
amplitudes have the same frequency dependence. The main benefit resulting
from Eq. (16.39) is the possibility to use a fast KRYLOV solver for synthesizing
FRF’s (See Section 3.130 of Volume 2). This solver is able to generate, from the
actual excitation, a basis of orthogonal vectors. The procedure leads to a reduction
of model size and enables therefore a very significant reduction of the CPU time.
16.5 Incident field of acoustic sources

Three types of acoustic sources can currently be defined:
• spherical source (point source);

• cylindrical source (line source);
• plane wave source;
Each of them is briefly described below.
Remark. Each Actran source is located automatically within a finite

element or an infinite element domain by Actran. Additionally, a forced
localization allows to locate the source inside incident surfaces and Rayleigh
surfaces. Depending on the type of source and domain to which it is attached,
Actran will perform the analysis using the source density formulation
(spherical sources within finite elements in 3D and axisymmetric cases, cylin-
drical sources within finite elements in 2D) or the traditional decomposition
into incident/scattering components (for all other cases). The direct or indi-
rect attachment of a source to a finite element or an infinite domain allows for
the identification of the related acoustic material. If a decomposition approach
is selected, the incident field related to the particular source is defined within
all acoustic elements having this component number, and in each additional
component where the decomposition approach is selected for the concerned
source.
16.5 Incident field of acoustic sources 239
16.5.1 Harmonic spherical source (point source)

A point source of (complex) amplitude A, located at point P, generates an incident
sound field pi defined by:
e−ikr
pi = A (16.40)
r
where r is the distance between P and the point where the incident pressure is
computed while k is the wave number k = 2π f /c ( f is the frequency and c the
sound speed). A spherical source is entirely determined by:
• its amplitude A,
• its position P.
This type of source is activated through the SPHERICAL keyword within the
SOURCE data block (Section 3.131 of Volume 2).
16.5.2 Harmonic spherical source (point source) within uniform

mean flow
The incident pressure potential attached to a spherical source, located at point P
within a uniform mean flow, writes [61]:
" !#
ρT iA −ik ~ ·~r
M
φi = √ exp √ R− √ . (16.41)
ρ0 2π f R 1 − M2 1 − M2 1 − M2
where
• M is the Mach number ( the velocity divided by the speed of sound),

~ is the Mach vector,
• M
• ~r is the distance vector between the source position and the evaluation
point,
r 2
~
• R = ~r ·~r + √ M·~r 2 is the corrected distance between point P and the
1− M
evaluation point,
• ρ0 is the mean density of the fluid,
• ρ T is the total density of the fluid,

2π f
• k= c is the wave number.
ρ
The ρT0 factor unifies the scaling of the pressure field with pressure fields from
spherical source without flow and from plane wave sources.
Figure 16.1: Definition of a cylindrical source: position P, vector ~v and distance r.
The acoustic pressure is defined, in terms of pressure potential as:

ρ0 ~ · ∇φ

pi = − ikc + c M (16.42)
ρT
This type of source is activated through the SPHERICAL keyword within the
16.5.3 Harmonic cylindrical source (line source)

A line source of (complex) amplitude A, passing through point P and oriented
along vector ~v generates an incident sound field pi defined by:
pi = −iAH02 (kr ) , (16.43)
where r is the distance between the evaluation point and the line carrying the
source (see Figure Figure 16.1) while k is the wave number k = 2π f /c ( f is the
frequency and c the sound speed). H02 is the Hankel function of second type and
order 0 defined by:
H02 (kr ) = J0 (kr ) − iY0 (kr ), (16.44)
where J0 is the Bessel function of first kind and order 0 and Y0 is the Bessel
function of second kind and order 0.
A line source is entirely determined by:
• its amplitude A,
• its position P,
• the vector ~v.
This type of source is activated through the CYLINDRICAL keyword within the
16.5 Incident field of acoustic sources 241
Figure 16.2: Incident field for plane wave sources.
Remark. The incident field of cylindrical sources does not satisfy the
3D Sommerfeld condition. Their use should therefore be restricted to 2D
problems. In this case, the vector ~v must always have (0, 0, 1) components.
If the problem is two-dimensional, Actran will always use this vector,
irrespective of the value defined in the data file.
16.5.4 Harmonic plane wave source

A plane wave source of (complex) amplitude A, having its origin at point P and
propagating along vector ~v, generates an incident sound field pi defined by:
pi = Ae−ikr , (16.45)
where r is the distance between the evaluation point and the plane perpendicular
to ~v and passing through P while k is the wave number k = 2π f /c ( f is the
frequency and c the sound speed). The plane wave source originates from the
plane located at point P. This means that there is an incident field only in the
half-space towards which ~v points (Figure 16.2).
This type of source is activated through the PLANE keyword within the SOURCE
data block (Section 3.131 of Volume 2).
Note that due to its expression, plane wave sources are only valid for 3D, 2D and
axisymmetric computations of order m = 0. For this latest, the source must be
aligned with the axis of axisymmetry.
Remark. The incident field of plane wave sources does not satisfy the
Sommerfeld condition. This will lead to erroneous results if the source is
defined in an infinite domain containing free infinite faces (for instance if the
infinite domain is bounded by a baffle) unless a baffle condition is used in

order to get a zero incident normal velocity along these infinite faces. This is
done by defining the BAFFLE keyword inside the SOURCE data block.
16.5.5 Harmonic plane wave source with uniform mean flow

A plane wave source of amplitude A, having its origin at point P and propagating
along vector ~v within a uniform mean flow, generates an incident sound field pi
defined by:
pi = Ae−iKr (16.46)
where
Ω
• K= c0 is the corrected wave number,
2π f
• Ω= ~ ·~v) is the corrected angular frequency,
(1+ M
~ is the velocity vector divided by the speed of sound c0 ),
• M
• r is the distance vector between the evaluation point and the plane perpen-
dicular to ~v and passing through P which means that there is an incident
field only in the half-space towards which ~v points (Figure 16.2).
This type of source is activated through the PLANE keyword within the SOURCE
data block (Section 3.131 of Volume 2).
16.6 Implementation aspects

The main objective is to use a total acoustic pressure formulation for acoustic
finite elements in order to avoid incident/scattering decomposition within finite
elements. This is desirable in order to allow for acoustic excitations of porous
u − p elements. This is achieved by selecting the formulation in terms of acoustic
densities within acoustic finite elements (if considered sources can be described
in these terms) and to resort to the decomposition into incident and scattered
components in other cases. This strategy incorporates the fact that only cylindri-
cal sources (in 2-D problems) and spherical sources (in 3-D and axisymmetric
problems) can be described in terms of source densities if the related source point
belongs to an acoustic finite element.
For all other cases, the source should either be attached to an infinite domain or a
Rayleigh surface. In these circumstances, Actran will perform the decomposition
of the solution into incident and scattered components for all nodes related to
the considered infinite domain. A particular matching procedure allows for the
simultaneous use of total acoustic pressure within finite elements and scattered
pressures within infinite domains.
16.6 Implementation aspects 243
Alternatively, the decomposition of the solution into incident and scattered

components can also be forced in selected components and infinite domains for a
specific (or all) source(s). This includes situations when the sources are placed
both within the finite or the infinite elements, and allows to by-pass the matching
procedure at the interface between finite and infinite domains. This procedure
has the advantage that the incident component is supposed to be well-known,
so that the only numerical errors remain on the scattered component, which is
smaller in amplitude. As the matching procedure can also have a wrong behavior
due to some phase-differences between the density formulation inside the finite
elements and the incident component inside the infinite domain, this forced
procedure allows to treat these problems more safely.
The treatment procedure is based on the identification of the source’s location.

The User should attach each source to an infinite domain (or to a surface). If the
User does not mention such information, Actran will detect automatically the
finite element or the infinite domain where the source is located. However, if
acoustic sources are defined within an acoustic half-space described by a Rayleigh
surface, these sources can not be automatically detected and should be explicitly
attached to the related Rayleigh surface. This is obtained by the specification of
the keyword SURFACE followed by the surface number in the SOURCE data block.
Based on this identification or to a forced indication, the software is able to select

automatically the appropriate treatment technique taking into account the source
location (within a finite element or an infinite domain), the source type (spherical,
cylindrical, plane wave) and the problem’s dimension (2-D, 3-D or axisymmetric).
The possibilities offered by the source density formulation (in relation with acous-
tic finite elements) are summarized in Table 16.1 while Table 16.3 summarizes
possibilities offered by the incident/scattering decomposition for sources attached
to infinite domains.
Spherical source Cylindrical source Plane wave source

2D NA Yes No
3D Yes No No
Axi Yes NA No
Table 16.1: Availability of source density formulation (sources attached to finite elements).

2D NA Yes Yes
3D Yes Yes Yes
Axi Yes NA Yes
Table 16.2: Availability of incident/scattered decomposition without mean flow (sources

attached to infinite domains or forced decomposition).

2D NA Yes Yes
3D Yes NA Yes
Axi Yes NA Yes
Table 16.3: Availability of incident/scattered decomposition with uniform mean flow

(sources attached to infinite domains or forced decomposition).
Seventeen
Innite Elements
Contents
17.2 Degrees of freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
17.3 Parameters of an infinite domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
17.4 Convergence conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
17.5 Convergence criterions for infinite elements . . . . . . . . . . 250
17.6 Orthogonality of principal axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
17.7 Geometrical conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
17.8 Discrete model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Infinite elements allow to model the sound field in unbounded domains, insuring
a free-field condition.

Infinite elements are specified by elements having a dimension one unit lower
than the dimension of space (or surrounding acoustic elements), as shown in
Table 17.1 :

POI01 No. LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes. QUA04 Yes.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.
245
246 Infinite Elements
Figure 17.1: Topology of line-based infinite elements (2p and 3p nodes) showing both
primary nodes (black) defined by the user and internal nodes (white) automatically created
by Actran. Note that, in these and subsequent figures, p indicates the interpolation order
along the radial direction.
Figure 17.2: Topology of quadrangle-based infinite elements (4p and 8p nodes) showing
both primary nodes (black) defined by the user and internal nodes (white) automatically
created by Actran.
17.2 Degrees of freedom 247
Figure 17.3: Topology of triangle-based infinite elements (3p and 6p nodes) showing both
primary nodes (black) defined by the user and internal nodes (white) automatically created
by Actran.
17.2 Degrees of freedom

Each infinite node (an infinite node is a node attached to infinite elements) carries
a single degree of freedom: the acoustic pressure. An infinite node is not a node
of the finite-infinite interface.
The number of infinite nodes is equal to the number of nodes supporting the
finite-infinite interface multiplied by the radial interpolation order minus 1.

17.3 Parameters defining an infinite element domain

Actran uses infinite elements to model the sound field in unbounded domains.
An infinite element is defined by the nodes lying along its base face (Figure 17.1,
Figure 17.2 and Figure 17.3) and by the parameters of the infinite domain to
which it belongs.
An infinite domain is a collection of infinite elements that discretize an unbounded

acoustic domain. In a conventional radiation problem, all infinite elements would
typically be grouped in a single infinite domain while a conventional acoustic
transmission case would involve two (semi-)infinite domains (Figure 17.4).
An infinite domain is defined by the following parameters:
• the material the infinite domain is made of;

Figure 17.4: Single infinite domain for a radiation problem (left) and dual semi-infinite
domains for a transmission problem (right).
• the radial interpolation order;
• the reference ellipsoidal coordinate system (origin and three principal axes),
which supports the truncated multipole expansion approximating the sound
field;
• the optional definition of a uniform flow.
It is the user’s responsibility to identify the parameters of the reference ellipsoidal

coordinate system. This coordinate system is defined by :
• its origin (coordinates xc , yc , zc );
• its principal axes (three orthogonal directions defined by three orthogonal

vectors v1 , v2 and v3 and the length of the three semi-axes a, b and c).
The reference ellipsoidal surface has the following equation in its local coordinate
system:
x2 y2 z2
2
+ 2 + 2 = 1. (17.1)
a b c
Depending on the relations between a, b and c, the reference ellipsoidal surface

can reduce to a prolate spheroidal form (a > b = c), an oblate spheroidal form
(a = b > c) or a spherical form (a = b = c) (Figure 17.5). Note that the number of
principal axes is reduced to 2 for 2D and axisymmetric problems.
17.4 Convergence conditions 249
Figure 17.5: Reference frame for infinite element domains. From left to right then top to
bottom: ellipsoidal, prolate spheroidal, oblate spheroidal and spherical reference systems.
17.4 Sufficient convergence condition for infinite elements

The convergence of the conjugate infinite element formulation used in Actran is
ensured if one can build an ellipsoid homo-focal to the reference ellipsoid defined
by the user and fulfilling the two following conditions (Figure 17.6):
• Condition 1: the ellipsoid is inside the finite element mesh,
• Condition 2: the ellipsoid fully contains the acoustic sources 1 .
These conditions are sufficient but not necessary. The interface between the
domains modelled by finite and infinite elements can then be any convex surface
containing the smallest ellipsoid homo-focal to the ellipsoid defined by the user
that satisfies the above conditions[3]. Note that, as displayed in Figure 17.6, the
1 Including solid surfaces carrying boundary conditions that could interact with the acoustic field
(rigid/treated surfaces and vibrating panels, for example)

Figure 17.6: Sufficient convergence condition for the conjugated infinite element method.
convergence criteria are not violated if the reference ellipsoid is not contained
inside the finite element mesh. Warnings will nevertheless be issued by Actran
in this case.
17.5 Necessary convergence criterions for infinite elements

The above condition is a sufficient condition for ensuring the convergence of an in-
finite element discretization with increasing radial interpolation order but it does
not give an indication on the necessary radial order. The optimal radial interpola-
tion order can only be found by trial and error but the following considerations
must be taken into account [4] :
• There is a relation between the size of the finite element domain relative to
the size of the acoustic sources on one side, and the infinite elements’ radial
interpolation order on the other side. If the FE domain is small then the
sound field in the IE domain cannot, in general, be approximated by a low
order multipole expansion and a higher radial interpolation order must be
used. Conversely, if the FE domain is larger then the sound field in the IE
domain can be approximated by a lower order multipole expansion.
• The interpolation order normally increases with frequency for two reasons:
17.6 Orthogonality of principal axis 251
– for a given source distribution, higher orders term in the multipole

expansion become more important when frequency increases;
– for vibro-acoustic problems (powertrain radiation for instance) the
source itself becomes more complex when frequency increases.
• The complexity of the radiation pattern must be accounted for. For instance
the uniformly pulsating sphere problem does not require a high interpola-
tion order (infinite elements of order 1 are sufficient) while a loudspeaker
or powertrain analysis usually do.
• The combination of finite and infinite elements aims at solving the acoustic
problem on the whole geometrical domain. This means that infinite ele-
ments prevent spurious reflections at FE/IE interface and allow, at the same
time, for an accurate description of the acoustic field at large distances from
the sources. This last objective could require, in some circumstances, the
selection of higher interpolation schemes.
17.6 Orthogonality of principal axis

Actran checks the orthogonality of the local reference system and performs
automatically a re-orthogonalization. This operation is performed as follows: let
us define by v1 , v2 , v3 the user defined principal axes. Actran first computes the
related basis vectors e1 , e2 , e3 :
v1
e1 = , (17.2)
k v1 k
v2
e2 = , (17.3)
k v2 k
v3
e3 = . (17.4)
k v3 k
The updated basis vectors e10 , e20 , e30 are computed according to:
e10 = e1 , (17.5)
e1 × e2
e30 = , (17.6)
k e1 × e2 k
e20 = e30 × e10 . (17.7)
The new principal axes are then computed from:
v10 = kv1 ke10 , (17.8)
v20 = kv2 ke20 , (17.9)

v30 = kv3 ke30 . (17.10)
This re-orthogonalization procedure preserves the first principal direction (that
could be related to a uniform flow) and the original lengths of all semi-axes.
Figure 17.7: Volume covered by an infinite element depending on the reference coordinate
system.
17.7 Geometrical conformity

A correct specification of local reference systems related to infinite domains is
required in order to ensure numerical convergence and geometrical conformity
with physical boundaries. Indeed, it must be reminded that the volume of space
covered by an infinite element depends both on the geometry of its basis face at
finite distance and on the parameters of the local coordinate system used to build
the truncated multipole expansion. Figure 17.7 shows for instance the volume
covered by a given infinite element for different possible reference coordinate
systems. These differences are essential when one infinite face of an infinite
element is supposed to coincide with a geometrical boundary as, for example, in
the acoustic transmission problem shown on Figure 17.8 and 17.9.
17.8 Discrete model

More information about the discrete model used for infinite elements can be
found in Section 27.4.3.
17.8 Discrete model 253
Figure 17.8: The same origin, located halfway through the thickness of a sandwich panel,
has been selected for both infinite domains in this acoustic transmission problem. The
boundary of each infinite domain is therefore not aligned with the baffle.
Figure 17.9: Each infinite domain has its own origin and the principal axis are located in
the baffle plane. The boundary of each infinite domain is correctly aligned with the baffle.
Eighteen
Perfectly Matched Layer

Contents
18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
18.2 Finite elements for APML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
18.3 Finite elements for PML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
18.4 FWH integral formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
18.5 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
18.1 Introduction
Solving problems involving unbounded domains with finite elements has always
been particularly challenging. For acoustic problems, the challenge results from
the handling of the so-called Sommerfeld radiation condition. Various strategies
are currently available for handling this boundary condition. Infinite elements
allow for a correct treatment using appropriate interpolation functions incorporat-
ing the Sommerfeld condition. Various infinite element formulations are available
for that purpose. The conjugated version available in Actran software offers
many attractive features except that the system matrix is no longer symmetric.
In many circumstances, the objective of the simulation is to evaluate near field

quantities but not necessarily far field pressures. In such circumstances, it could be
more efficient to select an approximate non reflecting boundary condition (NRBC)
that will prevent spurious reflections along the related boundary. On the other
hand, if the external domain is homogeneous, far field pressures can be computed
at a post-processing step using a boundary integral representation. Such integral
representation relies on the availability of pressure and normal velocity fields
along a boundary surface enclosing the acoustic sources. A computationally
efficient non-reflecting boundary condition (NRBC) could therefore be attractive.
255
256 Perfectly Matched Layer
Figure 18.1: Difference of requirements between PML and APML techniques in frequency.
The Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) technique is a particular NRBC class offering
such interesting features. The method leads to truncate the mesh to an inner
domain and to surround it by an external artificial absorbing layer. The layer is
made absorbent by applying a complex variable change (called stretching). A
significant advantage offered by this technique is the symmetry of the matrix
operator.
The PML method was first derived by Berenger to solve electromagnetic prob-
lems. For acoustic problems, the PML method was historically confined to very
simple sets of coordinates: cartesian, cylindrical and spherical. For industrial
applications, a general curvilinear formulation is required. Moreover, referring
to a specific coordinate system is not always possible in practice. A cartesian
approximation of the PML taking this requirement into account is therefore
necessary.
The PML method is supported by two implementations within Actran, which

are presented in the following sections. The first technique consist simply in
describing explicitly the model supporting the NRBC, and is supported by the PML
component, described in Section 18.3. The second technique, called adaptive PML,
consist in describing the surface supporting the NRBC. The solver then creates
the corresponding discretized domain automatically, which allows to adapt the
related domain to the frequency of interest. This component is described in
Section 18.2.
18.2 Finite elements for APML 257
18.2 Finite elements for APML

Adaptive Perfectly Matched Layers are specified by elements having a dimension
one unit lower than the dimension of space (or surrounding acoustic elements),
as shown in in Table 18.2 :

POI01 No. LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes. QUA04 Yes.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.
The support of quadrangular elements is only supported if the generated mesh is

made using the EXTRUSION method.

Each node carries a single degree of freedom: the acoustic pressure. The num-
ber of degrees of freedom for an APML domain will vary between the different
realizations of the NRBC mesh, consequently along with the treated frequency.


The PML technology is based on extra layers of finite elements used to damp
progressively the acoustic pressure in order to define a non reflective boundary
condition.
When using APMLs, a preliminary computation of the supporting mesh and

distance field is required. The computation of the distance and gradient of the
distance is required to compute the related stretching function. This computa-
tional step must be activated (only sequentially) using the following command
line:
actranpy –inputfile=actran.edat –mem=200 -e distance
The computation of the distance field relies on the solution of Laplace equation
using the generated meshes. As this computation can lead in some cases to prob-
lems when evaluating the stretching direction, in particular when the gradient
of the distance is small, a regularization is introduced. This regularization is
based on a combination with a radial vector, supported by the pole of the APML
Figure 18.2: Adaptive generation of meshes for different frequencies.
(computed automatically from the center of gravity, or optionally specified by

the CENTER keyword). This radial vector is then combined using a regularization
parameter e (specified by the EPSILON keyword), which is close to zero.
In order to optimally adapt the generated meshes, the user must choose for
which frequency bands an adapted mesh will be generated. This can be manually
controlled by the user using the MESH_FREQUENCY data block or automatically
generated using the ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword.
• If the optional ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword is specified, frequency bands

will be automatically generated. The ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword specifies
the ratio between maximal and minimal frequency for each frequency
band. These bands are generated starting from the base frequency 1Hz and
are bounded by successive integrers powers of the value specified for the
ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword. Only the frequency bands holding a compu-
tation frequency will generate an adapted mesh. The ADAPTIVE_MIN_FREQ
specified the minimal acceptable frequency below which all frequencies
will be related to in one adapted mesh.
• If the optional ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword is specified and is equal to 1, one

APML mesh will be generated for each computational frequency.
• The optional MESH_FREQUENCY data block allows to specify manually the

frequency bands to be taken into account. If this data block is specified, no
automatic frequency band will be generated.
In addition, the generation of the mesh supporting the PML component depends
on particular component properties:
• The thickness of the APML is provided relatively to the largest wavelength

of the considered frequency band (thus related to the lowest frequency),
as the sensitivity toward this parameter is the most important at lower
frequencies.
18.2 Finite elements for APML 259
Figure 18.3: Computation of far field pressure quantities accounting symmetries.
• The element size within the APML mesh is provided relatively to the
smallest wavelength of the considered frequency band (thus related to the
highest frequency).
• As the surface mesh supporting the APML component is unique, the target
element size of the APML might highly differ with this one. The mesh
gradation parameter specifies the maximal relative difference of neighboring
element sizes. The higher this latest, the lower amount of elements and
nodes will be produced.
• If the APML is intended to model a baffled NRBC, these baffles must be

specified in advance using the FWH_SYMMETRY keyword, which will also
affect the evaluation of the pressure in far field. These baffles can only be
perpendicular to the axes of the global coordinate system.
The evaluation of the pressure in the far field (i.e. outside the PML domain) is
based on a FWH (Ffowcs Williams Hawkings) computation, which is automat-
ically performed during the computational process. More information about
this can be found in Section 18.4. Additionally, the influence of semi-infinite
baffles can be accounted for using the FWH_SYMMETRY keyword. The integral
formulation will be indented by mirror images of the provided solution at the
interface between PML and acoustic components. These symmetry planes can
however only be perpendicular to the axes of the global coordinate system.
In addition, a symmetry factor allows modifying the factor of the mirror images
(by default set to 1) for each symmetry plane. When set to −1 on a symmetry
plane for instance, this factor will allow to apply a zero pressure boundary
condition in the FWH far field propagation.
A particular property which drives the numerical model of the PML component
is the MODIFIED_INTEGRATION keyword. If this keyword is activated (by setting
it at 1), then modified integration rules are used inside the numerical model.
elements.
Following numerical parameters affect the post-processing of acoustical compo-

nents:
• The optional keyword POWER_EVALUATION set to 1 activates the computation

of the dissipated power in the PML which is equivalent to the radiated
power for the infinite element component.
• The optional keyword SKIP_VELOCITY set to 1 disables the storage of veloc-
ity and intensity indicators.
Desabling the storage of velocity and intensity indicators leads to a reduction of

the memory used by Actran during the model assembling and post-processing.

An APML component must be linked with a fluid material. The proper evaluation
of the stretching functions do not account for the presence of a flow. The
specification of a heterogeneous environment is thus prohibited. The fluid
material is then characterized by the following parameters:
• the fluid density ρre f kg/m3 ;

• the sound speed cre f [m/s].
Those material properties are constant in the whole domain and are the only one
needed.
18.3 Finite elements for PML

Perfectly Matched Layers are specified by elements having the same dimension
than the dimension of space (or neighboring acoustic elements), as shown in
Table 18.3 :

TET04 Yes.
TET10 Yes.
PYR05 Yes.
PYR13 Yes.
18.3 Finite elements for PML 261



The PML technology is based on extra layers of finite elements used to damp
progressively the acoustic pressure in order to define a non reflective boundary
condition.
The evaluation of the stretching function requires a preliminary computation of

the distance. The direct solver used for this step will is the direct solver of the
computation. The distance evaluation step must be activated (only sequentially)
using the following command line:
actranpy –inputfile=actran.dat –mem=200 -e distance
The computation of the distance field relieson the solution of Laplace equation
using the generated meshes. As this computation can lead in some cases to prob-
lems when evaluating the stretching direction, in particular when the gradient
of the distance is small, a regularization is introduced. This regularization is
based on a combination with a radial vector, supported by the pole of the APML
(provided by the CENTER keyword). This radial vector is then combined using a
regularization parameter e (specified by the EPSILON keyword), which is close to
zero.
The evaluation of the pressure in the far field (i.e. outside the PML domain) is
based on a FWH (Ffowcs Williams Hawkings) computation, which is automat-
ically performed during the computational process. More information about
this can be found in Section 18.4. Additionally, the influence of semi-infinite
baffles can be accounted for using the FWH_SYMMETRY keyword. The integral
formulation will be indented by mirror images of the provided solution at the
interface between PML and acoustic components. These symmetry planes can
however only be perpendicular to the axes of the global coordinate system.
In addition, a symmetry factor allows modifying the factor of the mirror images
(by default set to 1) for each symmetry plane. When set to −1 on a symmetry
plane for instance, this factor will allow to apply a zero pressure boundary
condition in the FWH far field propagation.
A particular property which drives the numerical model of the PML component
is the MODIFIED_INTEGRATION keyword. If this keyword is activated (by setting
it at 1), then modified integration rules are used inside the numerical model.
elements.
The optional keyword POWER_EVALUATION set to 1 activates the computation of

the dissipated power in the PML which is equivalent to the radiated power for
the infinite element component.

A PML component must be linked with a fluid material. The proper evaluation of
the stretching functions do not account for the presence of a flow. The specification
of a heterogeneous environment is thus prohibited. The fluid material is then
characterized by the following parameters:

Those material properties are constant in the whole domain and are the only one
needed.
18.4 FWH integral formulation

The propagation to the far field is performed using a Ffowcs-Williams and
Hawkings integral formulation.
The FWH equation is an extension of the Lighthill acoustic analogy to include

arbitrary convective motion of the sources and is appropriate for far-field acoustic
noise predictions. Originally this equation was intended to calculate the sound
generated by turbulent flows around rigid bodies in arbitrary motion, but it can
be used also to compute the far-field from the near-field when the impermeability
constraint on the surface is relaxed. In the latter case, the FWH formulation is
stated on an imaginary and arbitrary mathematical surface which divides the
unbounded domain in two regions so that only the flow on the surface and
outside if the volume source is not negligible, is needed to calculate the far-field.
The FWH equation can be derived by considering a moving surface St . For our
purpose, St is an uniform moving surface in a fixed frame, but stationary in the
reference frame, embedding the near-field region.
First, the following definitions are introduced:
• x and x̂ are the observer and source position, respectively,

• R = x − x̂ is the vector in the radiation direction and n = R/kRk its
corresponding norm,
18.4 FWH integral formulation 263
• M0 = v0 /c0 is the local Mach number vector of the source,
• β is defined by β2 = 1 − M2 .
and introducing the following variables :
s !
R · v0 ( R · v0 )2
rβ = + + β kRk /β2 ,
2 (18.1)
c0 c20
r = R − r β M0 , (18.2)
v0n = v0 · n, (18.3)
v̂0n = v̂0 · n, (18.4)
Un = ρ0 v̂0n 0
+ ρ̂ v0n , (18.5)
L = p̂ n + ρ0 v0n v̂0 ,
0
(18.6)
L m = L · M0 , (18.7)
Lr = L · r/r β , (18.8)
Mr = r/r β · M0 , (18.9)
and noting that p̂0 ( x̂ ), v̂0 ( x̂ ), ρ̂0 ( x̂ ) are the acoustic pressure, velocity and density
variables on the moving surface at the source position x̂ and v0 , ρ0 and c0 the
constant static mean velocity, density and speed of sound in the far field.
The integral representation computed by the FWH module gives the pressure
p0 ( x ) at any observer point in the far field and is described by the following
equation:
Z 
− iω r
0 e c0 β (iω − c0 ( Mr + kMk2 )) Lr
4π p ( x ) = 
2
(Un + )
r β (1 + Mr ) r β (1 + Mr ) c0
St

Lr + L m 
+ dSt ( x̂ ) (18.10)
rβ
As this equation is only valid in 3D, the axisymmetric far field radiation is
developed in 3D for radiation purpose. Then, the 3D FWH module is used. The
far-field radiation module is not available in 2D models. In some cases it can
be very useful to eliminate a part of the FWH surface for the far field pressure
computation. This is handled by the OPEN_FWH keyword ; a part of the considered
radiating surface is not taken into account in the computation process.
18.5 Methodology
18.5.1 The Helmholtz problem
The governing equation for the pressure field related to a general linear acoustic
problem in the frequency domain is the Helmholtz equation (equation 18.11).
This equation can be derived from mass and momentum conservation principles
and the constitutive equation of a perfect gas:
∇ · (ν∇ p(x)) + νk2 p(x) = 0 in Ω . (18.11)
1
In this equation, k = ωc is the wavenumber, ω is the angular frequency, ρ0 = ν is
the density and c is the sound speed.
For fluids whose ambient density and sound speed do not vary with the position,
the parameter ν can be removed from the equation. It is generally the case for
most of exterior problems. On the other hand the general PML formulation can
be seen as an anisotropic version of the Helmholtz equation so that ν will be kept
in the equation.
The conservation of mass can be expressed as:
∂ρ
+ ρ0 ∇ · v = 0 . (18.12)
∂t
The conservation of momentum linking the velocity and the pressure is written
as:
∂v 1
= − ∇p , (18.13)
∂t ρ0
while the constitutive equation of a perfect gas can be formulated as:
∂p
p = c2 ρ ( c2 = ( )0 ) . (18.14)
∂ρ
If we assume a time dependency as eiωt , then ∂t = iωρ and ∂v

∂ρ
∂t = iωv. This
allows for the elimination of the velocity and gives the Helmholtz equation.
In an unbounded domain Ω, the solution must also satisfy the Sommerfeld

radiation condition at infinity:
∂p
limr→∞ r (d−1)/2 ( + ikp) = 0 , (18.15)
∂r
18.5 Methodology 265
where d is the number of geometrical dimensions (2 for 2D or 3 for 3D). Indeed

∂p
one can show that for r extending to infinity, the solution must satisfy ∂r = −ikp.
This expression has also to decay faster than O( √1r ) for 2D problems and faster
than O( 1r ) for 3D problems. The condition expresses that for unbounded domains,
sources must be real sources and not sink, it prevents waves coming from infinity.
Respecting this condition represents a real challenge when computing numerical
solutions for exterior acoustic problems.
18.5.2 The PML formulation in curvilinear coordinates

Let’s assume orthogonal curvilinear coordinates defined by vectors u1 (y1 , y2 , y3 ),
u2 (y1 , y2 , y3 ) and u3 (y1 , y2 , y3 ), the regular cartesian coordinates, xi , are
expressed from the curvilinear ones: xi = f i (y1 , y2 , y3 ) (i = 1, 2, 3) (figure 18.4).
e3
e2
e1 u3
( y1 , y2 , y3 )
( x1 , x2 , x3 )
P
u2
u1
Figure 18.4: Orthogonal curvilinear coordinates.
Over the PML layer, a complex stretching is applied along the three coordinates
yi (i = 1, 2, 3) in order to absorb outgoing waves:
dỹi i
yi → ỹi such that = γi = 1 − σi (yi ) . (18.16)
dyi ω
It leads to a modified Helmholtz equation. However since it is much easier in

a FEA code to work in cartesian coordinates than in curvilinear coordinates, a
closed form for the expression valid in cartesian coordinates is requested.
The theory of general curvilinear coordinates shows how to express divergence

and gradient operators in any orthogonal coordinate system.
Only the scale factors hi (i = 1, 2, 3) formulated as:

s
n
∂x (y , y2 , y3 ) 2
hi = ∑ ( k 1 ) . (18.17)
k =1
∂yi
are needed to write down the equations of the acoustic problem.
This can be done by rewriting the conservation equations as:

ω 1 ∂ ∂ ∂
i 2 p + ρ0 ( h2 h3 v1 ) + ( h h3 v2 ) + ( h h2 v3 ) = 0 ,
c h1 h2 h3 ∂y1 ∂y2 1 ∂y3 1
1 1 ∂p
iωv1 + =0,
ρ0 h1 ∂y1
(18.18)
1 1 ∂p
iωv2 + =0,
ρ0 h2 ∂y2
1 1 ∂p
iωv3 + =0.
ρ0 h3 ∂y3
The stretching is applied along each coordinate. It leads to some variations in

the partial derivatives ∂y∂ → γ1 ∂y∂ (equation 18.20). The scale factors hi are also
i i i
replaced by scale factors where the variable change is applied:
s
n
∂xk (ỹ1 , ỹ2 , ỹ3 ) 2
h̃i = ∑( ∂ỹi
) . (18.19)
k =1
The modified form of conservation equations is:

ω 1 1 ∂ 1 ∂ 1 ∂
i 2 p + ρ0 (h̃2 h̃3 v1 ) + (h̃ h̃3 v2 ) + (h̃ h̃2 v3 ) = 0 ,
c h̃1 h̃2 h̃3 γ1 ∂y1 γ2 ∂y2 1 γ3 ∂y3 1
1 ∂p
iωv1 + =0,
ρ0 h̃1 γ1 ∂y1
1 ∂p
iωv2 + =0,
ρ0 h̃2 γ2 ∂y2
1 ∂p
iωv3 + =0.
ρ0 h̃3 γ3 ∂y3
(18.20)
Unfortunately, these equations do not correspond to the Helmholtz problem.

This problem can be tackled by defining new functions: ṽ1 = γ2 γ3 h̃h2 hh̃3 v1 , ṽ2 =
2 3
γ1 γ3 h̃h1 h̃h3 v2 and ṽ3 = γ1 γ2 h̃h1 hh̃2 v3 . At the interface, these functions are continuous
1 3 1 2
with the regular velocity components vi . Inserting these new functions into the
system leads to an anisotropic version of the primary problem:

h̃1 h̃2 h̃3 ω 1 ∂ ∂ ∂
γ1 γ2 γ3 i p + ρ0 (h2 h3 ṽ1 ) + (h1 h3 ṽ2 ) + (h1 h2 ṽ3 ) = 0 ,
h1 h2 h3 c2 h1 h2 h3 ∂y1 ∂y2 ∂y3
γ2 γ3 h̃2 h̃3 h1 1 1 ∂p
iω ṽ1 + =0,
γ1 h2 h3 h̃1 ρ0 h1 ∂y1
γ γ3 h̃1 h̃3 h2 1 1 ∂p
iω ṽ2 + 1 =0,
γ2 h1 h3 h̃2 ρ0 h2 ∂y2
γ γ2 h̃1 h̃2 h3 1 1 ∂p
iω ṽ3 + 1 =0.
γ3 h1 h2 h̃3 ρ0 h3 ∂y3
(18.21)
This system can be expressed as one equation. The new expression (equation
(18.22)) is an anisotropic version of the Helmholtz equation, where the stretching
functions γi and the scale factors hi are needed. First, the initial density ρ0 = 1ν is
no longer represented by a scalar but by a tensor. Then a modified wavenumber
k is defined as a function of the position. The treatment of the divergence term
will rely on the application of Green’s theorem for setting up the Galerkin weak
form. This derivation follows the same idea than the one used for electromagnetic
problems.
∇·( νΛ(x) ∇ p(x)) + νk2 f (x) p(x) = 0 (18.22)

| {z } | {z }
Tensorial density Speed function
with
γ2 γ3 h̃2 h̃3 h1 γ γ h̃ h̃ h
Λ=( ) u1 u1 + ( 1 3 1 3 2 ) u2 u2
γ1 h2 h3 h̃1 γ2 h1 h3 h̃2
(18.23)
γ γ h̃ h̃ h
+ ( 1 2 1 2 3 ) u3 u3 ,
γ3 h1 h2 h̃3
h̃1 h̃2 h̃3

f (x) = γ1 γ2 γ3 . (18.24)
h1 h2 h3
This development is true if a stretching is applied along the three coordinates. It

will be the case when dealing with corners of boxes in cartesian coordinates, for
example. But for most problems, a stretching along only one or two coordinates
is needed: (r ) in spherical coordinates and (r, z) in cylindrical coordinates. In
this case, the γi corresponding to the non stretched variables just have to be set
to 1 and the development stays perfectly valid.
18.5.3 Reformulation without referring to any coordinate sys-

tem
The considerations presented in section 18.5.2 are true for any set of orthogonal
coordinates. This allows for the derivation of a true PML expression for cartesian,
cylindrical and spherical coordinates. For more complicated problems, a proper

set may not be defined. It is useful in this case to derive an expression for Λ and
f which only depends on one stretched coordinate corresponding to the wave
propagation direction. Only the distance field and its gradient would be required
to implement the PML. In general it will only lead to approximations. A local
cartesian approximation of the true PML formulation is described hereafter.
In this case, the density tensor Λ and the function f have a cartesian form:
1
Λ∼= γI + ( − γ)u3 u3 ; (18.25)
γ
f ∼
=γ. (18.26)
The approximations Λ ≈ Λ̃(y3 ) and f ≈ f˜(y3 ) are implemented and compared

with the true PML expression.
The main interest of using approximations Eq. (18.25) and Eq. (18.26) is that
these expressions do not depend on any defined coordinate system. Indeed
γ(d) and u3 only depend on the distance field (Figure 18.5). This distance field
(wall distance) is defined as the distance d between the considered point and the
nearest boundary. The stretching direction u3 is simply the gradient of this field
evaluated at each point.
u3
p
d
c
Figure 18.5: u3 only depends on the distance field.
18.5.3.1 Evaluation of the distance and stretching direction

Deriving the distance field is still an open topic and many methods are available
to compute it. Differential equation-based methods are often considered, one
good choice is to solve Laplace equation:
∇ · (∇d N (x)) = 0 ; (18.27)
with
• zero Dirichlet boundary condition on the inner surface of the PML (the
interface with the finite element domain),
• unit Dirichlet boundary condition on the outer surface of the PML (the
surface that will be stretched toward infinity).
This gives a regular, "normalized" distance field d N , with values between 0 and 1
on the whole PML domain. The stretching direction is aligned with the gradient
of the normalized distance,
∇d N (x)
u3 = . (18.28)
k∇d N (x)k
An average thickness can be defined as
Z −1
L= k∇d N (x)kdV . (18.29)
VPML
If needed, a dimensional distance can be obtained from the dimensionless "nor-

malized" distance
d = Ld N . (18.30)
The equation 18.27 is solved using classic galerkin FE discretization, which can
leads to problems when evaluating the stretching direction 18.29 in the region of
the mesh where the gradient of the normalized distance is very small. To avoid
those problems, the gradient of the normalized distance is combined with a small
radial vector, which regularizes equation 18.29 for very small gradients
Z −1
N
s = L∇d (x) + e(x − xg ) k(x − xg )kdV ;
VPML (18.31)
s
u3 = ;
ksk
with xg being the pole for the radial regularization (for example, the PML center
of gravity) and e the small regularisation parameter.
18.5.4 Weak form of the PML

Finally, the problem to solve is summarized by equation 18.32, where Ωin is the
inner domain, Ω pml is the stretched layer , Ωt = Ωin ∪ Ω pml and Γ D , Γ N are the
parts of the boundary where respectively the Dirichlet and Neumann conditions
are imposed. In the inner domain, there is no stretching: Λ(x) = 1 and f (x) = 1
for x in Ωin . In the stretched layer, Ω pml , Λ(x) and f (x) take one of the form
developed above, either a true PML formulation or a cartesian approximation.

 ∇ · (Λ∇ p(x)) + k f (x) p(x) = 0 ∀x ∈ Ωt
 2
p(x) = g(x) ∀x ∈ Γ D . (18.32)

 ∂p(x) = q(x)

∀x ∈ Γ N
∂n
The finite element model relies on a weak variational form of the gov-
erning differential equation. The space of trial functions is defined as
= 1v ∈ H (Ω), v = g on Γ D1 and the space of test functions

1

V is V0 =
v ∈ H (Ω), v = 0 on Γ D . H (Ω) is the Sobolev space W21 (Ω). An order
two is needed because the function and his gradient must be square summable.
The weak form of the problem is then to find p such that the following expression
is true for all v ∈ V0 .
ain ( p, v) + a pml ( p, v) = F (v) , (18.33)
where
Z
ain ( p, v) := (∇v̄ · ∇ p − k2 v̄p)dΩin , (18.34)
Ωin
Z
a pml ( p, v) := (∇v̄ · Λ∇ p − k2 f v̄p)dΩ pml , (18.35)
Ω pml
Z
F (v) := v̄qdΓ N . (18.36)
ΓN
In practice, the problem is restricted to a Galerkin approximation. Let’s define

V0h ⊂ V0 , a discretized space. The problem is to find ph = vh + gh , where vh ∈ V h ,
such that a( ph , vh ) = F (vh ). If Ndo f coefficients di are considered with a partition
wether the node is in the inner domain, Ωin , or in the PML, P, vh is written as:
Ndo f
vh (x) = ∑ Ni (x)di = ∑ Ni (x)di + ∑ Ni (x)di (18.37)
i =1 i∈ I i∈ P
where Ni are independant shape functions defining the span of the test functions
vh . It gives in matrix notation:
[K − ω 2 M]d = F , (18.38)
where
Z
(K)ij = ∇ Ni ∇ Nj dΩin i, j ∈ I , (18.39)
Ωin
Z
(K)ij = ∇ Ni (Λ∇ N ) j dΩ pml i, j ∈ P , (18.40)
Ω pml
1
Z
(M)ij = Ni Nj dΩin i, j ∈ I , (18.41)
c2 Ωin
1
Z
(M)ij = 2 f Ni Nj dΩ pml i, j ∈ P . (18.42)
c Ω pml
These matrices are symmetric which is one of the advantages of the method.
Optimized solvers can be used to find the solution vector d and the discretized
approximation of the related field.
In general it can be interesting to express the matrix operator as a polynomial

function of the angular frequency ω. Some solvers (Krylov) are indeed optimized
to use this form. If the stretching functions γi do not depend on ω, then the
matrices K and M also do not depend on the angular frequency. Equation (18.38)
has thus the form of a polynomial. On the other hand if the γi do depend on ω,
then there is a dependency like ω1 of the matrices K and M and Krylov solver
cannot be used.
Remark. In presence of flow, a convected Helmholtz operator is used. It is

similar to the operator presented in Section 27, but with a tensorial density
and a scalar compressibility that takes both the PML stretching direction and
local mean flow into account.
Nineteen
Modeling exterior acoustics

Contents
19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
19.2 Finite elements for Exterior Acoustic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
19.1 Introduction
Modeling the (semi) free field radiation of radiating structures (or any alterna-
tive acoustic phenomena) usually requires the creation of an acoustic domain
surrounding the excitation bounded by a boundary component insuring the free
field condition.
This methodology first requires the generation of a mesh supporting this acoustic
domain. Secondly, this mesh being static, the size of the model depends on
the maximum frequency of interest but is applied on the complete frequency
range. An efficient modeling approach consists in the automatic generation
of the exterior fluid domain, based on the surface supporting the component.
This is shown in Figure 19.1. The mesh generation consists in the creation of a
convex hull, which can be remeshed to the desired element length and used as
boundary for the volume mesh. The solver allows to automatically generate the
corresponding discretized domain and therefore adapts the related domain to
the frequency of interest.
This approach allows to only describe the useful part of the model, while optimiz-
ing the computational time. Additionally, the presence of a semi infinite baffle
can be added within the acoustic domain generation, as shown in Figure19.2.
273
274 Modeling exterior acoustics
Figure 19.1: Generation of the surrounding acoustic component.
Figure 19.2: Generation of the surrounding acoustic component in semi-free field condition.
19.2 Finite elements for Exterior Acoustic 275
19.2 Finite elements for Exterior Acoustic

Exterior Acoustic components are specified by elements having a dimension one
unit lower than the dimension of space (or surrounding acoustic elements), as
shown in in Table 19.2 :
POI01 No. LIN02 Yes. LIN02 Yes. QUA04 No.
LIN03 Yes. LIN03 Yes. QUA08 No.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.
As a tetrahedral mesh will be generated surrounding the provided elements, only

triangular elements are actually supported for 3D computations.

Each node carries a single degree of freedom: the acoustic pressure. The number
of degrees of freedom for an EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC domain will vary between the
different realizations of the mesh, consequently along with the treated frequency.

19.2.2 Mesh generation

The mesh generation of the exterior acoustic component depends on the provided
input mesh and meshing parameters. Three situations may occur:
• The mesh supporting the exterior acoustic component is closed and no

symmetry planes are defined;
• The mesh supporting the exterior acoustic component is closed and sym-
metry planes are defined;
• The mesh supporting the exterior acoustic component is not closed, sym-
metry planes must be provided.
19.2.2.1 Closed surface without symmetry

If more than one closed surface are present, these are all grouped together. The
first step of the mesh generation consists in a convex hull generation. The distance
between the closed surface(s) and the convex hull corresponds to the provided
thickness of the exterior acoustic component. As the mesh size of the convex
hull is rather important, it is remeshed to correspond to the desired element size
within the frequency range. Finally, a tetmesh operation between the remeshed
surface mesh and the provided closed surface is performed using the provided
growth ratio.
Figure 19.3: Generation of the mesh if enclosed.
Figure 19.4: Generation of the mesh if enclosed and symmetry baffle.
19.2.2.2 Closed surface with symmetry

If more than one closed surface are present, these are all grouped together.
Contrary to the case without symmetry plane, the convex hull must be applied
on the closed surface and their mirror representation along the symmetry plane.
When performing the convex hull, this ensures to have a final convex surface,
especially at the location of the symmetry plane.
The convex hull is then cut along the symmetry plane and filled to represent
the symmetry plane. The boundary component is only applied on the original
convex hull, so the symmetry plane is always assumed rigid. Both surfaces are
then remeshed at the desired element size, and filled using a tetmesh.
19.2.2.3 Open surface with symmetry

If the provided surface is not closed, a symmetry specification becomes mandatory.
At first, a compatibility between the surface borders and the symmetry plane
is performed, to insure a correct generation of the mesh. The mesh is then
mirrored on the opposite side of the symmetry plane. For this reason, the
acoustic component is currently only generated on the side where the surface
relies.
The convex hull operation is performed at the specified distance, and cut along
the symmetry plane. The rigid surface is then generated between the edge of
the cut convex hull surface and the free edges of the provided mesh, insuring a
closed component. Both surfaces are then remeshed at the desired element size,
and filled using a tetmesh.
Figure 19.5: Generation of the provided mesh is not enclosed.

When using an exterior acoustic component, a preliminary computation of the
supporting mesh (and distance field if a PML boundary is selected) is required.
This computational step must be activated (only sequentially) using the following
command line:
actranpy –inputfile=actran.edat –mem=200 -e distance
In order to optimally adapt the generated meshes, the user must choose for
which frequency bands an adapted mesh will be generated. This can be manually
controlled by the user using the MESH_FREQUENCY data block or automatically
generated using the ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword.
• If the optional ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword is specified, frequency bands

will be automatically generated. The ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword specifies
the ratio between maximal and minimal frequency for each frequency
band. These bands are generated starting from the base frequency 1Hz
and are bounded by successive integral powers of the value specified
for the ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword. Only the frequency bands holding a
computation frequency will trigger the generation of an adapted mesh.
The ADAPTIVE_MIN_FREQ specifies the minimal acceptable frequency below
which all frequencies will be related to in one adapted mesh.
• If the optional ADAPTIVE_FACTOR keyword is specified and is equal to 1, one

APML mesh will be generated for each computational frequency.
• The optional MESH_FREQUENCY data block allows to specify manually the

frequency bands to be taken into account. If this data block is specified, no
automatic frequency band will be generated.
In addition, the generation of the mesh supporting the exterior acoustic compo-
nent depends on particular component properties:
Figure 19.6: Adaptive generation of meshes for different frequencies.
• The thickness of the exterior acoustic component is provided in an absolute

way, using the THICKNESS keyword;
• The element size within the mesh is provided relatively to the smallest
wavelength of the considered frequency band (thus related to the highest
frequency).
• As the surface mesh supporting the component is unique, the target element
size of the component might highly differ with this one. The mesh gradation
parameter specifies the maximal relative difference of neighboring element
sizes. The higher this latest, the lower amount of elements and nodes will
be produced.
• If the component is intended to model a baffled NRBC, these baffles must

be specified in advance using the SYMMETRY keyword, which will also affect
the evaluation of the pressure in far field. These baffles may only be
perpendicular to the axes of the global coordinate system.
The boundary method can be chosen by the user, and allows to use Infinite
Elements (see Chapter 17) or Perfectly matched Layers (see Chapter 18) using
the BOUNDARY_METHOD. All related computational parameters are identical to both
methods. By default, infinite elements are selected using an interpolation order
of 5. The center of the coordinate system is automatically computed, and placed
on the center of gravity of the component, projected on the symmetry planes to
insure a correct semi-infinite boundary condition.
All additional computational parameters are identical to the acoustic component.

An exterior acoustic component must be linked to a fluid material. As no
discretization is available, no flow can be specified within the component. The
specification of a heterogeneous environment is thus prohibited. The fluid
material is then characterized by the following parameters:

Those material properties are constant in the whole domain.

Twenty
Rayleigh Boundary Elements

for Sound Radiation in a
Half-Space
Contents
20.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
20.3 Boundary integral representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
20.4 Extension to nearly plane baffled structures . . . . . . . . . . 283
20.5 Discrete boundary element model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
20.6 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
20.1 Introduction
Many practical applications involve acoustic radiation in a half-space. This prob-
lem is for example involved in acoustic transmission studies where a particular
insulation structure is mounted in a rigid baffle separating two semi-infinite
acoustic media. It is therefore useful to provide efficient modelling capabilities
for handling acoustic radiation in a half-space. The problem is formulated with
reference to a vibrating structure whose radiation surface Γ is located in the plane
of a rigid baffle. The acoustic material is supposed to be homogeneous (density
ρ and sound speed c). If one denotes by Γ B the boundary surface of the baffle
(Figure 20.1), the acoustic radiation problem can be formulated as:
∆p(~r ) + k2 p(~r ) = 0, (20.1)
281
282 Rayleigh Boundary Elements
Figure 20.1: Plane structure mounted in a plane rigid baffle.
where p is the acoustic pressure, k is the wavenumber and ~r represents a point of

coordinates ( x, y, z). This equation has to be supplemented with the following
boundary conditions:
∂p
= ρω 2 un on Γ, (20.2)
∂n
and
∂p
= 0 on Γ B , (20.3)
∂n
where n denotes the inward normal direction and un the related displacement
component.
Additionally the Sommerfeld radiation condition applies in the far field:

∂p
r + ikp → 0 as r → ∞, (20.4)
∂r
where r is a spherical radial distance.

Rayleigh surfaces are not supported in 2D and axi-symmetric computations. A
Rayleigh surface is supported by elements having a dimension one unit lower
than the dimension of space (or structural elements on which they rely), as shown
in Table 20.2 :

POI01 No. LIN02 No. LIN02 No. QUA04 Yes.
LIN03 No. LIN03 No. QUA08 Yes.
TRI03 Yes.
TRI06 Yes.
20.3 Boundary integral representation for plane baffled

structures
If the boundary Γ is contained in the plane of the baffle Γ B , the following
boundary integral representation is available for the acoustic pressure within the
half-space:
∂p(~r 0 )
Z
p(~r ) = − G (~r; ~r 0 )dΓ(~r 0 ), (20.5)
Γ ∂n
20.4 Extension to nearly plane baffled structures 283
where G is the Green’s function of the considered problem and ~r 0 represents

a point of coordinates ( x 0 , y0 , z0 ) along boundary Γ. The Green function is a
fundamental solution of Eq. (20.1) for a point source located at point (~r 0 ) along
the boundary surface Γ. The particular form of equation (20.5) just involves the
normal pressure gradient along the boundary surface Γ and not the pressure
along Γ ∪ Γ B since the Green’s function is requested to satisfy the following
condition:
∂G
= 0 along Γ ∪ Γ B . (20.6)
∂n
A suitable form for G is obtained using the image source technique: the acoustic
field generated by two point sources located symmetrically versus the baffle
verifies the condition (20.6). In the present 3-D context, the related Green function
can be expressed as:
0
e−ikR e−ikR
G (~r; ~r 0 ) = + , (20.7)
4πR 4πR0
where R is the distance between the point (~r ) and the (~r 0 ) while R0 is the distance
between points (~r ) and the image point of (~r 0 ) vs. the baffle plane. If the boundary
surface Γ is located in the baffle plane, the image point of (~r 0 ) coincides with (~r 0 )
so that Eq. (20.7) reduces to:
e−ikR
G (~r; ~r 0 ) = . (20.8)
2πR
Substitution of Eq. (20.2) into Eq. (20.5) gives:
Z
p(~r ) = −ρω 2 un (~r 0 ) G (~r; ~r 0 )dΓ(~r 0 ) . (20.9)
Γ
where the Green function is given by Eq. (20.8)
Further examination of this boundary integral representation shows that the

acoustic field pressure within the half-space is an explicit function of the normal
displacement un along the boundary surface Γ. This representation is the so called
Rayleigh boundary integral. Additionally this integral representation should be
handled with care if the evaluation point (~r ) is located along the boundary surface
Γ. In such circumstances, a (weak) singularity occurs since the Green’s function
behaves as O(1/R).
20.4 Extension to nearly plane baffled structures

The Rayleigh boundary integral as given by Eq. (20.9) is an exact representation
of the pressure field radiated by a plane structure mounted in a rigid plane baffle.
Due to its particular features (explicit representation, no additional unknowns), it
could be attractive to use this representation for nearly plane structures mounted
in a rigid plane baffle. Such representation would be exact if the related Green’s
function Ge is available. In the present case, such a Green’s function should verify
the following boundary condition along the non-plane boundary Γ:
∂Ge
= 0 along Γ . (20.10)
∂n
The determination of such a Green’s function is not trivial for an arbitrary
boundary shape. An approximated solution can however be obtained by using a
function G
ee defined by the local application of the image source technique:
−ikR
ee (~r; ~r 0 ) = e
G , (20.11)
2πR
where R is the distance between points (~r ) and (~r 0 ). The resulting boundary
integral representation appears as:
Z
p(~r ) = −ρω 2 un (~r 0 ) G
ee (~r; ~r 0 )dΓ(~r 0 ) . (20.12)
Γ
This representation has the same features as the original Rayleigh representation
(explicit representation of the acoustic pressure, no additional unknowns) but is
approximate. Its use should be restricted to nearly plane structures. It should be
noted that Eq. (20.12) reduces to Eq. (20.9) if the boundary Γ is a plane surface
contained in the baffle plane.
20.5 Discrete boundary element model

The use of the extended Rayleigh boundary integral in a discrete context relies
on the appropriate representation of the radiating boundary Γ. In the present
context, the acoustic half-space is defined by the discrete representation of the
boundary surface Γ. Such a surface can be described by a set of boundary
elements (triangular or quadrilateral elements in the present 3D context):
Γ= Γe ,
[
(20.13)
where Γe is a particular boundary element. On each element, displacements u

can be interpolated using appropriate shape functions:
u(ξ, η ) = ∑ Nm (ξ, η )um , (20.14)

m
where (ξ, η ) are local coordinates (in the parent element) and um is the displace-
ment vector of a particular node of element e. Substitution of Eq. (20.13) and
(20.14)) into (20.12) gives:
Z
!

p(~r ) = −ρω ∑
2
∑ m
N ( ξ, η ) u m · n G
ee ~r; ~
r 0 J ( ξ, η ) dξdη , (20.15)
e Γe m
where n is the normal at a point ( x 0 (ξ, η ), y0 (ξ, η ), z0 (ξ, η )) and J is the Jacobian
of the transformation.
20.6 Implementation 285
20.6 Implementation
20.6.1 Acoustic radiation impedance
Since the extended Rayleigh boundary element representation doesn’t involve
additional degrees of freedom, its implementation in relation with a structural
finite element (FE) model just requires the handling of the resulting pressure
loading. This can be done starting from the algebraic system related to a structural
FE model subjected to a pressure loading along boundary Γ:
Zs U = Fs + F a , (20.16)
where Zs is the dynamic stiffness matrix, U is the nodal displacement vector, Fs
is the structural load vector and F a is the (acoustic) load vector related to the
acoustic pressure loading. Vector F a can be expressed as:
Z
Fa = − NuT (~r )n(~r ) p(~r )dΓ(~r ), (20.17)
Γ
where Nu is the global matrix of interpolation functions:

u(~r ) = Nu (~r ) U . (20.18)
F a = −iωZrad U, (20.19)
where the radiation impedance Zrad is given by:
Z Z
Zrad = −iρ ω T
Nnu ee (~r; ~r 0 )Nnu (~r 0 )dΓ(~r 0 )dΓ(~r ),
(~r ) G (20.20)
Γ Γ
with
Nnu (~r ) = n T (~r )Nu (~r ) . (20.21)
Substitution of Eq. (20.19) into the algebraic system Eq. (20.16) leads to:
(Zs + iωZrad ) U = Fs . (20.22)
20.6.2 Selection of local displacement components

The semi-infinite acoustic medium is described by the radiation impedance matrix
Zrad . This matrix couples all displacement variables along the radiating boundary
Γ. Examination of 20.20 reveals that only normal displacement components are
involved in the formulation of the radiation impedance.
For this reason, only Rayleigh surfaces which have a normal axis along the X, Y
or Z axis are supported in this version of Actran. The normal displacement is
thus automatically identical to a global displacement component. In this way,
a reduced number of displacement variables are involved in the generation of
the radiation impedance matrix. As results, storage requirements are therefore
lowered and potential CPU time reductions are achieved through a better matrix
structure.
Figure 20.2: Proximity status of two boundary elements.
20.6.3 Numerical integration strategy

The evaluation of the radiation impedance matrix Zrad relies on the discretization
of the Rayleigh surface Γ into boundary elements and the selection of an appro-
priate integration procedure. Basically the discretization process leads to express
Zrad as the sum of contributions related to all (boundary) element pairs:
0
Zrad = ∑ ∑0 Zrad
ee
, (20.23)
e e
where
Z Z
0
ee
Zrad = −iρ ω T
Nnu ee (~r; ~r 0 )Nnu (~r 0 )dΓ(~r 0 )dΓ(~r ) .
(~r ) G (20.24)
Γe Γe0
The evaluation of (20.24) relies on two particular numerical integration schemes.

The first scheme is related to the handling of auto-influence coefficients (e ≡ e0 )
while the second scheme is related to the handling of cross-influence coefficients
(e 6= e0 ). In the first case, the singularity of function G
ee is handled through a
change of variables (the selection of polar coordinates allows for an effective
treatment of the (weak) singularity). In the second case, a conventional Gauss-
Legendre quadrature is selected for the numerical integration. The integration
procedure allows for the assignment of a particular quadrature order depending
on the relative position of the two boundary elements e and e0 . The relative
position is controlled by a proximity index I p defined as the ratio of the distance
d between the gravity centers of the elements and the mean edge length L =
(l1 + l2 )/2 of the elements (see Figure 20.2):
d
Ip = . (20.25)
L
20.6 Implementation 287
Proximity index Proximity status Quadrature order

I p < Inear Near Qnear
Inear < I p < I f ar Intermediate Qinter
I f ar < I p Far Q f ar
Table 20.1: Proximity status and quadrature order for each proximity index.
Quadrature Number of Radau points Number of Gauss points

Order (TRIA elements) (QUAD elements)
1 1 1
2 3 4
3 4 9
4 6 16
5 7 25
Table 20.2: Available quadrature orders for Rayleigh integral model.
Based on the value of I p , three proximity status can be defined. They are
summarized in Table 20.1. The indexes Inear and I f ar defines pivot index values
for discriminating near, intermediate and far proximity status. Default values of
Inear and I f ar are 2 and 5, respectively. Particular quadratures can be assigned to
each proximity status. These quadratures are identified by their order (within the
range [1 − 5]). The number of Gauss-Legendre integration points related to each
order is given by Table 20.2 for triangular and quadrilateral boundary elements.
Default values for quadrature orders are 3, 2 and 1 for Qnear , Qinter and Q f ar ,
respectively. These default values can be modified in the PARAMETER data block
(see keywords BEM_LIMITS and BEM_INTEGR).
20.6.4 Modal acoustic radiation impedance

The Rayleigh boundary element representation can also be used in a modal
context for modelling the radiation of a vibrating structure in an acoustic half-
space. Assuming a modal representation of the displacement field U of the
structure, we can write :
NS
U(ω ) = ∑ ΦΓ,i αi (ω ), (20.26)
i =1
where ΦΓ,i is the trace of the structural modes ΦS,i (i = 1, . . . , NS ) on the interface
Γ between the structure and the half-space and αi (ω ) are the frequency-dependent
modal participation factors. The modal acoustic radiation impedance matrix Zrad
is obtained by projection of the acoustic radiation impedance matrix Zrad (as
obtained from Eq. (20.23)) onto the modal space :
Zrad (ω ) = ΦΓ T · Zrad (ω ) · ΦΓ . (20.27)

Twenty One
Coupling with Acoustic Duct

Modes
Contents
21.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
21.2 Acoustic propagation in cylindrical ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
21.3 Modal coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
21.4 Rotating and non-rotating modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
21.5 Multiple load cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
21.6 Alternative definition of the acoustic intensity for duct modes309
21.7 Specific output for analytical modal components . . . . . . . 310
21.1 Introduction
In various practical applications such as the acoustic radiation of an aircraft engine
or the inlet of an auxiliary power unit (APU), the acoustic excitation related to
a particular system or component can be described in terms of duct modes.
It is therefore useful to describe the modal behavior of ducts of various cross-
sections. The present implementation includes both analytical and numerical
modes. Analytical modes are restricted to arbitrary waves in ducts with circular,
annular or rectangular cross-sections, or to plane waves in ducts of arbitrary cross
sections. Numerical modes apply to ducts of arbitrary cross sections. In all cases,
a uniform flow is assumed along the duct axis and the duct is assumed to be
straight and to have hard walls.
The resulting convected wave equation can be solved analytically by separation

of variables. The resulting modes are identified in terms of transversal and
longitudinal wavenumbers. The propagating character of duct modes is examined
289
290 Coupling with Acoustic Duct Modes
and expressions for cut-on frequencies are formulated. A particular attention

is devoted to the evaluation of average modal intensities using an appropriate
definition of the acoustic intensity that accounts for convection. The coupling of
a modal duct component with the discrete FE/IE model is also addressed.
21.2 Acoustic propagation in cylindrical ducts

21.2.1 Convected wave equation in cylindrical or cartesian coor-
dinates
The propagation of acoustic disturbances in a duct subjected to a uniform sub-
sonic flow along the z-direction (Mach number M) can be conveniently described
by the convected wave equation written in Cartesian coordinates ( x, y, z):
∂2 φ ∂φ
4 xy φ + (1 − M2 ) 2
− 2ikM + k2 φ = 0 , (21.1)
∂z ∂z
where 4 xy is the Laplace operator in the transversal plane ( x, y).
Depending on the duct geometry, this operator can be expressed using a particular
coordinate system. For circular and annular ducts, cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z)
are selected so that Eq. (21.1) can be expressed as :
∂2 φ 1 ∂φ 1 ∂2 φ 2
2 ∂ φ ∂φ
+ + + ( 1 − M ) − 2ikM + k2 φ = 0 . (21.2)
∂r2 r ∂r r2 ∂θ 2 ∂z2 ∂z
In these equations, φ is the acoustic velocity potential (denoted φa in Chapter 27)
and k is the wave number. The acoustic pressure, p, and the acoustic velocity
vector, v, are given by:

∂φ
p = −ρ0 a0 ikφ + M , (21.3)
∂z
and
v = ∇φ , (21.4)
where ρ0 and a0 are the local fluid density and sound speed, respectively.
21.2.2 Technical solution

The solution of the convected wave equation for the uniform flow case can rely on
the application of the Prandtl-Glauert transformation. This transformation allows
for the reduction of the convected wave equation to the Helmholtz equation.
In this way, conventional solution procedures for handling the reduced wave
equation can be used in order to get the solution in the transformed space.
Application of the inverse transformation provides the solution of the original
problem. Formally, the Prandtl-Glauert transformation relies on the following
change of variables for a flow along z direction:
 0
x =x
  
x
 y  →  y0 = y  , (21.5)
z z0 = βz
21.2 Acoustic propagation in cylindrical ducts 291
where β is given by: p

β= 1 − M2 . (21.6)
In terms of a transformed acoustic potential, φ0 , defined as:
−ik M2 z
φ0 = φ e β , (21.7)
the propagation equation (Eq. (21.1)) is then rewritten as:

2
4φ0 + k φ0 = 0 , (21.8)
where the transformed wavenumber, k, is given by:

k
k= . (21.9)
β
The solution of Eq. (21.8) can be obtained by separation of variables in the simplest
cases. Usually, the solution is expressed as a linear combination of transverse
modes φmn (where m and n denote particular transversal orders):

+ −
+ −ikzmn z0 − +ikzmn z0
φ ( x , y , z ) = ∑ φm,n ( x , y ) amn e
0 0 0 0 0 0
+ amn e . (21.10)
m,n
where a+ −
mn and amn denote the amplitudes of the ( m, n ) mode propagating along
positive and negative z0 (=z) direction, respectively.
Back transformation in the physical space provides the solution φ as:

−

φ( x, y, z) = ∑ φm,n ( x, y) a+
mn e −ik+
zmn z + a − e +ik zmn z
mn . (21.11)
m,n
where
+kM
k+
zmn = k zmn − (21.12)
β2
− kM
k−
zmn = kzmn + 2 (21.13)
β
This procedure has been used for all duct geometries presented in this chapter.
21.2.3 Decomposition into duct modes

We consider a solution of Eq. (21.1) expressed in terms of duct modes,
∞
∑ Cs φs (x, y)e−ikzs z ,
φ
φ( x, y, z) = (21.14)
s =0
where φs ( x, y) are the eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator in a cross-section of

the duct, subjected to the boundary condition of a rigid wall, i. e., ∂φs ( x, y)/∂n =
0:
4 xy φs ( x, y) + k2ts φs ( x, y) = 0 , (21.15)
where k ts is the transversal eigenvalue problem.
For convenience, the duct modes, which are mutually orthogonal, are also nor-
malized according to
1
Z
φs ( x, y) φr∗ ( x, y) dS = δsr . (21.16)
S S
where S denotes the surface of the considered cross-section.
Using Eq. (21.3), the pressure associated to a given duct mode can be written
p
ps ( x, y, z) = Cs φs ( x, y)e−ikzs z , (21.17)
where (see Eq. (21.3))

p
φ Cs
Cs = . (21.18)
−iρ0 a0 (k − Mk zs )
The acoustic velocity along the duct axis (associated to a given duct mode) is,
according to Eqs. (21.4) and (21.18), given by
p
Cs k zs
vsz = φs ( x, y)e−ikzs z . (21.19)
ρ0 a0 (k − Mk zs )
Substitution of the modal expansion (21.14) into Eq. (21.1) gives after projection
onto a particular transversal mode s the expression:
− k2ts − β2 k2zs − 2kk zs + k2 = 0 (21.20)
or q
−kM ± k2 − β2 k2ts
k zs = . (21.21)
β2
This equation is the so-called dispersion equation which fixes the relation between
the axial wavenumber k zs , the transversal wavenumber k ts and the reduced
frequency k.
Usually, the axial (k zs ) and transversal (k ts ) wavenumbers of a particular mode

are expressed by referring to transversal modal orders m and n, ie:
k zs = k zmn , (21.22)
k ts = k mn , (21.23)
so that the modal decomposition can be expressed as:

−

φ( x, y, z) = ∑ m,n
φ ( x, y ) a + −ik+
mn e zmn z + a − e +ik zmn z
mn . (21.24)
m,n
where
p
−kM +k2 − β2 k2mn
k+
zs = k+
zmn = , (21.25)
β2
p
+kM + k2 − β2 k2mn
k− −
zs = k zmn = . (21.26)
β2
If one introduces the notation:

q
γs = k2 − β2 k2ts , (21.27)
equations (21.25) and (21.26) can be rewritten as:

−kM + γs
k+
zs = , (21.28)
β2
−kM − γs
k−
zs = . (21.29)
β2
Real values for γs are related to propagating modes while imaginary values
correspond to evanescent modes.
21.2.4 Acoustic intensity for the flow case

In the presence of flow, the (local) instantaneous acoustic intensity Ii (t) is defined
as (see Morfey [40]) :
M 2
Ii ( t ) = p ( t ) v ( t ) + p (t) + M (M · v(t) p(t)) + ρ0 a0 v(t) (v(t) · M) , (21.30)
ρ0 a0
where p(t) and v(t) are the instantaneous acoustic pressure and acoustic velocity,
v0 is the (steady state) flow velocity and M = v0 /a0 is the Mach number. The
average intensity I over one period is given by:

1 M
I = hIi (t)i = Re pv∗ + p p∗ + M (M · ( p v∗ )) + ρ0 a0 v (v∗ · M) .
2 ρ0 a0
(21.31)
In the particular case of a duct with a uniform flow (Mach vector parallel to duct
axis, M = Mez ), the component I of the average intensity along the duct axis z
can be formulated as:
p p∗

1
I = Re ( p v∗z )(1 + M2 ) + M( + ρ0 a0 vz v∗z ) . (21.32)
2 ρ0 a0
where p and vz are the complex (acoustic) pressure and longitudinal velocity, M
is the Mach number while ρ0 and a0 are the fluid density and sound speed at
rest.
The power P related to a particular cross-section S is obtained by the integration

of this average intensity:

1 M
Z
P= Re pv∗z (1 + 2
M )+ ∗ ∗
pp + ρ0 a0 Mvz vz dS . (21.33)
2 S ρ0 a0
The selection of an auxiliary variable v0z = vz ρ0 a0 (hereby denoted the reduced

velocity) allows to express the power as:
1
Z 0 0

P= Re pvz∗ (1 + M2 ) + Mpp∗ + Mv0 z vz∗ dS . (21.34)
2ρ0 a0 S
This equation leads to the following alternative expression for the average inten-
sity I :
P 1 1
Z ∗
p + Mv0z v0z + Mp

I= = Re dS . (21.35)
S 2ρ0 a0 S S
21.2.5 Formulation using a velocity potential

Flow acoustic problems are usually formulated by referring to a velocity potential
ψ which is related to the velocity vector v through:
1
v= ∇ψ . (21.36)
ρ0
The evaluation of the average intensity is simplified if the pressure p and the
reduced velocity v0z are expressed using this velocity potential:
ρ0
p=− (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) , (21.37)
ρ0
and
ρ0 ∂ψ
v0z = ρ0 a0 vz = a0 . (21.38)
ρ0 ∂z
These equations allow for the following alternative expressions of the two factors
involved in Eq. (21.35):
ρ0
p + Mv0z = −iω ψ , (21.39)
ρ0
and
ρ0 ∂ψ ρ
v0z + Mp = β2 a0 − M 0 iωψ . (21.40)
ρ0 ∂z ρ0
Substitution of equations (21.39) and (21.40) into Eq. (21.35) gives:
∗
P

ωρ 1
Z
2 ∂ψ
I= = 20 Re ψ Mωψ + iβ a0 dS , (21.41)
S 2ρ0 a0 S S ∂z
where β is given by:

β2 = 1 − M 2 . (21.42)
21.2.6 Modal expansion

The velocity potential ψ can be expanded in terms of duct modes φs :
−

ψ = ∑ φs ( x, y) Cs+ e−ikzs z + Cs− e−ikzs z .
+
(21.43)
s
This expansion allows for the derivation of similar expansions for the pressure p
and the reduced velocity v0z :
−

p−
p = ∑ φs ( x, y) Cs e−ikzs z + Cs e−ikzs z ,
p+ +
(21.44)
s
and
−

∑ φs (x, y)
+
v0z = Csv+ e−ikzs z + Csv− e−ikzs z , (21.45)
s
where velocity coefficients are related to pressure coefficients through:
k+
zs p+
Csv+ = Cs , (21.46)
k − Mk+zs
k− p−
Csv− = zs
Cs . (21.47)
k − Mk−zs
The fact that real and imaginary parts of longitudinal wavenumbers k+ −

zs and k zs
can be non-zero requires some attention during the evaluation of the average
intensity using Eq. (21.35). This point is addressed in the next section.
21.2.7 Evaluation of the averaged intensity using the modal ex-

pansion
This evaluation requires a preliminary reformulation of the second factor in the
real part operator of Eq. (21.41). This can be done by a direct substitution of the
modal expansion given by Eq. (21.43) into this factor:
∂ψ
Mωψ + iβ2 a0 = ∑ φs ( x, y) Mω + iβ2 a0 (−ik+
zs ) Cs e
+ −ik+zs z (21.48)
∂z s
−

+ ∑ φs ( x, y) Mω + iβ2 a0 (−ik−
zs ) Cs− e−ikzs z . (21.49)
s
A further simplification results from the use of equations (21.28) and (21.29):
∂ψ −

= ∑ φs ( x, y) a0 γs Cs+ e−ikzs z − Cs− e−ikzs z .
+
Mωψ + iβ2 a0 (21.50)
∂z s
The final expression of the average intensity results from substitution of equations
(21.43) and (21.50) into Eq. (21.41):
!
ρ0 ω 1
Z
−z

I= 2
2ρ0 a0 S S
Re + −ik+
∑ φs (x, y) Cs e zs + Cs e zs
z − − ik
s
∗
! !
+ −ik+ − −ik−

× a0 ∑ φt ( x, y)γt Ct e t z
− Ct e t z
dS .(21.51)
t
The orthonormality property of the transversal modes φs is expressed as:
1
Z
φs φt dS = δst , (21.52)
S S
so that one can reduce the Eq. (21.41) to the following form:
ρ0 a0 k ∗
∑ Cs+ + Cs− Cs+ − Cs− γs∗

I= Re ,
2ρ20 s
ρ a k
2 2 ∗ ∗
= 0 02
2ρ0
∑ Re γs∗ Cs+ − Cs− + Cs+ Cs− − Cs+ Cs− .(21.53)
s
This expression can be rewritten by isolating contributions from propagating ( p)

and evanescent (e) modes:
 
ρ0 a0 k 
2 2

∗

∑ γs Cs+ − Cs− + ∑ 2 I m (γs ) I m Cs+ Cs−  .

I=
2ρ20 s( p) s(e)
(21.54)
The convention in Actran is that the modal intensity as given by Eq. (21.54) is
multiplied by the sign of the modal first order. The intensity is thus measured in
the direction of the mode itself instead of the direction of ez . This ensures, for
propagating modes, that the modal intensity is always positive.
For the propagating mode s, the intensity thus reads:
ρ0 a0 k 2

I= γ s | Cs | . (21.55)
2ρ20
For evanescent modes, the intensity is not related to a single mode (indeed, a
single evanescent mode does not carry any acoustical power), but is related to a
couple of mode of same orders but opposite direction. The Actran convention is
to assign the power transported by the couple of evanescent modes to the mode
whose direction is the same as the intensity. The other mode from the couple will
not carry any acoustical power. This ensures that the Actran intensity is always
positive (or nil) for evanescent modes like it is for propagating modes, but it must
be emphasized that it is purely conventional, as the acoustic power is always
transported by the couple of evanescent modes, not one of those evanescent mode
in particular. The intensity assigned to the appropriate evanescent mode of order
s reads:
ρ a k ∗
I = 0 02 2 I m (γs ) I m Cs+ Cs− . (21.56)

2ρ0
with Cs+ and Cs− the amplitudes of the two evanescent modes sharing the same
orders but decreasing in opposite directions.
21.2.8 Cylindrical duct with a circular cross-section

21.2.8.1 Solution
The solution of Eq. (21.2) for a cylindrical duct of circular cross-section (with
radius a) can be developed as:
∞ ∞
−
∑ ∑
+
−ik zmn z
φ(r, θ, z) = J|m| (krmn r )eimθ ( a+
mn e + a−
mn e
−ik zmn z
), (21.57)
m=−∞ n=1
where Jm is the Bessel function of order m while krmn , k+ −

zmn and k zmn are radial
and longitudinal wavenumbers. In the sequel, a particular mode (m, n) (where m
is the circumferential order and n is the radial order) will be investigated:
φmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn J|m| (krmn r )eimθ e−ikzmn z ,

φ
(21.58)
or equivalently
p
pmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn J|m| (krmn r )eimθ e−ikzmn z , (21.59)
φ p
where Nmn is a normalization factor and Amn and Amn are related through
p
φ Amn
Amn = . (21.60)
−iρ0 a0 (k − Mk zmn )
The radial (real) wavenumber krmn is obtained by resolving the hard wall bound-
ary condition in r = a:
J|0m| (krmn a) = 0 . (21.61)
For any particular value of m, the nth root λmn of J|0m| (λmn ) = 0 gives the related
radial wavenumber krmn :
λmn
krmn = . (21.62)
a
Notice that for m = 0, the first root of Eq. (21.61) is kr01 = 0. This corresponds to
a plane wave. The longitudinal wavenumbers k+ −
zmn and k zmn are obtained using
the dispersion relation:
q
γmn = k2 − β2 k2rmn , (21.63)
−kM + γmn
k+
zmn = , (21.64)
β2
−kM − γmn
k−
zmn = . (21.65)
β2
The expression of longitudinal wavenumbers p shows that k zmn is characterized by

a real or imaginary component related to k2 − β2 k2rmn , depending on the value
of the wavenumber k. This component is supplemented with a real contribution
due to the convective effect. If the longitudinal wavenumber is purely real, the
related mode is propagating while it is evanescent if the wavenumber has a

non-zero imaginary part. Evanescent modes can be neglected if the solution is
sought at a sufficiently large distance from the modal source. For any particular
mode (m, n), one can easily identify the cut-on (or cut-off) frequency, k co , defined
as the minimal frequency at which a given mode is said to be propagating:
p
k co = krmn 1 − M2 . (21.66)
As it can be seen from inspection of Eq. (21.66), the flow velocity leads to a
reduction of the cut-on frequency so that more modes are propagating in the flow
case.
21.2.8.2 Normalization factor
The normalization factor appearing in Eq. (21.58) is chosen to satisfy the normal-
ization condition Eq. (21.16), that is here rewritten as
Z a Z 2π
1
| Nmn |2 J|2m| (krmn r )dθrdr = 1 . (21.67)
πa2 0 0
The normalization factor is thus given by

 1 for krmn = 0 and m = 0 (plane wave)
Nmn = − 1
m2 2
 1− k2rmn a2
J|2m| (krmn a) for krmn 6= 0
(21.68)
21.2.8.3 Modal intensity
The average modal intensity related to a propagating mode (m, n) is obtained
φ
using the general expression Eq. (21.55), where Amn and γmn are substituted for
Cs and γs , respectively. When considering a pair of evanescent modes (m, n) ,
the average modal intensity is given by the general expression Eq. (21.56), where
φ+ φ−
Amn , Amn and γmn are substituted for Cs+ , Cs− and γs , respectively.
21.2.9 Cylindrical duct with an annular cross-section

21.2.9.1 Solution
The solution of Eq. (21.2) for a cylindrical duct of annular cross-section (with
inner radius b, and outer radius a) can be developed as:
∞ ∞
φ(r, θ, z) = ∑ ∑ AJ|m| (krmn r ) + BY|m| (krmn r )
m=−∞ n=1
+
−ik zmn z −
×eimθ ( a+
mn e + a−
mn e
−ik zmn z
), (21.69)
where Jm and Ym are Bessel and Neumann functions of order m, respectively,

while krmn , k+ −
zmn and k zmn are radial and longitudinal wavenumbers. In the sequel,
a particular mode (m, n) is considered:

φmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn AJ|m| (krmn r ) + BY|m| (krmn r ) eimθ e−ikzmn z ,
φ
(21.70)
or equivalently

p
pmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn AJ|m| (krmn r ) + BY|m| (krmn r ) eimθ e−ikzmn z , (21.71)
φ p
where Nmn is a normalization factor and Amn and Amn are related through
Eq. (21.60). The radial (real) wavenumber krmn is obtained by resolving the hard
wall boundary condition at r = a and r = b:

∂φ
=0, (21.72)
∂r r= a

∂φ
=0. (21.73)
∂r r=b
Substitution of Eq. (21.69) into these equations leads to the homogeneous system:
J|0m| (krmn a) Y|0m| (krmn a)

" #
A 0
= . (21.74)
J|0m| (krmn b) Y|0m| (krmn b) B 0
A non zero solution can be obtained if the determinant is equal to zero i.e.:
J|0m| (krmn a)Y|0m| (krmn b) − J|0m| (krmn b)Y|0m| (krmn a) = 0 . (21.75)
If one defines h and λmn as:

b
h= , (21.76)
a
and
λmn = krmn a , (21.77)
then Eq. (21.75) can be rewritten as:
J|0m| (λmn )Y|0m| (λmn h) − J|0m| (λmn h)Y|0m| (λmn ) = 0 . (21.78)
The nth root λmn of this equation gives the radial wavenumber krmn through
Eq. (21.77):
λmn
krmn = . (21.79)
a
The dispersion relation then allows for the determination of axial wavenumbers
k+ −
zmn and k zmn :
q
γmn = k2 − β2 k2rmn , (21.80)
−kM + γmn
k+
zmn = , (21.81)
β2
−kM − γmn
k−
zmn = . (21.82)
β2
The expression of the cut-on frequency, k co , is identical to that found for ducts
with a circular cross-section:
p
k co = krmn 1 − M2 . (21.83)
The mode (m, n) of a cylindrical duct with an annular cross-section is obtained
by resolving the homogeneous system Eq. (21.74) (assuming that A = 1) and can
be expressed in the following form:
φ
φmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn
J|m| (krmn r )Y|0m| (krmn a) − J|0m| (krmn a)Y|m| (krmn r )
!
×
Y|0m| (krmn a)
×eimθ e−ikzmn z , (21.84)
or

φmn (r, θ, z) = Amn Nmn J|m| (krmn r ) + CY|m| (krmn r ) eimθ e−ikzmn z ,
φ
(21.85)
where C is given by:

J|0m| (krmn a)
C=− . (21.86)
Y|0m| (krmn a)
Remark. A plane wave (see Eq. (21.102)) can propagate in an annular

duct, and it can be expressed as a particular case of Eq. (21.85), with C =
0 = krmn . The convention used in Actran is that the mode (m, n) = (0, 1)
represents the plane wave (as for the duct with a circular cross-section).
Consequently, λ0n with n > 1 is the (n − 1)th root of Eq. (21.78). When
m 6= 0, λmn is the nth root of Eq. (21.78).

Z a Z 2π 2
1 2

| Nmn | S | m | ( k rmn r ) dθrdr = 1 , (21.87)
π ( a2 − b2 ) b 0
where the following notation has been used:
S|m| (krmn r ) = J|m| (krmn r ) + CY|m| (krmn r ) . (21.88)
Nmn = 1 for n = 1 and m = 0 (plane wave)

v
u a2 − b2
= u 2 a in other cases.
u
2
t 2 m
r 1 − krmn r S ( k
|m| rmn r )
b
(21.89)

φ
φ+ φ−
21.2.10 Duct with a rectangular cross-section

21.2.10.1 Solution
The solution of Eq. (21.1) for a duct with a rectangular cross-section (transverse
dimensions a and b) can be developed as:
∞ ∞ mπx nπy −
∑ ∑ cos
+
−ik zmn z
φ( x, y, z) = cos ( a+
mn e + a−
mn e
−ik zmn z
) , (21.90)
m =0 n =0
a b
where m and n are modal orders along transverse directions x and y respectively
while k+ −
zmn and k zmn are the longitudinal wavenumbers. A particular mode ( m, n )
is examined in the sequel:
mπx nπy
e−ikzmn z ,
φ
φmn ( x, y, z) = Amn Nmn cos cos (21.91)
a b
or equivalently
mπx nπy
p
pmn ( x, y, z) = Amn Nmn cos cos e−ikzmn z , (21.92)
a b
φ p
where Nmn is the normalization factor and Amn and Amn are related through
Eq. (21.60).
It should be observed that the selected form is consistent with the hard wall
boundary condition in x = 0, x = a, y = 0 and y = b :

∂φ ∂φ ∂φ ∂φ
= = = =0. (21.93)
∂x x=0 ∂x x= a ∂y y=0 ∂y y=b
Remark. The theoretical developments for the duct with a rectangular

cross-section are done using a local coordinate system whose center is located
in a corner of the cross section. This is also what Actran uses internally.
However, in the Actran input file, it is the half-width (a/2) and the half-
height (b/2) of the cross section that must be specified. Moreover, the center
of the local coordinate system must be located at the center of the cross section.
See the definition of the MODAL_BASIS data block in Section 3.24 of Volume
2 for more details.
If one introduces the following notations:

mπ
k xm = , (21.94)
a
and
nπ
k yn = , (21.95)
b
the longitudinal wavenumbers k+ −
zmn and k zmn are obtained using the dispersion
relation:
r
γmn = k2 − β2 k2xm + k2yn , (21.96)
−kM + γmn
k+
zmn = , (21.97)
β2
−kM − γmn
k−
zmn = . (21.98)
β2
The cut-on frequency of a mode (m, n) is here given by:

q p
k co = k2xm + k2yn 1 − M2 . (21.99)

Z aZ b
1
| Nmn |2 cos2 (k x x ) cos2 (k y y)dxdy = 1 . (21.100)
ab 0 0
2
Nmn = p . (21.101)
(1 + δm0 )(1 + δn0 )

φ
φ+ φ−
21.2.11 Duct with an arbitrary cross-section - Analytical modes

21.2.11.1 Solution
The solution of Eq. (21.1) for a straight duct with an arbitrary cross-section can not
be obtained analytically. However, if one considers only plane wave propagation,
a trivial solution can easily be obtained:
+ −
φ( x, y, z) = Aφ+ Ne−ikz z + Aφ− e−ikz z , (21.102)
where k+ −
z and k z are the longitudinal wavenumbers. A particular mode is
examined in the sequel:
φ( x, y, z) = Aφ Ne−ikz z , (21.103)
or, in terms of pressure,
p( x, y, z) = A p Ne−ikz z . (21.104)
It should be observed that the selected form is consistent with hard wall boundary
conditions along section’s contour. The longitudinal wavenumbers k+ −
z and k z are
given by:
γ=k, (21.105)
k
k+
z = , (21.106)
1+M
−k
k−z = . (21.107)
1−M
These expressions show that k z is always real so that the related mode is propa-
gating.

The normalization factor appearing in Eq. (21.103) is chosen to satisfy the nor-
malization condition Eq. (21.16), that is here rewritten as
1
Z
| N |2 dS = 1 . (21.108)
S S
N=1. (21.109)

The average modal intensity related to the propagating plane modes is obtained
using the general expression Eq. (21.55), where Aφ and γ are substituted for C0
and γ0 , respectively. It leads to the expressions
ρ0 a0 k2 φ 2
I= A (21.110)
2ρ20
21.2.12 Duct with an arbitrary cross-section - Numerical modes

Previous sections described duct modes for circular, annular, rectangular or
arbitrary cross-sections using analytical expressions. The present section describes
the implementation of numerical modal bases. A numerical modal basis may be
used to define completely non reflecting boundary condition for duct problems
and to define some incident modes for any type of cross section.
21.2.12.1 Solution
The solution of Eq. (21.1) can be formally expressed by a modal expansion based
on a infinite set of transversal modes φs ( x, y):
∞
∑ Cs φs (x, y) e−ikzs z
φ
φ ( x, y, z) = (21.111)
s =1
where k zs is the axial wavenumber. These transversal modes are non trivial
solution of the homogeneous Eq. (21.15). The transversal wavenumber k ts is
related to the axial wavenumber k zs through the dispersion relation Eq. (21.21).
The transverse modes are scaled according to Eq. (21.16). For simple geometries
(like circular, annular or rectangular cross-sections), transversal modes can be
resolved analytically. For more complex geometries, this is no longer possible
so that a numerical approximation should be found. Practically the evaluation
of numerical (transversal) modes relies on a finite element (FE) procedure. This
implies a discretization of the transversal cross-section using linear or quadratic
quadrilateral and/or triangular finite elements (Figure 21.1). The finite element
solution is based on a variational formulation. The weak variational form related
to Eq. (21.15) supplemented with rigid wall boundary condition can be expressed
as: Z
∇ xy φs · ∇ xy δφs − k2ts φs δφs dS = 0 ∀δφs (21.112)
S
Formally, the local velocity potential φs of a particular mode (s) can be interpolated
from a set of nodal values contained in a vector Ψ(s) using:
φs ( x, y) = N ( x, y) Ψ(s) (21.113)
The selection of iso-parametric finite elements allows for the discretization of the
weak variational form and lead to the generation of the following generalized
eigenvalue problem:
KΨ = λMΨ (21.114)
where K and M are the so-called stiffness and mass matrices of the finite element
model, Ψ is the matrix containing (column by column) the discrete mode shapes
and λ is the diagonal matrix of discrete eigenvalues (transversal wavenumbers).
Stiffness and mass matrices are expressed as:
Z T
K= ∇ xy N ∇ xy NdS (21.115)
S
Z
M= N T NdS (21.116)
S
The order of matrices K and M is fixed by the number of nodes of the FE mesh
while the matrix Ψ has a number of rows equal to the number of nodes and a
number of columns equal to the number of retained modes.
21.3 Modal coupling 305
Figure 21.1: FE model for a particular cross-section.

For each particular mode φs contained in matrix Ψ (with an eigenvalue λs = k2ts ),
the discrete counterpart of Eq. (21.16) support the normalization process, i.e.:
1 T
φ Mφs = 1 (21.117)
S s
In the Actran implementation, numerical modes φs are identified by a single
identification number (s) (while analytical modes refer to two transversal orders
m and n). Numerical modes are sorted by increasing eigenvalues.
21.3 Modal coupling

The acoustic field modelled by finite elements can be coupled along a set of free
faces to a modal component (Figure 21.2). The sound field in the duct is the
combination of a known incident sound field (+) and of an unknown reflected
sound field (-). Both the incident and reflected sound fields are defined as linear
combinations of duct modes.
21.3.1 Formulation
The coupling between a modal component and the finite element model relies
initially on the examination of the weak variational form and, more specifically,
on the incorporation of modal variables in the solution procedure. Let us define
by Γmod the part of the boundary Γ where modal coupling occurs. It will be
assumed that the flow velocity field is uniform within the modal component. If
one introduces the mean flow direction m:
M
m= , (21.118)
kMk
and the projection of the mean flow velocity on the local normal n:
Mn = M · n, (21.119)
one can rewrite the right hand side (RHS) of the weak variational statement in
the following form:
Z
ρ0
RHS = − δψ (n · ∇ψ − (ikMn ψ + Mn M · ∇ψ)) dΓ. (21.120)
Γ ρ0 2
On Γmod , the boundary variable ψ can be expressed in terms of selected modes:
Nmod
ψ(x; ω ) = ∑ Φi (x; ω )αi , (21.121)
i =1
where Φi is the mode i while αi is the related modal participation factor. Sub-
stitution of this modal expansion into Eq. (21.120) and further finite element
discretization allows to write the related contribution to the discrete right hand
side vector in the following form:
Fmod = ∑ Fmod,e , (21.122)

e
or
Fmod = Dff, (21.123)
where ff is the vector of modal participation factors while matrix D results from
assembly of element boundary contributions:
D= ∑ De , (21.124)
e
where an element contribution to D is expressed as:

Z
ρ0
Dije = − N n · ∇Φ j − ikMn Φ j + Mn M · ∇Φ j dΓe .

2 i
(21.125)
Γemod ρ0
21.3.2 Solution procedure

If a modal component is involved, the solution vector can be partitioned into
two sub-vectors Ψi and Ψr related to inlet physical dofs and remaining physical
dofs, respectively. The right hand side vector and the coefficient matrix can be
partitioned accordingly:
Ψr

Arr Ari Fr
= , (21.126)
Air Aii Ψi Fi
where Fi = Dff and Ψi = Φff. It is now possible to write a system of equations

for the coupled modal-FEM system
Ψr
    
Arr Ari 0 Fr
 Air Aii − D   Ψi  =  0  , (21.127)
0 E F ff 0
21.3 Modal coupling 307
Figure 21.2: Schematical representation of a model combining finite elements with an

analytical modal component.
where E and F are the coupling matrices expressing, in a weak sense, the con-
tinuity between the modal and FEM solutions along the coupling surface Γmod .
For mode i this condition is written as
!
Z Nmod
Γmod
Φi∗ Ψ− ∑ αj Φj dΓ . (21.128)
j =1
Expressions for Eij and Fij are given by

Z
Eik = Φi∗ Nk dS (21.129)
Γmod
Z
Fij = − Φi∗ Φ j dS , (21.130)
Γmod
with 1 ≤ i, j ≤ Nmod and 1 ≤ k ≤ Nψi , with Nψi the number of dofs on Γmod .
21.3.3 Modal component boundary condition

The coupling between the acoustic finite element mesh and a modal component
occurs on a modal surface. The MODAL_BASIS (see Section 3.24 of Volume 2) defines
the modal content of the sound field in the modal component.
Several modal components can be specified, each with a dedicated MODAL_BASIS

block. The MODAL_BASIS data block contains the following information (see
Section 3.24 of Volume 2 for a more detailed description) :
Figure 21.3: The different types of regular duct cross sections available, and the associated
geometrical parameters.
• a local coordinate system;
• an acoustic material;
• the flow velocity, uniform on the modal surface (see Section 3.24 of Volume
2) on which the modal component is defined;
• the geometry of the cross-section;
• the set of modes that form the modal basis;
• an offset value, lo f f set , measured along the first local axis (xloc ), that multi-
plies modal amplitudes by a factor:
eik xloc lo f f set , (21.131)
where k xloc is the modal axial wavenumber along the first local coordinate.
Figure 21.3 shows how the geometrical parameters are defined for each type of
section.
21.4 Rotating and non-rotating modes

In Actran, circumferential orders are defined as follows:
• 3D problems:
m > 0 → α cos (mθ ) + β sin (mθ ), (21.132)

m < 0 → α cos (|m|θ ) − β sin (|m|θ ) , (21.133)
(21.134)
with α = 1 and β = i.
21.5 Multiple load cases 309
• Axisymmetric problems:
+ m → e+imθ (21.135)
−m → cos(mθ ) (21.136)
In this way, non-rotating modes can be specified easily:
• 3D problems: two possibilities exist:

1. Constraint 2 modes (one with +m, one with −m) and adjust their am-
plitudes in order to obtain either a sin(mθ ) or cos(mθ ) circumferential
dependence.
2. Adjust the values of α and β to only keep the sin(mθ ) or cos(mθ )
circumferential dependence. Changing the values of α and β does not
affect the normalization of duct modes, and the way mode amplitude
is converted to mode intensity and vice-versa (see Sections 21.2.4
and 21.2.3). These operations always refer to a complete duct section.
• Axisymmetric problems: Select a negative value of m in order to get a
cos(mθ ) dependence.
21.5 Multiple load cases

The multiple load case capability available in Actran allows for the simultaneous
treatment of modal excitations (prescribed incident duct modes). This facility is
activated through the specification of the (empty) MULTIPLE_LOAD data block (see
Section 3.101 of Volume 2). Each constrained mode is a particular load case. The
solution related to these load cases are archived in the .plt file (see Section 10.5).
Results related to load cases are indexed in this file so that a selective extraction
of results related to a particular load case can be performed. If several modes
are specified without the multiple load case option, Actran computes a unique
solution corresponding to an excitation equal to the sum of the specified modes.
21.6 Alternative definition of the acoustic intensity for

duct modes
An alternative expression for the acoustic intensity in the presence of flow was
initially implemented in Actran. It is still available (through the use of the
PARAMETER data block in the input file, see Section 3.111 of Volume 2) for backward
compatibility reasons but its use is strongly discouraged since it does not preserve
energy, and can thus not be used to check energy balances. If no flow is present,
the two expressions of acoustic intensity are equivalent.
This older version of the acoustic intensity in the presence of flow is:
Ii (t) = W (t)v0 + p(t)v(t) , (21.137)
where p(t) and v(t) are the instantaneous acoustic pressure and acoustic velocity
while v0 is the (steady state) flow velocity and W (t) is the instantaneous energy
density convected by the flow. The energy density convected by the flow is the
sum of the kinetic energy density and the potential energy density:
1 p2 ( t )
W (t) = ρ0 v2 ( t ) + . (21.138)
2 2ρ0 a20
If the flow velocity is written as v0 = a0 M, one can express Ii (t) as:
p2 ( t )

1
Ii ( t ) = ρ0 a0 v2 ( t ) + M + p ( t )v( t ) . (21.139)
2 2ρ0 a0
The average intensity I over one period is given by:
!
2 | p |2 M 1
I = hIi (t)i = ρ0 a0 |v| + + Re( pv∗ ) . (21.140)
ρ0 a0 4 2
In the particular case of a duct with a uniform flow (Mach number M), the
component I of the average intensity along duct axis z can be formulated as:
!
2 | p |2 M 1
I = ρ0 a0 | v | + + Re( pv∗z ) . (21.141)
ρ0 a0 4 2
21.7 Specific output for analytical modal components

At each discrete frequency, Actran outputs the amplitude, intensity, intensity
level and axial wavenumber of all modes in the .plt file (see Section 36.11).
These results for the ith mode of modal component Modal_basis_id are stored
in a sub-section beginning (and ending) with:
BEGIN (or END) MODE Mode_id ,
where Mode_id is generated from Mode_id = Modal_basis_id * 1000 + i. The

complex amplitude is relative to the duct cross-section located at the coordinate
given by the offset value along the first local axis of the modal coordinate
system. The intensity and intensity levels are stored as the real part of complex
values. The imaginary part of these values is zero. In addition, the axial wave
number is also output for each mode. This number is real for a propagative mode
and purely imaginary for an evanescent mode. The utility program plt_get can
be used to retrieve this information. Please note that the output of the modal
information can be deactivated by setting the OPTION to 1 in the MODAL_BASIS
data block (see Section 3.24 of Volume 2).
Actran computes the cut-off frequency of each particular mode specified by

the user within MODAL_BASIS blocks. This information (together with the modal
21.7 Specific output for analytical modal components 311
amplitude, the offset value, the axial direction and the modal orders) is issued as
a comment related to each MODE block in the .plt file.
Additionally Actran creates MODAL_BASIS blocks in order to store the total

incident power (sum of powers related to all ’incident’ modes) and the total
radiated power (sum of powers of all ’radiated’ modes). The labels ’incident’ and
’radiated’ refer to modes whose directions are +1 and −1, respectively.
Twenty Two
Random Vibro-Acoustics
Contents
22.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
22.2 Stationary random processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
22.3 Random response of a vibro-acoustic model . . . . . . . . . . 316
22.4 Random response using a modal approach . . . . . . . . . . . 319
22.5 Diffuse incident pressure field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
22.6 Turbulent boundary layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
22.7 Delta Correlated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.8 Random kinematical excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.9 Sampling of random excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
22.10 Available implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
22.1 Introduction
Random excitations play an important role in vibro-acoustics. This is due to the
fact that there are many situations where a vibro-acoustic system is randomly ex-
cited. Such situations arise for instance in automotive and aerospace applications
where the external envelope of a vehicle is excited by a turbulent boundary layer
directly related to the penetration of the vehicle in the air. Many equipments of
space vehicles are also subjected to random vibrations or random acoustic loading
generated at different steps of a flight. Testing procedures of such equipments fre-
quently involve random excitations : random kinematical excitations of a shaker
or acoustic diffuse field in a reverberant chamber. Many random excitations
have a distributed nature which make their description more complex (effect
of spatial correlation, heterogenous data). Additionally the usual treatment of
random excitations (as weakly stationary distributed random processes) requires
high computational resources in order to handle partial cross-correlation effects.
313
314 Random Excitations
The cost of a random analysis is therefore significantly higher than the cost of a
deterministic analysis.
This chapter covers the treatment of random excitations by Actran. It is divided

in sections as follows:
• Basic concepts related to random processes are reviewed in Section 22.2;
• The formal treatment of a vibro-acoustic model excited by random loads is

described in Section 22.3;
• An efficient modal approach for handling of random excitations is presented

in Section 22.4;
• Different classes of random excitations (diffuse field, turbulent boundary

layer, kinematical excitations) are covered in Section 22.4.5;
• Sampling distributed random processes is covered in Section 22.9;
• The available implementations in Actran are described in Section 22.10.
22.2 Stationary random processes

A time dependent quantity has a stochastic behavior when the time histories of
this quantity measured in several nominally identical experiments are all different
(Figure 22.1); such a random time-dependent quantity — named a stochastic
process — is best described in statistical terms, each time history being one
sample taken in the population of all possible time histories.
Figure 22.1: Three time signals corresponding to nominally identical experiments.

22.2 Stationary random processes 315
The value of a stochastic process at any given instant t is itself a random variable
X (t) characterized by a probability distribution:
Ft ( x ) = P { X (t) ≤ x } , (22.1)
and by a probability density f t ( x ) such that:

Z x
Ft ( x ) = f t ( x ) dx . (22.2)
−∞
Each random variable can be described by its successive statistical moments, such
as the mean and variance, which are time-dependent functions:
Z ∞
m x (t) = h X (t)i = x f t ( x ) dx , (22.3)
−∞
D E Z ∞
σx2 (t) = [ X (t) − m x (t)]2 = ( x − m x (t))2 f t ( x ) dx . (22.4)
−∞
An important measure of the relationship between the variables at two distinct

instants t1 and t2 is the covariance, T, or correlation, R, function:
TX (t1 , t2 ) = h[ X (t1 ) − m x (t1 )] [ X (t2 ) − m x (t2 )]i , (22.5)

R X (t1 , t2 ) = h X (t1 ) X (t2 )i . (22.6)
A stochastic process is stationary if it is invariant under an arbitrary translation

τ of the time axis. For practical purpose, one often considers weakly stationary
processes for which the mean and variance of X (t) are independent of t and
where the correlation function R X (t1 , t2 ) only depends on τ = t2 − t1 ,
R X ( t1 , t2 ) = R X ( t2 − t1 ) = R X ( τ ) . (22.7)
The Fourier transform of the auto-correlation function plays an important role as

a useful descriptor of the considered stationary process. This function is known
as the power spectral density (PSD) function and is given by:
Z ∞
Sx (ω ) = R x (τ ) exp(−iωτ )dτ . (22.8)
−∞
When several random processes are present, their cross-correlation functions are
introduced to characterize the interdependency between the processes:
R xi x j (τ ) = h xi (t) x j (t + τ )i . (22.9)
The Fourier transforms of these cross-correlation functions are the cross power
spectral densities given by
Z ∞
S xi x j ( ω ) = R xi x j (τ ) exp(−iωτ )dτ . (22.10)
−∞
The auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions related to a set of random

variables xi (t) can be presented in matrix notation as:
 
R x1 x1 ( τ ) R x1 x2 ( τ ) . . . R x1 x n ( τ )
 R x x ( τ ) R x x ( τ ) . . . R x xn ( τ ) 
R x (τ ) =  2 1 2 2 2  = hx(t) x T (t + τ )i , (22.11)
 ... ... ... ... 
R x n x1 ( τ ) R x n x2 ( τ ) . . . R x n x n ( τ )
where x (t) is a vector containing the random processes xi (t). The power (and
cross-power) spectral densities related to all load components can also be written
in matrix form as:
 
S x1 x1 ( ω ) S x1 x2 ( ω ) . . . S x1 x n ( ω )
Z ∞  S x x ( ω ) S x x ( ω ) . . . S x xn ( ω ) 
2 1 2 2 2
Sx (ω ) = R x (τ ) exp(−iωτ ) dτ =   .
−∞
 ... ... ... ... 
S x n x1 ( ω ) S x n x2 ( ω )
S xn xn ( ω )
...
(22.12)
A reference PSD function is often selected for the definition of a factorized form:
 
S x1 x1 ( ω ) S x1 x2 ( ω ) . . . S x1 x n ( ω )
 S x x ( ω ) S x x ( ω ) . . . S x xn ( ω ) 
Sx (ω ) = Sre f (ω ) ·  2 1 2 2 2  , (22.13)
 ... ... ... ... 
S x n x1 ( ω ) S x n x2 ( ω ) ... S xn xn ( ω )
where
S xi x j
S xi x j = . (22.14)
Sre f (ω )
22.3 Random response of a vibro-acoustic model

22.3.1 Vibro-acoustic model
The vibro-acoustic model relies on the usual assumptions (visco-elastic material
for the structure, acoustic material for the fluid, small displacements). In a finite
element context, such a model is usually described in terms of displacements
variational statement leads to the following system of algebraic equations:
Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms C

u(ω ) f s (ω )
= ,
(22.15)
where Ks , Ms and Ds are the so-called structural stiffness, mass and damping
matrices, Ka , Ma and Da are the so-called acoustic stiffness, mass and damping
matrices, C is the coupling matrix, f s is the structural load vector, f a is the acoustic
load vector while u and p are the displacement and acoustic pressure vectors,
respectively.
The structural model is characterized by the structural dynamic stiffness matrix

A s ( ω ):
As (ω ) = Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms , (22.16)
22.3 Random response of a vibro-acoustic model 317
while the acoustic model is characterized by the acoustic dynamic stiffness A a (ω ):
A a (ω ) = Ka + iωDa − ω 2 Ma . (22.17)
The input-output relation of the vibro-acoustic model can be expressed as:
A(ω )y(ω ) = x (ω ) , (22.18)
where
As (ω ) C
A(ω ) = , (22.19)
ω2 CT A a (ω )
and
x T (ω ) = ( f s (ω ), f a (ω )) , (22.20)
T
y (ω ) = (u(ω ), p(ω )) . (22.21)
This relation can be formally inverted to yield:
y(ω ) = H (ω ) x (ω ) , (22.22)
where H is the receptance matrix of the vibro-acoustic model.
22.3.2 Random response

Formally, the response vector y(t) (in the time domain) can be obtained from
the load vector x (t) (also expressed in the time domain) using the convolution
integral: Z ∞
y(t) = h(τ ) x (t − τ ) dτ , (22.23)
−∞
where h(t) is the matrix of impulse responses (inverse Fourier transform of H (ω )).
The correlation matrix for the response degrees of freedom (dof) is given by:
h i
Ry (τ ) = E y(t)y T (t + τ ) . (22.24)
Substitution of the convolution integral within this expression allows us to write

the matrix of auto- and cross-correlation functions of response dofs as:
Z ∞ Z ∞
Ry (τ ) = h(τ1 ) x (t − τ1 ) dτ1 x T (t + τ − τ2 ) h T (τ2 ) dτ2 ,
−∞ −∞
(22.25)
or
Z ∞ Z ∞
Ry (τ ) = h(τ1 )h x (t − τ1 ) x T (t + τ − τ2 )ih T (τ2 ) dτ1 dτ2 . (22.26)
−∞ −∞
Or, introducing the correlation matrix of the excitation vector x:

Z ∞ Z ∞
Ry (τ ) = h(τ1 ) R x (τ − τ2 + τ1 ) h T (τ2 ) dτ1 dτ2 . (22.27)
−∞ −∞
This last expression shows the link between input and output auto- and cross-
correlation functions. The response power spectral density matrix:
Z ∞
Sy ( ω ) = Ry (τ ) exp(−iωτ ) dτ , (22.28)
−∞
can steadily be evaluated and the identity

exp(−iωτ ) = exp(+iωτ1 ) exp(−iω (τ + τ1 − τ2 )) exp(−iωτ2 ), (22.29)
allows us to express it as
Z ∞
Sy ( ω ) = h(τ1 ) exp(iωτ1 ) dτ1
−∞
Z ∞
· R x (τ − τ2 + τ1 ) exp(−iω (τ + τ1 − τ2 )) d(τ + τ1 − τ2 )
−∞
Z ∞
· h T (τ2 ) exp(−iωτ2 ) dτ2 . (22.30)
−∞
The first integral is the Fourier transform of the impulse transfer function com-
puted at the circular frequency −ω (also called pulsation: ω = 2π f ), the second
integral is the power spectral density matrix Sx while the last integral is the
Fourier transform of the impulse transfer function computed at the circular
frequency ω, so that one finally gets the matrix expression:
Sy (ω ) = H (−ω )Sx (ω ) H T (ω ) . (22.31)
This expression is very general and relates the excitation PSD matrix to the
response PSD matrix. For a structure with n dofs, the matrices involved in the
above relation are all of size n × n. In practical cases, only a subset ξ of the
degrees of freedom are loaded, so that the response PSD matrix can be written as:
Sy (ω ) = Hξ (−ω )Sξ (ω ) HξT (ω ) , (22.32)
where Sy is n × n, Hξ is n × nξ and Sξ is nξ × nξ , where nξ and n are respectively
the number of loaded dofs and the total number of dofs. Cell (i, j) of Hξ is the
response at dof i to a unit excitation on the j-th loaded dof. The evaluation of Sy
therefore requires the evaluation of the response of the system to nξ individual
load cases. In most cases, only a small subset η of response degrees of freedom
are important and are called the output set. The response cannot be evaluated at
these dofs only but the calculation of the output PSD matrix can be restricted to
these relevant dofs using the relation:
T
Sη (ω ) = Hξη (−ω ) Sξ (ω ) Hξη (ω ) , (22.33)
where Sη is nη × nη , Hξη is nη × nξ and Sξ is nξ × nξ , where nξ and nη are
respectively the number of loaded degrees of freedom and the number of degrees
of freedom in the output set. Cell (i, j) of Hξη is the response at the i-th dof in
the output set to a unit excitation on the j-th loaded dof. The evaluation of Sy
therefore requires the evaluation of the response of the system to nξ individual
load cases.
22.4 Random response using a modal approach 319
22.3.3 Distributed loads

In the case of a distributed pressure loading, the nodal excitations (equivalent
nodal forces) are linked to the discrete nodal pressure values by a matrix relation:
x=Cp. (22.34)
If the pressure distribution is described by a matrix of cross-PSD, the equivalent
nodal loads x are characterized by the following matrix of cross-PSD:
Sx (ω ) = C S p (ω )C T . (22.35)
One therefore gets, for the output displacements y:
Sy (ω ) = H (−ω )C S p (ω )C T H T (ω ) . (22.36)
This relation cannot be used directly because of its high computational cost.
22.4 Random response using a modal approach

22.4.1 Introduction
The treatment of random excitations in the physical space shows some limits
(basically induced by the difficulty to handle distributed random excitations in
this context). A modal formulation appears to be an alternative for the following
reasons:
• Modal approaches allow for a preliminary reduction of the size of the

dynamic problem: the reduction of size is beneficial for random excitations,
since the projection of the excitation in the modal space will reduce the
complexity of the problem.
• Modal approaches allow for a better communication with external structural
softwares: in many sectors, structural calculations rely on NASTRAN
models that can be described in modal terms and easily exchanged through
appropriate interface files (such as binary OUTPUT2 files).
• Modal approaches are efficient in a wide frequency band: the develop-
ment of advanced substructuring capabilities allows for the extraction of
thousands of modes from discrete FE models involving millions of degrees
of freedom, which makes it possible to address to the so-called medium
frequency range.
• Modal approaches pave the road for robust design solutions: the promising
non-parametric approach for handling model and data uncertainties in
vibro-acoustic simulations requires a modal reduction in order to support
Monte Carlo simulations.
• Modal approaches can be extended in order to handle trim materials in a
modal context.
This section provides a theoretical support for the handling of random excitations
in a modal context, as implemented in the Actran software.
22.4.2 Modal description of a vibro-acoustic model

It is assumed that the modal description relies on the (real) eigenmodes of the
undamped (decoupled) structural and acoustic models:
( K s − λ s Ms ) ψ s = 0 , (22.37)
and
( K a − λ a Ma ) ψ a = 0 , (22.38)
where λs and ψs are the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the structural undamped
problem (λ> 0 if matrices Ks and Ms are positive definite) while λ a and ψ a are the
eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the acoustic undamped problem (λ a ≥ 0 since
matrix Ka is usually semi definite positive while matrix Ma is positive definite).
These eigenpairs verify the following orthogonality conditions:
ψαsT Ms ψβs = δαβ , ψαsT Ks ψβs = λsα δαβ , (22.39)
and
ψαaT Ma ψβa = δαβ , ψαaT Ka ψβa = λαa δαβ . (22.40)
The reduced modal vibro-acoustic model is obtained by projecting the physical

model (as described by Eq. (22.15)) onto the subspace of the first ms structural
modes and the first m a acoustic modes.
Let us denote by Ψs the matrix of the first ms structural modes:
Ψs = ψ1s , ψ2s , . . . , ψm
s

s
, (22.41)
and by Ψ a the matrix of the first m a acoustic modes:
Ψ a = ψ1a , ψ2a , . . . , ψm
a

a
. (22.42)
The projected solution (us , p a ) is described by
us (ω ) = Ψs qs (ω ) , (22.43)
and
p a (ω ) = Ψ a q a (ω ) , (22.44)
where qs (ω ) and qs (ω ) are the generalized (modal) coordinates.
The projection of Eq. (22.15) into the selected subspace gives:

!
Ψ As (ω )Ψs ΨsT CΨ a qs (ω ) ΨsT f s (ω )
sT
= . (22.45)
ω 2 Ψ aT C T Ψs Ψ aT A a (ω )Ψ a q a (ω ) Ψ aT f a (ω )
This lead to the definition of the modal matrices:
As (ω ) = ΨsT As (ω )Ψs , (22.46)

aT a
A a (ω ) = Ψ A a (ω )Ψ , (22.47)
sT a
C = Ψ CΨ , (22.48)
and the modal load vectors:
f s (ω ) = ΨsT f s (ω ) (22.49)
a aT a
f (ω ) = Ψ f (ω ) . (22.50)
Based on orthogonality conditions, the modal dynamic stiffness matrices can be

rewritten in terms of diagonal modal stiffness and mass matrices and projected
modal damping matrices:
As (ω ) = K s + iωD s − ω 2 Ms , (22.51)
2
A a (ω ) = K a + iωD a − ω M a , (22.52)
where
[K s ]αβ = λsα δαβ , (22.53)

[ Ms ]αβ = δαβ , (22.54)
[K a ]αβ = λαa δαβ , (22.55)
[ M a ]αβ = δαβ , (22.56)
and
D s = ΨsT Ds (ω )Ψs , (22.57)

aT a
D a = Ψ Da (ω )Ψ . (22.58)
(22.59)
The final form of the reduced vibro-acoustic model is:

! !
qs (ω ) f (ω )

As (ω ) C s
= . (22.60)
ω 2 C T A a (ω ) q a (ω ) f (ω )
a
22.4.3 Random model in compact form

The evaluation of the random response is based on the previously defined
assumption of weakly stationary random processes for both the excitation and
the response. The link between input and output will rely on a compact form of
Eq. (22.60):
A(ω )q(ω ) = f (ω ) , (22.61)
where
As (ω ) + Arad

A(ω ) = s (ω ) C
, (22.62)
2 T
ω C A a (ω )
!
qs (ω )
q(ω ) = , (22.63)
q a (ω )
!
f (ω )
f (ω ) = s , (22.64)
f (ω )
a
or
q(ω ) = H (ω ) f (ω ) , (22.65)
where H (ω ) = A−1 (ω ).
With these notations, the input-output relation in a random context can be written
as:
Sq ( ω ) = H ∗ ( ω ) S f ( ω ) H T ( ω ) , (22.66)
where H ∗ (ω ) denotes the complex conjugate of H (ω ).
22.4.4 Random excitations in a modal context

In practice, random mechanical and acoustical excitations are considered sepa-
rately. This means that the cross-power spectra matrix S f (ω ) have on the two
following forms:
" #
S f (ω ) 0
S f (ω ) = s , (22.67)
0 0
or " #
0 0
S f (ω ) = . (22.68)
0 S f (ω )
a
For a distributed random process (pressure loading along the boundary Γ), the
cross-power spectra matrix can be expressed as:
Z Z
S f (ω ) = Sre f (ω ) ψsT (ξ ) f c (ξ, η, ω )ψs (η )dΓ(ξ )dΓ(η ) . (22.69)
s Γ Γ
The evaluation of this double surface integral can be avoided if we assume that
the mesh resolution is sufficient for capturing the spatial fluctuations of the
correlation function.
This can be shown by using the relation between the vector of local (nodal)
pressures pe (ω ) along the loaded boundary Γ and the vector of nodal load
components f s (ω ) for the structural model (in the physical space):
f s (ω ) = Ee C e pe (ω ) , (22.70)
where C e is a coupling matrix which converts local nodal pressures into consistent
nodal load components along boundary Γ while Ee is a binary matrix that splits
these contributions into the global vector f s of nodal load components for the full
structural model.
Projection of vector f s (ω ) into the modal basis Ψs gives the structural modal load
vector f (ω ):
s
f (ω ) = ΨsT f s (ω ) , (22.71)
s
or using Eq. (22.70):
f (ω ) = ΨsT
e f s (ω ) , (22.72)
s
where Ψse = C eT EeT Ψs .
The cross-power spectra matrix of the modal loads can therefore be expressed as:
S f (ω ) = Ψse S pe (ω )ΨsT
e . (22.73)
s
This expression shows that sampling local pressure auto- and cross-spectra
at boundary nodes gives directly matrix S pe (ω ). Further pre- and post-
multiplication by matrix Ψse (or its transpose) leads to the matrix S f (ω ). The
s
double surface integral is therefore completely avoided.
A further simplification of the modal description of the random excitation results

from an asymptotic formulation (strictly valid when the correlation length is
small vs. the modal wavelengths and the mean dimension of the loaded surface).
If these conditions are met, the correlation function is close to a Dirac function
and the evaluation of Eq. (22.69) reduces to the following approximate form:
Z
S f (ω ) ' Sre f (ω ) ψsT (ξ )ψs (ξ )dΓ(ξ ) . (22.74)
s Γ
22.4.5 Evaluation of the random response

The evaluation of the random response will be performed differently for mechan-
ical excitations and for (purely) acoustic excitations. If a mechanical excitation
is considered, the acoustic modal dofs will be condensed in order to produce a
input-output relation involving only structural modal dofs:
h i
es (ω ) qs (ω ) = f (ω ) ,
A (22.75)
s
where
es (ω ) = As (ω ) − ω 2 C A−
A 1 T
a (ω )C . (22.76)
If we consider a purely acoustic excitation, the structural modal dofs could be

condensed in order to produce an input-output relation involving only acoustic
modal dofs: h i
ea ( ω ) q a ( ω ) = f ( ω ) ,
A (22.77)
a
where
ea ( ω ) = A a ( ω ) − ω 2 C T A −
A 1
s (ω )C . (22.78)
e s (ω ) or
These matrices allows for the evaluation of modal receptance matrices H
e a ( ω ):
H
H e−
e s (ω ) = A 1
s (ω ) , (22.79)
and
H e−
e a (ω ) = A 1
a (ω ) . (22.80)
Random modal responses can therefore be obtained using either:
e ∗s (ω )S f (ω ) H
Sq s ( ω ) = H e sT (ω ) , (22.81)
s
or
e ∗a (ω )S f (ω ) H
Sq a ( ω ) = H e Ta (ω ) . (22.82)
a
The modal random response Sqs (ω ) allows for the evaluation of any field linearly
related to qs . Since the physical displacement us (ω ) is related to qs through:
us (ω ) = Ψs qs (ω ) , (22.83)
one easily obtains:

Sus (ω ) = Ψs Sqs .(ω )ΨsT (22.84)
In the same way, random stress cross-spectra can be produced using the modal
stress matrix Ψsσ which relates the physical stress vector σ to the modal dofs qs :
σ (ω ) = Ψsσ qs (ω ) , (22.85)
so that:
Sσs (ω ) = Ψsσ Sqs ΨsT
σ . (22.86)
The evaluation of the random response can be further simplified by assuming a

weak coupling between the structure and the fluid. This capability will lead to
better computational performances since it will exploit diagonal modal receptance
matrices.
22.5 Diffuse incident pressure field 325
Figure 22.2: The coordinate system and a particular plane wave.
22.5 Diffuse incident pressure field

The Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE-USA) proposes the following
definition for a diffuse field: sound field in which the time average of the mean-square
sound pressure is everywhere the same and the flow of acoustic energy in all directions is
equally probable. Such a diffuse acoustic field is usually produced experimentally
by activating acoustic sources in a reverberant chamber, the multiple reflections
along the boundary walls leading to a diffuse field.
22.5.1 Mathematical description of a diffuse acoustic field

The derivation of this model starts with the expression of the pressure field
related to a particular plane wave (index n). This field can be expressed as pn (r, t)
where r = (r, θ, φ) is the vector position of the considered evaluation point (see
Figure 22.2) and t is the time.
Since the final objective is the evaluation of the spatial correlation function, two
particular points are considered along axis 1: the first point (labeled ξ 1 ) is located
at the origin while the second point (labeled ξ 2 ) is located at coordinates (r, 0, 0).
If one denotes by xn (t) the instantaneous pressure value at the origin for the
considered plane wave:
xn (t) = pn (0, t) , (22.87)
one can easily retrieve the pressure at location r along axis 1 by converting the
spatial interval into an equivalent time interval:
r r
pn (r, t) = pn 0, t − cos θn = xn t − cos θn . (22.88)
c c
The diffuse field pressure along axis 1 can now be represented by summing up
the effect of an infinite number of plane waves arriving from all directions:
N
1
p(r, t) = lim √
N →∞ N
∑ pn (r, t) . (22.89)
n =1
Substitution of Eq. (22.89) into Eq. (22.88) leads to:

N
1 r
p(r, t) = lim √
N →∞ N
∑ xn t−
c
cos θn . (22.90)
n =1
The specific form of xn (t) is arbitrary (ie signal xn (t) can be tonal, band-limited
or broadband random). One will assume however that all signals xn (t) share
the same auto-correlation function R0 (τ ) and the same power spectral density
S0 (ω ). In order to comply with the objective of a diffuse field, one will assume
that signals corresponding to different plane waves are uncorrelated.
The cross-correlation function of pressures at points ξ 1 and ξ 2 (with inter-distance

equal to r) can be expressed as:
R(r, τ ) = E [ p(0, t) p(r, t + τ )] . (22.91)
Substitution of Eq. (22.89) into Eq. (22.91) leads to:

N N
1
R(r, τ ) = lim
N →∞ N ∑ ∑ E [ pn (0, t) pm (r, t + τ )] . (22.92)
n =1 m =1
Since plane waves from different directions (n 6= m) are uncorrelated, this expres-
sion reduces to:
N
1
R(r, τ ) = lim
N →∞ N ∑ E [ pn (0, t) pn (r, t + τ )] . (22.93)
n =1

N
1 h r i
R(r, τ ) = lim
N →∞ N ∑ E x n ( t ) x n t + τ −
c
cos θ n . (22.94)
n =1
Since all signals xn (t) have the same auto-correlation function R0 (τ ), one can
reformulate this expression as:
N
1 r
R(r, τ ) = lim
N →∞ N ∑ R0 τ−
c
cos θn . (22.95)
n =1
This expression can be rewritten in a continuous context (rather than the discrete
context considered so far). This reformulation starts from the examination of the
following expression:
N N
1 r 1 r 4π
R(r, τ ) = lim
N →∞ N ∑ R0 τ−
c
cos θn = lim
N →∞ 4π c ∑ R0
cos θn
N
. τ−
n =1 n =1
(22.96)
The infinite summation converges (in the limit case) to a double integral over
θ and φ covering all plane wave directions. The area element on a unit radius
sphere is |sin θ | dθdφ which replaces the area element 4π/N in the summation:
Z +π/2 Z 2π
1 r
R(r, τ ) = R0 τ − cos θ |sin θ | dφdθ . (22.97)
4π −π/2 0 c
The integration along φ is trivial:

Z +π/2 Z +π/2
2π r r
R(r, τ ) = R0 τ − cos θ |sin θ | dθ = R0 τ − cos θ sin θdθ .
4π−π/2 c 0 c
(22.98)
By a change of variable:
r
t = τ − cos θ , (22.99)
c
this equation can be rewritten as:
c
Z τ
R(r, τ ) = R0 (t) dt . (22.100)
r τ −r/c
This expression can be formulated in terms of the power spectral density S0 (ω )

using:
Z +∞
R0 ( τ ) = S0 (ω ) eiωτ dω . (22.101)
−∞
Substitution of Eq. (22.101) into Eq. (22.100) gives the following result:
c τ
Z
R(r, τ ) = R0 (t) dt , (22.102)
r τ −r/c
Z +∞
c
Z τ
= S0 (ω ) eiωt dωdt , (22.103)
r τ −r/c −∞
c +∞
Z Z τ
= S0 ( ω ) eiωt dtdω , (22.104)
r −∞ τ −r/c
c +∞ c
Z ωr
= S0 ( ω ) sin eiωτ dω . (22.105)
r −∞ ωr c
Since the cross-correlation function R(r, τ ) is linked to the cross-power spectral

density S(r, ω ) through:
Z +∞
R(r, τ ) = S (r, ω ) eiωτ dω , (22.106)
−∞
Figure 22.3: Limitation of grazing incidences.
one can conclude that the cross-power spectral density S(r, ω ) can be factorized
as:
S(r, ω ) = S0 (ω ) f c (r, ω ) , (22.107)
where the spatial correlation function f c is given by
c ωr sin (kr )
f c (r, ω ) = sin = , (22.108)
ωr c kr
with k = ω/c (acoustic wavenumber).
22.5.2 Elimination of grazing incidences

If the objective is to eliminate grazing incidences, one can introduce a restriction
concerning plane wave incidence angles. With reference to Figure 22.3, this leads
to incidence angles θ given by:
π π
− ≤ θ ≤ −α or α ≤ θ ≤ . (22.109)
2 2
Eq. (22.97) can therefore be rewritten in the following form:
Z −α Z 2π
1 r
R(r, τ ) = R0 τ − cos θ |sin θ | dφdθ
4π −π/2 0 c
Z π/2 Z 2π (22.110)
r
+ R0 τ − cos θ sin θdφdθ .
α 0 c
Since the first integral is equal to the second one, one obtains after integration
along φ:
r
Z π/2
R(r, τ ) = R0 τ − cos θ sin θdθ . (22.111)
α c
By the same change of variable:
r
t=τ− cos θ , (22.112)
c
this equation can be rewritten as:
c
Z τ
R(r, τ ) = R0 (t) dt . (22.113)
r τ − rc cos α
or
c
Z τ
R(r, τ ) = R0 (t) dt . (22.114)
r τ − rc cos α
This expression can be formulated in terms of the power spectral density S0 (ω )

using Eq. (22.101):
c
Z τ
R(r, τ ) = R0 (t) dt , (22.115)
r τ − rc cos α
Z +∞
c τ
Z
= S0 (ω ) eiωt dωdt , (22.116)
r τ − rc cos α −∞
c +∞
Z h iτ
= S0 (ω ) eiωt dω , (22.117)
r −∞ τ − rc cos α
Z +∞
c ωr cos α
= S0 (ω ) sin eiωτ dω . (22.118)
ωr −∞ c
so that the spatial correlation function f c is given by
c ωr cos α sin (kr cos α)

f c (r, ω ) = sin = . (22.119)
ωr c kr
For practical purpose, it is more convenient to define alternatively the restriction

about incidence angles. Instead of referring to an angle θ defined with reference
to axis 1 (Figure 22.3):
π π
− ≤ θ ≤ −α or α ≤ θ ≤ , (22.120)
2 2
one can introduce a normal incidence angle θ 0 (Figure 22.4):
θ0 ≤ β , (22.121)
so that the expression of the spatial correlation function becomes:

c ωr sin β sin (kr sin β)
f c (r, ω ) = sin = . (22.122)
ωr c kr
Figure 22.4: Conventional definition of normal incidence angles.
The effect of a limitation of incidence angles is examined by a comparison of

the spatial correlation function (Figure 22.5) for the following values of β angle:
80, 70 and 60 degrees. The related spatial correlation functions are compared to
the conventional form (corresponding to β = 90 degrees) which do not eliminate
grazing incidences.
22.5.3 Using an incident diffuse field in Actran

The use of an incident diffuse field in Actran is activated through the
DIFFUSE_FIELD data block. More details on the DIFFUSE_FIELD block are given
in Section 3.45 of Volume 2.
Figure 22.5: Comparison of spatial correlation function for various maximum normal
incidence angles.
22.6 Turbulent boundary layer

22.6.1 Introduction
Turbulent boundary layer (TBL) excitations are frequently involved in automotive
and aerospace applications. Direct modeling of such excitations is not easy or
requires prohibitive computational resources. In these conditions, semi-empirical
models are considered as attractive alternatives. The aim of these semi-empirical
models is to provide a realistic description of wall pressure fluctuations (WPF)
using a limited number of aerodynamic parameters that are available at a lower
computational cost and/or can easily be measured or estimated. Semi-empirical
models available in ACTRAN software are presented hereafter.
22.6.2 Formal framework for WPF description

Due to the random character of WPF, a convenient framework for their
description is offered by the concept of stationary distributed random process.
In this context, the spatial and temporal characteristics of WPF are usually
described by the space-time correlation function. One will consider hereafter a
representative case related to WPF associated to the boundary layer developed
on a flat rigid surface in a low Mach number flow with zero mean pressure
gradient. For such a case, the boundary layer thickness increases slowly in the
flow direction and the pressure field can be considered as homogeneous and
stationary in time.
For a flow along direction x1 over plane ( x1 , x2 ), the space/time correlation

function related to two points located at positions ( x1 , x2 ) and ( x1 + ξ 1 , x2 + ξ 2 )
is a function of the two separation distances ξ 1 and ξ 2 and the time delay τ:
R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ) = E [ p ( x1 , x2 , t) p ( x1 + ξ 1 , x2 + ξ 2 , t + τ )] (22.123)
where p( x1 , x2 , t) is the fluctuating pressure at point ( x1 , x2 ) at time t and E[−]

denotes the ensemble average (or the mathematical expectation).
The wavenumber/frequency spectral density P(k1 , k2 , ω ) of the considered WPF

and the space/time correlation R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ) are related by the Fourier transform
pair:
Z ∞ Z ∞ Z ∞
1
P(k1 , k2 , ω ) = R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ) e−i(k1 ξ 1 +k2 ξ 2 +ωτ ) dξ 1 dξ 2 dτ
(2π )3 −∞ −∞ −∞
Z ∞ Z ∞ (22.124)
+i (k1 ξ 1 +k2 ξ 2 +ωτ )
R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ) = P(k1 , k2 , ω )e dk1 dk2 dω (22.125)
−∞ −∞
The identification of suitable analytical forms for the wavenumber/frequency
spectrum or the space/time correlation require experimental measurements.
Usually, such measurements are restricted to intermediate functions. For
22.6 Turbulent boundary layer 333
the space/time correlation function, these intermediate functions can be the

auto-correlation R (0, 0, τ ) in the time domain and the streamwise and crosswise
correlations R (ξ 1 , 0, τ ) and R (0, ξ 2 , τ ) in the space/time domain.
Fourier transforms in time of auto (R (0, 0, τ )) and cross-correlation (R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ))

functions are leading to auto-power φ and cross-power (double-sided) spectra Γ:
Z ∞ Z ∞
1
φ(ω ) = R (0, 0, τ ) e−iωτ dτ = P(k1 , k2 , ω )dk1 dk2 (22.126)
2π −∞ −∞
Z ∞ Z ∞
1
Γ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) = R (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , τ ) e−iωτ dτ = P(k1 , k2 , ω )e+i(k1 ξ 1 +k2 ξ 2 ) dk1 dk2
2π −∞ −∞
(22.127)
The mathematical expectation of the quadratic pressure is equal to the value of

auto correlation function for τ = 0:
E[ p2 ] = R(0, 0, 0) (22.128)
and is related to the auto power and the wavenumber/frequency spectrum

through:
Z ∞ Z ∞ Z ∞ Z ∞
E [ p2 ] = φ(ω )dω = P(k1 , k2 , ω )dk1 dk2 dω (22.129)
−∞ −∞ −∞ −∞
Some investigators are using single-sided spectra φs (ω ):

Z ∞
E [ p2 ] = φs (ω )dω (22.130)
0
where φs (ω ) = 2φ(ω ).
22.6.3 Scaling laws for frequency spectrum

Since considered models for WPF are determined from empirical curves, it is
requested to select appropriate scaling laws in order to express the dimensionless
spectral density (or auto power) as a function of the dimensionless frequency.
Treatment of experimental data shows there is no single scaling leading to
a satisfactory collapse of experimental data at all relevant frequencies. It is
therefore necessary to select different pressure and time scales in order to
collapse data in different frequency bands.
The selection of these scales is based on particular aerodynamic parameters listed

in Table 22.1.
Parameter Notation Units

Free stream velocity u0 m/s
Convection velocity uc m/s
Boundary layer thickness δ m
Boundary layer displacement thickness δ∗ m
Wall shear stress τw N/m2
Fluid density ρ kg/m3
Kinematic viscosity ν Ns/m2
Table 22.1: Fluid parameters involved in scaling laws for semi-empirical TBL models.
These parameters enable the evaluation of the local dynamic pressure q and the
friction velocity uτ through:
1 2
q= ρu (22.131)
2 0
r
τw
uτ = (22.132)
ρ
Based on the above aerodynamic parameters, one can define the dimensionless
pressure spectral density and the dimensionless time. For example, the
dimensionless pressure spectral density can be obtained by forming the ratio of
φ(ω ) and q2 δ∗ /u0 (since dimensions of both quantities are ( N/m2 )2 /s) while a
suitable dimensionless frequency is obtained through the ratio of ω and u0 /δ∗
(since dimensions of both quantities are s−1 ).
Various studies (see [60]) have shown how to select appropriate scales in different
frequency bands. The main observations from these studies are summarized
below:
• In the low frequency band defined by ωδ∗ /u0 ≤ 0.03 (or ωδ/uτ ≤ 5), the
spectrum behaves as ω 2 . Both q and τw can be selected for the pressure
scale while δ∗ /u0 is usually chosen as the time scale. This means that
φ(ω )u0 /q2 δ∗ = f 1 (ωδ∗ /u0 ) = constant × (ωδ∗ /u0 )2 .
• In the medium frequency band defined by 5 ≤ ωδ/uτ ≤ 100, the wall shear
stress τw is selected as the pressure scale and δ/uτ as the time scale. This
means that φ(ω )uτ /τw2 δ = f 2 (ωδ/uτ ).
• An overlap region 100 ≤ ωδ/uτ ≤ 0.3 (uτ δ/ν) exists when the Reynolds
number uτ δ/ν > 333. In this band, both inner- and outer-layer scales can
be selected. This means that ωφ(ω )τw2 = f 3 = constant.The spectrum φ(ω )
behaves as ω −1 in this band (while recent studies of Goody and Smolyakov
have shown dependencies in ω −0.7 and ω −1.11 , respectively).
Figure 22.6: Spectral characteristics of WPF spectrum (from [60]).
• In the high frequency band defined by ων/u2τ ≥ 0.3, the viscosity ν has a
stronger influence. The wall shear stress τw is selected as the pressure scale
and ν/u2τ as the time scale. This means that φ(ω )u2τ /τw2 ν = f 4 ων/u2τ .

The spectrum exhibits a frequency dependence varying from ω −1 to ω −5 .
The spectral characteristics of the power spectrum are represented in Figure 22.6.
A suitable description of this spectrum should refer to the selection of appropriate
scaled variables in the different frequency bands. A description of various
representative semi-empirical models is proposed in the next section. These
models are called semi-empirical since they rely on fitting with experimental data
using a theoretical guidance.
22.6.4 Models of WPF spectrum

Maestrello model The model proposed by Maestrello [27] has been developed
using pressure measurements along the side wall of a supersonic wind tunnel.
Data were measured at different Mach numbers (M = 1.42, 1.98, 2.99, 3.98) and
plotted using an outer variable scale (φ(ω )u0 /E[ p2 ]δ) as a function of ωδ/u0 .
The related semi-empirical model results from fitting experimental data with an
exponential form:
4
φ ( ω ) u0
2
= ∑ An e−Kn (ωδ/u0 ) (22.133)
E[ p ]δ n =1
n An Kn
1 0.044 0.0578
2 0.075 0.243
3 −0.093 1.12
4 −0.025 11.57
Table 22.2: Coefficients An and Kn involved in Maestrello model.
where coefficients An and Kn are given in Table 22.2.
The mean quadratic pressure can be estimated using Lowson relation (1968):
2
0.006q
E [ p2 ] = (22.134)
1.0 + 0.14M2
where M = u0 /c is the Mach number.
The spatial correlation function is not provided by Maestrello.
Cockburn and Robertson model The model proposed by Cockburn and Robert-
son [23] is based on experiments of spacecraft panels subjected to in-flight fluc-
tuating pressures. The (single-sided) power spectrum of WPF at transonic and
supersonic speeds is expressed as:
φs (ω )u0 E[ p2 ]/q2
= (22.135)
q2 δ (δω0 /u0 ) [1 + (ω/ω0 )0.9 ]
2
where the mean quadratic pressure is again evaluated using Lowson relation
(1968) while ω0 is given by:
u0
ω0 = 2π f 0 = 2π0.346 (22.136)
δ
The doubled-sided auto-power spectrum φ(ω ) is given by φ(ω ) = φs (ω )/2.
The spatial correlation function is not provided by Cockburn and Robertson.

Corcos model Corcos [19] gives the following auto-spectrum:

!
4
φ(ω ) = 2.14 × 10−5 for ω ≤ 0.25
ρ2 u30 δ∗
!
4
φ(ω ) = 7.56 × 10−6 ω −0.75 for 0.25 < ω ≤ 3.5
ρ u30 δ∗
2
!
4
φ(ω ) = 1.27 × 10−4 ω −3 for 3.5 < ω (22.137)
ρ u30 δ∗
2
where ω = ωδ∗ /u0 .
Efimtsov Efimtsov model (1984) is an evolution of 1982 model [8] from the same
author. It also relies on extensive measurements of WPF in zero-pressure gradient
TBL on aircrafts. The model gives a power spectrum dependent on the Reynolds
number Re = δuτ /ν. The single-sided frequency power spectrum is expressed
as:
φs (ω ) 2παβ
= (22.138)
ρ2 u3τ δ 1/3
(1 + 8α Sh ) + αβRe (Sh/Re)10/3
3 2
1/3
where α = 0.01, β = 1 + ( Re0 /Re)3 , Sh = ωδ/uτ and Re0 = 3000.
The model proposed by Efimtsov is valid for all usual Reynolds numbers and
exhibits a frequency dependence like ω −10/3 at sufficiently high frequencies.
The doubled-sided auto-power spectrum φ(ω ) is given by φ(ω ) = φs (ω )/2.
Modified Chase model Chase [12] proposed a model able to describe both auto-
and cross-spectra. This model has been refined by Josserand and Lauchle [33].
This model is denoted hereafter the modified Chase model. Basically the model
can be described in both wavenumber/frequency or space/time domains. In
the context of Actran software, an hybrid space/frequency formulation is selected.
The cross-spectrum of modified Chase model is formulated as:
Γ(ξ 1 , ξ 3 , ω ) = A M (ω ) f M (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω )e−z M e+iωξ 1 /u M + A T (ω ) f T (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω )e−zT e+iωξ 1 /uT

(22.139)
where A M ,A T , f M and f T functions are given by:
uM
A M (ω ) = a+ r M ρ2 u4τ ω −1 q α−
M
3
(22.140)
u2c + h2M u2τ
uT
A T (ω ) = a+ r T ρ2 u4τ ω −1 q α−
T
3
(22.141)
u2c + h2T u2τ
!
z2
f M (ξ 1 , ξ 3 , ω ) = 1 + z M + α2M µ2M 1 − M1 + 2iα M µ M z M1 (22.142)
zM
!
z2 + µ2T z2T1
f T (ξ 1 , ξ 3 , ω ) = 1 + z T + α2T 1 + µ2T − T2 + 2iα T µ T z T1(22.143)
zT
In these expressions, z M and z T are expressed as:

q
zM = z2M1 + z2M2 (22.144)
q
zT = z2T1 + z2T2 (22.145)
where
µ M α M ωξ 1
z M1 = (22.146)
uM
α ωξ
z M2 = M 2 (22.147)
uM
µ T α T ωξ 1
z T1 = (22.148)
uT
α T ωξ 2
z T2 = (22.149)
uT
The coefficients u M and u T are given by:
uc
uM = (22.150)
1 − µ2M
uc
uT = (22.151)
1 − µ2T
where µ M and µ T are related to aerodynamic parameters uc and uτ through:
1 u2 + h2 u2
2
= c 2 M2 τ (22.152)
µM h M uτ
1 u2 + h2 u2
2
= c 2 T2 τ (22.153)
µT h T uτ
The remaining parameters are defined according to the following relations:
1 u2M
α2M = + (22.154)
1 − µ2M ω 2 b2M δ2
1 u2
α2T = 2
+ 2 T2 2 (22.155)
1 − µT ω bT δ
2π
a+ = (c T h T + c M h M ) (22.156)
3
cT hT
rT = (22.157)
cT hT + c M h M
r M = 1 − rT (22.158)
The evaluation of the cross-spectrum from the modified Chase model therefore
requires the availability of the following aerodynamic data: uc , uτ , δ and ρ.
The coefficients b M , bT , c M , c T , h M , h T (or µ M , µ T ), a+ and r T result from an
appropriate fitting.
If the friction velocity uτ uc and h M ' 1, h T ' 1, the quantities h2M u2τ and
h2T u2τ are small with respect to u2c , so that equations (22.152) and (22.153) become:
1 u2c
' (22.159)
µ2M h2M u2τ
1 u2
2
' 2c2 (22.160)
µT h T uτ
The resulting µ M and µ T values are therefore small with respect to 1 so that
equations (22.150) and (22.151) can be rewritten as:
u M ' uc (22.161)
u T ' uc (22.162)
Functions A M and A T can be evaluated according to:
A M (ω ) ' a+ r M ρ2 u4τ ω −1 α−
M
3
(22.163)
A T (ω ) ' a+ r T ρ2 u4τ ω −1 α−
T
3
(22.164)
while f M and f T are still given by equations (22.142) and (22.143) where:
h M uτ
µM = (22.165)
uc
h T uτ
µT = (22.166)
uc
while other coefficients are expressed as:
u2c
α2M = 1 + (22.167)
ω b2M δ2
2
u2c
α2T = 1 + (22.168)
ω 2 b2T δ2
and
µ M α M ωξ 1
z M1 = (22.169)
uc
α M ωξ 3
z M2 = (22.170)
uc
µ T α T ωξ 1
z T1 = (22.171)
uc
α T ωξ 3
z T2 = (22.172)
uc
Such a model can be entirely calibrated with parameters b M , bT , µ M , µ T , a+ and

r T . The following values can be found in the literature: b M = 0.756, bT = 0.378,
µ M = µ T = 0.176, a+ = 0.766 and r T = 0.389.
Smolyakov and Tkachenko model The model proposed by Smolyakov and

Tkachenko (1991) is described by the following power spectrum:

φs (ω ) = 5.1 τw2 δ∗ /u0 / 1 + 0.44(ωδ∗ /u0 )7/3 (22.173)
This model is characterized by a flat spectrum in the low- and mid-frequency

bands and leads to a decay as ω −7/3 at high frequencies.
Smolyakov model Smolyakov [7] also proposed in 2000 a more complex model
using different scaling for different frequency band. Three particular frequency
ranges (determined by the dimensionless frequency ω = ων/u2τ ) are considered.
The related power spectrum is given by the following expressions for Rθ > 1000:

φs (ω ) u2τ / τw2 ν = 1.49 × 10−5 R2.74
θ ω 2
1 − 0.117R 0.44 1/2
θ ω for ω < ω 0

φs (ω ) u2τ / τw2 ν = 2.75ω −1.11 (1 − 0.82 exp (−0.51 (ω/ω 0 − 1))) for ω 0 < ω < 0.2

φs (ω ) u2τ / τw2 ν = 38.9e−8.3ω + 18.6e−3.58ω + 0.31e−2.41ω
× (1 − 0.82 exp (−0.51 (ω/ω 0 − 1))) for 0.2 < ω (22.174)
where ω 0 = 49.35R−
θ
0.88
and Rθ = u0 θ/ν with θ = momentum thickness.
Goody model Goody model is a more recent model [37] which incorporates
the scaling observations represented in Figure 22.6. Based on spectral properties
related to data from seven research groups, Goody was able to set up the following
semi-empirical model:
φ ( ω ) u0 C2 (ωδ/u0 )2
= (22.175)
τw2 δ
3.7 7
(ωδ/u0 )0.75 + C1 + C3 R−T
0.57
( ωδ/u 0 )
where C1 , C2 and C3 are empirically determined constants, R T = (δ/u0 ) / ν/u2τ

is the ratio of outer and inner boundary layer time scales. Recommended values
for constants are C1 = 0.5, C2 = 1.5 and C3 = 1.1.
Goody model compares well with experimental data for Reynolds numbers Rθ in
the range 1400 < Rθ < 23400
22.6.5 Spatial correlation function

Most of above WPF semi-empirical model just provide the auto-power spectrum.
The cross-power spectrum Γ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) is therefore obtained by evaluating a spatial
correlation function f c such that:
Γ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) = φ(ω ) f c (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) (22.176)
where | f c | ≤ 1 and f c → 1 when ξ 1 , ξ 2 → 0.
22.6.5.2 Corcos model

The spatial correlation function proposed by Corcos [18] is based on the following
coherence lengths in streamwise (L1 ) and spanwise (L2 ) directions:
uc
L1 = (22.177)
α1 ω
uc
L2 = (22.178)
α2 ω
where uc is the convective velocity. Experimental observations lead to the values

α1 = 0.10 and α2 = 0.77.
The spatial correlation function can be expressed as:
f c (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) = e−|ξ 1 |/L1 e−|ξ 2 |/L2 e−iωξ 1 /uc = e−α1 ω |ξ 1 |/uc e−α2 ω |ξ 2 |/uc e−iωξ 1 /uc
(22.179)
Maestrello Cockburn Corcos Efimtsov Smolyakov Smolyakov Chase Goody

and and
Robertson Tkachenko
δ x x - x - - x x
δ∗ - - x - - x - -
u0 x x x - x x - x
uτ - - - x x x x x
uc - - - - - - x -
ρ x x x x x x x x
c x x - - - - - -
ν - - - x x - - x
θ - - - - x - - -
Table 22.3: Required aerodynamic parameters for the evaluation of auto-power spectrum
using available semi-empirical models.
22.6.5.3 Efimtsov model

In Efimtsov model, the coherence lengths are expressed in terms of aerodynamic
parameters:
2 !−1/2
a22

a1 Sh
L1 = δ + 2 (22.180)
uc /uτ Sh + ( a2 /a3 )2
2 !−1/2
a25

a4 Sh
L2 = δ + 2 for M < 0.75 (22.181)
uc /uτ Sh + ( a5 /a6 )2
!−1/2
a4 Sh 2

2
=δ + a7 for M > 0.90 (22.182)
uc /uτ
where Sh = ωδ/uτ is the Strouhal number while constants a1 to a7 have the

following values: 0.10, 72.8, 1.54, 0.77, 548, 13.5, 5.66.
The spatial correlation function is formulated as:
f c (ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) = e−|ξ 1 |/L1 e−|ξ 2 |/L2 e−iωξ 1 /uc (22.183)
22.6.6 Implementation aspects

22.6.6.1 Required aerodynamic parameters
Each semi-empirical model requires the selection of particular aerodynamic
parameters. Table 22.3 summarizes the requested data for all available models.
The evaluation of the spatial correlation function for Corcos model requires three
parameters (uc , α1 and α2 ) while Efimtsov model for spatial correlation also
involves three parameters (uc , uτ and δ).
22.6.6.2 Evaluation of cross-power spectra

Since Actran implementation allows for the specification of fields for aerodynamic
parameters, the resulting spectra can be spatially variable.
The consistency of the model is ensured through the selection of the following
expression for evaluating the cross-power spectrum φ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) related to two
arbitrary points ξ 1 and ξ 2 along the loaded surface:
q
φ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ω ) = φ(ξ 1 , ω )φ(ξ 2 , ω ) f c (ξ1, ξ 2 , ω ) (22.184)
where φ(ξ 1 , ω ) and φ(ξ 2 , ω ) are local auto-power spectra (as given by the selected
semi-empirical model) while f c is the spatial correlation function evaluated using
mean aerodynamic parameters related to the considered point pair.
For the corcos model, the internal parameters used for the evaluation of f c are:
• αij = (αi + α j )/2;
• β ij = ( β i + β j )/2;
• Ucij = (Uci + Ucj )/2;
In addition the heterogeneous TBL excitation should allow for the handling
of decorrelation effects between parietal pressures along different loaded sub-
surfaces. These decorrelation effects can be handled by defining a sub-surface
indicator for each face of the loaded surface (faces with different sub-surface
indicators are leading to a complete decorrelation of related parietal pressures
while faces with the same sub-surface indicator are (at least) partially correlated
using Corcos spatial correlation function).
Decorrelation effects can de described using an additional field δ(r) :
S p1 p2 (ri , r j , ω ) = 0 if δ(ri ) 6= δ(r j ) (22.185)
Remark. The positive-definite Hermitian character of the cross-PSD

matrix is not guaranteed when specifying spatially dependent fields. This
might restrain the Cholesky decomposition of the matrix when creating the
different sampled excitations.
22.6.7 Remark on the discretization of the excitation when us-

ing Corcos’s model
When Eq. (22.176) and (22.179) are used to model the excitation due to a turbulent
boundary layer, it is possible that the excitation contains small scale that lead to
an additional constraint on the discretization of the excited structure. Indeed, the

last component of Eq. (22.179) can be rewritten as
f U (l12 , |Uc |, ω ) = exp(ik c l12 ) , (22.186)
where k c = ω/|Uc | = (2π f )/|Uc | is a wavenumber. The associated wavelength,
|Uc |
λc = , (22.187)
f
governs the element size to be used,
1
h= λc , (22.188)
n
where n is the number of elements per wavelength and h is the element size. For
a given h, the random excitation of a structure can be represented accurately up
to a frequency f max given by
|Uc |
f max = . (22.189)
nh
To illustrate this point, consider a 0.75m × 0.4m × 0.00315m simply supported
plate made of glass (E = 70 GPa, ν = 0.23, ρ = 2490 kg/m3 ). Figure 22.7 shows
the displacement at a point of the plate (located at (0.1, 0.1)), induced by a
deterministic point load, for two different resolutions (quadratic elements of size
h ' 5 × 10−2 m for the lower resolution and h ' 2.5 × 10−2 m for the higher one).
The fact that the two curves are almost exactly superimposed indicates that both
resolutions are fine enough to accurately capture the dynamic behavior of the
structure.
We now consider what happens when a random excitation is applied to the

same plate. We use Corcos’s model with αc = 0.1, β c = 0.5, Uc = 16.8 m/s,
and perform two simulations using the same two discretizations as before. The
PSD of the displacement at (0.1, 0.1) is reported in Figure 22.6.7, together with
a reference solution. It is seen that although both resolutions were adequate to
capture the dynamic behavior of the structure in the deterministic case, they fail
to properly capture the stochastic excitation above a certain frequency. Using
Eq. (22.189) with n = 2, we obtain f max = 168 Hz for the lower resolution and
f max = 336 Hz for the higher one. However, Figure 22.6.7 shows that at those
frequencies, the numerical results do not match the reference solution anymore.
If we use n = 3 instead, the corresponding values for f max become 112 Hz and
224 Hz. Figure 22.6.7 shows that the excitation is then well captured by the
discretization.
Figure 22.7: Displacement at (0.1, 0.1) of a 0.75m × 0.4m × 0.00315m simply supported
glass plate excited by a deterministic force (point load). The resolutions are h ' 0.05 m
(solid line) and h ' 0.025 m (dashed line).
Figure 22.8: PSD of the displacement at (0.1, 0.1) of a 0.75m × 0.4m × 0.00315m simply
supported glass plate excited by a turbulent boundary layer (Corcos’s model with αc = 0.1,
β c = 0.5, and |Uc | = 16.8 m/s). The resolutions are: h ' 0.05 m (+) and h ' 0.025 m (×).
The solid line represents the reference solution.
Frequency range [Hz] Value

20 0.01 g2 /Hz
20 to 80 +3 dB per octave
80 to 500 0.04 g2 /Hz
500 to 2000 −3 dB per octave
2000 0.01 g2 /Hz
Table 22.4: Component minimum workmanship random vibration test levels [1].
22.7 Delta Correlated

Delta Correlated excitations, also known as "rain on the roof" excitations, are
characterized by a diagonal spatial correlation function. The auto-correlation of
each point or node is equal to one, while the correlations with all other node is
equal to zero.
The auto-spectrum of the excitation is provided by the user. The direction of the
loads can oriented. By default, these are applied along the normal of the loaded
surface.
22.8 Random kinematical excitations

The specification of random support displacements or accelerations usually relies
on the definition of a limited number of support points. For each point, particular
auto-spectra should be specified for the various displacement components while
cross-spectra could be specified for all point pairs.
Reference [1] contains the precise description of random vibration specifications

for components, weighting less than 50 kg. Table 22.4 gives the power spectrum
of the acceleration as a function of the frequency.
The Chapter 23 details the handling of kinematic excitations in a deterministic or

random context for modal frequency responses, such as implemented in Actran.
22.9 Sampling of random excitations

22.9.1 Sampling technique
Random excitations described as stationary random processes can be handled
in a different way using a sampling technique. Basically this technique uses the
first step (generation of Fourier samples) of a simulation procedure dedicated to
multi-correlated random processes [28].
This technique starts from a Cholesky decomposition of the positive-definite

hermitian matrix S pe of order Ne (as involved in Eq. (22.73)) which contains the
auto and cross-PSD of nodal pressures along the loaded surface:
S p e ( ω ) = L ( ω ) · L H ( ω ), (22.190)
22.9 Sampling of random excitations 347
where L(ω ) is a lower triangular matrix and H denotes the complex conjugate
transpose.
The procedure requires to sample phase angles ψk (for 1 ≤ k ≤ Ne ) in the range

[0, 2π ]:
ψk = U (0, 1) 2π k = 1, . . . , Ne , (22.191)
where U (0, 1) denotes a uniform random variable with zero mean and unit
variance. A vector ς of random phase factors can be generated using these phase
angles. The kth entry of this vector is given by:
ς k = eiψk , (22.192)
and a particular Fourier realization pe
of the distributed random process simply
results from the product:
pe = L(ω ) · ς. (22.193)
This particular realization can be used instead of pe in Eq. (22.70) in order to
generate a load vector FS for the evaluation of the related system’s response. The
generation of multiple realizations of the random processes relies on a single
Cholesky decomposition of matrix S pe at each frequency. Each realization requires
the selection of a particular set of phase angles and one matrix/vector product
involving the vector ς of phase factors.
22.9.2 Sampling of a diffuse field

The sampling of a diffuse field can rely on the generic sampling technique detailed
in the Section 22.9.1 or on a more physical approach. This physical approach is
detailed below.
Basically, a diffuse field corresponds to the asymptotic model of plane waves

propagating in a free field, originating from all directions and superposing with
random phases. In a discrete context, one has to reduce the infinite number of
incident plane waves to a sufficiently high number of plane waves. By defining
a reference sphere of radius R and origin o = (o1 , o2 , o3 ), it is possible to divide
the sphere surface in N elementary surfaces. In practice, the user defines in
Actran the number of parallels Nparallels dividing the reference sphere. The
sphere sections are then automatically divided into elementary surfaces in such
a way that their associated surfaces are almost the same. Let us denote S j , the
surface of the elementary surface j and nj , the unit-normal vector at the center of
the surface j. The acoustic pressure at point x = ( x1 , x2 , x3 ) due to a plane wave
of amplitude A j (ω ) and phase ψj propagating along the nj direction is given by :
p j (x) = A j (ω )eiψj e−ikd j , (22.194)

where k is the wave number and d j = R(o · ni + R − x · n). If we associate an
amplitude to each plane wave :
q
S j S p (ω )
A j (ω ) = , (22.195)
∑kN=1 Sk
and we sample N phase angles ψj in the range [0, 2π ], the diffuse field sample is
given by :
N
pe (x, ω ) = ∑ A j (ω )eiψj e−ikdj . (22.196)
j =1
22.10 Available implementations

Different strategies are available in Actran for handling random excitations :
• Direct frequency responses are currently limited to the sample technique in the
python implementation of Actran. Both diffuse sound field and turbulent
boundary layer excitations are available. The conventional strategy is
available in the FORTRAN implementation of Actran (actran_f). Please
refer to the dedicated manual for more details.
• Both the conventional and the sampling strategies are available for modal fre-
quency responses. Beside the diffuse sound field and the turbulent boundary
layer, delta-correlated and kinematical excitations are also available.
Twenty Three
Kinematic Excitations
Contents
23.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
23.2 Discrete vibro-acoustic problem statement . . . . . . . . . . . 350
23.3 Modal reaction method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
23.4 Kinematic excitations in a deterministic context . . . . . . . . 351
23.5 Kinematic excitations in a random context . . . . . . . . . . . 351
23.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a theoretical support for the usage of kinematic excitations
in modal frequency responses. Typical applications of kinematic excitations (in
both deterministic and random contexts) are support conditions of automotive
components as well as testing procedures for aerospace components (shakers).
The implementation in Actran of the support motion handling relies on the

modal reaction method [10]. This modal-based approach is based on the fact that
the modal reactions at supports proportionally describe the magnitudes of the
modal participation factors. A convenient and efficient framework for the system
response evaluation is consequently obtained as :
• the modal reactions at supports can be evaluated during the modal extrac-
tion and stored along with the modal basis;
• the method is much more efficient than the conventional quasi-static de-
composition method;
• the method requires less manipulations than the "large mass" method, and
is therefore more robust.
349
350 Kinematic Excitations
23.2 Discrete vibro-acoustic problem statement

Let us consider, without any loss in generality, a linear visco-elastic structure S.
The extension to a vibro-acoustic configuration in which this structure is coupled
to an acoustic cavity is fairly simple. In a finite element context, such a model is
usually described in terms of displacements and the discretization of the weak
variational statement leads to the following system of differential equations:
M · Ü(t) + C · U̇(t) + K · U(t) = F(t), (23.1)
where K, C, M are respectively the stiffness, damping and mass matrices of the
structure S, U(t) is the time-dependent vector of nodal displacements and F(t) is
the time-dependent vector of nodal forces. Note that, for the sake of clarity, the
explicit time-dependence will be omitted in the sequel.
23.3 Modal reaction method

If the structure is excited kinematically, its degrees of freedom (dofs) can be
partitioned into internal and support dofs U = (Ui , Ur ) T and Eq. (23.1) can be
rewritten:

Mii Mir Üi Cii Cir U̇i
· + ·
Mir T Mrr Ür Cir T Crr U̇r

Kii Kir Ui 0
+ · = . (23.2)
Kir T Krr Ur Fr
As the displacement field is known at the support dofs, the solution procedure
consists in the evaluation of the internal dofs Ui . The modal reaction method
proposes a solution strategy in the modal space. The following eigen equation
associated to the undamped problem with fixed supports is considered :
Φi Φi

Mii Mir Kii Kir 0
− · ·Λ+ · = , (23.3)
Mir T Mrr 0 Kir T Krr 0 R
where the Λ matrix is a diagonal matrix containing the squared eigenfrequencies,

the Φi matrix corresponds to the eigenmodes of the free structure (internal dofs)
and the R matrix contains the modal reaction forces at the fixed supports. Two
additional assumptions are made to simplify the derivation :
• the mass coupling between the internal and support dofs can be neglected,
i.e. Mir = Mri T = 0 (this is always the case if mass lumping is used) ;
• a proportional damping model is used : C = 2η M M + ηK K.
On the one hand, we obtain from the second set of equations in Eq. (23.3) :
Kir T · Φi = R. (23.4)
23.4 Kinematic excitations in a deterministic context 351
On the second hand, taking the modal representation of the internal dofs :
Ui = Φi · α, (23.5)
the modal coordinates αi have to satisfy :
Mii · Φi · α̈ + (2η M Mii + ηK Kii ) · Φi · α̇ + Kii · Φi · α = −Kir · Ur − ηK Kir · U̇r .

(23.6)
Pre-multiplying the above relation by Φi T and assuming a mass normalization of
the eigenmodes leads to :
α̈ + (2η M I + ηK Λ) · α̇ + Λ · α = −Φi T · Kir · Ur − ηK Φi T · Kir · U̇r . (23.7)
Finally, substituting Eq. (23.4) into Eq. (23.7)
α̈ + (2η M I + ηK Λ) · α̇ + Λ · α = −R T · Ur − ηK R T · U̇r . (23.8)
A final remark about modal truncation has to be formulated with regard to the
modal reaction method. The modal representation of the internal dofs is correct
as soon as the full modal basis is taken into account. However, in practical
applications, the modal representation is used as a reduction technique and only
the NS eigenmodes with the lowest associated eigenfrequencies are retained. This
introduces a modal truncation error, which can be relatively important if the
structure response is in the vicinity of the support dofs which is considered.
23.4 Kinematic excitations in a deterministic context

In a time-harmonic context, an explicit time-dependence f (t) = F (ω )eiωt is
assumed in Eq. (23.8) and the modal coordinates are obtained from the solution
of the diagonal system of equations :
(−ω 2 I + iω (2η M I + ηK Λ) + Λ) · α(ω ) = −(1 + iωηK )R T · Ur (ω ). (23.9)
23.5 Kinematic excitations in a random context

The Chapter 22 describes the strategy for handling random excitations in a
modal context. Random kinematic excitations can be handled in a similar way as
random mechanical excitations provided that the cross PSD matrix of the modal
forces Eq. (22.79) can be evaluated. The modal reaction method described in
this chapter enables to convert a kinematic excitation into an equivalent modal
load by projection of the support motion on the modal reaction, as shown in
Eq. (23.9). Therefore, the cross PSD matrix of the modal forces corresponding to
the kinematic excitation is given by :
S f S (ω ) = (1 + ηK2 ω 2 )R T · SUr (ω ) · R, (23.10)
where SUr (ω ) is the cross PSD matrix of the support motions.

352 Kinematic Excitations
Twenty Four
Combustion Excitations
Contents
24.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
24.2 Governing equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
24.3 Scalar wave equation for the no-flow case . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
24.1 Introduction
Combustion noise is induced by the heat release rate related to the combustion
process. A major combustion noise issue is the possible occurrence of thermo-
acoustic instabilities. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the model
supporting the heat release rate, which is available in Actran.
24.2 Governing equations

24.2.1 Assumptions
The development of a suitable model for combustion noise relies on a set of basic
assumptions:
• H1: the propagation medium is considered as a perfect gas;
• H2: multi-species effects are neglected;
• H3: volume forces are neglected;
• H4: viscous effects are neglected.
353
354 Combustion Excitations
24.2.2 Conservation equations

The selected assumptions allow to write the conservation equations (mass, mo-
mentum and energy) in the following form:
D ρ̃
= −ρ̃∇ · ũ (24.1)
Dt
Dũ
ρ̃ = −∇ p̃ (24.2)
Dt
D s̃ r q̃
= (24.3)
Dt p̃
where ρ̃ is the density, p̃ is the pressure, ũ is the velocity vector and s̃ is the
entropy per mass unit.
In contrast with the usual form of the energy equation for conventional problems,
the present energy equation has a non-zero right hand side involving the heat
release rate per unit volume q̃ and the specific gas constant r = C p − Cv .
24.2.3 Linearisation of conservation equations

The acoustic field is usually described as small amplitude fluctuations that are
superimposed on the mean flow field. The instantaneous pressure, density,
velocity, entropy and heat release rate are therefore decomposed into a sum of a
mean flow quantity and a small amplitude perturbation:
ρ̃ = ρ0 + ρ
p̃ = p0 + p
ũ = u0 + u
s̃ = s0 + s (24.4)
Substitution of this decomposition into conservation equations gives:
∂ ( ρ0 + ρ )
+ (u0 + u) ∇ (ρ0 + ρ) = − (ρ0 + ρ) ∇ · (u0 +(24.5)
u)
∂t
∂ (u0 + u)
( ρ0 + ρ ) + (ρ0 + ρ) (u0 + u) · ∇ (u0 + u) = −∇ ( p0 + p) (24.6)
∂t
∂ ( s0 + s ) r ( q0 + q )
+ (u0 + u) ∇ (s0 + s) = (24.7)
∂t p0 + p
It is assumed that acoustic perturbations are small with respect to mean flow
quantities and that the mean flow is stationary (and not time dependent). The
24.2 Governing equations 355
mean flow is also supposed to satisfy the above conservation equations:
Dρ0
= −ρ0 ∇ · u0 (24.8)
Dt
Du0
ρ0 = −∇ p0 (24.9)
Dt
Ds0 rq
= 0 (24.10)
Dt p0
The assumption of small perturbation allows for the application of a linear ap-
proximation where first order perturbation terms are kept while second and
higher-order terms are neglected. The final set of equations for unknown pertur-
bation fields ρ, p, u and s is:
∂ρ
+ u0 ∇ρ + u∇ρ0 + ρ0 ∇ · u + ρ∇ · u0 = 0 (24.11)
∂t
∂u
ρ0 + ρ0 u0 · ∇u + ρ0 u · ∇u0 + ρu0 · ∇u0 + ∇ p = 0 (24.12)
∂t
∂s rq rq p
+ u0 ∇s + u∇s0 = − 02 (24.13)
∂t p0 p0
24.2.4 Entropy considerations

The treatment of combustion problems leads to incorporate the heat release rate
in the energy equation so that the mean flow is not isentropic (gradients of s0
are non-zero). Fluctuations of entropy (described by s) can also occur in the
propagation domain.
This observation implies that pressure fluctuations and density fluctuations are
not anymore directly related by the relation:
p ρ
=γ (24.14)
p0 ρ0
where γ is the ratio of specific heats.
The derivation of a suitable relation between ρ, p and s relies on an appropriate

expression for the entropy. This can be done by selecting a reference state and
evaluating the entropy as:

p̃ ρ̃
s̃ − s̃ref = Cv ln − C p ln (24.15)
p̃ref ρ̃ref
which leads to: γ

s̃ − s̃ref

p̃ ρ̃
= exp (24.16)
p̃ref ρ̃ref Cv
The variables ρ̃, p̃ and s̃ can be decomposed into a sum of a mean flow quantity
and a small perturbation and the relation between pressure, density and entropy
fluctuations can be obtained by expanding p̃ using a truncated Taylor serie:

∂ p̃ ∂ p̃
p̃ (ρ0 + ρ, s0 + s) = p̃ (ρ0 , s0 ) + (ρ̃ − ρ0 ) + (s̃ − s0 ) (24.17)
∂ρ̃ ρ0 ,s0 ∂s̃ ρ0 ,s0
where the partial derivatives of the pressure with respect to the density and the
entropy can be expressed as:

∂ p̃ p
=γ 0 (24.18)
∂ρ̃ ρ0 ,s0
ρ0

∂ p̃ p
= 0 (24.19)
∂s̃ ρ0 ,s0 Cv
Substitution of these expressions into equation (24.17) gives the relation between
density, pressure and entropy fluctuations:
p ρ s
=γ + (24.20)
p0 ρ0 Cv
The state equation for a perfect gas:
p̃ = ρ̃r T̃ (24.21)
can also be linearized using a first order Taylor serie:

∂ p̃ ∂ p̃
p̃ (ρ0 + ρ, T0 + T ) = p̃ (ρ0 , T0 ) + (ρ̃ − ρ0 ) + T̃ − T0 (24.22)
∂ρ̃ ρ0 ,T0
∂ T̃ ρ0 ,T0

where

∂ p̃
= rT0 (24.23)
∂ρ̃ ρ0 ,T0

∂ p̃
= rρ0 (24.24)
∂ T̃ ρ0 ,T0
Substitution of these expressions into equation (24.22) gives the relation between
density, pressure and temperature fluctuations:
p ρ T
= + (24.25)
p0 ρ0 T0
24.3 Scalar wave equation for the no-flow case

The no-flow case allows for a further reduction of conservation equations to a
single wave equation. This reduction relies on equations (24.11), (24.12) and
24.3 Scalar wave equation for the no-flow case 357
(24.13) with u0 = 0:
∂ρ
+ u∇ ρ0 + ρ0 ∇ · u = 0 (24.26)
∂t
∂u
ρ0 + ∇p = 0 (24.27)
∂t
∂s rq
+ u∇ s0 = (24.28)
∂t p0
The elimination of the entropy variable relies on the exploitation of the thermo-
dynamic relation:
p̃
ds̃ = Cv d T̃ − 2 dρ̃ (24.29)
ρ̃
and the linearized equation of state:
d T̃ d p̃ dρ̃
= − (24.30)
T̃ p̃ ρ̃
This leads to write:
D s̃ Cv D p̃ C p D ρ̃
= − (24.31)
Dt p̃ Dt ρ̃ Dt
For the mean flow quantities that are independent of time, this reduces to:
Cv Cp
∇ s0 = ∇ p0 − ∇ ρ0 (24.32)
p0 ρ0
According to equation (24.9), the mean pressure gradient is zero in the no-flow
case so that gradients of mean entropy and mean density are related through:
Cp
∇ s0 = − ∇ ρ0 (24.33)
ρ0
Further use of equations (24.33), (24.20) and (24.25) allows for the elimination of
s and ρ from equations (24.26) and (24.28):
1 ∂p rq
+∇·u = (24.34)
γp0 ∂t C p p0
∂u 1
+ ∇p = 0 (24.35)
∂t ρ0
The final reduction results from elimination of the variable u. This is obtained
by taking the time derivative of equation (24.34) and adding the divergence of
equation (24.35):
1 ∂2 p γ − 1 ∂q

1
− ∇ · ∇ p = (24.36)
γp0 ∂t2 ρ0 γp0 ∂t
or using the relation γp0 = ρ0 c20 :
1 ∂2 p γ − 1 ∂q

1
−∇· ∇p = (24.37)
ρ0 c20 ∂t2 ρ0 γp0 ∂t
This linear equation can be processed in the frequency domain. If one expresses
pressure and heat release rate fluctuations as:
p(x, t) = Re ( p̂(x) exp(iωt)) (24.38)

q(x, t) = Re (q̂(x) exp(iωt)) (24.39)
one gets the following Helmholtz equation:
ω2 γ−1

1
∇· ∇ p̂ + p̂ = −iω q̂ (24.40)
ρ0 ρ0 c20 γp0
It should be stressed that ρ0 and γ depend on the space variables.

Twenty Five
Incompatible Meshes
Contents
25.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
25.2 Projection of nodes on coupling surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
25.3 Handling of weak coupling constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
25.4 Handling of strong coupling constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
25.5 Handling aliasing constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
25.6 Boundary conditions on non-congruent meshes . . . . . . . . 365
25.1 Introduction
The usage of non-congruent meshes can be required in various circumstances:
• The meshing constraints of different components are different. For example,

this is often the case when solving vibro-acoustic problems that require the
existence of both a structure mesh and a cavity mesh. On the one hand the
generation of the structure mesh is guided by the bending wavelength; one
the other hand the acoustic mesh is ruled by the acoustic wavelength. For a
same frequency, these two quantities can have a very different scale leading
to potentially very different element sizes;
• Two parts of the computational domain are meshed using different element
types (e.g. HEX08 on one side and TET04 on the other side) or different
interpolation orders (linear vs. quadratic), and thus can not be made
compatible;
• A transfer admittances condition need to be defined between two surfaces

that are geometrically not identical;
359
360 Incompatible Meshes
• Periodic boundary conditions must be applied between different element

nodes.
Different mesh incompatibilities are distinguished:
• At the interface between a structural component and a fluid component,

the incompatibility is referred to as a weak u − p coupling;
• At the interface between two structural components of the same kind, the
incompatibility is referred to as a strong u − u (and r − r) coupling;
• At the interface between two fluid components, the incompatibility is also

referred to as a strong p − p coupling;
• At the interface between a structural component without rotational com-

ponents and a structural component with rotational components, a strong
u − r coupling is created.
The general strategy selected for handling incompatible meshes relies on:
• the preliminary identification of coupling surfaces defined by

COUPLING_SURFACE data blocks;
• the definition of an INTERFACE linking two coupling surfaces in this data
block;
• the possible assignment of either normal/tangent stiffness (strong cou-

pling between solid components) or transfer admittance coefficients (strong
coupling between acoustic components).
Alternatively, for strong u − u, r − r or p − p coupling, it is also possible to impose

an alias constraint between specific sets of degrees of freedom. When these sets
of nodes are geometrically shifted, this allows the definition of periodic boundary
conditions. The strategy selected for handling alias constraints relies on:
• the preliminary identification of coupling surfaces defined by

COUPLING_SURFACE data blocks, which are containing the equivalent
sets of nodes;
• the definition of a POINT_INTERFACE linking two coupling surfaces in this

data block;
• the specification of the degrees of freedom to alias and the possible phase
shift;
• optionally, a definition of a geometrical shift between the two sets of nodes.

25.2 Projection of nodes on coupling surfaces 361
25.2 Projection of nodes on coupling surfaces
The formulation of coupling constraints requires, for each interface (pair of

coupling surfaces) the projection of nodes of the first coupling surface onto the
second coupling surface. This projection process consists in finding the particular
face of the second coupling surface which contains the projection of a particular
node of the first surface. Additionally the local coordinates of the projected node
within the considered face have to be computed. The procedure selected for
performing this operation relies on the preliminary extrusion along the local
normal direction of the surface onto which the projection is searched. This
extrusion allows for the generation of volume elements (for 3D problems) or
surface elements (for 2D problems) that are characterized by a third (3D) or
second (2D) local coordinate along the direction normal to the surface. In this
way, the identification of the projection of a particular node onto the surface
reduces to the evaluation of the particular element of the pseudo-mesh which
contains the considered node.
To ensure the best possible projection, it is strongly advised to specify the surface
having the finest mesh as surface 1.
The user should take care of the fact that the extension of the pseudo-mesh along
the normal direction to the surface is controlled by the value of the GAP_TOL
parameter (a value of 0.01 is assumed by default). This geometrical factor has to
be defined by the user in such a way that nodes to be projected are effectively
captured by the pseudo-mesh. A particular node can not be found in a pseudo-
mesh element if it lies at a distance from the projection surface which exceeds the
GAP_TOL value.
The PLANE_TOL parameter can also be used in order to refine the localization
procedure. This parameter allows to extend the size of the extruded pseudo-mesh
along its face plane of a relative factor. This allows capturing nodes which are
not placed strictly along the normal of the face.
Figure 25.1: Projection Procedure
25.3 Handling of weak coupling constraints

The weak coupling case is related to the coupling of structural and fluid surfaces.
A fluid/structure coupling contribution is generated at the level of the first
coupling surface. This contribution is projected in terms of dofs on the first and
second coupling surfaces and assembled within the overall finite element matrix.
The incompatible mesh capability therefore leads to symmetric matrices. The
radiated power through the interface is evaluated at each discrete frequency and
stored in the *.plt file.
25.4 Handling of strong coupling constraints

The strong coupling case is related to the continuity of solid displacements (and
rotations) between incompatible structural components or to the continuity of
fluid pressures between incompatible fluid components.
In both cases, the related constraint can be handled through a penalty procedure.
The procedure can be interpreted as the introduction between unequal surfaces of
element links with appropriate stiffness properties enforcing continuity of solid
displacements, solid rotations and/or fluid pressures. The enforcing penalty
coefficient is obtained by averaging local diagonal entries of the dynamic stiffness
matrix and multiplying by the relative PENALTY factor specified in the INTERFACE
data block. A default value (1000) is assumed. The enforcing contributions are
symmetric.
In the case of a solid/solid or a fluid/fluid strong coupling, the mean square

pressure and mean square velocity, respectively, are made available in the *.plt
file for both coupling surfaces. These values can be used for the assessment of
the quality of the strong coupling along incompatible meshes.
25.4 Handling of strong coupling constraints 363
25.4.1 Handling coupling constraints on structural components

As structural components can support either displacements degrees of freedom
(solid shells and visco-elastic components) or a combination of displacement
and rotational degrees of freedom (thin shells and beam components), multiple
coupling combination can appear:
• If both sides involve solid components carrying only displacement degrees

of freedom, only the continuity of solid displacements is handled. Both
coupling surfaces must be defined by 2D elements and the handling of the
displacement continuity is automatically insured;
• If both sides involve solid components carrying both displacement and

rotational degrees of freedom, the continuity of solid displacement and
rotations is handled. Both coupling surfaces can be supported by 2D
(surfaces), 1D (segments) or 0D (points) elements, and the handling of local
displacement and rotation continuity is automatically insured.
• If one side involves solid components carrying both displacement and

rotational degrees of freedom while the other carries only displacement
degrees of freedom, a specific procedure is required in order to relate
rotational dofs to translational dofs from the opposite solid component. The
coupling surface related to the displacements degrees of freedom must be
defined by 2D elements, while the other coupling surface (related to both
the displacement and rotation degrees of freedom) can support all type of
elements.
Remark. The first coupling surface’s dimension should always be lower

or equal to the second coupling surface’s dimension. When facing a u − r
coupling for instance, the first coupling surface should always be placed on
the component having rotational components.
For solid/solid strong coupling, the user might be interested in specifying the
absolute values for the stiffness coupling factors instead of relying on a penalty
procedure. This allows to model sliding boundary conditions, dissipative cou-
pling, ...
If only translational displacement components are coupled, the user can pro-
vide values for the NORMAL_STIFFNESS and TANGENT_STIFFNESS keywords in the
INTERFACE data section.
If both translational/rotational displacement components are coupled, the user

can provide NORMAL_STIFFNESS, TANGENT1_STIFFNESS, TANGENT2_STIFFNESS,
NORMAL_ROTATION_STIFFNESS, TANGENT1_ROTATION_STIFFNESS and
TANGENT2_ROTATION_STIFFNESS keywords in the INTERFACE data section.
Figure 25.2: Definition of normal and tangent directions.
In both cases, the normal direction is defined along the coupling surface of the
component. The first tangent direction is the projection of the local tangent
direction along the main structure’s line element onto the coupling surface of the
component. The second tangent direction is orthogonal to the normal direction
and the first tangent direction. These directions are illustrated in Figure 25.2.
25.4.2 Handling coupling constraints on fluid components

In the case of fluid/fluid strong coupling, the user may specify a transfer ad-
mittance boundary condition through the TRANSFER_ADMITTANCE keyword in the
INTERFACE block. In the case of an unsymmetrical transfer admittance matrix,
the strong coupling contribution leads to unsymmetrical matrices.
25.5 Handling aliasing constraints

The aliasing constraint is related to the forcing of equal solid displacements or
rotations or fluid pressure between two sets of nodes sharing the same type of
degrees of freedom. The type of degrees of freedom that are involved can be
specified to apply a selective coupling.
The sets of nodes should be equivalent (or conformal) in this method, as the
degrees of freedoms are aliased and cannot be set equal to 2 or more nodes on
the opposite set (see Figure 25.3).
Figure 25.3: Equivalent sets of nodes vs. incongruent mesh (red nodes are not coupled).
25.6 Boundary conditions on non-congruent meshes 365
Handling sets of nodes that are geometrically shifted can be used to apply
periodic boundary conditions. The TRANSFORMATION data block will define a
geometric shift between the two sets of nodes. The selected transformation will
be applied to the first set of nodes before the localization of the equivalent nodes
on the second set is performed.
The aliasing can also involve a shift in phase between the two sets of nodes, which
is controlled by the PHASE_SHIFT and PHASE_ORDER keywords.
Only one of the two keywords can be used:
• PHASE_SHIFT specifies a complex phase shift which couples the two sets of
dofs using the following relationship:
xsur f 1 = α ∗ xsur f 2 (25.1)
• PHASE_ORDER is only used when applying periodic boundary conditions

in models involving duct modal basis (3.24 of Volume 2). It can only
be used when a TRANSFORMATION of type ROTATION is defined. The value
provided must correspond to the azimuthal order of the excitation modes,
and generates a phase shift corresponding to:
m
α = exp(2iπ ) (25.2)
n
Where m corresponds to the mode_order and n corresponds to the geometric
periodicity order specified in the TRANSFORMATION data block.
Remark. This implies that only one azimuthal order at a time can be
computed and that only the incident and reflected modes corresponding
to the specified PHASE_ORDER or PHASE_SHIFT should be introduced.
25.6 Definition of boundary conditions on non-congruent

meshes
Boundary conditions for acoustic radiation computations are usually defined in
terms of displacement, velocity or acceleration along a particular surface.
This kinematical description results from measurements or structural dynamics

computations. In both cases, the grid supporting the kinematical field has
usually a resolution which is different from the resolution of the acoustic mesh.
Additionally the kinematical field can be expressed in a vector form or in a
scalar form (normal component). Modes can also be selected in order to define a
resulting kinematical field.
The BC_MESH capability (Section 3.7 of Volume 2) allows precisely for the definition
of kinematical boundary conditions by referring to a non-congruent mesh. The
kinematical field related to this mesh is projected onto a coupling surface defined
along the boundary of the acoustic mesh. Note that the kinematic field can be
defined as a linear combination of modes.
The strategy for projecting the kinematical field onto the coupling surface is
similar to the procedure selected for handling weak coupling constraints.
Twenty Six
Transfer acoustic impedance

of perforated plates
Contents
26.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
26.2 General expression of the transfer impedance . . . . . . . . . 367
26.3 Inner effects contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
26.4 Length correction contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
26.5 Curved plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
26.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a theoritical support for the different models of the transfer
acoustic impedance of perforated plates implemented within Actran. Physical
phenomena involved in a perforated plate can be split onto two contributions: an
inner contribution which represents the inner effects of the holes and the length
correction term which represents the physical effets "outside" the holes. These
two contributions have the same order of magnitude and should then be both
taken into account in the perforated plate models. Before explaining in more
details these contributions, the general expression of the transfer impedance is
given in the following section.
26.2 General expression of the transfer impedance

The representation of a perforated plate is shown on figure 26.1.
The impedance of a single perforation can be written in the following way:
367
368 Perforated Plates
Figure 26.1: Cross section of a perforated plate
δp
Zp = = R p + jX p , (26.1)
v̄
where δp is the pressure drop across the sheet and v̄ the average particle velocity
in the perforate.
The dimensionless transfer impedance or normalized specific acoustic impedance

is often used:
Zp
zp = = r p + jx p , (26.2)
ρ0 c0
where ρ0 is the density of the medium at rest (1.225 kg.m−3 for the air at ambient
conditions) and c0 the speed of sound at rest (340 m/s for the air at ambient
conditions).
The general expression of the transfer impedance of a multi-perforated plate (as

a function of the transfer impedance of a single sheet) is expressed in terms of
the porosity parameter (also called fractional open area) σ which is defined as
the ratio of open pore area by the total surface of the plate. Commonly, it can
have the following expressions for the different grid geometries illustrated on
figure 26.2:
2
• For a square grid, σ = π da2
2πa2
• For a triangular grid, σ = √
3d2
4πa 2
• For an hexagonal grid, σ = √
3 3d2
The transfer impedance and dimensionless transfer impedance of the whole plate
are:
Zp 1
Z̄ p = = R p + jX p , (26.3)
σ σ
1
z̄ p = r p + jx p .
σ
26.3 Inner effects contribution 369
Figure 26.2: Square, triangular and hexagonal grids
In the above expressions, the R p and X p terms can be splitted into inner and
length correction contributions in the following form:
R p = Rinn corr
p + Rp (26.4a)
X p = X inn corr
p + Xp . (26.4b)
26.3 Inner effects contribution

The resistive part of the inner contribution (Rinnp ) models dissipation inside
the viscous boundary layers of the perforation whereas the reactive part (X inn
p )
represents the mass of fluid which participates to the motion.
The inner effects model available in Actran is the Maa model. It is derived
from the exact solution of the propagation of sound waves in a short cylindrical
perforation.
Refering to figure 26.3, the conservation of momentum equation in a cylindrical

perforation where l λ is:
∂2 ∇p

1 ∂ 2
+ − jk s v=− , (26.5)
∂r2 r ∂r µl
q
ωρ0
with k s = µ is the shear wavenumber.
Figure 26.3: Cylindrical perforation
The following assumptions are made :
• The velocity vector has only one fluctuating component on z direction
• The perforation length l is sufficiently thin
• No-slip boundary condition (v(r = ± a) = 0)
Using these assumptions, and rewritting the pressure gradient as the pressure
∂p
drop between the two faces of the hole over the thickness of the hole : ∇ p = ∂z =
p2 − p1
l = δpl , the exact solution of the transfer impedance for a single perforation
can be expressed as:
" p # −1
δp 2 J1 ( − jk s a)
Zp = = jωρ0 l 1 − p p , (26.6)
v̄ − jk s a J0 ( − jk s a)
where:
• ω is the angular frequency
• J0 and J1 are order 0 and order 1 Bessel’s functions
For avoiding the evaluation of Bessel functions with complex argument, approxi-
mate solutions depending on the range of the dimensionless shear wavenumber
k s a can be deduced. These approximations leads to Maa’s model.
26.4 Length correction contribution 371
26.3.1 Helmholtz approximation

For large dimensionless shear wavenumber when |k s a| > 10, the wavelength is
much larger than the radius of the hole. The expression Eq. (26.6) reduces to :
p l
Zp ' 2ωµρ0 + jωρ0 l. (26.7)
a
The first term is the resistive part of the inner contribution while the second one
represents the reactive part of this contribution.
26.3.2 Poiseuille approximation

For very small dimensionless wavenumber |k s a| < 1, the expression Eq. (26.6)
reduces to :
( k s a )2

8
Z p ' ωρ0 l 1+j
( k s a )2 6
l 4
' 8µ 2 + jωρ0 l. (26.8)
a 3
26.3.3 Maa’s model - Combined Helmholtz and Poiseuille ap-

proximations
Using an appropriate combination of equations Eq. (26.7) and Eq. (26.8), it is
possible to develop an equivalent expression available for intermediate values of
k s a which are very important especially if we are dealing with micro-perforated
plates. This expression has been proposed first by Maa [34]:
r  
8µl ( k s a )2 1
Zp = 2 1+ + jωρ0 l 1 + q , for 1 < |k s a| < 10. (26.9)
a 8 ( k s a )2
9+ 2
The maximal relative error between the exact solution and the approximated
Maa’s formula is 4.6% in air.
26.4 Length correction contribution

The resistive and reactive parts of the transfer impedance have to be modified
considering some dissipative mechanism at both ends of the tube. These added
terms can be seen as some length (or end) correction factors. The resistive end
correction (Rcorr
p in equation Eq. (26.4a)) accounts for the frictional losses due to
viscous effects at the surface of the plate. The reactive end correction (X corr
p in
equation Eq. (26.4b)) is due to the imaginary part of the radiation impedance at
the tube’s ends.
Based on a circular piston of diameter D = 2a mounted in an infinite baffle, an

analytical formulation for the length correction term can be derived. The energy
dissipation resulting from viscous friction over
p the parallel plate surfaces on one
side of the hole could be defined as Rs = 21 2ωµρ0 . The resistive end correction
at both sides of an aperture is then given by:
Rcorr
p = α2Rs ,
where α is a factor to account for the hole edge shape. Based on measurements
comparison, α should be set to 4 when the hole is sharp-edged and set to 2 when
the hole is round-edged.
Rayleigh [50] showed that the vibrating circular piston in an infinite baffle is
8
leading to an attached mass of 3π × S at each end. The reactive end correction
can then be expressed as:
8
X corr
p = 2ωρ0 a ' 2ωρ0 × 0.85a.
3π
In the general expression of the transfer impedance for a grid of perforations,

it has been assumed that there is no interaction between two adjacent holes.
However, the interaction cannot be neglected if the perforations are fairly close,
which is the case for high porosity values. For that purpose, the end correction
should be modified by an interaction factor which can be seen as a part of the
acoustic mass a single hole has in common with its neighbours. Elnady [14]
proposed an expression for squared grids. A generalised formula to others grid
types can be expressed by taking into account the number of neighbour holes in
each specific grid. This leads to the following form of the interaction factor:
√ √
f int = (1 + e) σ − e σ3 .
where e depends on the grid geometry and equals to 0.47 for square grids, 0.31
for triangular grids and 0.62 for hexagonal grids. This formula has the advantage
to be physically consistent if σ tends to 1 (total interaction f int = 1) and if σ tends
to 0 (no interaction f int = 0).
If the analytical length correction term is introduced in the Maa’s formulation

Eq. (26.9), with a given α coefficient and interaction function f int , the expression
of the acoustic transfer impedance of a perforated plate is :
"r √ #
8µl (k s a)2 α 2k s a2
Rp = 2 1+ + , (26.10a)
a 8 8l
 
1 8 a
X p = ωρ0 l 1 + q +2 (1 − f int ) . (26.10b)
( k s a )2 3π l
9+ 2
26.5 Curved plates 373
26.5 Curved plates

The effect of the curvature of the plate can be taken into account in the model.
The transfer admittance matrix linking normal acoustic velocities and acoustic
pressures on both sides of the plate writes:
v1n p1

Ap −Ap
= , (26.11)
v2n −Ap Ap p2
where A p = 1/Z p is the transfer admittance of the perforated plate. The curvature
of the plate modifies the matrix in the following way:

Ap −Ap
, (26.12)
−κA p κA p
with κ = 1 − l/rc , rc being the radius of curvature of the plate (∞ for a flat plate).
Twenty Seven
Acoustic Propagation in
Moving Fluids and
Aeroacoustics
Contents
27.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
27.2 Derivation of the flow acoustic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
27.3 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
27.4 Discrete model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
27.5 Aerodynamic noise sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
27.6 Flow definition in Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
27.7 Computation of the compressible flow field with Actran . . 405
27.8 Managing supersonic flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
27.9 Visualizing the mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
27.1 Introduction
Various industrial problems involve the generation and the propagation of acous-
tic disturbances within a flow. Vehicle pass-by-noise, turbofan noise and exhaust
systems are common practical examples. Reduction of noise levels can rely on
active and/or passive noise control techniques. In this context, the design of
acoustic treatments (made of Helmholtz resonators and/or absorbing materials)
must fulfill increasingly stringent performance criteria. This design process can
be speeded up with acoustic modelling techniques that allow for the handling of
unbounded domains and realistic operating conditions. Problem’s complexity
375
376 Acoustic Propagation in Moving Fluids and Aeroacoustics
requires therefore the selection of a set of acceptable assumptions and simplifi-

cations. Assuming that the considered fluid is non-viscous and that the flow is
reversible, adiabatic and irrotational, allows for deriving a continuous potential
model. Further decomposition of this velocity potential into a steady-state (mean)
flow component and a small acoustic perturbation leads to a convected wave
equation supplemented with relevant boundary conditions (normal acceleration
and normal admittance boundary conditions). The numerical model relies on a
partitioned approach where the acoustic domain is partitioned into inner and
outer domains. The inner domain accounts for a non-uniform flow velocity field
while the flow is assumed to be uniform in the outer domain. Convective finite
and infinite elements are developed for inner and outer domains, respectively.
The development of convective infinite elements relies on a generalized multipole
expansion in ellipsoidal coordinates and a conjugated formulation.
27.2 Derivation of the flow acoustic model

27.2.1 Introduction
Based on commonly accepted assumptions, fundamental equations (mass and
momentum conservation, and thermodynamic relations) are introduced which,
in the context of irrotational flows, reduce to a scalar wave equation involving a
velocity potential. The study of acoustic perturbations within a flow is examined
through a decomposition of this potential into two components (one related to the
ambient flow and the other one related to the acoustic perturbation). The wave
equation related to the acoustic perturbation is set up by further linearization
of the equation, assuming that acoustic perturbations are small with respect to
mean flow quantities.
27.2.2 Assumptions
The flow acoustic problem to be solved refers to the propagation of acoustic
sources within a flow. It will be assumed that :
• (A1) No heat production due to viscous dissipation occurs in the flow.
• (A2) The fluid is non heat-conducting. No heat transfer occurs in the flow,
which is consequently adiabatic.
• (A3) The flow is stationary.
• (A4) Gravity forces are neglected 1 .
• (A5) Fluid elements are in local thermodynamic equilibrium.
Direct consequences of the above assumptions are:

1 Although the present theory could easily be extended to volume forces that derive from a
potential.
27.2 Derivation of the flow acoustic model 377
• (A6) Assumptions (A1) and (A2) imply that the flow is locally isentropic, that
is entropy does not vary locally in time but can vary in space.
27.2.3 Acoustic wave propagation

The acoustic waves correspond to pressure fluctuations which propagate in
a non-uniform mean-flow. The acoustic solution satisfies the compressible
Navier-Stokes equations. In this section, we derive a scalar equation for acoustic
wave propagation in a non-uniform mean-flow, following the idea proposed
by Möhring [39]. The equation is based on the compressible Navier-Stokes
equations.
Continuity equation:
∂ρ̃
+ ∇ · (ρ̃ṽ) = 0 , (27.1)
∂t
where ρ̃ is the density and v is the flow velocity.
Momentum equations (Crocco’s form):
∂ṽ
ρ̃ + ρ̃∇ B̃ = ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ + ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃, (27.2)
∂t
where B̃ denotes the total enthalpy defined as B̃ = h̃ + 12 kṽk2 , h̃ is the fluid

enthalpy, τ̃ is the viscous stress tensor and s̃ is the entropy.
Energy equation:
D B̃ ∂ p̃
ρ̃ − = ∇ (ṽ · τ̃ ) + ∇ λ∇ T̃ , (27.3)
Dt ∂t
where T̃ is the temperature, and λ is the material’s conductivity (Fourier’s law).

Neglecting the power dissipated by viscous stresses and heat conduction leads to:
D B̃ 1 ∂ p̃
= , (27.4)
Dt ρ̃ ∂t
which relates the pressure to enthalpy. Combining continuity Eq. (27.1) and
simplified energy Eq. (27.4):
∂ρ̃
= −∇ρ̃ṽ (27.5)
∂t
1 ∂ p̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ ρ̃ D B̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
= 2 − = 2 − . (27.6)
c ∂t ∂s̃ ∂t c Dt ∂s ∂t
By substituting ρ̃ ∂∂tṽ with ∂

∂t (ρ̃ṽ) − ṽ· Eq. (27.6), the momentum equation is
equivalent to:
∂ρ̃ṽ ρ̃ṽ D B̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃

− 2 + ṽ + ρ̃∇ B̃ = ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ + ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃. (27.7)
∂t c Dt ∂s̃ ∂t
To generalize this formula, we introduce the parameters c T and ρ T which are the
total sound speed and total density fields defined in Section 11.6.4, and define a
scaled enthalpy b̃ by the equation:
D b̃ D B̃
= ρT . (27.8)
Dt Dt
This allows to define a parametric momentum equation similar to Eq. (27.7):
1 ∂ρ̃ṽ ρ̃ṽ D b̃ 1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ ρ̃

− 2 2 + ṽ + 2 ∇b̃
ρ T ∂t ρ T c Dt ρ T ∂s̃ ∂t ρT
1
= ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ + ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ . (27.9)
ρT
Up to this point, only the power of viscous stresses and heat released by
∂ 1
conduction have been neglected. Combining ∇· Eq. (27.9) and ∂t ρ T Eq. (27.6)
leads to the following scalar equation:
! !
∂ ρ̃ D b̃ ρ̃ṽ D b̃ ρ̃
2
+ ∇· − 2 ∇b̃ = R̃. (27.10)
∂t ρ T c2 Dt ρ2T c2 Dt ρT

1
R̃ = −∇ · (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ )
ρT

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
+ ∇· ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃
ρ T ∂s̃ ∂t

∂ 1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
+ + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ . (27.11)
∂t ρ T ∂s̃ ∂t ρT
27.2.4 Equation in rotating frame

The Eq. (27.10) is obtained in a gallilean frame. It is nonetheless usefull to derive
it in moving frame, either galilean or rotating.
Let’s introduce the variable change
t0 = t (27.12)
0 0
x = x − vf ( x ) t
We can express 27.10 into the new reference frame using the classical relations
∂t0 ∂ ∂x0 ∂

∂ ∂ 0
() = () + () = − vf · ∇ () (27.13)
∂t ∂t ∂t0 ∂t ∂x0 ∂t0
∂ ∂t0 ∂ ∂x0 ∂ ∂
∇ · () = · () = 0
() + 0
· () = 0 · () = ∇0 · ()(27.14)
∂x ∂x
∂t ∂x ∂x ∂x
D ∂ ∂ 0
() = + ṽ · ∇ () = + (ṽ − vf ) · ∇ ()
Dt ∂t ∂t0
D0

∂ 0
= + ṽ’ · ∇ () = () (27.15)
∂t0 Dt0
With ṽ’ = ṽ − vf the mean flow relative to the moving frame.
Introducing those relations in 27.10, we have
! !
ρ̃ D 0 b̃ ρ̃(ṽ0 + vf ) D 0 b̃

∂ ρ̃
− vf · ∇ 0 +∇ ·0
− 2 ∇0 b̃ = R̃.
∂t0 ρ2T c2 Dt0 ρ2T c2 D0 t ρT
! ! ! !
∂ ρ̃ D 0 b̃ ρ̃ D 0 b̃ ρ̃vf D 0 b̃ ρ̃ṽ0 D 0 b̃ ρ̃
= 0 − vf · ∇ 0 + ∇0 · + ∇0 · − 2 ∇0 b̃
∂t ρ2T c2 Dt0 ρ2T c2 Dt0 ρ2T c2 Dt0 2
ρT c 2 D 0 t ρT
! ! !
∂ ρ̃ D 0 b̃ ρ̃ D 0 b̃ ρ̃ṽ0 D 0 b̃ ρ̃ 0
+ ∇ · vf 2 2 0 +∇0 ·
0

= 0 − 2 ∇ b̃ .
∂t ρ2T c2 Dt0 ρ T c Dt ρ2T c2 D 0 t ρT
| {z }
frame divergence
When vf is constant in space (uniform translation), the frame divergence term

dissapear and we verify the galilean invariance of the scalar propagation equation.
In a uniformly rotating frame, we have vf = Ω × x0 which is divergence-free. The
equation is thus invariant in an uniformly rotating frame too.
27.2.4.1 Right hand side (aeroacoustic equivalent sources)
In the moving frame, the RHS is modified. Rewriting the main part of RHS in
the moving frame in term of relative velocities, we obtain (for a rotating frame)

1
R̃ = −∇ · (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ))
ρT

0 1 0
0 0

= −∇ · ρ̃ ṽ + vf × ∇ × ṽ + vf
ρT

1 1
−∇0 · ρ̃ṽ0 × ∇0 × ṽ0 + ρ̃vf × ∇0 × ṽ0

=
ρT ρT

2 2 0
ρ̃ṽ × Ω +
0 ρ̃ Ω × x × Ω

+
ρT ρT

1 1
−∇0 · ρ̃ṽ0 × ∇0 × ṽ0 + ρ̃ Ω × x0 × ∇ × ṽ0

=
ρT ρT
2 0 !
2 kΩk ρ̃ Ω · Ω

2 x
+ ρ̃ṽ0 × Ω + x0 −
ρT ρT kΩk kΩk
 
2 kΩk2 ρ̃
0
Ω x ·Ω
 
 1
0 0 0
2ρ̃ 0
ṽ × Ω +

= −∇ · 
 0
ρ̃ṽ × ∇ × ṽ + 0 x − 
 ρT ρT ρT kΩk kΩk 
| {z } | {z }
Coriolis Centrifugal
(27.16)
where we have used the relations
∇0 × Ω × x0 = 2Ω

0
Ω x ·Ω

Ω × x 0 × Ω = k Ω k2 x 0 −

kΩk kΩk

1 ρ̃
− ∇0 · ρ̃ Ω × x0 × ∇ × ṽ0 = −∇0 · x0 Ω · ∇ × ṽ0 − Ω x0 · ∇ × ṽ0

ρT ρT

ρ̃
= −∇0 · x0 Ω · ∇ × ṽ0

ρT

ρ̃
+∇0 · Ω x0 · ∇ × ṽ0
ρT

ρ̃ ρ̃
= − Ω· ∇ × ṽ0 − x0 · ∇0 Ω · ∇ × ṽ0
ρT ρT

ρ̃
+Ω · ∇0 x0 · ∇ × ṽ0
ρT
=0
27.2.4.2 Main acoustic variables

In order to postprocess results and derive convenient boundary conditions, it is
essential to retrieve the acoustic pressure and acoustic velocity from the enthlapy.
The pressure is obtained from equation Eq. (27.4)
∂ p̃ D B̃
= ρ̃
∂t Dt
D 0 B̃ ρ̃ D 0 b̃

∂ 0
− v f · ∇ p̃ = ρ̃ =
∂t0 Dt0 ρ T Dt0
The velocity is obtained from equation Eq. (27.2) with the viscous and entropic
terms neglected
∂ṽ
ρ̃ = −ρ̃∇ B̃ + ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ)
∂t
∂ṽ −1
= −∇ B̃ + ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) = ∇b̃
∂t ρT
−1 0

∂ 0
∇ b̃ + ṽ × ∇0 × ṽ

− vf · ∇ ṽ =
∂t0 ρT
with the identity
∇0 (ṽ · ṽ) ∇0 (ṽ · ṽ)

ṽ × ∇0 × ṽ = − ṽ · ∇0 ṽ = − ṽ0 · ∇0 ṽ − vf · ∇0 ṽ

2 2
we get
∂ṽ −1 0 ∇0 (ṽ · ṽ) −1 0

− ṽ0 · ∇0 ṽ = ∇ b̃ + vf · ∇0 ṽ + ṽ0 · ∇0 ṽ − ṽ0 · ∇0 ṽ

0
= ∇ b̃ +
∂t ρT 2 ρT
Neglecting second order terms and static terms, we get
∂ṽ −1 0 ∇0 (ṽ · ṽ)

= ∇ b̃ + − ṽ0 · ∇0 ṽ
∂t0 ρT 2
We see that retrieving the basic acoustic variable involves solving a transport
equation, which is not straightforward.
27.2.5 Specific Cases

27.2.5.1 Acoustic propagation in a medium at rest
This section corresponds to the case where v0 = 0. In this case, the material
D D
derivative Dt is similar to time derivative Dt = ∂t∂ and Eq. (27.11) becomes:
!
∂2 ρ0 ρ0
b−∇· ∇b = R. (27.17)
∂t2 ρ2T c2 ρ2T
Using Eq. (27.4) which relates pressure to total enthalpy, and using the fact that
ρ T = ρ0 when v0 = 0, we have:
1 ∂2 p

1
−∇ ∇ p = R, (27.18)
ρ0 c2 ∂t2 ρ0
When no right hand side is present, it simplify into the following homogeneous
equation which is valid for acoustic waves propagation in a inhomogeneous
medium at rest [11]:

∂ 1 ∂p 1
− ∇ ∇ p = 0. (27.19)
∂t ρ0 c2 ∂t ρ0
The generalized acoustic wave propagation Eq. (27.11) has therefore the expected
asymptotic behavior for wave propagation in a medium at rest. In the present
section, we do not consider the right hand side which is discussed in section
27.5.2.
27.2.5.2 Acoustic propagation in a medium at rest in a uniformly rotat-
ing frame
It is worth examining the classic homogeneous Helmholtz equation in a rotating
frame in cylindrical coordinates, to better check how the boundary condition get
expressed in a moving frame.
In the fixed frame, assuming constant density and constant speed of sound, we
have
1 ∂2 b
− ∇ (∇b) = 0. (27.20)
c2 ∂t2
which can be rewritten in 2D cylindrical coordinates as
1 ∂2 b ∂2 b 1 ∂b 1 ∂2 b
− − − = 0. (27.21)
c2 ∂t2 ∂r2 r ∂r r2 ∂θ 2
In the rotating frame, we have θ 0 = θ + ω0 t , so vf = ω0 rxθ and v0 = −ω0 rxθ ,

which gives
D0 b v0 D 0 b

1 ∂
+ ∇0 · − ∇0 b = 0,
c2 ∂t0 Dt0 c2 D 0 t
or, in cylindrical coordinates,
−ω0 rxθ ∂b ∂2 b 1 ∂b 1 ∂2 b

1 ∂ ∂b ∂b 0 ∂b
− ω 0 + ∇ · − ω 0 − − − =0
c2 ∂t0 ∂t0 ∂θ c2 ∂t0 ∂θ ∂r2 r ∂r r2 ∂θ 2
1 ∂2 b ω ∂2 b ω 2 ∂2 b ∂2 b 1 ∂b 1 ∂2 b
2 0 2
− 2 20 0 0 + 20 02 − 02 − − 2 02 = 0
c ∂t c ∂θ ∂t c ∂θ ∂r r ∂r r ∂θ
2 2 2
1 ∂ ∂ ∂ b 1 ∂b 1 ∂ b
2
− ω0 0 b − 2 − − 2 02 = 0 (27.22)
c ∂t ∂θ ∂r r ∂r r ∂θ
Assuming we have a solution in the fixed frame of the form b = f r (r )eimθ eiωt , we
can express it in the moving frame as
0 0
b = f r (r )eim(θ −ω0 t) eiωt = f r (r )eimθ ei(ω −mω0 )t
which indeed verify the equation 27.22
Boundary conditions In order to have symmetric coupling with elastic regions

and better behaved boundary conditions, the weak formulation use a scaled total
enthalpy ψ. In the fixed frame, we have
1 ∂2 ψ ∂2 ψ 1 ∂ψ 1 ∂2 ψ
2 2
− 2 − − 2 2 = 0. (27.23)
c ∂t ∂r r ∂r r ∂θ
with the boudary condition
∂ψ
n · ∇ψ = = ρvn
∂r
The imposed normal velocity is thus
1
vn = Ceimθ eiωt , un = Ceimθ eiωt
iω
In the rotating frame, we must have
∂ψ 0 0
n · ∇0 ψ = 0
= Ceimθ ei(ω −mω0 )t = Ceim(θ −ω0 t) eiωt = vn (θ 0 )
∂r
The boundary condition in the moving frame is thus also the wall normal velocity.
However, the velocity is measured in the moving frame, explaining the different
frequency content compared to the fixed frame. Note that a non-axisymmetric
structure in rotation has a normal velocity component in the fixed frame. It thus
also has a normal velocity component in the rotating frame, but at 0 Hz if the
structure is fixed in the rotating frame. Such velocity is however usually not
directly present as boundrary condition, because it is taken into account in the
mean velocity field, while the linearized acoustic solution is only perturbation
around the mean fields, meaning normal velocity fluctuations at solid boundaries
are simply imposed to zero.
27.2.6 Variational statement (Time formulation)
The strong variational statement related to Eq. (27.11) is given by:
!
ρ0 Db
Z
∂
δb dΩ
Ω ∂t ρ2T c2 Dt
!
ρ0 v0 ∂b ρ0 v0
Z
ρ
+ δb∇ · 2 2
+ 2 2 v0 · ∇b − 20 ∇b dΩ
Ω ρ T c ∂t ρT c ρT
=
1
Z
− δb∇ · F (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ ) dΩ
Ω ρ T

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
+ δb∇ · F ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ dΩ
Ω ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

iωδb ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ ∀ δb, (27.24)
Ω ρT ∂s̃ ∂t ρT
where Ω is the acoustic domain. The second, third and forth terms can be
integrated by part and using the Green’s theorem:
Z
ρ0 v v
0 0
∇ b · ∇ δb − · ∇ b · ∇ δb dΩ
Ω ρ2T c c
Z
∂ ρ0
+ (δb (v0 · ∇δb) − b (v0 · ∇δb)) dΩ
∂t Ω ρ2T c2
∂2
Z
ρ0
+ bδbdΩ
∂t2
Ω ρ2T c2
!
Db
Z
ρ0 ρ0
− δb ∇ b − 2 2 v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T ρT c Dt

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
= F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇δbdΩ
Ω ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
− F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ ∀ δb. (27.25)
where Γ corresponds to the boundary of the acoustic domain Ω. The boundary

integrals are rearranged according to the Eq. (27.7):

Db
Z
δb ρ0
ρ0 ∇b − 2 v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T c Dt

∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
− F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT ∂s̃ ∂t
=

ρ̃ṽ D B̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
F ρ̃∇ B̃ − − ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) + ∇τ̃ + ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT c2 Dt ∂s̃ ∂t
=
iωδb
Z
− F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ
Γ ρT
(27.26)
.
27.2.6.1 Natural Boundary condition in moving frame

The boundary term in the weak form of the homogeneous propagagtion operator
reads
Db
Z
δb ρ0
ρ0 ∇b − 2 v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T c Dt
In the moving frame, we have the same expression, because it comes from the
equivalent strong formulation with the same integration by part
ρ0 0 D 0 b
Z
δb 0
ρ0 ∇ b − 2 v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T c Dt0
To use the regularisation from fixed frame, it is usefull to recast this in the fixed
frame
ρ0 0 D 0 b

Db
Z Z
δb 0 δb ρ0
ρ0 ∇ b − 2 v0 · n dΓ = ρ0 n · ∇b − (v0 − vf ) · n 2 0 dΓ
Γ ρ2T c Dt0 Γ ρ2T c Dt
When considering an impervious surface in the rotating frame, we have (v0 − vf ) ·

n = 0 and the term simply becomes
Z Z
δb δb
ρ0 ∇0 b · n dΓ =

2
(ρ0 n · ∇b) dΓ
Γ ρT Γ ρ2T
27.2.7 Frequency formulation

This scalar equation is directly derived from the compressible Navier-Stokes
equations and is valid for the flow and the acoustic part. The acoustic quantities
are generally well defined by an harmonic expansion (Fourier transform):
q̃(x, t) = ∑ q(x, ω )eiωt

ω
= ∑ F (q̃)eiωt . (27.27)
ω
Applying the Fourier transform to Eq. (27.10) leads to

iωρ0
∑ ρ2 c2 (iωb + v0 · ∇b) eiωt
ω T
!
ρ0 v0 ρ
+ ∑∇ 2 2
(iωb + v0 · ∇b) − 20 ∇b eiωt = ∑ R · eiωt , (27.28)
ω ρT c ρT ω
1
RT
where q0 represent the time averaged flow value (q0 = T 0 qdt).
The harmonic functions eiωt represent a set of orthogonal functions, which means
that the sum of equations will be satisfied only if each equation (for each value of
ω) is satisfied:
!
ω 2 ρ0 iωρ0 iωρ0 v0 ρ0 v0 ρ0
− 2 2 b + 2 2 v0 · ∇b + ∇ · b + 2 2 v0 · ∇b − 2 ∇b = R
ρT c ρT c ρ2T c2 ρT c ρT
1
R = −∇ · F (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ )
ρT

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
+ ∇· F ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ + iω F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ .
ρT ∂s̃ ∂t ∂s̃ ∂t ρT
(27.29)
The left hand side of Eq. (27.11) corresponds to the acoustic wave operator in a
non-uniform mean flow for the acoustic field represented by enthalpy fluctuations
b. In [39], following a strategy originally proposed by Lighthill [29], Möhring
shows that the right hand side R corresponds to flow fluctuations which are
considered as acoustic sources. The right hand side can be computed using
unsteady CFD results. This correspond to the analogies described in Section 27.5.
27.2.7.1 Acoustic propagation in a potential flow
If we assume that the flow is isentropic, irrotational and neglect viscous stresses,
Eq. (27.2) reduce to:
∂ṽ
ρ̃ = −ρ̃∇ B̃. (27.30)
∂t
The Fourier transform equivalent is
iωρ0 v = −ρ0 ∇ B, (27.31)

i.e. the enthalpy fluctuations are similar to a velocity potential φ:
iωφ = B. (27.32)
Introducing Eq. (27.32) into Eq. (27.11) and using the fact that ρ T is constant
through space in an isentropic flow, we obtain:
!!
ω2 ρ ρ0 v0 ρ
− 2 20 (iωφ + v0 ∇φ) + iω ∇ 2 2
(iωφ + v0 ∇φ) − 20 ∇φ = 0. (27.33)
ρT c ρT c ρT
Integrating with respect to time , we have
!
iωρ0 ρ0 v0 ρ
(iωφ + v0 ∇φ) + ∇ (iωφ + v0 ∇φ) − 20 ∇φ = 0. (27.34)
ρ2T c2 2
ρT c 2 ρT
which is the classical convected acoustic equation for velocity potential. Pressure
can be retrieved from the Eq. (27.4):
ρ0
iωp = (iωb + v0 · ∇b) . (27.35)
ρT
In the present section, we do not consider the right hand side which is discussed
in Section 27.5.3.
27.2.7.2 Variational form in frequency domain
The strong variational statement related to Eq. (27.11) is given by:
!
ω2 ρ iωρ
Z
δb − 2 20 b + 2 20 v0 · ∇b dΩ
Ω ρT c ρT c
!
iωρ0 v0 ρ0 v0
Z
ρ0
+ δb∇ · 2 2
b + 2 2 v0 · ∇b − 2 ∇b dΩ
Ω ρT c ρT c ρT
=
1
Z
− δb∇ · F (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ ) dΩ
Ω ρ T

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
+ δb∇ · F ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ dΩ
Ω ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ ∀ δb, (27.36)
where Ω is the acoustic domain. The second, third and forth terms can be
integrated by part and using the Green’s theorem:
ρ0
Z v v
0 0
∇ b · ∇ δb − · ∇ b · ∇ δb dΩ
Ω ρ2T c c
Z
ρ0
+iω (δb (v0 · ∇δb) − b (v0 · ∇δb)) dΩ
Ω ρ2T c2
Z
ρ0
−ω 2 bδbdΩ
Ω ρ2T c2
Z
!
ρ0 ρ0
− δb ∇b − 2 2 (iωb + v0 · ∇b) v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T ρT c

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
= F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇δbdΩ
Ω ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
− F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT ∂s̃ ∂t

Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ ∀ δb. (27.37)
where Γ corresponds to the boundary of the acoustic domain Ω. The boundary

integrals are rearranged according to the Eq. (27.7):
Z
δb ρ0
ρ 0 ∇ b − ( iωb + v 0 · ∇ b ) v0 · n dΓ
Γ ρ2T c2

∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
− F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT ∂s̃ ∂t
=

ρ̃ṽ D B̃ ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
δb
F ρ̃∇ B̃ − − ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) + ∇τ̃ + ṽ − ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · n dΓ
Γ ρT c2 Dt ∂s̃ ∂t
=
iωδb
Z
− F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ
Γ ρT
(27.38)
.
Actran solves a discrete system of equation which is based on a variational form

similar to Eq. (27.37), but where we replace the scaled enthalpy variable b by a
27.3 Boundary conditions 389
new variable ψ = −b :
iω
Z
ρ0 v v
0 0
∇ ψ · ∇ δψ − · ∇ ψ · ∇ δψ dΩ
Ω ρ2T c c
Z
ρ0
+iω (δψ (v0 · ∇ψ) − ψ (v0 · ∇δψ)) dΩ
Ω ρ2T c2
Z
ρ0
−ω 2 ψδψdΩ
Ω ρ2T c2

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
= F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇δψdΩ
Ω iωρ T ∂s̃ ∂t
Z
δψ
+ F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ
Γ ρT

∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
δψ
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ ∀ δψ. (27.39)
The acoustic pressure and acoustic velocity are computed using the scaled total
enthalpy. Acoustic pressure is computed from the Fourier transform of Eq. (27.4):
iωρ T
iωb + v0 · ∇b = p, (27.40)
ρ0
or
− ρ0
p= (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) . (27.41)
ρT
Retrieving the acoustic velocity is in general more complex, but in regions where
vorticity and viscous forces can be neglected, we can make use of Eq. (27.31),
which read in the frequency domain:
iωv = −∇ B, (27.42)
Introducing the scaled total enthalpy, we have
1
v= ∇ψ. (27.43)
ρT
In the particular context of acoustic medium at rest (v0 = 0), ρ T = ρ0 and the
relation 27.41 becomes:
p = −iωψ. (27.44)
27.3 Boundary conditions

The boundaries of the acoustic domain can be subdivided into several non-
intersecting boundary patches. On each of these, a boundary integral should be
computed according to the variational formulation Eq. (27.39). In the present
section, we will consider the following boundary parts:
• Γ aero is the boundary part between an acoustic domain where aerodynamic

noise sources are computed and a region where they are not computed;
• on Γwall , the user may specify a surface excitation (vibration, wall motion);
• Γ adm correspond to the boundary part where some acoustic treatments are
applied. These treatments are characterized by their admittance.
27.3.1 Aerodynamic contributions

The Actran model may not involve all the parts of the CFD simulation. This is
the case for turbomachinery simulations where the Actran model only involves
non-rotating parts. The aerodynamic sources in these non-modelled regions
are accounted in the Actran simulation thanks to the transfer of momentum
distribution (F (ρ̃ṽ · n) along the surface from unsteady CFD results. In this case,
Actran computes the following boundary integral:
Z
δψ
F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ. (27.45)
Γ aero ρT
The computation of this contribution is computed in a pre-processing phase of

the Actran simulation (see Chapter 42).
27.3.2 Wall motion excitations

This subsection corresponds to a wall-motion excitation applied to the boundary
of the acoustic domain. On Γvibro , the user may specify :
• a normal displacement. The normal component of the displacement is the

only one taken into account for the acoustic excitations. The imposed wall
motion is defined by un ;
• a normal velocity, defined by vn ;
• a normal acceleration, defined by an .
In the present section, we assume that this boundary is located in a region where
vorticity, entropy variations and viscous forces are negligible. The flow is assumed
to be tangent to the boundary (v0 · n = 0) and the Eq. (27.38) shows that the
boundary integral in the variational formulation reduces to :
Z
ρ0
δψ∇ψ · n dΓ. (27.46)
Γvibro ρ2T
27.3.2.1 Prescribed wall displacement

A normal displacement un to the boundary surface Γvibro induces a normal
velocity vn given by the following relation [43]:
vn = iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 , (27.47)
where vn is related to the selected variable ψ through:
1
vn = − ∇ψ · n , (27.48)
ρT
Substitution of Eq. (27.47) into Eq. (27.46) leads to the following integral:
Z
ρ0
− δψ (iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓ . (27.49)
Γvibro ρT
This boundary integral can be regularized using some vector identities [15]:
Z
ρ0
− δψ (iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓ
Γvibro ρT
Z
ρ0
=− un (iωδψ − v0 · ∇δψ) dΓ
Γ vibro ρT
Z
ρ0
− n · ∇ × n × δψ un v0 dΓ . (27.50)
Γvibro ρT
The last boundary integral can be further reduced to an integral along the contour
C of the boundary surface Γvibro using Stokes’ theorem:
Z
ρ0
− δψ (iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓ
ρTΓvibro
Z Z
ρ0 ρ0
=− un (iωδψ − v0 · ∇δψ) dΓ − n × δψ un v0 · dC . (27.51)
Γvibro ρT C ρT
This reduction assumes that the acoustic field and the wall displacement are
continuous on Γvibro .
27.3.2.2 Prescribed normal velocity
In this case, Actran has to set the velocity to the prescribed value vn . This
prescribed value is similar to time derivative of a normal displacement :
vn
un = . (27.52)
iω
According to Eq. (27.47), the acoustic velocity is defined by
1 vn
vn = vn + v0 · ∇vn − n · (n · ∇)v0 , . (27.53)
iω iω
The acoustic velocity is related to the acoustic variable ψ by the Eq. (27.48). The
process selected for the regularization of Eq. (27.58) can be applied and the
boundary integral reduces to :

v0 vn
Z
ρ0
− δψ vn + · ∇vn − n · (n · ∇)v0 dΓ
Γvibro ρ T iω iω

v0 ρ0 v n
Z Z
ρ0
=− vn δψ − · ∇δψ dΓ − n × δψ v0 · dC . (27.54)
Γvibro ρT iω C ρ T iω
27.3.2.3 Prescribed normal acceleration

The normal acceleration is related to the normal velocity:
an = iωvn (27.55)
Setting the normal acceleration is therefore similar to set the normal velocity and
the regularized boundary integral becomes:

an v0 an
Z
ρ0
− δψ − 2 · ∇ an + 2 n · (n · ∇)v0 dΓ
Γvibro ρ T iω ω ω
Z
v0 ρ0 a n
Z
ρ0 δψ
=− an + 2 · ∇δψ dΓ + n × δψ v0 · dC . (27.56)
Γvibro ρ T iω ω C ρT ω2
27.3.3 Acoustic treatments

In this section, a specific acoustic treatment is imposed on a boundary surface
Γ adm by means of an equivalent acoustic admttance. The mean flow splits into
two contributions: the tangential (grazing flow) component to the boundary
surface and the normal (bias flow) component crossing the surface, so that:
v0 = v0t t + v0n n. (27.57)
The first term of Eq. (27.38) leads to the complete boundary integral of the form:
Z Z
ρ0 ρ0
2
δψ∇ψ · ndΓ adm − δψ(iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ)v0 · ndΓ adm . (27.58)
Γ adm ρT Γ adm ρ2T c2
| {z } | {z }
I1 I2
The first term of Eq. (27.58) represents the grazing flow contribution whereas the
second one models the influence of the bias flow.
27.3.3.1 Grazing flow case
A pure grazing flow is considered here. The Myers condition [43] is used to
express the first term of the boundary integral (27.58):
Z
ρ0
I1 = − δψvn dΓ adm , (27.59)
Γ adm ρT
providing that the velocity out of the infinitely thin boundary layer expresses as
vn = −1/ρ T ∇ψ · n.
The acoustic treatments are defined by the admittance condition, which relates
the acoustic pressure p to the wall velocity vn :
vn = An p , (27.60)
where An is the normal acoustic admittance. The pressure p is related to ψ by

the Eq. (27.41) and substituting this equation into Eq. (27.60) leads to:
ρ0 ρ
(iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) = − An 0 iωψ + v0t ∇t ψ .

vn = − An (27.61)
ρT ρT
If we consider the regularized boundary integral in Eq. (27.54) and substituting

the imposed velocity vn with expression Eq. (27.61), the boundary integral reduces
to:
ρ20 An
Z
iωψ + v0t ∇t ψ iωδψ − v0t ∇t δψ dΓ adm

I1 =
Γ adm ρ2T iω
!
An
Z
ρ0
iωψ + v0t ∇t ψ v0t · dC .

+ n× δψ (27.62)
C ρT iω
The contribution along the contour C is neglected because the admittance contri-
butions vanish on the lines when the wall is not moving.
This boundary integral explicitly depends on the acoustic variable ψ and this
contribution will therefore be added to left hand side.
27.3.3.2 Bias flow case
Once the bias flow component is not zero, second term of equation Eq. (27.58)
has to be considered. Let’s consider a pure bias flow penetrating the boundary
surface v0 = −v0n n.
The second term of the boundary integral (27.58) writes in function of the pressure
field using Eq. (27.41) as:
1 n
Z
I2 = v pδψdΓ adm . (27.63)
Γ adm ρ T c2 0
Introducing the bias flow acoustic admittance which relies the acoustic pressure
to the normal velocity component:
vn
An = , (27.64)
p
it is possible to write the acoustic pressure as follow:

ρ0 ρ
p=− (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) = − 0 (iωψ + ρ T v0n An p) . (27.65)
ρT ρT
Thus,
ρ0 iωψ ρ iωA0 ψ
p=− =− 0 , (27.66)
ρ T 1 + ρ0 v0n An ρ T A 0 + A n Mb
noting A0 = (ρ0 c)−1 , the characteristic admittance of the fluid and Mb = v0n /c,
the Mach number of the bias flow.
Substitution of Eq. (27.66) inside Eq. (27.63) leads to,
ρ20 iωA20 Mb
Z
I2 = − ψδψdΓ adm . (27.67)
Γ adm ρ2T A0 + An Mb
Similarly, substitution of Eq. (27.66) in the first boundary integral I1 gives:

Z
ρ0
I1 = − vn δψdΓ adm ,
Γ adm ρT
Z
ρ0
=− An pδψdΓ adm ,
Γ adm ρT
ρ20 A0 A n
Z
= 2
iω ψδψdΓ adm . (27.68)
Γ adm ρT A 0 + A n Mb
And finally, for the bias flow case, the complete boundary integral reduces to:
ρ20 A n + A 0 Mb
Z
2
iωA0 ψδψdΓ adm . (27.69)
Γ adm ρT A 0 + A n Mb
27.3.3.3 Mixed flow case

It is assumed that, the first term of the boundary integral I1 can be expressed as
the Myers contribution Eq. (27.62) modifying the ψδψ coefficient by the bias flow
contribution expressed by equation Eq. (27.68) using an equivalent admittance
An . The I1 term reads:
ρ20 A0 A n
Z
I1 = iω ψδψdΓ adm
Γ adm ρ2T A 0 + A n Mb
(27.70)
ρ20 v0t
Z
t t
+ A n v 0 ∇ t ψ δψ − ∇ t δψ − ψv 0 ∇ t δψ dΓ adm .
Γ adm ρ2T iω
The second term of the boundary integral (27.58) consist in Eq. (27.69) plus a new
term corresponding to the grazing flow component, so that:
ρ20 A20 Mb
Z
δψ iωψ + v0t ∇t ψ dΓ adm .

I2 = 2
(27.71)
Γ adm ρ T A 0 + A n Mb
Finally, the complete form of the boundary integral of the acoustic flow operator
in presence of a mixed flow writes:
ρ20 A n + A 0 Mb
Z
iωA0 ψδψdΓ adm
!
ρ20 A20 Mb
Z
+ An + δψv0t ∇t ψdΓ adm (27.72)
ρ20

1 t
Z
t t
− A n ψv ∇
0 t δψ + ( v ∇ t ψ )( v ∇
0 t δψ ) dΓ adm
Γ adm ρ2T iω 0
Expression (27.72) is asymptotically convergent to :
• Eq. (27.62) when there is no bias flow.
• Eq. (27.69) when there is no grazing flow.
27.4 Discrete model

27.4.1 Partitioned approach
The discrete model is based on a partitioned approach. The acoustic domain Ω is
partitioned into an inner domain Ωi and an outer domain Ωo :
Ω = Ωi ∪ Ω o . (27.73)
The inner domain is discretized using conventional Galerkin finite elements while
infinite elements are selected for the outer domain. Various infinite element
formulations are available for the no-flow case. Convergence properties of
conjugated and unconjugated formulations have been studied by various authors.
For the flow case, earlier applications of infinite elements were related to some
particular classes of mapped infinite wave envelope elements. In the present
study, a generalized library of conjugated infinite elements is derived for the
convected wave equation. This library relies on a generalized multipole expansion
of the solution of the convected equation in either spherical, prolate or oblate
spheroidal, or ellipsoidal coordinates.
27.4.2 Finite elements

In the inner domain Ωi , the variable ψ is locally interpolated on each finite
element Ωe using a set of interpolation functions Ni (ξ ) defined in terms of local
coordinates ξ:
N
ψ(ξ ) = ∑ Ni (ξ )ψi . (27.74)
i =1
The selection of a Galerkin approach (test and trial functions are extracted from
the same functional space) leads to the following algebraic system:

−K − iωC + ω 2 M Ψ = Faero + Fvibro , (27.75)
where matrices K, C and M result from the assembly of the related element
matrices:
K= ∑ Ke
e
C= ∑ Ce
e
M= ∑ Me , (27.76)
e
and the right-hand side vector F is obtained by assembling contributions in the

right hand side involving all known fields (aerodynamic sources computed using
CFD results fields, boundary conditions):
Fx = ∑ Fx,e . (27.77)
e
Element matrices are given by the following expressions:
v v
Z
ρ0
Kije = 2
∇ Ni · ∇ Nj − ∇ Ni · 0 ∇ Nj · 0 dΩe
Ωe ρ T c c
v0 v0
Z
ρ0
Cije = N i ∇ N j · − Nj ∇ Ni · dΩe
Ωe cρ2T c c
Z
ρ0 ρ0
iωNj + v0 · ∇ Nj dΓe

− Ni An
Γ adm,e ρ T ρT
Z
ρ 0
Mije = Ni Nj dΩe . (27.78)
Ωe ρ2T c2
The nodal forces in the right hand side are made of two different contributions:
• F aero is the volume integral which correspond to the aerodynamic noise

excitation,
• Fwall is the boundary integral which is made of the following contributions:
– aerodynamic part acting on Γ aero ,

– wall motion acting on Γwall,u where the normal wall motion un is
imposed ,
– wall motion acting on Γwall,v where the normal velocity vn is imposed,
– wall motion acting on Γwall,a where the normal acceleration an is
imposed.

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
Fiaero,e = F ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇ Ni dΩe
Ωe ρ T ∂s̃ ∂t

Ni ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ, (27.79)
Ωe ρ T ∂s̃ ∂t ρT
Ni
Z
Fiwall,e = F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ aero
Γ aero ρ T
Z
ρ0
− Ni (iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓwall,u
Γwall,u ρ T
Z
ρ0
− Ni (iωvn + v0 · ∇vn − vn n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓwall,v
Γ wall,v iωρ T
Z
ρ0
+ Ni (iωan + v0 · ∇ an − an n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓwall,a .
Γwall,a ω 2 ρ T
(27.80)
27.4.3 Infinite elements

In the outer domain Ωo , the flow is assumed to be uniform and directed along
direction x10 of a local coordinate system ( x10 , x20 , x30 ). In such circumstances, the
convected wave equation reduces to the following form:
∂ψ ∂2 ψ
4ψ − 2ikM 0 − M2 + k2 ψ = 0 . (27.81)
∂x1 ∂x 0 2 1
The solution of this equation using infinite elements relies primarily on the avail-
ability of a multipole (radial) expansion of the solution. This expansion appears
as an infinite series in any particular coordinate system. If such an expansion
is available and can be shown to converge at any point of the external domain,
then particular classes of infinite elements can be developed since they basically
rely on a truncated series. The formal derivation of the multipole expansion
for the uniform flow case is summarized in the next section. The development
of conjugated convective infinite elements is then described. Particular aspects
related to the handling of admittance boundary conditions along infinite faces in
presence of a flow are also discussed.
27.4.3.2 Multipole expansion for the convected case
One can further reduce Eq. (27.81) to the Helmholtz equation using the Prandtl-
Glauert transformation. The Prandtl-Glauert transformation reads:
x”1 = x10 /β
x”2 = x20 (27.82)
x”3 = x30 .
The application of this transformation to Eq. (27.81) gives the Helmholtz equation
for a transformed variable ψ:
2
4ψ + k ψ = 0 , (27.83)
where
k = k/β
λ = kM/β , (27.84)
and
ψ = ψe−iλx”1 . (27.85)
The solution of Eq. (27.83) in the transformed space ( x”1 , x”2 , x”3 ) can, according
to the Wilcox-Atkinson theorem [5, 6], be expanded in the following form outside
an ellipsoidal surface in the transformed coordinate system:
∞
F n (θ”, ϕ”; k)
ψ(r”, θ”, ϕ”) = e−ikr” ∑ r”n
, (27.86)
n =1
where (r”, θ”, ϕ”) are the ellipsoidal coordinates in the transformed system.
According to this transformation, an ellipsoidal surface x1 ”2 /a2 + x2 ”2 /b2 +
x3 ”2 /c2 = 1 in transformed coordinates maps into another ellipsoidal surface in
the local coordinate system ( x10 , x20 , x30 ):
2 2 2
x10 /( β2 a2 ) + x20 /b2 + x30 /c2 = 1, (27.87)
so that the physical outer domain (where the flow is assumed to be uniform) has
to comply with this surface.
27.4.3.3 Conjugated convective infinite elements
A conjugated infinite element formulation can rely on expansion (27.86) in the
transformed space. In the physical domain, this leads to the following expansion:
∞
F n (θ”, ϕ”; k)
ψ(x0 ; k) = e−ik(r”− Mx”1 ) ∑ r”n
. (27.88)
n =1
A truncated version of Eq. (27.88) forms the basis of the interpolation scheme
selected within infinite elements. Such an interpolation scheme refers to conven-
tional (Lagrange) polynomials along angular direction (θ”, ϕ”) (which maps onto
local coordinates (ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) in the parent element) and Legendre polynomials along
the radial direction (which maps onto the third local coordinate ξ 3 in the parent
element). The generation of these interpolation functions is described in [?]. The
interpolation scheme can be described in the following compact way:
N
ψ(ξ; k ) = ∑ Ni (ξ; k)ψi , (27.89)
i =1
where the complex-valued and frequency dependent interpolation function Ni is

given by:
Ni (ξ; k ) = Pi (ξ )e−ikµ(ξ ) . (27.90)
Functions Pi are polynomial interpolation functions in the parent element while

the factor µ is given by:
r”(ξ ) − r”b (ξ ) − M ( x”1 (ξ ) − x”b1 (ξ ))

µ(ξ ) = . (27.91)
β
In this expression, x”b represents the base point along the radial ray emanating
from point x”, and r”b is the radial coordinate of that point.
Conjugated elements results from the selection of test functions equal to the
complex conjugates of the trial functions. An additional scaling factor is however
introduced in order to ensure the integrability of basic element matrices:
δψi (ξ ) = W (ξ ) Ni ∗ (ξ; k) = Qi (ξ )e+ikµ(ξ ) , (27.92)
where the scaling factor is given by:
2
r”b
W (ξ ) = , (27.93)
r”
and the ∗ represents the complex conjugate. Injecting the above trial and test
functions into previously derived variational form yields a system of equations
of the form (27.75) (all exponential terms are cancelling each other out) with
elementary stiffness, damping, and mass matrices given by:
Z∞,e = −K∞,e − iωC∞,e + ω 2 M∞,e . (27.94)
Coefficients of matrices K∞,e , C∞,e and M∞,e are given by:
Z
ρ∞
Kij∞,e = ∇ Qi · ∇ Pj − (∇ Qi · M) ∇ Pj · M dΩ∞,e

Ω∞,e ρT2
Z
ρ∞
Cij∞,e = 2
Qi (∇µ + (1 − M · ∇µ) M) · ∇ Pj −
Ω∞,e ρ T a∞
Pj (∇µ + (1 − M · ∇µ) M) · ∇ Qi dΩ∞,e

Z
ρ∞
Mij∞,e = 2
Qi Pj (1 − ∇µ · ∇µ + (M · ∇µ) (M · ∇µ)
Ω∞,e ρ T a∞ 2
−2 (M · ∇µ)) dΩ∞,e . (27.95)
27.5 Aerodynamic noise sources

27.5.1 Introduction
Aerodynamic noise has a history of about 50 years, that started with the work
of Lighthill [29] in the fifties. Lighthill was stimulated by anticipation of large-
scale commercial jet air travel to formulate his theory of aeroacoustic noise. Most
developments, in the field of aeroacoustics, are based on this theory. Flow-induced
noise subsequently became a concern in many industrial sectors, especially the
transportation industry. Impressive progress have been made in the last decades
to understand and to reduce noise generation mechanisms. Today, in many
applications, flow remains a significant noise generation mechanism.
The most general approach to aeroacoustics consists in solving the compressible

Navier-Stokes equations through a direct numerical simulation (DNS). All scales
are resolved, from the “large” scales up to the smallest viscous scale. The solution
naturally includes sound generation and propagation. However, because of its
numerical cost which grows like Re3 /M4 (Re is the Reynolds number and M is
the Mach number), such a DNS is in practice limited to low Reynolds number
flows today. Solving engineering problems thus requires an alternative approach.
One alternative approach consists in using an acoustic analogy, as first proposed

by Lighthill [29]. Acoustic analogy rests on the assumption that noise generation
and propagation are decoupled, that is, flow-generated noise does not impact
the internal dynamics of the flow. This is the basis of the aeroacoustic approach
in Actran. The aeroacoustic capabilities of Actran are thus intended for use
in a two-steps procedure. In the first step, aerodynamic sources are computed,
according to Lighthill’s or Möhring’s analogy, from the flow results (CFD results
are assumed to be available, typically computed with a commercial code). The
second step consists in the propagation of the acoustic waves, using Actran.
A confusion often arises between Lighthill’s acoustic analogy and the integral
solution also proposed by Lighthill in his pioneering paper [29]. Instead of
considering the natural problem, where the noise is generated by small flow
fluctuations and propagates following a complex physical process trough the
mean flow, Lighthill presents an analogous problem (which justifies the name of
analogy). The problem proposed by Lighthill has the same boundaries, but the
propagation is replaced by the wave propagation operator in a medium at rest.
In this analogous problem, the flow is implicitly replaced by source contributions
which objectives are :
• to represent all flow fluctuations which generate noise,

• to mimic the natural wave propagation by introducing/removing acoustic
energy as if the propagation occurred in a mean flow (convection effects).
27.5 Aerodynamic noise sources 401
The solution of Lighthill’s problem therefore only corresponds to the acoustic

field in the region where the flow field is negligible. Lighthill’s source involves at
the same time natural aerodynamic noise source, but also a contribution which is
related to correction of the Lighthill’s wave operator in the presence of a mean
flow. Therefore the Lighthill’s analogy is limited to low Mach number flows.
The analogy concept has been extended by Möhring [39] whom rearranged
Navier-Stokes equations terms to build a left hand side corresponding to the con-
vected wave operator. The right hand side of this equation is source contributions
which objectives are only to represent all aerodynamic fluctuations generating
noise.
27.5.2 Lighthill’s analogy

The flow acoustic problem is defined on a geometrical domain Ω which can
be bounded or unbounded. For a compressible fluid, the mass conservation
(continuity) equation can be written, using index notation, as:
∂ρ̃ ∂ρ̃ṽi
+ =0, (27.96)
∂t ∂xi
where ρ̃ is the fluid density and ṽi is the fluid velocity vector. The momentum
conservation (Navier-Stokes) equation can be written:
∂ρ̃ṽi ∂ρ̃ṽi ṽ j ∂ p̃ij

+ =− , (27.97)
∂t ∂x j ∂x j
where p̃ij is the compressive stress tensor. This last equation is rewritten by
adding a new term to both sides, a0 being a constant which can be chosen
arbitrarily at this stage:
∂ρ̃ṽi ∂ρ̃ ∂ T̃ij

+ a20 =− , (27.98)
∂t ∂xi ∂x j
where the tensor T̃ij is defined by:
T̃ij = ρ̃ṽi ṽ j + p̃ij − a20 ρ̃δij . (27.99)
Using the harmonic expansion introduced in Eq. (27.27) and combining Eq. (27.96)
and Eq. (27.98):
∂2 ρ ∂2 Tij
− ω 2 ρ − a20 = . (27.100)
∂xi ∂xi ∂xi ∂x j
For a Stokesian perfect gas such as air, the compressive stress tensor pij can be
reformulated as
p̃ij = p̃ δij + τ̃ij , (27.101)
where p̃ is the pressure and τ̃ij is the viscous stress tensor. The expression of Tij
then becomes
T̃ij = ρ̃ṽi ṽ j + δij p̃ − a20 ρ̃ + τ̃ij . (27.102)
We now choose a0 to be the speed of sound in a uniform medium at rest a0 = c.

For a Stokesian perfect gas such as air c is given by the following relation:

∂p γp
a20 2
=c = = , (27.103)
∂ρ s ρ
where γ is the ratio of specific heats.
For a Stokesian perfect gas like air, in an isentropic, high Reynolds number
and low Mach number flow, Lighthill’s tensor Tij is often approximated by (see
Goldstein [20])
T̃ij ≈ ρ̃ṽi ṽ j . (27.104)
Away from the source region, the density fluctuations, ρ, correspond to acoustic
density fluctuations. This is highlighted by rewriting Eq. (27.100) as
∂2 ρ ∂2 Tij
− ω 2 ρ − c2 = , (27.105)
∂xi ∂xi ∂xi ∂x j
Additional details can be found e.g. in Lighthill [29] or Goldstein [20]. For
compatibility with the formulation used elsewhere in Actran, a transformed
potential is used:
iωψ
ρ=− 2 . (27.106)
c
This leads to the alternative equation for Lighthill’s analogy, in the frequency
domain:
ω2 ∂2 ψ 1 ∂2 Tij
ψ + = , (27.107)
c2 ∂xi ∂xi iω ∂xi ∂xi
Eq. (27.107) shows that using Lighthill’s analogy in a frequency domain computa-
tion requires the Fourier transform of T̃ij as an input. In the frequency domain,
the product ṽi ṽ j becomes a convolution. This means that the spectrum of ṽi ṽ j is
two times larger than the spectrum of v. If the aerodynamic sources are computed
from incompressible CFD results (density is constant in time), the spectrum of Tij
is twice larger the spectrum of v. If the aerodynamic sources are computed from
compressible CFD results, the spectrum of Tij is even three times larger than the
spectrum v, assuming that density spectrum is as large as the velocity spectrum.
This must be kept in mind when performing the Fourier transform.
27.5 Aerodynamic noise sources 403
Remark. The present approach to treat aeroacoustic problems is intended

to be used in low Mach number configurations, neglecting the convection and
refraction effects in the propagation. Practically, this means that the Lighthill
analogy should be used only for flows where the convection and refraction
effects can be neglected against the other effects, which is generally true if the
Mach number is low enough (below 0.2 ). For higher Mach number flows,
the Möhring’s analogy is recommended (see Section 27.5.3).
The variational formulation of Lighthill’s analogy was first derived by Oberai et

al. [45, 46] The strong variational statement associated with Eq. (27.107) can be
written:
ω2 ∂2 ψ 1 ∂2 Tij
Z Z Z
ψδψdΩ + δψdΩ = δψdΩ, (27.108)
Ω c2 Ω ∂xi ∂xi Ω iω ∂xi ∂x j
where δψ is a test function, and Ω is the part of the computational domain

(non-moving and non-deforming). The spatial derivatives are integrated by parts
using Green’s theorem, to obtain the weak variational form:
ω2
Z Z
∂ψ ∂δψ
ψδψdΩ − dΩ
Ω c2 Ω ∂xi ∂xi
i ∂δψ ∂Tij
Z Z
δψ ∂ 2
= dΩ − c ρδij + Tij ni dΓ
Ω ω ∂xi ∂x j Γ iω ∂xi
. (27.109)
By substituting the right hand side of Eq. (27.102) for Tij in the surface integral
and using momentum equation, Eq. (27.109) becomes
ω2 1 ∂ψ ∂δψ
Z Z
− ψδψdΩ − dΩ
Ω ρ0 c2 Ω ρ0 ∂xi ∂xi
i ∂δψ ∂Tij 1
Z Z
= dΩ − F (ρ̃ṽi ni ) dΓ. (27.110)
Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j Γ ρ0
If the surface Γ is fixed or vibrating in its own plane, then −ni ∂t∂
(ρvi ) reduces
to zero and the right-hand side of Eq. (27.110) vanishes. This corresponds to
the natural boundary condition associated with the weak variational problem. No
surface source term is thus required on surfaces that are either fixed or vibrating
in their own plane.
27.5.3 Möhring’s analogy

Using a similar approach, Möhring derived from Navier-Stokes equations a scalar
equation whose left hand side corresponds to acoustic wave propagation in the
presence of heterogeneous flow. The derivation has already been presented in
section 27.2.3 in a general context. The right hand side corresponds to aerody-
namic noise sources for this wave propagation operator and can be computed
using CFD results.
In Actran, the aerodynamic noise creates two contributions to the right hand
side forces (see Section 27.4). The first one corresponds to the integral over the
acoustic domain elements

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z

Ni ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ. (27.111)
The volume integral directly account from the original position of the aerody-
namic sources (in other words, Actran does not request an external software,
and CFD solver for instance, to propagate these sources towards a coupling
interface). We can split the volume integral into Fiaero,e = Fiturb,e + Fient,e :
~ = ∇ × v) and
• turbulent noise sources, which are mainly due to vorticity (ω
to viscous stresses (τ):
1
Z
Fiturb,e = F [ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ ] · ∇ Ni dΩe , (27.112)
Ωe ρT
• entropy noise sources, entropy inhomogeneities generate noise, this is

particularly important for combustion noise:

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z
ent,e
Fi = F − ṽ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇ Ni dΩe

Ni ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩe . (27.113)
The second contribution acts on the boundaries of the acoustic domain and is
part of the vibro-acoustic forces (Fiwall,e ):
Ni
Z
F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ aero . (27.114)
Γ aero ρT
This boundary integral only needs to be computed on the interface between a

domain supporting aerodynamic volume sources and a domain which does not
support any aerodynamic volume source term. This is in particular the case for
turbomachinery applications where rotating CFD domains cannot be handled in
Actran simulations. In this last application, the boundary integral accounts for
contributions generated outside the acoustic domain and propagated up to this
interface to be accounted in the Actran simulation. On all other types of domain
boundaries, this does not need to be taken into account (because it vanish exactly
27.6 Flow definition in Actran 405
Figure 27.1: Finite region Ωi with inhomogeneous flow and infinite region Ω0 with
homogeneous flow.
on hard wall, and is compensated by continuity of the solution on other domain

interface).
The aerodynamic contribution is prepared in a pre-processing step based on

available CFD results (see Section 42).
27.6 Flow definition in Actran

The flow velocity must be defined, in the most general case, at three different
levels:
• at each node of the finite element mesh;
• in each infinite element domain;
• in analytical modal duct components coupled to the finite element model.
Flow velocities at each node of the acoustic finite element model are defined using
the FLOW data block. The flow vector is defined in the global cartesian coordinate
system used to define nodal coordinates. The flow within the region modeled
by infinite elements must be homogeneous and is defined by the FLOW keyword
in the INFINITE_DOMAIN data block(s). The flow within the modal component(s)
must be specified through the FLOW keyword in the MODAL_BASIS data block(s).
Finally if the mean flow is heterogeneous the ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY data
block is involved in order to define the mean pressure and mean density fields
for instance.
27.7 Computation of the compressible flow field with

Actran
The calculation of an irrotational and compressible flow velocity field v f on the
geometrical domain used for the acoustic simulation relies on the solution of the
following equation:

ρ
∇ · v = 0. (27.115)
ρ¯0 f
The problem can be formulated using a velocity potential φ such that:
v f = ∇φ . (27.116)
The solution of this problem is equivalent to the following strong variational

statement:
Z
ρ
δφ ∇ · ∇φ dΩ = 0 ∀δφ (27.117)
Ωi ρ¯0
where Ωi is the inner domain on which the solution is sought.
The weak variational form is obtained using integration by parts:
Z Z
ρ ρ ∂φ
∇δφ · ∇φ dΩ = φ dΓ ∀δφ (27.118)
Ωi ρ¯0 Γi ρ¯0 ∂n
where Γi is the boundary of domain Ωi .
The boundary conditions are related to prescribed values of φ and its gradient
along the boundary surface:
φ = φ̄, (27.119)
and
∂φ
= v̄ f n . (27.120)
∂n
The discrete form of the variational statement relies on the selection of the acoustic
finite element mesh for domain Ωi and the use of element shape functions for the
unknown potential φ. The discrete form is characterized by the following system
of nonlinear equations:
A (Φ) Φ = f, (27.121)
where matrix A depends on the velocity potential since

27.7 Computation of the compressible flow field with Actran 407
γ −1 1
γ − 1 k∇φk2

ρ = ρ¯0 1− . (27.122)
2 c2
This system of nonlinear equations is solved iteratively:
A (Φ N −1 ) Φ N = f, (27.123)
where Φ N −1 and Φ N denote the vector of nodal potentials at iteration N − 1 and

N.
The iteration process will stop at step N when N = Nmax or when
| ρ N − ρ N −1 | < τ (27.124)
where ρ N and ρ N −1 denote the local density at iteration N and N − 1 while τ is

the tolerance.
Once the iterative process has converged, the flow is computed from Eq. (27.116).
The number of iterations and the tolerance for the evaluation of the density can be
specified using MAX_ITERATIONS and TOLERANCE in the COMPRESSIBLE_FLOW data
block (Section 3.39 of Volume 2). Velocity boundary conditions are imposed using
the VELOCITY data block (Section 3.147 of Volume 2) and potential boundary
conditions are imposed using the VELOCITY_POTENTIAL data block. iCFD is used
to interpolate the mean flow computed by Actran on the acoustic mesh. iCFD
exports the interpolated mean flow in an ASCII file containing the FLOW data
block. This data block may then be included in the Actran data file in order to
start a convected wave propagation analysis.
27.7.1 Computation of the compressible flow and temperature

field with Actran
When dealing with temperature variations the density depends on the temper-
ature field itself and equation 27.122 must take into account this dependency.
Assuming a perfect gas adiabatic compression the following relation is obtained:
! 1
γ−1
T0 γ − 1 k∇φk2
ρ = ρ0 1− . (27.125)
T0 + T 2 T0 c2
T0 + T
Thus the weak variational form expressed by equation 27.118 becomes

! 1
γ −1
T0 γ − 1 k∇φk2
Z
1− ∇δφ · ∇φdΩ =
Ωi T0 + T 2 T0 c2
T0 + T
! 1
γ −1
T0 γ − 1 k∇φk2
Z
∂φ
1− φ dΓ∀δφ (27.126)
Γi T0 + T 2 T0 c2 ∂n
T0 + T
The temperature can be computed from the diffusion-convection equation:
∂T
+ v · ∇ T = C + ∇ · (K · ∇ T ) (27.127)
∂t
with K a conductivity tensor and C a temperature (heat) production. Assuming

the conductivity tensor is transverse isotropic and aligned with the mean flow,
considering a steady state, and considering zero heat production, the temperature
diffusion-convection equation becomes:
v · ∇ T − ∇ · ((k i I + k v vv) · ∇ T ) = 0 (27.128)
where k i and k v are the isotropic conductivity and the transverse conductivity
respectively. The weak form of the above equations is:
Z Z
∇δT · (k i I + k v vv) · ∇ T + δT (v · ∇ T ) dΩ = δTn · ((k i I + k v vv) · ∇ T ) dΓ
Ωi Γi
(27.129)
The velocity and temperature fields are computed by solving equations 27.118
and 27.129 iteratively. Specifically, at each iteration the velocity potential is
computed assuming a constant temperature equal to the isotropic value and
then the temperature field is calculated. The iteration process will stop at the
maximum allowed iteration or when the convergence check performed over the
density is satisfied (27.124).
27.8 Managing supersonic flow

During the import of flow from CFD, the flow can be locally supersonic. In those
cases, as no acoustic propagation can be computed, the local velocity can be cut
by using the –cutsos command line keyword.
27.9 Visualizing the mean flow

The mean flow is automatically written in NFF databases if it is non-zero. It can
also be stored in an ASCII files containing the FLOW data block(see Section 3.126
of Volume 2). Notice that ActranVI can read automatically the flow stored in
the NFF database.
Twenty Eight
Visco-Thermal Acoustic
Propagation
Contents
28.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
28.2 Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
28.3 Dimensionless parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
28.4 Linearization of equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
28.5 An eXtension of the Low Reduced Frequency model . . . . . 413
28.6 Distance-based reduced model for arbitrary 3D geometries . 418
28.1 Introduction
Viscous and thermal effects can strongly influence the propagation of acoustic
disturbances [31], [32], [55]. Basically these effects can be described by resorting
to the full Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations. The main drawback of such an
approach is its complexity since the related model involves several unknown
fields (pressure, velocity, density and temperature). A numerical model based
on these equations is therefore penalized by an additional cost. Several types
of reductions of the full Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations are available in the
literature. They lead to particular wave equations involving only the acoustic
pressure (also called equivalent fluid equations). Most of those reductions assume
the acoustic wavelength is significantly larger than the characteristic dimension
and the boundary layer thickness is small with respect to the acoustic wavelength.
Two reductions are presented in this chapter. A first model consists in the
eXtended Low Reduced Frequency model, available for waveguide’s geometries
in presence of a convected flow. A second formulation is proposed to model
409
410 Visco-Thermal Acoustic Propagation
thermo-viscous acoustic wave propagation within arbitrary geometries. All the

statements and material parameters involved in this reduction procedure are
emphasized below.
28.2 Navier-Stokes-Fourier equations

The basic equations requested for the analysis of sound wave propagation are the
conservation equations (momentum and mass) complemented by the equation of
state (for an ideal gas) and the energy equation.
These equations can be written using the following physical variables:
• v̄ is the velocity vector;
• p̄ is the pressure;
• ρ̄ is the density;
• T̄ is the temperature.
The following material properties are requested:
• µ is the dynamic viscosity;
• ν is the second viscosity coefficient;
• R0 is the gas constant;
• C p is the specific heat coefficient at constant pressure;
• Cv is the specific heat coefficient at constant volume;
• λ is the thermal conductivity.
The conservation equations are the continuity equation (28.2) and the momentum
equation (28.1). The energy equation is given by (28.3) while the assumption of
an ideal gas leads to the equation of state (28.4).
D ρ̄
+ ρ̄ (∇ · v̄) = 0, (28.1)
Dt
D v̄
ρ̄ = −∇ p̄ + (ν + µ) ∇ (∇ · v̄) − µ∇2 v̄, (28.2)
Dt
D T̄ D p̄
ρ̄C p − λ∇2 T̄ = + τ : ∇v̄. (28.3)
Dt Dt
28.3 Dimensionless parameters 411
p̄ = ρ̄R0 T̄, (28.4)
The material derivative expresses as,
D ∂
= + v̄ · ∇, (28.5)
Dt ∂t

and the viscous stress tensor is defined by : τ = ν (∇ · v̄) I + µ ∇v̄ + (∇v̄) T .
28.3 Dimensionless parameters

The following dimensionless parameters are relevant when dealing with acoustic
propagation involving visco-thermal effects:
• isentropic wave number k0 = ω/c0 ;

p
• shear wave number k v = ρ0 ω/µ;
p √
• thermal wave number k T = ρ0 ωC p /λ = k v σ;
• ratio of specific heats γ = C p /Cv ;
• Prandtl number σ2 = µC p /κ;
• viscosity ratio ξ = ν/µ.
In these expressions, ω is the angular frequency and c0 is the sound speed.
The most important parameters in the present context are the shear wave number
k v , the thermal wave number k T and the isentropic wave number k0 .
The dimensionless shear wave number k̃ v = lk v (l being the length scale) is a

measure of the ratio between inertial effects and viscous effects in the considered
gas. For large k̃ v values, the inertial effects dominate while viscous effects
are dominant for low k̃ v values. The shear wave number k̃ v can also be seen
as the ratio between the length scale l and the boundary layer thickness. A
representation of the velocity profile along the section of a cylindrical tube with
characteristic length l = R, is proposed in Figure 28.1 for various k̃ v values. As it
can be observed, high k̃ v values correspond to a small boundary layer thickness.
The reduced frequency k̃0 = lk0 represents the ratio between the length scale l
and the acoustic wavelength. In many circumstances involving visco-thermal
acoustic materials, the acoustic wavelength is very large with respect to the length
scale l (thickness of a thin layer or radius of a narrow tube) so that k̃0 is a very
small value.
Figure 28.1: Velocity profile for different shear wave numbers (thin layer).
28.4 Linearization of equations

When a superimposed mean flow is moving onto a fluid domain, the conventional
linearization of variables stipulates that fluid quantities are expressed as a sum
of a stationary motion component and a fluctuating (acoustic) part. Moreover, it
is assumed that density, temperature and pressure fluctuations are always small
compared with their quiescent values. Time harmonic fluctuations at a angular
frequency ω are considered and the density, pressure, temperature and velocity
fields decompose as,
q̄(x, t) = q̄0 (x) + q̄0 (x)eiωt , with |q̄0 | q̄0 , (28.6)
for q̄ = {ρ̄, p̄, T̄ }, and:

v̄(x, t) = v̄0 (x) + v̄0 (x)eiωt . (28.7)
where v̄0 , p̄0 , T̄0 and ρ̄0 are the mean velocity, the mean pressure, the mean
temperature and the mean density while v̄0 , p̄0 , T̄ 0 and ρ̄0 are the acoustic pertur-
bations of the velocity, pressure, temperature and density.
Similarly to conventional aeroacoustics, it is assumed that the mean flow variables
are known and there is no action of the acoustic fluctuations on the mean flow.
Introducing the dimensionless variables:
q̄0 v̄0 v̄0

q0 = , (with q ∈ {ρ, p, T }), v0 = , M0 = . (28.8)
q̄0 c0 c0
The following assumptions are selected:
• no internal heat generation;
• homogeneous medium;
• stationary laminar incompressible mean flow (ρ0 = 1);
• small harmonic perturbations.

28.5 An eXtension of the Low Reduced Frequency model 413
28.5 An eXtension of the Low Reduced Frequency model

This section allows the reduction of the full Linearized Navier-Stokes-Fourier
(LNSF) equations into an equivalent fluid scalar equation. The related model
is precisely the ’low reduced frequency’ (LRF) model developed by Beltman
[30], [56], [57]. An extension of this model has been proposed by Sambuc et al.
[53] which handles the presence of a mean incompressible flow inside the fluid
domain. As stipulated below, the presented model remains valid in waveguide
geometries only.
28.5.1 Geometrical and physical assumptions

Many devices encountered in the industry involve small ducts or thin layers of air.
The LRF model describes visco-thermal acoustics in such types of geometries. In
order to obtain a consistent formulation for both 1D and 2D waveguides, Beltman
[30, 56] introduced the following sets of coordinate:
• the propagation direction(s), hereafter labelled with subscript pd ,
• and the cross-sectional direction(s), hereafter labelled with subscript cd .
Consequently, the gradient operator also splits into two contributions:

∇ = ∇ pd + ∇cd as well as any vector quantity.
The conventional boundary layer approximations proposed by Beltman [30] are
verified. The waveguide is assumed small, that is to say, the acoustic wavelength
remains much larger than the characteristic length l and it follows that: k0 l 1.
This hypothesis implies plane wave propagation through the waveguide which
also means a constant pressure field across the cd-directions.
Consequently, the term ∇cd p vanishes and the cross velocity vcd term only
remains in the continuity equation. Therefore, this cd-velocity contribution is
handled as a source (as shown later on).
An additional assumption dealing with the mean flow is considered in this

derivation. The subsonic flow velocity is assumed constant over the cross-section
(i.e plug flow) and writes: v0 = vb0 x pd . The wide circumflex symbol denotes the
average over the cross-section:
Z
? = 1/S
b ?dS, (28.9)
S
b 0 = vb0 /c0 .
and the mean Mach number takes the following form: M
The LRF model is therefore valid for a particular range of k̃0 and k̃ v values
as illustrated in Figure 28.2. This figure also shows the domain of validity of
conventional wave models which do not incorporate viscous effects. Moreover,
because of the specific geometries considered here, the first criteria allows to
Figure 28.2: Validity of considered models.
consider only the frequencies below the cut off frequency of the waveguide and it
is finally equivalent to assume plane wave propagation mode inside the domain.
28.5.2 Simplification of equations

Considering the previous assumptions and conventions, the LNSF equations
Eq. (28.1), Eq. (28.2) and Eq. (28.3) can be rewritten as:
1 b 1 1
iρ0 + M0 ∇ pd ρ0 + ∇ pd v0pd = − ∇cd · v0cd , (28.10a)
k0 k0 k0
1 b 1 1
iv0pd +
M0 ∇ pd v0pd − 2 (∇2pd + ∇2cd )v0pd = − ∇ p0 , (28.10b)
k0 kv γk0 pd
γ−1

0 1 b 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 b 0
iT + M0 ∇ pd T − 2 (∇ pd + ∇cd ) T = ip + M0 ∇ pd p . (28.10c)
k0 kT γ k0
28.5.3 Reduction strategy

The visco-thermal acoustic model relies on the above assumptions and simpli-
fications. A careful examination of the solutions obtained for the temperature,
velocity and density distributions shows that these fields are directly related to
the pressure field p0 ( x pd ) along the propagating direction(s). Substitution of T 0 ,
v0 and ρ0 into the continuity equation will lead to a modified wave equation for
the remaining unknown field p0 ( x pd ).
For a thin layer (Figure 28.4), the propagating directions are the x and y axes
while the cross direction is the z axis and the length scale l is one half of the layer
thickness h. For a circular tube (Figure 28.3), the propagating direction is the z
axis while the cross directions are the x and y axes and the length scale l is the
radius a. For a rectangular tube (Figure 28.5), the propagating direction is the
z axis while the cross directions are the x and y axes and the length scale l is
hw/(h + w) (which reduces to h if h w and to w if w h).
28.5.4 Derivation of an equivalent fluid model

The final equivalent fluid model is obtained from the continuity equation
Eq. (28.10a) by substitution of the equation of state, the thermal and the shear
velocity solutions. The pressure wave equation is integrated over the cross-section
and leads to the following 1D dissipative convected wave equation (also denoted
XLRF equation on the following):

∇ pd · H ∇ pd p0 − M b 02 γN −1 ∇2 p0 − 2ik0 γN −1 M
pd
b 0 ∇ pd p0 + k20 γN −1 p0 = ik0 R.
(28.11)
The dimensionless factors H and N correspond to corrective terms for the density
and the bulk modulus respectively (N is equivalent to the polytropic constant of
the dissipative fluid):
" # −1
k2v b γ − 1 k2T b
H = 2 Ψv and N = 1 − ΨT . (28.12)
Kv γ KT2
Note that Ψv and Ψ T describe dimensionless profiles of the viscous and thermal
fields over the cd-coordinates. It is shown that the resulting visco-thermal fields
have the same expression as given in the conventional LRF formulation substitut-
ing k v and k T by their corresponding convected counterparts Kv and KT defined
as: ! !
k 2M 2 k 2M 2
Kv2 = k2v 1 − i v 2 0 , KT2 = k2T 1 − i T 2 0 ,
b b
(28.13)
4k0 4k0
Analytical solutions for simple cross-sections (cylindrical, rectangular or 2D layer)
are derived on a next section. The averaged profiles Ψ b v and Ψb T are defined by
equation Eq. (28.9). As stated previously, the cross velocity is handled as a source
term which expresses as:
1 1
Z Z
R= ∇cd · v0cd dS = v0cd · ndC, (28.14)
S S S C
where C represents the contour of the surface S and n is the outward normal on
C. The source term at the right hand side is related to the squeeze motion of the
walls (function R). The equation Eq. (28.12) can be written into its dimensioned
form: !
1 |vb0 |2 vb ω2 0
1− 2 ∇2pd p̄0 − 2iω 0 ∇ pd p̄0 + p̄ = iω R̄, (28.15)
ρe0 ce0 κe0 κe0
by using the equivalent bulk modulus, the equivalent density and the equivalent
speed of sound as follow:
s
ρ̄ 0 HN
κe0 = ρe0 ce20 , ρe0 = , ce0 = c̄0 .
H γ
This wave equation Eq. (28.11) is a generalisation of the conventional convected

Helmholtz equation which introduces thermo-viscous dissipation through the
complex parameters H and N. It is also a generalization of the LRF equation
given by Beltman [30] taking into account the effect of a mean flow.
28.5.5 Analytical profiles

Any LRF model require the preliminary evaluation of the averaged shear velocity
and temperature profiles. Those profiles are denoted respectively by Ψq , where
q is a dummy variable representing either v or T. The averaged profiles are
identified with a overbar notation Ψ
b q.
For any kind of geometry, the shape of the visco-thermal profiles depend
√ on the
boundary conditions and the associated complex parameter λq = −ik q , where
k q is the dimensioned visco-thermal wavenumber. The following expressions
are given for no-slip/isothermal boundary conditions as it is shown to be the
conditions the most widely involved for straight waveguides. Those expressions
are available in several works among which Nijhof [44]. The derivation is done
by solving analytically the dissipative inhomogeneous Helmholtz equations of
momentum and energy, providing a relevant coordinate system (depending the
geometry considered).
Furthermore, the presented expressions remain valid for the XLRF model in
replacing the visco-thermal wavenumber k q by the convected visco-thermal
wavenumber Kq given by equations 28.13.
Tube with a circular cross-section

The tube with a circular cross-section has a radius a. It is assumed (in the present
derivation) that the tube axis is along z axis so that the propagation direction
(’pd’) is z while, the cross directions (’cd’) are x and y.
The treatment of a circular tube of radius a follows the procedure selected for a
thin layer. In the present case, the use of cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z) is more
appropriate. The Laplace operator in the cross-section of the tube can be written
using radial r and circumferential θ coordinates. One can also assume that the
solution is axisymmetric so that T 0 does not depend on θ.

J0 λq r
Ψq = 1 − , (28.16)
J0 λ q a

J2 λ q a
Ψ
bq = − . (28.17)
J0 λ q a
Figure 28.3: Circular tube geometry.
Thin layer
The thin layer is characterized by a thickness h. It is assumed (in the present
derivation) that the mean surface is located in plane ( x, y) so that the propagation
directions (’pd’) are x and y while the cross direction (’cd’) is z.
Figure 28.4: Thin layer geometry.
The function Ψq is therefore given by the following expression:

cosh λq z
Ψq

λq , z = 1 − . (28.18)
cosh λq l
The corresponding integrated profile reduces to:

tanh λq l
Ψ

b q λq = 1 − . (28.19)
λq l
Tube with a rectangular cross-section

A tube with a rectangular cross-section is characterized by a width w and an
height h. It is assumed (in the present derivation) that the cross-section is located
in plane ( x, y) while the tube axis is along z direction. The propagation direction
(’pd’) is z while x and y are the cross directions (’cd’).
Figure 28.5: Rectangular tube geometry.
The function Ψq is given by:
16iλ2q l 2 sin ( β m w/2) sin ( β n h/2)

Ψq λq , x, y = ∑∑

cos( β m x ) cos( β n y).
m n β m wβ n h β2m + β2n + iλ2q l 2
(28.20)
where β m = mπ/w and β n = nπ/h. After integration, the function D is obtained:
64iλ2q l 2 1
Ψ ∑ ∑

b q λq = . (28.21)
w2 h2

m=1,3,5,... n=1,3,5,... β2m β2n β2m + β2n + iλ2q l 2
28.6 Distance-based reduced model for arbitrary 3D ge-

ometries
In this section, the fluid is considered at rest. A new reduced method handling the
simulation of visco-thermal acoustics within 3D arbitrary geometries is introduced
on the following. Such method is referred as to the “Distance-Based Linearized
Navier-Stokes-Fourier” (DBLNSF) and it involves a semi-analytic formulation
based on the estimation of a wall distance field.
28.6.1 Governing LNSF equations without mean flow

The zero order terms linked to the mean velocity are eliminated from the LNSF
equations. This leads to the following set of equations for a fluid at rest:
1
iρ0 + ∇ · v0 = 0, (28.22a)
k0
1 2 0 1
iv0 − 2
∇ v =− ∇ p0 , (28.22b)
kv γk0
1 2 0 γ−1 0
iT 0 − ∇ T = ip . (28.22c)
k0T2 γ
28.6 Distance-based reduced model for arbitrary 3D geometries 419
The system Eq. (28.22) must be completed by the state equation which yields:
ρ0 = p0 − T 0 .
Similarly to the LRF strategy, the solutions of the equations Eq. (28.22b) and
Eq. (28.22c) can be expressed for unknown pressure field by means of Green’s
functions. Consequently, the solutions of the momentum and energy equations
can be approximated by the solutions of the following visco-thermal equations,
1 2
Ψq − ∇ Ψq = 1, with q ∈ {v, T }. (28.23)
ik2q
Note that Ψq are referred to as the viscous and thermal fields and satisfy homo-
geneous boundary conditions, such as no-slip/isothermal (Ψq = 0) or no-shear
force/adiabatic (∇n Ψq = 0). Substituting the two visco-thermal solution fields
into the continuity equation Eq. (28.22) leads to the following equivalent dissipa-
tive Helmholtz equation:
∇ · (Ψv ∇ p0 ) + k20 (γ − (γ − 1)Ψ T ) p0 = 0. (28.24)
The “Sequential Linearized Navier-Stokes” model (SLNS) proposed by Kampinga

[26] consists in solving sequentially the two visco-thermal equations Eq. (28.23)
and the pressure wave equation Eq. (28.24).
Bossart et al. [9] suggested another reduced approach called “Boundary Layer
Impedance” (BLI) model. This technique supposes a local decomposition of the
coordinates within the boundary layer. The distinction is made between the
directions perpendicular to the boundary surface and the directions parallel to
the boundary surface. For a plane wall, this uses analytical solutions of the
equations Eq. (28.23) satisfying the no-slip and isothermal conditions at the wall
and no-shear force and adiabatic conditions in the bulk:
√
Ψ q ( x ) = 1 − e− ik q d(x)
, (28.25)
where d(x) is a scalar distance field corresponding to the euclidean distance

to the nearest wall (equals zero on the boundary and increases in the normal
direction to the plane wall). The formulation of an equivalent viscothermal
boundary condition becomes possible with this analytical approximation. Finally,
the numerical resolution of the visco-thermal acoustic problem deals with a con-
ventional isentropic acoustic wave operator completed by a boundary condition
which condensates all the dissipative mechanisms.
28.6.2 Wall distance estimation

The proposed “Distance-Based Linearized Navier-Stokes-Fourier” (DBLNSF)
model can be regarded as an hybrid approach of the SLNS and the BLI models. As
a matter of fact, the DBLNSF differs from the SLNS because only one equivalent
wave equation has to be solved regardless of the number of frequencies of interest.
Similarly to the BLI model, the viscous and thermal solutions are approximated
using a semi-analytical expression based on the estimation of a wall-distance
field.
Spalding [54] suggested the resolution of a Poisson-type equation in order to
estimate the wall distance field. Let one considers an unknown field u that obeys
to the following statement:
∇2 u = −1 , ∀u ∈ R and u = 0 on the walls. (28.26)
An estimation d˜ of the real wall distance field d is computed through the following
formula: v v
!2 !2
u 3 u 3
u u
∂u ∂u
d˜(x) = t ∑ + 2u − t ∑ , ∀x ∈ Ω. (28.27)
j =1
∂x j j =1
∂x j
28.6.3 Smoothing technique and mesh refinement

The DBLNSF model does not require any specific geometrical assumption, how-
ever, the mesh needs to be sufficiently refined close to the wall in order to capture
accurately the boundary layer effects.
The smaller boundary layer thickness δqmin is computed using the higher frequency
and the following convention:
2π
δqmin = √ (28.28)
Re −ikmax
q
where kmax
q correspond to the visco-thermal wave numbers given in section 28.3
at frequency f max . Practically, the user is encouraged to ensure at least 4 elements
within the smallest boundary layer.
Moreover, the distance approximation Eq. (28.25) remains valid when two bound-
ary layers do not overlap each other. This means that the model dimensions
must be sufficiently large compared to the visco-thermal length scale. Thus, it is
advised to ensure the geometric length of the model to be at least twice the value
of the larger visco-thermal boundary layer δqmax , evaluated similarly to Eq. (28.28)
but with the smaller frequency.
One major drawback of the proposed model lies with these mesh refinement
conditions which can drastically increase the computational time. A technique
that allows the coarsening of the mesh within the boundary layer region is
presented here. The basic principle consists in applying an average filter to the
approximated visco-thermal fields and their gradients, taking in consideration
the element thickness. This filter acts as a smoothing function which artificially
reduces the local gradients of the boundary layers while preserving the integral
of the visco-thermal functions over the element.
Mathematically the procedure is simple to describe. Given a user-defined length
parameter e constant over the element and a spatially dependent function f , the
corresponding smoothed function g writes:
Z x +e
1
g( x ) = f (ξ )dξ, (28.29)
e x
28.6 Distance-based reduced model for arbitrary 3D geometries 421
Let one consider a coarse mesh and a field f varying significantly along a
privileged direction e⊥ . If e corresponds to the element thickness in the direction
e⊥ , then the function g at the considered point gives an estimate of the integral
of f over the element thickness.
A smoothed distance-based visco-thermal function is obtained using the two
considerations below. The functional f is substituted by i) the visco-thermal
profile Ψq and ii) its normal derivative ∇⊥ Ψq . Assuming that the elements can
have a different thicknesses all over the mesh, e is now taken as a discontinuous
function constants over each element. Finally, the smoothed function Ψ e q is
formulated from the two previous statements and reads:
√
e q ( x ) = 1 − α ( x )e− α ( x )
Ψ ik q d(x)
,
√
1 − e− ikq e(x) (28.30)
with α(x) = √ .
ik q e(x)
The function α represents the smoothing coefficient applied to the non-smoothed

solution. When the element thickness is very small compared to the boundary
layer thickness, then k q e 1 and that leads directly to |α| → 1. The effect of the
smoothing on the visco-thermal field vanishes (Ψq ≈ Ψ e q ). On the contrary, when
the element is large compared to the boundary layer thickness, k q e 1 which
causes |α| → 0. In that case, the visco-thermal field is no longer zero but tends
to one on the wall. Finally, as the element thickness increases, the visco-thermal
profiles tend to the limiting case of no-shear/adiabatic conditions.
Practically, the use of this regularization scheme can significantly improve the
accuracy of the results especially for coarse meshes that do not respect the criteria
introduced previously (i.e. at least 4 elements within the smallest boundary layer).
However, it is important to note that the use of a non-constant mesh distribution
(adaptive meshes having variable element thickness) within the boundary layer
can lead to small discrepancies. The smoothing technique is well adapted in case
of coarse meshes with constant element thickness in the visco-thermal boundary
layers.
Twenty Nine
Modelling Shear Layers

Using Membrane Elements
Contents
29.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
29.2 Weak contribution of acoustic/elastic coupling in presence
of flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
29.3 Shear layer modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
29.1 Introduction
Aero-vibro-acoustics involves couplings between vibrating structure and acoustic
propagation, in the presence of a grazing mean flow. Such a coupling is needed
when a physical interface between a vibrating solid or membrane and a fluid
is present, but it can also be used as a transition between a pressure-based (or
velocity potential-based) weak formulation and a displacement-based (or normal
displacement-based) weak formulation. Indeed, for various reasons (for example
the modelling of thin shear layers, as seen below) it is sometimes required to
add a “virtual” membrane for separating two fluid regions or covering a fluid
boundary with zero pressure. This virtual membrane has no effect on the acoustic
propagation. A normal membrane with a very low tension and mass will not
disturb the acoustic propagation, provided the mesh is enough refined .
29.2 Weak contribution of acoustic/elastic coupling in pres-

ence of flow
The acoustic boundary conditions related to a prescribed wall motion has been
discussed in Section 27.3. Starting from there, it is possible to derive a coupling
423
424 Modelling Shear Layers
condition between a fluid and a solid in presence of a grazing mean flow. It is

supposed that the displacement within the solid (or solid-like) part is described
by a vectorial displacement field u or a scalar normal displacement field un , with
u = un n.
The starting point is the wall boundary condition Eq. (27.47) written in terms of
normal displacement un :
Z
ρ0
RHS = − un (iωδψ − v0 · ∇δψ) dΓ , (29.1)
Γ ρ0
On the solid (or membrane) side, the boundary condition in terms of pressure
can be written as: Z
RHS = δun pdΓ , (29.2)
Γ
and using the relation between the potential ψ and the pressure p (eq. 27.41):
Z
ρ0
RHS = − δun (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) dΓ . (29.3)
Γ ρ0
Combining the two:

Z
ρ0
COUPLING = − un (iωδψ − v0 · ∇δψ) (29.4)
Γ ρ0
ρ0
+ δun (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) dΓ . (29.5)
ρ0
This expression allows to compute the contribution due to the un ↔ ψ coupling

occurring at the interface between a fluid (variable ψ) and a membrane (variable
un ).
When considering an interface with a solid whose main variable is the vectorial
displacement u, the coupling condition must be rewritten:
Z
ρ0
COUPLING = − n · u (iωδψ − v0 · ∇δψ) (29.6)
Γ ρ0
ρ0
+ n · δu (iωψ + v0 · ∇ψ) dΓ . (29.7)
ρ0
In the absence of flow (v0 = 0), this reduces to the classical symmetric coupling
between a medium of solid type (based on displacement u or normal displacement
un ) and a medium of fluid type (based on scaled velocity potential ψ). In the
presence of flow, a new non-symmetric term appears.
29.3 Shear layer modelling 425
29.3 Shear layer modelling

Shear layers are very thin regions, parallel to the mean flow, in which the mean
flow varies rapidly. Modelling such regions can be done assuming that it has no
mass and that fluid particles cannot cross the shear layer when put in motion
by acoustic perturbation. Such hypothesis implies that the fluid pressure and
fluid normal displacement is continuous across the shear layer. This idea is based
on the preliminary work of Myers[43] and Eversman[16] and the first use of this
technique with Actran has been presented by FFT in 2007[36].
The easiest way to model such a layer is to represent it by a virtual membrane M,

with no mass and no tension, separating two fluid region (region A and B). The
grazing flow between the membrane M and fluid A is different from the grazing
flow between M and B, the difference being the shear layer.
The pressure continuity is ensured by the equation of motion of the membrane

(because of no mass, no tension), while the normal displacement continuity comes
from the membrane-fluid coupling.
In practice, the mass and tension should be imposed to very small (but non-zero)
value for numerical reasons, and special care should be taken to ensure that the
mean flow field is discontinuous at the A ↔ M ↔ B interface.
426 Modelling Shear Layers
Thirty
Composite Materials
Contents
30.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
30.2 Specification of a composite material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
30.3 Handling of the different reduction procedures . . . . . . . . 437
30.4 Practical implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
30.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the modelling strategy for handling composite materials
in Actran. The strategy relies on the evaluation of the equivalent material
properties of a composite material. The input consists in a description of the
different layers and Actran computes the coefficients of the generalized stress-
strain relation. These coefficients are split between two matrices. The first matrix
is related to generalized membrane, normal and bending/torsion effects while
the second matrix is related to transverse shear effects.
The first section shows how to set up the generalized stress-strain relation of a
composite material starting from the description of the layered geometry and the
related material properties.
The second section details the different reduction procedures that are avail-
able.The reduction process is specifically designed in order to allow for the use of
the generalized stress-strain relation in the generation of solid/thin shell element
stiffness matrices.
The third section describes the practical usage of composite materials within the
Actran input file.
427
428 Composite Materials
Remark. The previously used utility reducecomposite is no longer

required for computing the equivalent material properties, as these can be
computed within the Actran computation. However, it is still accessible
in order to compute the equivalent material properties without launching a
computation. Its usage is described in Section 47.11.
30.2 Specification of a composite material

30.2.1 Geometry and basic material properties
The geometry of considered composite materials is described by a sequence of N
layers. Layer i (where 1 ≤ i ≤ N) is defined by its thickness hi (Figure 30.1).
The material of layer i can be orthotropic, transverse isotropic or isotropic. The

related material properties are defined in a particular (local for each layer) coor-
dinate system (1, 2, 3) where axis 1 and 2 are contained in the layer plane while
axis 3 is normal to the layer. If the material is orthotropic, 9 constants have to
be supplied while 5 constants are needed for a transverse isotropic material. An
isotropic material requires only 2 constants. The transverse isotropic assumption
means that the material is isotropic in a plane normal to the fiber direction. These
fibers can be aligned along either axis 1, 2 or 3. The fiber direction is also denoted
hereafter the longitudinal direction (L) while the two other directions are called
transversal directions (also denoted T and T 0 ).
A reference material coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) is also selected in order to

describe the homogenized stress-strain relation.
The material properties of layer i are defined as follows for the different material
models.
30.2.1.1 Orthotropic material
• αi = Angle of axis 1 with respect to axis x 0 ;
• E1i = Young modulus along direction 1;

i = Poisson ratio in plane (1, 2);
• ν12
• ν13
• ν23
i = Shear modulus in plane (1, 2);
• G12
i = Shear modulus in plane (1, 3);
• G13
i = Shear modulus in plane (2, 3).
• G23
30.2 Specification of a composite material 429
Layer N hN
... ...
zi
6 Layer i hi
... ...
Layer 1 h1
Figure 30.1: Layered material geometry.
30.2.1.2 Transverse isotropic material

• αi = Angle of axis 1 with respect to axis x 0 ;
• identification of the fiber direction (direction 1, 2 or 3);
• EiL = Young modulus along the longitudinal direction;
• ETi = Young modulus along transverse directions;
i = Poisson ratio for a longitudinal traction;
• νLT
i
• νTT 0 = Poisson ratio in the transverse plane;
i = Longitudinal shear modulus.

• GLT
30.2.1.3 Isotropic material

• Ei = Young modulus;
• νi = Poisson ratio.
30.2.2 Constitutive equation of layer i in the local system

The strain-stress relation of layer i is defined by the following compliance matrix
for the three possible material models.
30.2.2.1 Orthotropic material
S11 S12 S13 0 0 0

     
ε1 σ1

 ε2 


 S12 S22 S23 0 0 0 


 σ2 

 ε3  
 = S13 S23 S33 0 0 0   σ3 
    (30.1)

 2ε 12 


 0 0 0 S44 0 0 


 σ12 

 2ε 13   0 0 0 0 S55 0   σ13 
2ε 23 i
0 0 0 0 0 S66 i
σ23 i
where the 9 independent coefficients S11 , S22 , S33 , S12 , S13 , S23 , S44 , S55 and S66
are given by:
1
S11 = i , (30.2)
E1
1
S22 = , (30.3)
E2i
1
S33 = , (30.4)
E3i
−ν12i
S12 = , (30.5)
E1i
−ν13i
S13 = , (30.6)
E1i
−ν23i
S23 = , (30.7)
E2i
1
S44 = i
, (30.8)
G12
1
S55 = i
, (30.9)
G13
1
S66 = i
. (30.10)
G23
30.2.2.2 Transverse isotropic material

If the fibers are aligned along axis 1, the compliance matrix can be expressed as:
S11 S12 S12 0 0 0

     
ε1 σ1

 ε2 


 S12 S22 S23 0 0 0 


 σ2 

 ε3  
 = S12 S23 S22 0 0 0   σ3 
    (30.11)

 2ε 12 


 0 0 0 S44 0 0 


 σ12 

 2ε 13   0 0 0 0 S44 0   σ13 
2ε 23 i
0 0 0 0 0 2(S22 − S23 ) i
σ23 i
where the 5 independent coefficients S11 , S22 , S12 , S23 and S44 are given by:
1
S11 = , (30.12)
EiL
1
S22 = , (30.13)
ETi
i
−νLT
S12 = i
, (30.14)
EL
i
−νTT 0
S23 = , (30.15)
ETi
1
S44 = i
. (30.16)
GLT
Using the same notations, the compliance matrix of a transverse isotropic material
whose fibers are aligned along axis 2 will be expressed as:
S22 S12 S23 0 0 0

     
ε1 σ1

 ε2 


 S12 S11 S12 0 0 0 


 σ2 

 ε3  
 = S23 S12 S22 0 0 0   σ3 
    (30.17)

 2ε 12 


 0 0 0 S44 0 0 


 σ12 

 2ε 13   0 0 0 0 2(S22 − S23 ) 0   σ13 
2ε 23 i
0 0 0 0 0 S44 i
σ23 i
while the compliance matrix of a transverse isotropic material with fibers along
axis 3 will be expressed as:
S22 S23 S12 0 0 0

     
ε1 σ1

 ε2 


 S23 S22 S12 0 0 0 


 σ2 

 ε3  
 = S12 S12 S11 0 0 0   σ3 
    (30.18)

 2ε 12 


 0 0 0 2(S22 − S23 ) 0 0 


 σ12 

 2ε 13   0 0 0 0 S44 0   σ13 
2ε 23 i
0 0 0 0 0 S44 i
σ23 i
30.2.2.3 Isotropic material

The compliance matrix of an isotropic material can be expressed as:
1/E −ν/E −ν/E 0 0 0

     
ε1 σ1

 ε2 


 −ν/E 1/E −ν/E 0 0 0 


 σ2 


 ε3  
 = −ν/E −ν/E 1/E 0 0 0 


 σ3 


 2ε 12 


 0 0 0 1/G 0 0 


 σ12 

 2ε 13   0 0 0 0 1/G 0   σ13 
2ε 23 i
0 0 0 0 0 1/G i
σ23 i
(30.19)
where G = E/(2(1 + ν)) is the shear modulus.
30.2.3 Change of reference system

The strain-stress relation of layer i can be expressed in a compact form as:
ε i = Si σi (30.20)
The independent components of the stress tensor can be expressed in the reference
system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) using the following relation:
 
c2 s2 0 2sc 0 0
   
σx0 σ1

 σy0 
 
 s2 c2 0 −2sc 0 0   σ2
 


0 0 1 0 0 0 
 σz0 
  σ3
  
 = (30.21)
  
−sc sc 0 c2 − s2 0 0  

 σx0 y0  


 σ12


0 0 0 0 c s   σ13
 
 σx0 z0   
σy0 z0 0 0 0 0 −s c i σ23 i
i
where c = cos αi and s = sin αi .
This equation can be rewritten in a compact form as:
σi0 = Tσi (αi ) σi . (30.22)
The independent components of the strain tensor in the (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) reference system

can also be expressed in terms of the related strain components in system (1, 2, 3):
 
c2 s2 0 sc 0 0
   
ε x0 ε1

 ε y0 
 
 s2 c2 0 −sc 0 0   ε2
 


0 0 1 0 0 0 
 ε z0 
  ε3
  
 = (30.23)
  
2ε x0 y0 −2sc 2sc 0 c2 − s2   2ε 12
0 0 
   
   
2ε x0 z0 0 0 0 0 c s   2ε 13
   
 
2ε y0 z0 0 0 0 0 −s c i 2ε 23 i
i
or, in a compact form,

ε0i = Tε i (αi ) ε i , (30.24)
where T
Tε i (αi ) = Tσ−i 1 (αi ) = TσTi (−αi ). (30.25)
30.2.4 Strain-stress relation in the reference system

The strain-stress relation in the reference coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) is obtained
easily from the constitutive equation in the local system (1, 2, 3) and the above
Tσi and Tε i matrices. Let us denote by σi0 and ε0i the vectors of independent
components of stress and strain tensors, respectively.
The strain-stress relation can be formulated as:
ε0i = Tε i (αi ) Si Tσ−i 1 (αi ) σi0 , (30.26)
where Tε i (αi ) = TσTi (−αi ) and Tσ−i 1 (αi ) = Tσi (−αi ) so that:
ε0 = Si0 σ0 , (30.27)
with
Si0 = TσTi (−αi ) Si Tσi (−αi ). (30.28)
30.2.5 Splitting the compliance matrix

The strain-stress relation in the reference system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) can be split into two
independent relations: the first one involves membrane and normal stress/strain
components while the second one involves the transverse shear stress/strain
components. Let us define the membrane strain and stress vectors as:
T
ε m = ε x0 , ε y0 , 2ε x0 y0 , (30.29)
and
T
σm = σx0 , σy0 , σx0 y0 . (30.30)
In a similar way, the transverse shear strain and stress vectors can be written as:
T
ε t = 2ε x0 z0 , 2ε y0 z0 , (30.31)
and
T
σt = σx0 z0 , σy0 z0 . (30.32)
The compliance matrix can be written as:

" 0 0
#
εm Smi Sxi σm
= 0 0 (30.33)
ε z0 i SxiT Sni σz0 i
and
0
(ε t )i = Sti (σt )i . (30.34)
0 0 0 0
Matrices Smi , Sxi , Sni and Sti are given by the following relations:
0 0 0
 
S (1, 1) Si (1, 2) Si (1, 4)
0  i0 0 0
Smi =  Si (2, 1) Si (2, 2) Si (2, 4)  , (30.35)

0 0 0
Si (4, 1) Si (4, 2) Si (4, 4)
0

Si (1, 3)
0  0
Sxi =  Si (2, 3)  , (30.36)

0
Si (4, 3)
0 0
Sni = Si (3, 3), (30.37)
and " #
0 0
0 Si (5, 5) Si (5, 6)
Sti = 0 0 . (30.38)
Si (6, 5) Si (6, 6)
30.2.6 Mixed stress-strain relation

Eq. (30.33) can be reformulated as:
Ai Bi

σm εm
= , (30.39)
ε z0 i
− BiT Di σz0 i
where Ai , Bi and Di matrices are given by:

0 −1
Ai = Smi , (30.40)
0 −1 0
Bi = − Smi Sxi (30.41)
and 0 −1 0
0 0
Di = Sni − SxiT Smi Sxi . (30.42)
30.2.7 Average normal strain

The average normal strain ε n is obtained as:
Z +1 Z h
1 1
εn = ε z0 dζ = ε z0 dz0 , (30.43)
2 −1 h 0
where ε z0 is given by equation (30.39):
(ε z0 )i = − BiT (ε m )i + Di (σn )i , (30.44)
and
ε m = ε mp + ζε mb . (30.45)
This lead to express ε n as:
 
ε mp
− B0T − B1T

εn = D0  σn  , (30.46)
ε mb
where B0 , B1 and D0 matrices are given by:

Z +1
1
B0 = Bdζ, (30.47)
2 −1
Z +1
1
B1 = Bζdζ, (30.48)
2 −1
and Z +1
1
D0 = Ddζ. (30.49)
2 −1
30.2.8 Generalized membrane and bending stresses

The generalized membrane and bending stresses are obtained by integration
along thickness direction:
1 +1
Z
σm σm
= dζ. (30.50)
σb 2 −1 ζσm
These efforts are related to physical efforts e
σm and eσb :
Z h
σm 1 2 σm
= dz0 . (30.51)
e
σb
e 2 − 2h z0 σm
through
1
σm = σm ,
e (30.52)
h
and
2
σb =
σ, (30.53)
h2 b
e
The generalized stresses can therefore be expressed as:
 
ε
1 +1 B ζ A  mp 

A
Z
σm
= σn dζ, (30.54)
σb 2 −1 ζ A ζB ζ 2 A
ε mb
or  
ε mp
σm A0 B0 A1
=  σn  , (30.55)
σb A1 B1 A2
ε mb
where
1 +1
Z
A0 = Adζ, (30.56)
2 −1
1 +1
Z
A1 = Aζdζ, (30.57)
2 −1
and Z +1
1
A2 = Aζ 2 dζ. (30.58)
2 −1
30.2.9 Generalized transverse shear stress-strain relation

In a similar way, transverse shear stresses can be integrated in order to give the
generalized transverse shear stress vector σt which is related to the transverse
shear strain vector ε t through :
1 +1 1 +1

Ct (γ0 + ζγn )
Z Z
τ γ0
σt = dζ = dζ = CT = CT ε t ,
2 −1 ζτ 2 −1 ζCt (γ0 + ζγn ) γn
(30.59)
where " R +1 R +1 #
1 − 1 Ct dζ − 1 Ct ζdζ
CT = R +1 R +1 2
. (30.60)
2 −1 Ct ζdζ −1 Ct ζ dζ
30.2.10 Resulting stress-strain relation

The combination of equations (30.55) and (30.46) gives the final generalized
stress-strain relation:
A0 + B0 D0−1 B0T B0 D0−1 A1 + B0 D0−1 B1T

    
σm ε mp
 σn  =  D0−1 B0T D0−1 D0−1 B1T   ε n  , (30.61)
− 1 T − 1 − 1 T
σb A1 + B1 D0 B0 B1 D0 A2 + B1 D0 B1 ε mb
for membrane, normal and bending/torsion effects while Eq. (30.60) hold for
transverse shear effects:
σ t = CT ε t . (30.62)
30.2.11 Practical evaluation of generalized stress-strain relations

The evaluation of generalized stress-strain relations relies on the discrete descrip-
tion of the layered material. Each layer i of thickness hi is identified by the zi0
coordinate of its upper surface. These coordinates are related to thicknesses h j
through:
i
zi0 = ∑ h j ( i 6 = 0), (30.63)
j =1
while z00 = 0.
This allows for the following mapping between the physical coordinate z0 and
the normalized ζ coordinate:
zi0
ζ i = −1 + 2 . (30.64)
z0N
Matrices A0 , A1 , A2 , B0 , B1 and D0 are therefore obtained as:
1 N i
Z +1
1
2 i∑
A0 = Adζ = A ( ζ i − ζ i −1 ) , (30.65)
2 −1 =1
1 N i 2
Z +1
1
A1 =
2 −1
Aζdζ = ∑
4 i =1
A ζ i − ζ i2−1 , (30.66)
1 N i 3
Z +1
1
A2 =
2 −1
Aζ 2 dζ = ∑
6 i =1
A ζ i − ζ i3−1 , (30.67)
1 N i
Z +1
1
2 i∑
B0 = Bdζ = B ( ζ i − ζ i −1 ) , (30.68)
2 −1 =1
1 N i 2
Z +1
1
4 i∑
2
B1 = Bζdζ = B ζ i − ζ i −1 , (30.69)
2 −1 =1
30.3 Handling of the different reduction procedures 437
and
1 N i
Z +1
1
2 i∑
D0 = Ddζ = D ( ζ i − ζ i −1 ) , (30.70)
2 −1 =1
while matrices involved in CT are obtained as:
1 N i
Z +1
1
2 i∑
Ct dζ = Ct (ζ i − ζ i−1 ) , (30.71)
2 −1 =1
1 N i 2
Z +1
1
4 i∑
2
Ct ζdζ = Ct ζ i − ζ i −1 , (30.72)
2 −1 =1
1 N i 3
Z +1
1
2 −1
Ct ζ 2 dζ = ∑
6 i =1
Ct ζ i − ζ i3−1 . (30.73)
30.3 Handling of the different reduction procedures

30.3.1 Transverse shear stress profile and generalized shear
stresses
The above homogenization procedure can be refined in order to handle more
accurately the effect of the transverse shear stresses. This process requires to
define the distribution of transverse shear stresses within each individual layer.
The transversal shear stresses σxz and σyz can be obtained from an appropriate
treatment of equilibrium equations. This process is defined hereafter for the shear
stress component σxz in the layer i. Starting from the equilibrium equation (in
the absence of body forces):
i i
∂σxx ∂σxy ∂σi
+ + xz = 0, (30.74)
∂x ∂y ∂z
i is neglected):
one obtains (if the shear stress component σxy
i
∂σxz ∂σi
= − xx . (30.75)
∂z ∂x
i can be expressed as follows:
The normal stress component σxx
i i i i ∂κ x
σxx = C11 exx = −C11 (z − z0x ) , (30.76)
∂x
i is the elastic coefficient, z
where C11 0x is the z coordinate of the neutral plane for
the bending around x direction and κ x is the related bending curvature.
Figure 30.2: Transverse shear stress distribution along layer i.
Without any loss of generality, the curvature coefficient is set to 1. Substitution of

Eq. (30.76) into Eq. (30.75) gives after integration:
Z z
i i i
z0x − z0 dz0 ,

σxz (z) = σxz,bot + C11 (30.77)
−hi /2
or !
z2 h2

h
i
σxz (z) = i
σxz,bot i
+ C11 z0x z+ i i
− C11 − i , (30.78)
2 2 8
i
where σxz,bot i at the bottom of layer i.
is the shear stress σxz
i
The shear stress component σxz,top at the top of layer i is given by setting z =
+hi /2 in Eq. (30.78):
i i i
σxz,top = σxz,bot + C11 z0x hi . (30.79)
In this way, the shear stress profile can be reformulated as:
!
i 1 i i

i i
z Ci h2i
σxz (z) = σxz,bot + σxz,top + σxz,top − σxz,bot + 11 − z2 . (30.80)
2 hi 2 4
As expected, the shear stress profile for a particular layer i is quadratic along z.
The generalized shear stress σ xz is defined as:

Z +h /2
i
σ xz = ∑ σixz = ∑ −hi /2
i
σxz (z)dz. (30.81)
i i
The integration along layer i relies on a separate treatment of constant, linear and
quadratic terms in the expression (30.80). The constant term gives a contribution

equal to 12 σxz,bot
i i
+ σxz,top hi , the linear term gives a zero contribution and the
quadratic term gives a contribution equal to 2/3h
i times the difference between
1 i i
the stress value at z = 0 and 2 σxz,bot + σxz,top :
Z +h /2
i 1 i 1 i 3
σixz = i
σxz dz = i
σxz,bot + σxz,top hi + C11 hi . (30.82)
−hi /2 2 12
i can be
In a similar way, the distribution of the shear stress component σyz
characterized by the following relations:
i i i
σyz,top = σyz,bot + C22 z0y hi , (30.83)
and
!
i 1 i i

i i
z Ci h2i
σyz (z) = σyz,bot + σyz,top + σyz,top − σyz,bot + 22 − z2 , (30.84)
2 hi 2 4
where z0y is the z coordinate of the neutral plane for the bending around y
direction.
The shear stress resultant σiyz is defined by the following equation:

Z +h /2
i 1 i 1 i 3
σiyz = i
σyz dz = i
σyz,bot + σyz,top hi + C22 hi . (30.85)
−hi /2 2 12
The shear stress components σixz and σiyz can be regrouped in the vector σit0 :
!
σixz
σit0 = . (30.86)
σiyz
30.3.2 Homogenization based on constant transverse shear

strains and average on stresses
If one assumes that the transverse shear strains are constant along the thickness:
et (z) = et0 , (30.87)
one can produce the average shear stress σt0 using the following relation:
1
Z Z
et0
σt0 = Ct (z)et0 (z)dz = Ct (z)dz. (30.88)
h h h h
The equivalent model is characterized by the relation:
σt0 = C t et0 , (30.89)

so that C t is given by:

1 ∑i Cti hi
Z
Ct = Ct (z)dz = . (30.90)
h h ∑i hi
The same result can be obtained by resorting to an energy equivalence. C t should
be defined in order to verify the equality of transverse shear energy for the
equivalent homogeneous model and the initial (heterogeneous) model :
1 T 1 1 T
Z
e C t et0 = e Ct (z)et0 dz. (30.91)
2 t0 h h 2 t0
or Z
1 T 1 T 1
et0 C t et0 = et0 Ct (z)dz et0 , (30.92)
2 2 h h
so that Eq. (30.90) is obtained.
30.3.3 Homogenization based on constant transverse shear

stresses and average on strains
If one assumes that the transverse shear stresses are constant along the thickness:
σt (z) = σt0 , (30.93)
one can produce the average equivalent shear strain et0 using the following
relation:
1
Z Z
σt0
et0 = St (z)σt0 (z)dz = St (z)dz. (30.94)
h h h h
The equivalent model is characterized by the relation:
et0 = St σt0 . (30.95)
so that St is given by:

1 ∑i Sti hi
Z
St = St (z)dz = . (30.96)
h h ∑i hi
The same result can be obtained by resorting to an equivalence in energy.
30.3.4 Homogenization based on parabolic transverse shear

stresses and average on stresses
The procedure is based on the identification of the parabolic shear stress profile
and the use of the resultant shear stresses. The related equivalent shear strains
et0 are defined as:
1
Z
et0 = St (z)σt (z)dz. (30.97)
h h
Since the transverse shear compliance matrix St (z) = Sti0 is constant on each layer
i, the integration can be performed as follows:
1
et0 =
h ∑ Sti0 σit0 , (30.98)
i
where σit0 is the shear stress vector σt (z) integrated along layer i and is given by
Eq. (30.86).
0
The equivalent shear stiffness St results from the relation:
0
et0 = St σt0 , (30.99)
0
where et0 is given by Eq. (30.84) and σt0 = ∑i σit0 . The resulting expression of St
is therefore given by:
0 1 ∑i Sti0 σit0
St = . (30.100)
h ∑i σit0
0
The equivalent transverse shear stiffness C t is obtained as the inverse of St :
0 −1
C t = St . (30.101)
30.3.5 Homogenization based on parabolic transverse shear

stresses and energy equivalence
The procedure is based on the identification of the above parabolic shear stress
profile and the use of a transverse shear energy equivalence. The related equiv-
0
alent compliance matrix St should ensure the equality of the transverse shear
strain energy Et of the equivalent model and the transverse shear strain energy
Et of the heterogeneous model:
Et = Et , (30.102)
where
1 T 0
Et = σ S σt0 , (30.103)
2 t0 t
while
1 1 T
Z
Et = σ (z)St0 (z)σt (z)dz. (30.104)
h h 2 t
Since the transverse shear compliance matrix St0 (z) = Sti0 is constant on each layer
i, the integration can be performed as follows:
Z
1 1 T 1 1 T
Z
Et =
h h
σ (z)St0 (z)σt (z)dz =
2 t h ∑ h 2 ti
0
σ (z)Sti σti (z)dz . (30.105)
i
The compliance matrix Sti0 is given by:

" 0 0
#
0 Sti (1, 1) Sti (1, 2)
Sti = 0 0 , (30.106)
Sti (2, 1) Sti (2, 2)

and the vector σtiT (z) = σxz
i ( z ), σ i ( z ) .
yz

Z +h /2 Z +h /2
1 0 i 0 i
Et =
2h ∑ Sti (1, 1)
−hi /2
i
σxz i
(z)σxz (z)dz + Sti (1, 2)
−hi /2
i
σxz i
(z)σyz (z)dz
i
Z +h /2 Z +h /2
0 i 0 i
i i i i
+Sti (2, 1) σyz (z)σxz (z)dz + Sti (2, 2) σyz (z)σyz (z)dz (30.107)
−hi /2 −hi /2
while the shear strain energy Et of the equivalent model is given by Eq. (30.103)
or, more, explicitly, by:
1 0 0
Et = St (1, 1)σ xz σ xz + St (1, 2)σ xz σyz
2
0 0
+St (2, 1)σyz σ xz + St (2, 2)σyz σyz . (30.108)
The identification of the three independent terms of Et and Et allows for the
evaluation of the compliance coefficients of the equivalent model:
0 R +hi /2 i ( z ) σi ( z ) dz
0 ∑i Sti (1, 1) −hi /2 σxz xz
St (1, 1) = , (30.109)
σ xz σ xz h
0 R +hi /2 i ( z ) σi ( z ) dz
0 ∑i Sti (2, 2) −hi /2 σyz yz
St (2, 2) = , (30.110)
σyz σyz h
0 R +hi /2 i ( z ) σi ( z ) dz
0 ∑i Sti (1, 2) −hi /2 σxz yz
St (1, 2) = . (30.111)
σ xz σyz h
The evaluation of the integrals of products of parabolic stress distributions

involved in these expressions can rely on the following result. The integral I of
the product of two quadratic functions f (z) and g(z) expressed as:
tf − bf
2
bf + tf

h 2
f (z) = + z + qf −z =
2 h 4
2
z h
mf + df + qf − z2 , (30.112)
h 4
2
bg + t g t g − bg

h
g(z) = + z + qg − z2 =
2 h 4
2
z h 2
mg + dg + qg −z , (30.113)
h 4
is evaluated as:
Z +h/2
d f dg
h3 h5
I= f (z) g(z)dz = m f mg + h + m f qg + mg q f + q f qg .
−h/2 12 6 30
(30.114)
30.4 Practical implementation 443
30.4 Practical implementation

Composite materials can be used by any type of shells (solid or thin). These shell
components are then referring to a COMPOSITE_SOLID material, which gives the
description of the different layers.
30.4.1 Syntax
The syntax of layered composite materials is detailed in Section 3.75 of Volume 2.
Each line defines one ply that is characterized by its ID, the material in which it
is made, the thickness and the angle between the ply and the element coordinate
system.
Each ply can be characterized by any valid ISOTROPIC_SOLID,

TRANSVERSE_ISOTROPIC_SOLID or ORTHOTROPIC_SOLID material. The mate-
rial properties related to each material model are summarized below:
• Orthotropic model: E1 , E2 , E3 , ν12 , ν13 , ν23 , G12 , G13 , G23 and ρS ;
• Transverse isotropic model: EL , ET , νLT , νTT 0 , GLT , ρS and the isotropic axis;
• Isotropic: E, ρS and ν.
30.4.2 Reference direction

Since the orientation of the reference material coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) changes
from one element to the other, a particular procedure is selected in order to
define automatically the related coordinate system. This procedure relies on
the definition of a reference direction (to be specified by the user with respect
the global coordinate system supporting the finite element model). The local
reference material coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) in a particular element is generated
by selecting the (positive) normal direction as z0 . The x 0 and y0 directions therefore
defines a plane parallel to the local mean surface. Direction x 0 is defined as the
projection of the reference direction in this plane while y0 is computed in such a
way that one obtains a direct orthonormal system.
Figure 30.3: Definition of the local coordinate system using a reference direction.
30.4.3 Homogenization options

In addition to the definition of the different plies inside the composite ma-
terial, different homogenization strategies can also be selected through the
HOMOGENIZATION_OPTION keyword followed by an integer value within the
MATERIAL data block (see Section 3.75 of Volume 2). Four different procedures
are available:
• 0: procedure based on a constant shear strain (old reducecomposite strat-

egy);
• 1: procedure based on a constant shear stress;
• 2: procedure based on a parabolic shear stress distribution and average

shear stress;
• 3: procedure based on a parabolic shear stress distribution and equivalent

shear strain energies.
By default, the procedure based on a constant shear stress (1) is selected. However,
if required, the previous homogenization procedure based on a constant shear
strain can still be selected.
Thirty One
Handling Prestressed
Structures
Contents
31.1 Dynamic response of prestressed structures . . . . . . . . . . 445
31.2 Geometrical stiffness matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
31.3 Thin shell and beam elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
31.4 Modelling strategy for prestressed structures . . . . . . . . . 450
31.5 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
31.1 Dynamic response of prestressed structures

A prestressed structure is defined as a structure submitted to given initial stress σij0
and strain eij0 states that are supposed to be independent of time. The study of a
prestressed structure consists therefore in the evaluation of additional stress σij∗
and displacement ui∗ fields induced by an external additional excitation. If we
select the prestressed configuration as the reference domain Ω∗ and denote by eij
and σij the total strain and stress field measured in configuration Ω∗ :
eij = eij0 + eij∗ (31.1)
σij = σij0 + σij∗ (31.2)
The Hamilton theorem for a dynamical system can be expressed as:
Z t2
δ (T − V ) dt = 0 (31.3)
t1
445
446 Pre-Stressed Structures
where the variation is related to the displacement with respect to the initial state:
δui = δui∗ (31.4)
while T and V are the kinetic anergy and the potential energy obtained by
moving from the initial state to the deformed state:
1 1
Z Z
T = ρ∗ u̇i u̇i dΩ = ρ∗ u̇i∗ u̇i∗ dΩ = T ∗ (31.5)
2 Ω∗ 2 Ω∗
In this last expression, T ∗ is the kinetic energy related to the additional displace-
ments ui∗ .
The potential energy V is the sum of the strain energy Vi and the potential energy
Ve of external loads:
V = Vi + V e (31.6)
The total strain energy Vi can be expressed as:
1
Z
Vi = Cijkl eij0 + eij∗ 0
ekl ∗
+ ekl dΩ (31.7)
2 Ω∗
or
1
Z
∗
Vi = Cijkl eij0 ekl
0
+ 2Cijkl eij0 ekl + Cijkl eij∗ ekl
∗
dΩ (31.8)
2 Ω∗
The first term in the above expression is the strain energy related to the initial
state:
1
Z
Vi0 = Cijkl eij0 ekl
0
dΩ (31.9)
2 Ω∗
This strain energy is constant and therefore does not generate contributions to
the Hamilton theorem. It can be therefore disregarded for the present treatment.
On the other hand, the usual relation between strain and displacement compo-
nents can be generalized in order to include second-order contributions:
∂u∗j
!
1 ∂ui∗ ∂u∗ ∂u∗
eij∗ = + + m m (31.10)
2 ∂x j ∂xi ∂xi ∂x j
31.1 Dynamic response of prestressed structures 447
or
∗(1) ∗(2)
eij∗ = eij + eij (31.11)
The strain energy (without the constant term) can be rewritten using the above
decomposition of the additional strain field:
1
Z
∗(1) ∗(2)
Vi = σij0 eij + σij0 eij dΩ
Ω∗ 2

1 ∗(1) ∗(1) 1 ∗(2) ∗(2)
Z
∗(1) ∗(2)
+ Cijkl e ekl + eij ekl + eij ekl dΩ (31.12)
Ω∗ 2 ij 2
If higher order contributions to the strain field are neglected, the strain energy
takes the following form:
1
Z Z
∗(1) ∗(2) ∗(1) ∗(1)
Vi = σij0 eij + σij0 eij dΩ + C e ekl dΩ (31.13)
Ω∗ Ω∗ 2 ijkl ij
or Z
∗(1) ∗(2)
Vi = σij0 eij + σij0 eij dΩ + Vi∗ (31.14)
Ω∗
∗(1)
where Vi∗ is the strain energy related to the additional strains eij .
The potential energy of external loads is given by:
Z Z
Ve = − ¯f 0 + f¯∗ ui dΩ − f¯si0 + f¯si∗ ui dΓ (31.15)
vi vi
Ω∗ Γ
or
Ve = Ve0 + Ve∗ (31.16)
where Ve0 is the potential energy of prestress external loads (volume and surface
prestress load densities are denoted f¯vi0 and f¯0 , respectively) while V ∗ is the
si e
potential energy of additional external loads.
In the present context, it is assumed that the considered structures are externally
prestressed. It means that the prestress is obtained by the (static) application
of prescribed loads (pressurization of a cabin, for example). In such a case, the
equilibrium condition of the structure prestressed by the application of external
(volume and surface) loads f¯vi 0 and f¯0 allows for the application of the theorem
si
of virtual displacements:
Z
∗(1)
σij0 δeij dΩ + δVe0 = 0 (31.17)
Ω∗
Grouping all contributions, one can rewrite the quantity T − V as:

Z
∗ ∗(1) ∗(2)
T −V = T − σij0 eij + σij0 eij dΩ + Vi∗ + Ve0 + Ve∗ (31.18)
Ω∗
Taking into account the static equilibrium equation (31.17), the particular form of
the Hamilton theorem for a prestressed structure can be written as:
Z t2
δ T ∗ − Vi∗ − Ve∗ − V p∗ dt = 0 (31.19)
t1
where the variation is considered with respect to the additional displacements ui∗
and is such that the virtual displacements are zero at t = t1 and t = t2 :
δui∗ (t1 ) = δui∗ (t2 ) = 0 (31.20)
The various energy quantities involved in Eq. (31.19) are as follows:
• T ∗ is the additional kinetic energy:
1
Z
T∗= ρ∗ u̇i∗ u̇i∗ dΩ (31.21)
2 Ω∗
• Vi∗ is the additional linear strain energy:
1
Z
∗(1) ∗(1)
Vi∗ = C e ekl dΩ (31.22)
Ω∗ 2 ijkl ij
• V p is the prestress geometrical energy:

Z
∗(2)
Vp = σij0 ekl dΩ (31.23)
Ω∗
• Ve is the additional external potential energy:

Z Z
Ve = − f¯vi∗ ui∗ dΩ − f¯si∗ ui∗ dΓ (31.24)
Ω∗ Γ
This result shows that the additional displacement ui∗ of a prestressed structure
can be computed using a linear analysis strategy between the prestressed (initial)
state and the deformed state but requires the handling of an additional term V p
in the Hamilton theorem. This term is the so-called geometrical energy related to
the initial stress state.
31.2 Geometrical stiffness matrices 449
31.2 Evaluation of geometrical stiffness matrices

The derivation of a dynamic finite element model relies on the application of the
Hamilton theorem in a discrete context where the unknown displacement field is
approximated by a set of appropriate interpolation functions.
In the present context of a prestressed structure, the evaluation process requires

to handle the additional prestress energy contribution. This energy contribution
involves the (known) initial stress state and the (unknown) second-order terms of
the strain-displacement relations.
The stationarity condition of the extended functional therefore leads to an addi-

tional ’geometrical’ stiffness matrix that should be combined with the conven-
tional elastic stiffness matrix in order to form the global stiffness matrix of the
prestressed structure.
Instead of sampling and exchanging initial stress components, the procedure

refers to the displacement field related to the initial stress field. The initial stress
state is therefore locally reconstructed starting from the kinematical description
of the initial state.
31.3 Thin shell and beam elements

The strategy for dealing with pre-stress for those elements is slightly different
than for solid shell elements. Indeed, it is often possible to specify explicitly the
pre-stress, as an inplane tension tensor for thin shell or scalar tension for beams.
Those tensions can be modelled by adding a membrane term to the stiffness of
thin shells, or a catenary term to the stiffness of beams. This tension-related
additional stiffness adds the following potential energy on the Hamilton equation
for thin shells and beams:
• Thin shells tension-induced potential energy:

Z
VT = − ∇α u∗n Tαβ ∇ β u∗n dΩ, (31.25)
Ω∗
where α, β are inplane indices and ∇α is the inplane gradient operator. Tαβ
is the inplane tension second-order tensor.
• Beam tension-induced potential energy:
Z
∂ ∗ ∂ ∗
VT = − u T u dΩ, (31.26)
Ω∗ ∂s t ∂s t
where t is transverse (normal to the beam) indices and s is the curvilinear

coordinate along the beam. T is the scalar tension.
Those energies are equivalent to the prestress geometrical energy V p , provided

that curvature radius of the beam or thin shell is large compared to their
thickness/cross-section, and that the tension (inplane for thin shells, axial for
beams) is the major component of stresses (larger than shear, bending and normal
stresses).
When initial displacement and rotation states are provided, inplane tensions
are computed using the element material stiffness, and added to the explicitly
specified tensions.
31.4 Modelling strategy for prestressed structures

In a vibro-acoustic context, the prestress effect can be handled by completing the
following two steps:
Step 1 Evaluation of the initial (static) displacement (and rotation) field related
to the prestress effect. Such an evaluation requires to perform a static
analysis of the structure subjected to the system of loads which generates
the initial stress field. A static analysis can be performed by running the
Actran software at a single low frequency (nearly zero frequency). The
resulting displacement field (formatted as an INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT and
INITIAL_ROTATION data blocks) can be saved in a particular file using the
SAVE data block;
Step 2 Evaluation of the vibro-acoustic response taking into account the geo-
metrical stiffness related to the initial stress state. This requires the speci-
fication of the INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT and INITIAL_ROTATION data blocks
produced during step 1. The non-zero initial displacement components
specified in this data block supports the evaluation of initial stresses and,
in turn, the computation of additional geometrical stiffness matrices for
considered structural elements. These matrices are added to the elastic stiff-
ness matrices in order to form the global stiffness contributions of related
elements.
In addition, the explicit specification of a tension stress tensor for thin shells and
beams is also available through the use of the TENSION keyword. Please refer to
Section 3.10 of Volume 2 for more details on the COMPONENT data block.
31.5 Limitations
The current Actran version supports the handling of prestress effects only for
solid shell, thin shell and beam elements (DSHELL, BEAM and SHELL component
type). Only thin shell and beam elements support the explicit definition of a
tension tensor.
Thirty Two
Coupling of Modal and

Physical Components
Contents
32.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
32.2 Solution ingredients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
32.3 Derivation of the Modal/Physical vibro-acoustic model . . . 453
32.4 Particular features of the coupled vibro-acoustic model with
physical and modal components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
32.1 Introduction
Vibro-acoustic problems are related to the interaction between a structure and
an acoustic fluid. Both the structure and the acoustic fluid are described using
appropriate fields (vector displacement for the structure, scalar pressure or
potential for the acoustic fluid). In a finite element context, this choice leads to
a conventional representation where the solution vector involves displacement
components at structural nodes and acoustic pressure (or potential) at fluid nodes.
In many circumstances, the selection of a modal representation for the structure

is advisable. Such modal representation usually reduces the size of the structural
model (and therefore lead to a potential reduction of the computation time for
the vibro-acoustic model) but also eases the exchange process of a structural
model with other CAE softwares.
The hybrid vibro-acoustic coupling of modal and physical components is de-

scribed in this chapter. The derivation is performed starting from the vibro-
451
452 Coupling of Modal and Physical Components
acoustic model in physical coordinates. A modal expansion of the structural

response, combined with a projection of structural equations in the related modal
space, allows for the derivation of a hybrid vibro-acoustic model with physi-
cal and modal degrees of freedom. The particular features of this model are
highlighted.
32.2 Solution ingredients

32.2.1 Vibro-acoustic model in physical coordinates
The vibro-acoustic model relies on the usual assumptions (visco-elastic material
for the structure, acoustic material for the fluid, small displacements). In a finite
element context, such a model is usually described in terms of displacements
variational statement leads to the following system of algebraic equations:
Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms C

u(ω ) f s (ω )
= ,
(32.1)
where Ks , Ms and Ds are the so-called structural stiffness, mass and damping
matrices, Ka , Ma and Da are the so-called acoustic stiffness, mass and damping
matrices, C is the coupling matrix, f s is the structural load vector, f a is the acoustic
load vector while u and p are the displacement and acoustic pressure vectors,
respectively.
The structural model is characterized by the structural dynamic stiffness matrix

A s ( ω ):
As (ω ) = Ks + iωDs − ω 2 Ms , (32.2)
while the acoustic model is characterized by the acoustic dynamic stiffness A a (ω ):
A a (ω ) = Ka + iωDa − ω 2 Ma . (32.3)
32.2.2 Modal description of the structural model

It is assumed that the modal description relies on the (real) eigenmodes of the
undamped (in vacuo) structural model:
( K s − λ s Ms ) ψ s = 0 , (32.4)
where λs and ψs are the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the structural undamped
problem (λ > 0 if matrices Ks and Ms are positive definite).
These eigenpairs verify the following orthogonality conditions:
ψαsT Ms ψβs = δαβ , ψαsT Ks ψβs = λsα δαβ . (32.5)

32.3 Derivation of the Modal/Physical vibro-acoustic model 453
32.3 Derivation of the Modal/Physical vibro-acoustic

model
The derivation of the reduced hybrid vibro-acoustic model starts from Eq. (32.1)
where the vector p(ω ) is partitioned into two sub-vectors pc (ω ) (acoustic dofs
coupled to the structural model) and pu (ω ) (acoustic dofs not coupled to the
structural model):
    
As (ω C 0 u(ω ) f s (ω )
 ω2 CT Acc
a (ω ) Acu
a (ω )
  pc (ω )  =  f ac (ω )  , (32.6)
0 Auc
a (ω ) Auu
a (ω ) pu (ω ) f au (ω )
The reduced Modal/Physical vibro-acoustic model is obtained by projecting the

physical structural model (as described by the structural set of equation (32.6))
onto the subspace of the first ms structural modes.
Let us denote by Ψs the matrix of the first ms structural modes:
Ψs = ψ1s , ψ2s , . . . , ψm
s

s
. (32.7)
The solution u is described by
u(ω ) ' us (ω ) = Ψs qs (ω ) , (32.8)
where qs (ω ) are the generalized (modal) coordinates.
The projection of the structural set of equation (32.6) into the selected subspace
gives:
 s
Ψ As (ω )Ψs ΨsT C Ψ f s (ω )
 sT   sT 
0 q (ω )
 ω 2 C T Ψs Acc
a (ω ) Acu
a (ω )
  pc (ω )  =  f ac (ω )  . (32.9)
0 uc uu
A a (ω ) A a (ω ) pu (ω ) f au (ω )
This lead to the definition of the following matrices:
As (ω ) = ΨsT As (ω )Ψs , (32.10)

sT
C=Ψ C, (32.11)
and the modal load vector:
f s (ω ) = ΨsT f s (ω ) . (32.12)
Based on orthogonality conditions, the modal dynamic stiffness matrix can be

rewritten in terms of the diagonal modal stiffness and mass matrices and the
projected modal damping matrix:
As (ω ) = K s + iωD s − ω 2 Ms (32.13)
454 Coupling of Modal and Physical Components
where
[K s ]αβ = λsα δαβ , (32.14)

[ Ms ]αβ = δαβ (32.15)
sT s
D s = Ψ Ds ( ω ) Ψ . (32.16)
The final form of the reduced vibro-acoustic model is:

 s
f (ω )
   
As (ω ) C 0 q (ω ) s
 ω 2 C T Acca (ω ) Acu
a (ω )
  pc (ω )  =  f c (ω )  . (32.17)
a
uc uu
0 A a (ω ) A a (ω ) pu (ω ) f au (ω )
32.4 Particular features of the coupled vibro-acoustic

model with physical and modal components
A careful examination of Eq. (32.17) indicates the particular features of this model:
• The structural contribution is a diagonal matrix As (ω );
• The acoustic contribution is a sparse matrix A a (ω );
• The coupling term is a dense matrix C.
The selection of a hybrid Modal/Physical representation is leading to a reduction

of the number of degrees of freedom (since the structural response is expanded
using a reduced set of modes) but generates at the same time a dense coupling
matrix that can affect both memory requirements and factorization time.
The theoretical development presented above can be naturally extended to the

case (although less common) of an acoustic model described in modal coordinates
and a structural model described in physical coordinates.
Thirty Three
Use of Superelements in
Vibro-acoustic Simulations
Contents
33.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
33.2 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
33.3 Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
33.4 Functional specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
33.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the use of reduced dynamic models (superelements) in the
Actran environment. Section 33.2 presents the motivation, Section 33.3 deals
with technical aspects while Section 33.4 describes the functional aspects related
to the use of Nastran superelements in Actran.
33.2 Motivations
The evaluation of vibro-acoustic performances of particular physical components
(windshield, insulating panels, etc.) usually requires the handling of the
supporting structure in the modeling procedure. A detailed analysis of the
component and the supporting structure using a refined finite element model
is usually not possible due to the huge size of the resulting discrete model. A
dynamic reduction procedure is therefore advisable. Such dynamic reduction
can be performed starting from the FE model of the supporting structure. The
Craig-Bampton technique leads, in this context, to reduced stiffness and mass
matrices that could be easily exported and handled by the software dedicated to
the analysis of the component. This procedure allows for the handling of the
455
456 Superelements Import in Actran
dynamic behavior of the supporting structure at a reduced cost and preserves

the confidentiality of material and geometrical data related to the supporting
structure. In this way, collaborative design procedures can be developed
where suppliers can optimize their components using more realistic boundary
conditions.
This strategy can be generalized by allowing for the simultaneous use of different
superelements in a single Actran model.
33.3 Technical specifications
33.3.1 Usual context

The objective is to allow for the effective assessment of the dynamic response
of a particular component as mounted on a general main structure. A typical
example is the evaluation of the dynamic response of a windshield fixed on a car
body (Figure 33.1). The dynamic analysis of the component can rely on the use
of a specialized Actran FE model (incorporating all specific features like visco-
elastic solid shells, etc.) while the main structure is described by an appropriate
Nastran FE model. The simultaneous handling of the component and the main
structure requires an appropriate solution strategy. Since the main structural
model is usually lightly damped and its size is usually significantly larger than the
size of the component model, a preliminary dynamic reduction of the main model
is advisable. The Craig-Bampton reduction procedure available in Nastran
environment offers the requested features since it enables the generation of
reduced stiffness and mass matrices. Such a reduction scheme allows also for a
potential reduction of data flow between Nastran and Actran softwares and
avoids the exchange of (reduced or not) impedance matrices at each discrete
frequency. Particular aspects of the implementation of this methodology are
described in the present chapter.
33.3.2 Terminology
The present chapter is based on a particular terminology commented below. Let
us first define the component C and the main structure M:
• Physical component: A (structural) component C is defined at the continu-

ous level by referring to a geometrical domain Ωc with boundary Γc and can
be characterized at the discrete level by an Actran model which usually
refers to physical degrees of freedom.
• Main structure: A main structure M is characterized by a Nastran model

and can be described in terms of physical and modal degrees of freedom.
33.3 Technical specifications 457
Figure 33.1: Typical application: interaction of a windshield component and a car body
structure.
The displacement vector uc for the considered physical component can be parti-
tioned according to:
← Γcb
c
ub
uc = (33.1)
c
ui ← Ωc \ Γcb
where ucb refers to dofs along the coupling boundary Γcb while uic refers to other
dofs belonging to Ωc \ Γcb .
In the same way, the displacement vector um for the main structure can be
partitioned according to:
← Γm
m
ub
um = m
b (33.2)
ui
where umb refers to dofs along the coupling boundary Γb while ui refers to other
m m
(modal and/or physical) dofs. It should be stressed that the physical component
and the main structure are defined in the same reference system. Additionally
physical dofs can involve rotational dofs since degenerated shell elements are
usually selected for modeling both the main structure (in Nastran environment)
and the studied physical component.
33.3.3 Component’s description

The physical component C is modeled using the Actran software. It can be
characterized by the following relation between the nodal load vector Fc and the
nodal displacement vector uc :
Zc ( ω )uc = Fc (33.3)
where Zc is the dynamic stiffness of the component.
This relation can be formulated in a partitioned way using (33.1):
Zcbb (ω ) Zcbi (ω ) ucb Fcb

c (ω ) = (33.4)
Zib Ziic (ω ) uic Fic
where indexes b and i refer to boundary and internal dofs, respectively.
At this stage, one will assume that ucb involves only structural displacement dofs
while uic can involve both structural and fluid pressure dofs.
33.3.4 Main structure’s description

The main structure is modelled in the Nastran environment and benefit from
the dynamic (Craig-Bampton) reduction capability available within this software.
The reduced dynamic model can be characterized by the relation:
Zm ( ω )um = Fm (33.5)
In contrast with the Actran model, the reduced dynamic stiffness of the main
structure can be obtained from reduced stiffness Km , damping Cm and mass Mm
matrices:
Zm (ω ) = Km + iωCm − ω 2 Mm (33.6)
This relation can also be formulated in a partitioned way:

m
Zbb (ω ) Zm
m m
bi ( ω ) ub
=
Fb
(33.7)
m ( ω ) Zm ( ω )
Zib u m Fim
ii i
The reduced stiffness Km , damping Cm and mass Mm matrices can also be written
in a partitioned way:
Km Km

Km = bb
m
bi (33.8)
Kib Kiim
Cm Cm

Cm = bb
m
bi (33.9)
Cib Ciim
Mm Mm

m bb bi
M = m (33.10)
Mib Miim
33.3.5 Mesh compatibility issues

Since the component and the main structure are usually handled by different
teams and have to fulfill different requirements, one will assume that related
discrete models involve a priori incompatible boundaries. These incompatibilities
could have different origins:
• Use of different discrete methods: Nastran is using (conventional) de-

generated shell elements (’surface’ elements) while Actran is using either
solid shell elements (’volume’ elements) or degenerated shell elements. If
solid shell elements are selected, this will lead to interfaces involving (1-D)
’lines’ along degenerated shell elements and (2-D) ’faces’ along solid shell
elements (Figure 33.2). Six displacement/rotation dofs (u x , uy , uz , θ x , θy , θz )
are involved at each node of degenerated shell elements while only three
displacement dofs (u x , uy , uz ) are defined at each node of solid shell ele-
ments.
• Selection of different mesh refinements: Mesh refinements for the com-

ponent and the main structure can be unequal due to different physical
behaviors or different target frequency ranges for these two models (Fig-
ure 33.3).
• Geometrical mis-match: A geometrical incompatibility can also occur be-

tween the two models so that coupling nodes are not located on the same
physical surface (Figure 33.4).
At the discrete level, the above incompatibilities are leading to different descrip-
tions of the displacement field along the interface:
ucb 6= um
b (33.11)
The handling of these incompatibilities requires several ingredients:
• Projection technique in order to relate displacement fields;
• Formulation of displacement continuity requirements (with a particular

attention to rotational dofs);
• Enforcement of continuity requirements by an appropriate technique.
Practical aspects related to the projection technique and the formulation of

continuity requirements are addressed in the next two sections. The enforcement
of continuity requirements can rely on two particular techniques:
• Geometrical transformation : the displacement vectors um c

b and ub can be
related through a geometrical transformation matrix Tmc :
um c
b = Tmc ub (33.12)
This relation allows for the elimination of um

b.
• Penalty procedure : the continuity of displacement can be enforced by a

penalty technique or, in a similar way, specific stiffness coefficients can be
considered.
Figure 33.2: Incompatibilities induced by the selection of different discrete methods

(degenerated shell elements vs. solid shell elements).
Figure 33.3: Incompatibilities induced by the selection of different mesh refinements.
The penalty technique offers more flexibility since it preserves the sparse matrix
structure and allows for the effective control of coupling conditions by the
introduction of particular coupling stiffnesses. This technique has been selected
in order to enforce displacement continuity.
In some circumstances, coupling surfaces between the physical component and

the superelement involve the same nodes. This allows for a direct aliasing of
related dofs without any need for a penalty technique.
33.3.6 Projection of boundary nodes

The projection step is controlled by the specification of coupling surfaces within
Actran model. In the same way, superelement’s nodes support the definition
of related superelement coupling surfaces usually made from 1-D segments. In
this way, one can easily create ’connectors’ between the Actran model and the
superelement(s). Each ’connector’ is defined by a pair of coupling surfaces related
to the Actran model and a superelement, respectively.
For each connector, the projection step is organized by projecting the set of
boundary nodes from the main structure model onto the set of boundary faces of
the coupling surface attached to the component model. This operation can be
performed in the following way:
• The set of faces along the coupling surface is extruded in the normal
Figure 33.4: Incompatibilities induced by geometrical mis-matches.
direction in order to create a volume mesh;

• Nodes along the superelement coupling surface are located within this
volume mesh;
• This identification process gives:
– for each node, the boundary face of the coupling surface which con-
tains the projection of the boundary node;
– the local coordinates of this projection within related face;
– a measure of the distance between the original node and its projection.
• Based on the projection information, one can express the local transla-
tional/rotational displacement components related to the projected node
in terms of translational displacement components attached to component
boundary nodes.
33.3.7 Handling of rotational degrees of freedom

The above defined projection technique allows, in principle, for the identification
of the projection of any boundary node of the main structure’s model onto
a face of the component’s model. If one denotes by ug the displacement
of a particular boundary node of the main structure’s model, its projection
p
onto the component’s face is characterized by a displacement vector ug (ξ p , η p )
obtained by interpolation within the parent element related to the considered face.
p p p
The rotational displacement components (θ gx , θ gy , θ gz ) at the projection point can
be obtained from cartesian displacement derivatives. These derivatives are easily
obtained from local derivatives in the parent element using the jacobian matrix J:
p p
∂ug J ∂ug
←→ (33.13)
∂x, y, z ∂ξ, η
Global rotational displacement components can be obtained from these cartesian

displacement derivatives through:
p p
p ∂u gz ∂u gy
θ gx = − (33.14)
∂y ∂z
p p
p ∂u gx ∂u gz
θ gy = − (33.15)
∂z ∂x
p p
p ∂u gy ∂u gx
θ gz = − (33.16)
∂x ∂y
In this way, rotational dofs from the main structure’s reduced model can be
related to translational dofs from the component model.
33.3.8 Physical interface between superelements and Actran

model
The physical interface (glue, weld spots, etc.) can be located either in the
main structure model (superelement) or in the component Actran model. An
alternative is offered by the possible specification of particular complex stiffness
coefficients for connecting translational and rotational displacement components.
These stiffness coefficients (k n , k t , cn and ct ) are related to normal and tangential
displacement components where the normal n is related to the coupling surface
while t1 and t2 are two orthogonal directions in a tangent plane. The particular
options selected for defining these directions are described in the section 33.4
dealing with functional specifications.
The force-displacement relation along the physical interface between the superele-
ment and the physical component can be expressed as:
Fn = k n (ucn − umn) (33.17)

Ft1 = k t ut1 − um
c

t1 (33.18)
Ft2 = k t uct2 − um

t2 (33.19)
Mn = cn (θnc − θnm ) (33.20)
ct θtc1 − θtm1

Mt 1 = (33.21)
ct θtc2 − θtm2

Mt 2 = (33.22)
The specification of stiffness coefficients allow for two objectives:
• Modeling a physical interface between the Actran model and the main
superelement;
• Enforcement of displacement continuity by a penalty technique (if large
values are selected for stiffness coefficients).
33.3.9 Solution procedure

33.3.9.1 Assembly of component and main structure models
The coupled (Actran model + superelements) model is obtained by merging
Eq. (33.4) and Eq. (33.6):
Zcbb Zcbi Fcb

  c   
0 0 ub
 Zc Ziic 0 0   uic
    Fc 
 ib = i  (33.23)
 0 0 Zm
bb Zmbi
  um
b
  Fm 
b
0 0 m
Zib m
Zii uim Fim
The continuity of displacement along the interface between the Actran model
and the superelements has to be enforced. This could be done in two different
ways:
• Elimination of um
b displacement variables using Eq. (33.12);
• Use of a penalty procedure that can be interpreted as the introduction of a

very stiff physical interface between the component and the main structure.
33.3.9.2 Elimination procedure

The elimination procedure relies on a change of variables for the main structure
displacement field. The main structure displacement vector can be rewritten,
using Eq. (33.12), as:
um ucb

b Tmc 0
= (33.24)
uim 0 I uim
This relation allows to rewrite the Eq. (33.6) as:
T Zm T T Zm ucb T Fm

Tmc bb mc Tmc bi Tmc b
mT = (33.25)
Zib mc Ziim uim Fim
Direct assembly of Eq. (33.4) and Eq. (33.25) leads to the following coupled
system:
Zcbb + Tmc
T Zm T Zcbi T Zm
  c   c T Fm

bb mc Tmc bi ub Fb + Tmc b
 c
Zib Ziic 0   uc  =  Fic  (33.26)
i
mT
Zib 0 Ziim uim Fim
mc
The resulting system of equations still exhibits symmetry but the matrix structure
is modified (influence of the dense character of the reduced impedance matrix
and the application of the transformation matrix).
33.3.9.3 Penalty procedure

The second strategy does not alter significantly the matrix structure (and the
symmetry is still conserved) but no further reduction of the number of unknowns
is achieved:
Zcbb + Pbb Zcbi Fcb

 c
−Pbb
   
0 ub
 c
Zib Ziic 0 0   uc   Fc 
 i = i  (33.27)
Zm Zm   Fm 

 −Pbb 0 + Pbb   um
bb bi b b
0 0 m
Zib m
Zii uim Fim
where Pbb is a matrix containing coupling stiffness coefficients.
33.3.9.4 Selection of a solution strategy

The above relations show that the elimination procedure can lead to a reduction
of the number of degrees of freedom. On the other side, the penalty technique
preserves the matrix structure and allows easily for the handling of particular
coupling stiffness coefficients. For these reasons, the penalty procedure has been
retained for the implementation.
The general organization of the computational procedure is illustrated in Fig-

ure 33.5.
33.3.10 Particular features

The examination of the above relations shows that the resulting procedure has
particular features:
• The characterization of the main structure by reduced stiffness and mass

matrices allows for the transfer of a limited volume of data between the two
codes. The reduced dynamic stiffness matrix for the main structure can be
reconstructed at each discrete frequency using Zm (ω ) = K e m − ω2 M
e m.
• The reduction procedure preserves the polynomial frequency dependence

of the matrix operator and therefore enables the use of the fast KRYLOV
solver.
• Particular observation points (nodes) within the main structure model can
be kept in the reduction procedure (ie are not eliminated). In this way, the
response related to these points can be directly produced when one runs
the coupled model.
• Particular nodes of the main structure model (located or not along the
interface) can be loaded and kept in the reduction procedure. In this way, a
particular excitation of the main (supporting) structure can be handled in
the analysis of the studied component.
Figure 33.5: Organization of the computational procedure.

• All retained displacement variables for the main structure can be output
at any particular frequency in order to allow for the evaluation of con-
densed dofs. This operation should be done in the software selected for the
reduction process.
33.4 Functional specifications

33.4.1 Reading main structure data
The handling of superelements within Actran environment is based on the
development of specific capabilities in order to get the requested additional data:
• Reading the (reduced) mesh related to superelements;

• Reading the list of condensed dofs and internal modal dofs;
• Reading stiffness, damping and mass matrices related to the reduced dy-
namic model;
• Reading the modal damping factors related to internal modes;
• Reading nodal data loads related to some particular nodes of the main
structure.
Additionally Actran allows for the definition of coupling conditions between the
Actran model and considered superelements. This implies in turn the definition
of interfaces (based on physical coupling surfaces as seen from Actran model
and superelements) but also the specification of particular coupling conditions
(specific stiffness coefficients).
The following comments apply to these data:
• The (reduced) mesh consists in a selection of condensation nodes. The

condensation nodes includes both coupling nodes and observation/loaded
nodes. In terms of coupling, only the nodal information is requested (node
numbers and nodal coordinates).
• Stiffness, damping and mass matrices related to the reduced dynamic model
are read from the binary OUTPUT2 file produced by Nastran. All requested
information for the exploitation of these reduced matrices can also be found
in this file.
• Actran allows for the definition of interfaces (INTERFACE data block). Such
interfaces are build from coupling surfaces (COUPLING_SURFACE data block)
that are based on specific domains related to Actran model and considered
superelements. At superelement level, each COUPLING_SURFACE incorporates
a set of segments or surface elements defined by condensation nodes.
33.4 Functional specifications 467
• The Actran model and the superelement(s) should be coupled using

interfaces in order to materialize displacement continuity. Such interface is
a set of two coupling surfaces (one coupling surface related to the Actran
physical component and the other one related to the superelement). Specific
stiffnesses can be assigned to each interface. If identical sets of nodes
are involved, a POINT_INTERFACE data block allows for the definition of
particular interface constraints.
• Modal damping factors are related to reduced model’s internal modes.

Either viscous or structural damping values can be assigned to these modes.
Modal damping factors are assumed to be constant (ie not frequency de-
pendent). The incorporation of these modal damping factors requires to
get the modal stiffnesses and modal masses. This information can also be
retrieved from the binary Output2 file.
• Nodal loads are related to some condensation nodes (located or not along
coupling surfaces as seen from the main structure).
For that purpose, Actran input file incorporates a COMPONENT type called
SUPERELEMENT_DMIGOP2. Please refer to Section 3.36 of Volume 2 for more infor-
mation about the syntax of the SUPERELEMENT_DMIGOP2 component.
33.4.2 Definition of modal damping factors

The definition of damping factors concerns basically internal modes of the
reduced component. A viscous (ξ) or structural (η) damping value can be
assigned to each internal mode of the reduced component.
The reduced component is therefore characterized by the following reduced

dynamic stiffness matrix Zr :
Zr (ω ) = Kr + iωCr − ω 2 Mr (33.28)
where the only non-zero block of the reduced damping matrix Cr is related to
internal mode variables. The diagonal entry Ĉk of this block related to mode k is
given by:
q
Ĉk = 2ξ K̂k M̂k (33.29)
and
η
Ĉk = K̂ (33.30)
ω k
for viscous damping and structural damping, respectively.
In these expressions, K̂k and M̂k are the modal stiffness and the modal mass
related to mode k.
The data structure for modal damping allows also for the selective elimination
of all internal modes with a negative damping value. In this way, the user
has a better control of superelement matrix size and resulting CPU time. Such
selective elimination of internal modes should be performed with caution since
internal modes influence the quality of the dynamic representation. Depending
on simulation requirements (and, particularly, frequency targets), the user could
benefit from this selective deactivation.
33.4.3 Definition of coupling condition

The definition of coupling conditions between the superelements and the Actran
model is a crucial step in the modeling procedure. The coupling can be organized
starting from the following information:
• Description of coupling surfaces as seen from the superelements and the

Actran model;
• Definition of interfaces as pairs of coupling surfaces;
• Assignment of particular stiffness coefficients for normal/tangent transla-

tional/rotational degrees of freedom along each interface.
The following comments apply:
• The coupling surfaces (as seen from the Actran model or the superele-
ments) are described by the Actran data blocks COUPLING_SURFACE .
• The concept of interface (data block INTERFACE ) is basically defined as a

pair of coupling surfaces. One coupling surface is related to the Actran
model while the other one is related to the external superelement.
• One can assign physical stiffness coefficients to interfaces.
• These stiffness coefficients are related to both normal and tangent directions.
Both translational and rotational stiffness coefficients can be prescribed.
• The normal direction is defined along the coupling surface of the component.
The first tangent direction is the projection of the local tangent direction
along the main structure’s line element onto the coupling surface of the
component. The second tangent direction is orthogonal to the normal
direction and the first tangent direction. These directions are illustrated in
Figure 33.6.
• Stiffness coefficients are spatially constant along one interface but can vary
from one interface to another one.
Figure 33.6: Definition of normal and tangent directions.
• The coupling status is defined by the set of condensation dofs along the
coupling surface (as seen from the main structure), the projection of related
nodes on the coupling surface (as seen from the component) and the
specified stiffness coefficients.
• The coupling strategy allows for various coupling options (as represented
in Figure 33.7). As it can be observed, the coupling surface (as seen from
the Actran model and the superelement) is a either 1-D (segments) or 2-D
(surface elements).
The formal procedure for connecting locally the superelements to Actran

model relies on the identification of the projection of nodes (along the coupling
surface as seen from the superelement) onto the coupling surface as seen from
Actran model. Displacement and rotation components of the projected node
can be expressed in terms of neighbor nodes using interpolation functions
(and their derivatives). These displacement and rotation components can be
computed along normal and tangent directions. Specific stiffness coefficients
can be specified along these directions for both translational and rotational dofs.
The optional keyword RELATIVE allows for the specification of relative stiffness
coefficients. In this case, the program uses as a reference stiffness the average
dynamic stiffness along connected coupling surfaces. In that way, the coupling
conditions are easily controlled. It should be pointed that any continuous
physical interface (joint, glue, etc.) could be incorporated into Actran model.
Discontinuous physical interface (weld spots) could be treated in the same way
using equivalent continuous material data.
Figure 33.7: Available coupling options.
BEGIN INTERFACE interface_id

SURFACE surface_id1 surface_id2
NORMAL_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
TANGENT1_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
TANGENT2_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
NORMAL_ROTATION_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
TANGENT1_ROTATION_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
TANGENT2_ROTATION_STIFFNESS [RELATIVE] value
GAP_TOL value
PLANE_TOL value
END INTERFACE interface_id
The definition of an interface refers therefore to a pair of coupling surfaces.
33.4.4 Point load excitations and storage nodes
Point loads can be applied to nodes of the reduced model.

Superelement storage nodes can also be defined. These storage nodes must be
reduced nodes of the superelement (as involved in the description of reduced
matrices). The PLT file contains particular sections related to superelement
storage nodes.
33.4.5 Generation of OUTPUT2 files

Usually superelement output to a particular unit (30 for instance) is organized
within Nastran using the following parameters:
PARAM,EXOUT,DMIGOP2
PARAM,EXTUNIT,30
The selective output of superelement data needed by Actran can be organized

in the following way:
• Remove the above two parameters;
• Add the following line to the CASE CONTROL section (above the first subcase
if one exists): EXTSEOUT(EXTBULK,DMIGOP2=30)
• This will create an OUTPUT2 file containing all requested blocks (GEOM1, MATK,
MATM)
33.4.6 Computational capabilities

The response of the coupled system is evaluated in the frequency domain.
Several superelements (reduced models) can be defined in the Actran environ-

ment.
The following limitations apply:
• The coupling conditions between the main structure and the component
are related to kinematical conditions only. A direct coupling of the main
structure with an acoustic component is therefore impossible. The compo-
nent model can however incorporate acoustic dofs but these dofs are not
directly coupled to the main structure’s model.
• Superelement and Actran models are defined in the same reference system.
• The reduced matrices of superelements are not frequency dependent.
• The modal damping factors are not frequency dependent.

Thirty Four
Pellicular Analysis
Contents
34.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
34.2 Pellicular modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
34.3 Use of pellicular modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
34.4 Practical Use of Pellicular Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
34.5 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
34.1 Introduction
The pellicular analysis is a computation procedure which is mainly used to
compute the radiation of a vibrating system, based on the usage of pellicular
modes. The concept of pellicular modes is described in this chapter. The vibra-
tion patterns of the system may be computed (by most Finite Element softwares)
or measured externally to Actran. A pellicular analysis computation is acti-
vated through the combination of the PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS and the ACTRAN data
blocks.
Since the pellicular modes form an orthogonal basis, it is convenient to compute

the solution of various acoustic problems (sound radiation, inverse problem)
using the related basis. A particular benefit resulting from the use of pellicular
modes comes from the fact that these modes depend only on the geometry of
the boundary surface and the acoustic material properties. In a vibro-acoustic
context, structural design changes (that do not impact the shape of the boundary
surface) allow for the re-use of an available radiation database made from field
pressures and/or boundary pressure related to selected pellicular modes.
473
474 Pellicular Analysis
Figure 34.1: Pellicular acoustic domain Ω L .
34.2 Pellicular modes

The concept of pellicular modes is presented with reference to an acoustic radia-
tion problem involving a mechanical structure (geometrical domain ΩS ) whose
external boundary is denoted ΓS (Figure 34.1). This boundary supports the
definition of a thin acoustic layer (geometrical domain Ω L ) whose inner boundary
Γ L coincides with ΓS . Let us assume for this time that the thickness t L of this
acoustic layer is small with respect to the acoustic wavelength λ:
tL λ . (34.1)
If this condition is satisfied, the (finite thickness) domain Ω L can be replaced by

a domain with an infinitely small thickness.
The concept of pellicular modes is defined as the set of acoustic modes related to
this pellicular domain Ω L . In a continuous framework, these modes result from
the solution of the following eigenvalue problem:
K L (Φi ( x, y, z)) = λi M L (Φi ( x, y, z)) , (34.2)
where K L and M L are the so-called acoustic stiffness and mass operators,
respectively while Φi ( x, y, z) and λi denote a particular eigenvector/eigenvalue
pair.
These modes verify the following orthonormality conditions:

Z
Φi ( x, y, z)K L Φ j ( x, y, z) dΓ L = λi δij ,

(34.3)
ΓL
Z
Φi ( x, y, z)M L Φ j ( x, y, z) dΓ L = δij .

(34.4)
ΓL
34.3 Use of pellicular modes 475
34.3 Use of pellicular modes

34.3.1 Introduction
The concept of pellicular modes can be exploited in order to speed up the
evaluation of the acoustic field radiated by a mechanical structure. This process is
detailed in the next sections. The starting point is the expansion of pressure and
velocity fields in terms of pellicular modes. This modal expansion supports the
generation of a radiation data base. This radiation database can be efficiently used
for computing the sound radiation (pressure at field points or radiated acoustic
power) from a structure or for solving an inverse acoustic problem (ie evaluation
of the normal velocity profile leading to observed acoustic field pressures).
34.3.2 Expansion of pressure and normal velocity fields in terms

of pellicular modes
Any (continuous) field defined along the boundary surface Γ L can be expanded in
terms of pellicular modes. In the present context, (acoustic) pressure and normal
velocity fields are considered.
An acoustic pressure field p( x, y, z) along Γ L can be expanded as:
ML
∑ Φi (x, y, z)xi
p
p( x, y, z) = , (34.5)
i =1
p
where Φi is a pellicular mode, xi is the participation factor of this mode and ML
is the number of retained pellicular modes.
In a similar way, a normal velocity field vn ( x, y, z) can be expanded in terms of

pellicular modes:
ML
vn ( x, y, z) = ∑ Φi (x, y, z)xivn . (34.6)
i =1
p
The participation factors xi and xivn can be obtained using the orthonormality
property: Z
p
xi = Φi ( x, y, z) p( x, y, z)dΓ L , (34.7)
ΓL
and Z
xivn = Φi ( x, y, z)vn ( x, y, z)dΓ L . (34.8)
ΓL
34.3.3 Evaluation of a radiation database

For a given acoustic domain (characterized by a particular boundary surface Γ L ),
one can generate a radiation database containing the acoustic pressure Πij (ω ) at
given field points (index i) induced by the following velocity boundary condition:
v̄n ( x, y, z) = Φ j ( x, y, z) ( x, y, z) ∈ Γ L . (34.9)
Similarly, one can evaluate the boundary pressure Pj induced by the same bound-
ary condition:
ML
Pj = ∑ Φ j βij , (34.10)
i =1
where β ij is given by:
Z
β ij = Φi ( x, y, z) Pj ( x, y, z)dΓ L . (34.11)
ΓL
These fields depend only on the geometry of the radiator and the properties
of the acoustic domain. They can be computed once and stored in a radiation
database for a given set of discrete frequencies.
34.3.4 Exploitation of a radiation database for the direct prob-

lem
The so-called direct problem consists in the evaluation of field pressures for a
given velocity profile vn along Γ L . This problem can be solved in two steps using
the generated radiation database:
• Step 1: Projection of the velocity profile vn into the pellicular modes:

ML
vn ( x, y, z) = ∑ Φi (x, y, z)xivn , (34.12)
i =1
where Z
xivn = Φi ( x, y, z)vn ( x, y, z)dΓ L . (34.13)
ΓL
• Step 2: Evaluation of acoustic pressures p j at field points using the radiation

database:
ML
pj = ∑ Πij (ω )xivn . (34.14)
i =1
34.3.5 Exploitation of a radiation database for the inverse prob-

lem
The so-called inverse problem consists in the identification of a velocity profile vn
along Γ L from given acoustic pressures at NF field points. This problem can be
solved in three steps using the generated radiation database:
• Step 1: Expansion of given field pressure in terms of pellicular modes,

ML
∑ Πij xivn = p j ( j = 1, . . . , NF ) , (34.15)
i =1
34.3 Use of pellicular modes 477
• Step 2: Solution of the resulting system of NF equations with ML unknowns

(least-square procedure),
• Step 3 : Evaluation of the velocity profile,
ML
vn ( x, y, z) = ∑ Φi (x, y, z)xivn . (34.16)
i =1
34.3.6 Exploitation of a radiation database for radiated power

evaluation
The power radiated by a given velocity profile vn along the boundary surface Γ L
can be evaluated efficiently by the following procedure:
• Step 1: Expansion of the velocity profile into pellicular modes,

ML
vn ( x, y, z) = ∑ Φi (x, y, z)αi , (34.17)
i =1
• Step 2: Evaluation of the radiated pressure Pi for each pellicular mode Φi ,

ML
Pi = ∑ Φ j βij , (34.18)
j =1
where β ij , the pellicular impedance matrix, is given by:

Z
β ij = Φ j ( x, y, z) Pi ( x, y, z)dΓ L . (34.19)
ΓL
• Step 3: Evaluation of radiated power using the radiation database, The

modal expansion of the velocity profile vn (as given by equation (34.17))
allows for the following expansion of the boundary pressure p:
!
ML ML
p( x, y, z) = ∑ αi ∑ Φ j (x, y, z) βij , (34.20)
i =1 j =1
so that the radiated power can be expressed as follows:

1
Z
Wrad = Re ( p( x, y, z)v∗n ( x, y, z)) dΓ L
2 ΓL
!! !!
1
Z
=
2 ΓL
Re ∑ αi ∑ βij Φ j (x, y, z) ∑ Φk (x, y, z)α∗k dΓ L
i j k
1
Z
= ∑ ∑ ∑ Re αi β ij α∗k Φ j ( x, y, z)Φk ( x, y, z)dΓ L

2 i j k ΓL
1
= ∑ ∑ Re αi β ij α∗j (34.21)
2 i j
34.4 Practical Use of Pellicular Analysis

A pellicular analysis computation is activated through the PELLICULAR_ANALYSIS
data block. This data block drives the frequencies of computation, is used to
define the location of the saved radiation database and defines parameters used
during the inverse procedure.
The pellicular solution sequence consist of three steps:
• the creation of a pellicular modal basis on the radiating surface (external

skin of the studied component);
• the acoustic radiation of the pellicular modes computed in the previous
step;
• the projection of the excitation in the pellicular modal basis, solving and
results post-processing.
These three steps can be handled in separate phases. Each phase is launched
through the --execute argument in the command line (see Section 7.1). The
results of each steps are stored in the dedicated database allowing the possibility
of fast restart. For example, the acoustic radiation of the modes does not need
to be re-computed if the structural vibration are modified after the first acoustic
computation.
The solvers recommended for the radiation step are:
• SPARSE
• MUMPS
• PARDISO
The size of the database and the global performance of the computation sequence
is driven by multiple parameters:
• The number of pellicular modes accounted for influences on the number

of loadcases needed during the radiation step, and increases the size of the
database and the total computation time.
• The radiation database contains by default the local values and the global val-
ues (including radiated powers) for each pair of pellicular mode/frequency.
The amount of information can increase drastically when increasing the
amount of modes, it is thus also possible to disable the computation of
the radiated power by specifying the POWER_EVALUATION option at 0 in the
PELLICULAR_MODE data block.
34.5 Compatibility 479
34.4.1 Definition of the pellicular modal basis

Each pellicular modal basis is defined by its PELLICULAR_MODE data block. Each
pellicular mode specifies following properties:
• the acoustic material defining the pellicular layer. As a modal extraction

needs to be performed on this layer, no complex values are supported in
the specified material.
• the parameters needed for the modal extraction such as the solver, the
frequency range and the number of modes.
• the acoustic excitation (BC_MESH, VELOCITY,...) which will be expanded

into the pellicular modes. The surface linked to this excitation will also be
used as supporting surface for the pellicular mode.
34.5 Compatibility
During a pellicular analysis, only the excitation specified by the pellicular modes
are expanded within the pellicular modes. All other excitations are active during
the radiation sequence, and will thus disturb the obtained solution.
Thirty Five
Time Domain Analysis

Contents
35.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
35.2 Time domain simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
35.3 Extraction of stiffness, damping and mass matrices . . . . . . 482
35.4 Far field computations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
35.5 Time integration scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
35.1 Introduction
The time domain analysis is a computation procedure which is used to compute
the transient response of a vibro-acoustic system to a specific transient excitation.
This can be useful when requiring a particular transient solution (reverberation
time, ...). Alternatively, it can be useful to obtain the frequency response function
at multiple frequencies in one computation using a pulse excitations. A time
domain analysis is activated through the TIME_DOMAIN data block.
35.2 Time domain simulation

In a direct frequency response, the response X (ω ) is computed for every pulsation
ω = 2π f using
K + iωC − ω 2 M X (ω ) = F (ω ). (35.1)
Equation Eq. (35.1) is equivalent to the time-dependent problem:
Kx(t) + C ẋ(t) + M ẍ (t) = f˜(t), (35.2)
where the response x (t) is computed for every time t. In Eq. (35.2), x (t) and
f˜(t) are the time-harmonic representations of respectively the frequency domain
solution X (ω ) and the excitation F (ω ).
481
482 Time Domain Analysis
35.3 Extraction of stiffness, damping and mass matrices

In general, we can represent the frequency domain problem as:
Z ( ω ) X ( ω ) = F ( ω ). (35.3)
In order to derive equation Eq. (35.1) from Eq. (35.3), we apply a least square
approximation to the matrix formulation of Z (ω ). To that end, the complex
impedance matrix Z is constructed from Eq. (35.3) for a range of frequencies
f 1 , . . . , f n . The real matrices K,C and M are then computed as follows:

min kreal( Z (ω )) − K − ω 2 M k2 , (35.4)
ω
min kimag( Z (ω )) − (ωC ) k2 . (35.5)
ω
From Eq. (35.5) we have that the matrix C equals the mean value
∑nm=1 imag(Zωm )/ωm . As a result, when the damping contributions in
Z Eq. (35.3) are not linearly proportional with respect to the pulsation ω, the
damping in the time domain representation Eq. (35.2) will only be approximately
valid around the central frequency used in the K, C, M extraction Eq. (35.4)–
Eq. (35.5). When this extraction is applied to models that do not satisfy a
second-order ω-dependency as in equation Eq. (35.1), for example due to the
presence of a porous material where the damping function contains a rational
dependency on ω, numerical divergence of the time integration solver can occur.
35.4 Far field computations

On acoustic domains, the time-dependent problem Eq. (35.2) is solved for the
velocity potential and the acoustic pressure is derived through its first time deriva-
tive. On infinite acoustic domains, a time shift needs to be taken into account in
order to obtain the acoustic potential from the solution x (t) of equation Eq. (35.2).
This time shift expresses for each point in the far field a retarded time and is
obtained from the ratio
radius
, (35.6)
c
using the distance of the point to the center of the infinite domain and the speed
of sound c. For numerical reasons a spherical interface at the boundary of the
finite and infinite domain should be used in time domain simulations.
35.5 Time integration scheme

An implicit or explicit transient solver is applied to the system of second-order
differential equations Eq. (35.2). The time step is assumed to be constant. For
acoustic components, x represents the velocity potential, ẋ, the pressure (when
no flow is present), and f is for example an applied acoustic velocity.
35.5 Time integration scheme 483
The Newmark time integration scheme uses the following expressions for x and
ẋ at timestep t + ∆t:
ẋ (t + ∆t) = ẋ (t) + [(1 − δ) ẍ (t) + δ ẍ (t + ∆t)]∆t

x (t + ∆t) = x (t) + ẋ (t)∆t + [(0.5 − α) ẍ (t) + α ẍ (t + ∆t)]∆t2 ,
where α and δ are the so-called Newmark parameters. The integration scheme
is unconditionally stable provided that δ ≥ 0.5 and α ≥ 0.25(δ + 0.5)2 . Using
δ = 0.5 and α = 0.25 we retrieve the average acceleration method.
The implicit Newmark scheme can be written as first a predictor step:
x p (t + ∆t) = x (t) + ẋ (t)∆t + (0.5 − α) ẍ (t)∆t2 ,

ẋ p (t + ∆t) = ẋ (t) + (1 − δ) ẍ (t)∆t,
followed by a corrector step:
ẋ (t + ∆t) = ẋ p (t + ∆t) + δ ẍ (t + ∆t)∆t

x (t + ∆t) = x p (t + ∆t) + α ẍ (t + ∆t)∆t2 ,
The updated acceleration ẍ (t + ∆t) is obtained from solving the system:
( M + βC + α∆tK ) ẍ (t + ∆t) = f (t + ∆t) − C ẋ p (t + ∆t) − Kx p (t + ∆t).

484 Time Domain Analysis
Thirty Six
Harmonic Output Quantities

Denition
Contents
36.1 Pressure spectrum and pressure signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
36.2 Sound pressure level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
36.3 Acoustic intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
36.4 Acoustic intensity in a mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
36.5 Microphone pressure spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
36.6 Incident and radiated power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
36.7 Dissipated power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
36.8 Power spectral density for random responses . . . . . . . . . 495
36.9 Evaluation of random results for modal frequency responses 496
36.10 Evaluation of random results with the sampling approach . 498
36.11 Results on modal basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
36.12 Broadband Noise Level for Turbo Machines . . . . . . . . . . 499
36.13 Forces and Moments on Constraint nodes . . . . . . . . . . . 502
36.1 Pressure spectrum and pressure signal

A pressure signal p(t) and its associated pressure spectrum P(ω ) are linked to
each other by the Fourier and inverse Fourier transform:
Z ∞
P(ω ) = p(t)e−iωt dt, (36.1)
−∞
Z ∞
1
p(t) = P(ω )eiωt dω. (36.2)
2π −∞
485
486 Harmonic Output Quantities Definition
Instantaneous pressure being a real quantity, the following important property

holds:
P(−ω ) = P∗ (ω ). (36.3)
This allows to define a one-sided spectrum P+ involving only positive values or ω:
Z ∞
P+ (ω ) = 2 p(t)e−iωt dt f or ω > 0
−∞
P+ (ω ) = 0 f or ω < 0. (36.4)
Using this spectrum, the inverse Fourier transform writes:

Z ∞
p ( t ) = Re P+ (ω )eiωt d f . (36.5)
0
Actran assumes that the second convention applies i.e. that all quantities given
as input are defined by their one-sided spectrum and, consequently, all outputs
make the same assumption. It is important to keep this convention in mind
either when calculating the inverse Fourier transform of a given quantity or when
evaluating power quantities as the use of another convention may lead to a factor
2 or 21 in the power results.
36.2 Sound pressure level

Actran applies the following definition for calculating sound pressure level from
the sound spectrum p(ω ):
| p(ω )|
LdB = 20 log , (36.6)
pref
with pref = 2 · 10−5 Pa.
Remark. This formula is used everywhere in Actran including

plt_get , and the value of pref can be redefined in PLTViewer or
ActranVI through settings.
36.3 Acoustic intensity

Instantaneous intensity i (t) is defined as the power per unit area needed to move
an acoustic particle with a velocity v(t) in a pressure field p(t):
i ( t ) = p ( t ) v ( t ). (36.7)
The intensity spectrum is obtained as the product of convolution of the pressure

and velocity spectrum:
Z ∞
1
I (ω ) = P(σ) · V (ω − σ )dσ, (36.8)
2π −∞
Z ∞
= P(2π f ) · V (ω − 2π f )d f . (36.9)
−∞
36.4 Acoustic intensity in a mean flow 487
Most of the intensity is propagated alternatively in one direction then in the other.
Globally, there is no net energy flow during a cycle. This part of the intensity
field is called the reactive intensity. There is however a component of the intensity
which flows continuously and has a net contribution over one cycle. This is called
the active intensity:
Z ∞
I (0) = P( f ) · V (− f )d f
−∞
Z ∞
= P( f ) · V ∗ ( f )d f
−∞
Z ∞
∗
= 2 Re P( f ) · V ( f )d f
0
Z ∞
1 + +∗
= Re P ( f ) · V ( f )d f . (36.10)
2 0
As Actran uses the one-sided spectrum convention, the last formula is used to
calculate the intensity. All three formulas above are used and may lead, if no
clear agreement exists on the chosen convention, to three different results.
36.4 Acoustic intensity in the presence of mean flow

Actran implements the following formula (Morfey, [40]) for evaluating the
acoustic intensity in the presence of a mean flow:
1 1
I= Re( pv∗ ) + Re(ρ0 (v0 · v) v∗ )
2 2
| p |2 1
+ v0 + 2 Re( p ∗ ( v0 · v ) v0 ). (36.11)
2ρ0 c2 2c
where p is the acoustic pressure, v the acoustic velocity, v0 the flow velocity, c the
(local) sound speed and ρ0 the (local) fluid density.
36.5 Microphone pressure spectrum

The fluid pressure quantity computed by Actran at a field point (fp) does not
consider any microphone hardware effect: it is equal to the acoustic pressure con-
sidering the microphone as perfectly transparent and omnidirectional. However,
in an experimental set-up, the acoustic pressure can depend on the characteristics
of the microphone used:
• The FRF properties include a frequency dependent gain and phase shift
compared to a fluid pressure quantity measured in ideal conditions (exam-
ple in Figure 36.1);
• The directivity properties imply an angular dependency (that can vary with
the frequency) for the acoustic waves arriving at the microphone location.
It is expressed as a Gain (or attenuation) in dB (example in Figure 36.2).
Figure 36.1: Example of a microphone FRF
Figure 36.2: Example of microphone DIRECTIVITY patterns

36.5 Microphone pressure spectrum 489
In Actran it is feasible to take into account those effects to produce a dedicated

output quantity named the fluid microphone pressure (fmp) (see Table 10.2 for the
available output quantities). This quantity is output only if a MICROPHONE data
block is defined. The FRF and directivity corrections can be used independently
or together.
36.5.1 Definition of the microphone FRF

The FRF correction enables the users to take into account the amplification system
of the microphone. Two corrections can be applied:
• A correction in gain. It is usually expressed in dB;
• A correction in phase. It is expressed in degree in the phase range [0, 360]

degrees.
Actran alternatively supports a FRF correction expressed in complex values

(real and imaginary parts). The FRF correction will be applied identically for all
directivity angles of the acoustic wave arriving at the microphone location.
This FRF correction should be specified through a two columns external ASCII
file (Section 3.92 of Volume 2) and is applied directly in the post-processing phase
to the fluid pressure quantity according to:
Pcorr = p(ω )c f r f (ω )cdirectivity (ω, θ ) (36.12)
where:
• p(ω ) is the fluid pressure computed by Actran;
• c f r f (ω ) is the FRF correction (complex value);
• cdirectivity (ω, θ ) is the directivity correction (complex value).
36.5.2 Definition of the microphone directivity

The directivity correction concerns the spatially non-uniform response of a mi-
crophone. Indeed, most real-life microphones show an attenuation that depends
on the arrival angle of the acoustic wave (consider for instance an acoustic wave
arriving in front of the microphone capsule or an acoustic wave arriving per-
pendicularly). This correction is usually frequency dependent and should be
specified as follows:
• 0o is the direction to which the microphone is oriented. The orientation of

~ re f ;
the microphone must be provided by the user: it is the reference vector V
Figure 36.3: Definition of the angle of the arriving acoustic wave
• The angle of approach of the acoustic wave is based on the Intensity vector
~I computed by Actran and the reference vector V ~ re f (Figure 36.3) and is
used to determine the corresponding attenuation;
• The pattern of directivity is axi-symmetric all around the microphone.

Hence only the directivity pattern between 0o (front of the microphone) and
180o (backward of the microphone) is necessary;
• The correction is only expressed as a gain (or attenuation if negative),

usually expressed in dB. No phase shift is taken into account;
• The applied directivity correction at any angle is normalized by the correc-

tion value at 0o (Figure 36.4).
The directivity correction should be specified through a multi-columns external

ASCII file. The corresponding syntax is described in Section 3.92 of Volume 2.
36.5.3 Limitations
The fluid microphone pressure quantity is linked to the availability of the fluid
pressure and fluid intensity output quantities. Furthermore, it is available only
with a direct frequency response.
36.6 Incident and radiated power

Incident power is calculated on incident and Rayleigh surfaces as follows:
1
Z
Winc = Iinc · n dS, (36.13)
2
36.7 Dissipated power 491
Figure 36.4: Normalization of the directivity correction
where Iinc is the incident intensity field computed following Eq. (36.11) with
pressure and velocity field generated by the various sources (see Chapter 16 for
a definition of incident, scattered and total pressure field) and n is the outer
normal of the surface. On the same surfaces, one also defines the mean quadratic
pressure and mean quadratic velocity:
1
Z
∗
p2inc = pinc pinc dS, (36.14)
S
1
Z
∗
v2inc = vinc · vinc dS. (36.15)
S
Radiated powers are calculated on radiating and coupling surfaces using the total
acoustic pressure and velocity field:
1
Z
Wrad = Itot · n dS, (36.16)
2
1
Z
p2tot = ptot p∗tot dS, (36.17)
S
1
Z
∗
v2tot = vtot vinc dS, (36.18)
S
and the resulting force: Z
Ftot,i = ptot ni dS. (36.19)
where ni is the ith component of the local normal vector and Itot is computed via
Eq. (36.11).
36.7 Dissipated power

Global energy indicators can be generated and allow for a more global assessment
of energy dissipation mechanisms in the various domains. The type of dissipated
power indicators produced depends on the material type. For poro-elastic
materials, three dissipation mechanisms are identified:
• Dissipation by structural damping within the skeleton;
• Dissipation by thermal effects through thermal exchanges between fluid

and solid phases;
• Dissipation by viscous effects within the porous material.
For elastic material, only the first mechanism is active and is related to the
imaginary part of the stiffness matrix. For a conventional acoustic fluid material,
the dissipation is due to viscous or thermal losses and can be modelled with the
help of a complex speed of sound. Dissipation within a rigid porous material
is also described in terms of viscous and thermal losses. The evaluation of
time-averaged (over one period) dissipated powers for a poro-elastic material
is described hereafter as this is the most general case. Reference is made to the
particular FE matrices supporting the u-p model as described in Chapter 15. The
evaluation for other materials is similar.
36.7.1 Dissipation by structural damping

The instantaneous power dissipated by structural damping is formally obtained
by integrating over the considered domain the product of the transient stress
tensor with the transient rate of strain tensor. If one assumes a time-harmonic
behavior and considers the time-averaged power over one period, one obtains
the following expression for the average dissipated power Wds :
1
Wds = Re U T KS V∗ , (36.20)
2
where U is the vector of nodal displacements, KS is the (complex) stiffness matrix

of the skeleton (as given by equation 15.117 ) and V is the vector nodal velocities
given by:
V = iωU. (36.21)
Expression (36.20) can be formulated equivalently as:

ω
Wds = I m UT KS U∗ . (36.22)
2
36.7.2 Dissipation by thermal effects

f
In a similar way, the average power Wt dissipated by thermal effects within the
fluid phase can be computed as:
f 1
Wt = Re iωPT MF P∗ , (36.23)
2
36.7 Dissipated power 493
where P is the vector of nodal pressures and MF is the so-called fluid mass matrix
(as given by equation 15.124).
Alternatively, expression (36.23) can be rewritten as:

f ω
Wt = I m PT MF P∗ . (36.24)
2
36.7.3 Dissipation by viscous effects

The power dissipated by viscous effects Wdc is made from three contributions since
the resistivity coefficient is involved in the solid mass matrix MS , the so-called
fluid stiffness matrix KF and the coupling matrix CP :
f
Wvc = Wvs + Wv + Wvc . (36.25)
The first contribution is evaluated from:

1 1
Wvs = Re −ω 2 UT MS V∗ = − I m ω 3 UT MS U∗ . (36.26)
2 2
The second contribution is given by:

f 1 1 T 1 1 T
Wv = − Re P K F P∗ = − I m P K F P∗ . (36.27)
2 −iω 2 ω
The third contribution is related to the poroelastic coupling matrix CP (as de-
scribed by Eq. (15.117)). This matrix can be split into two contributions CkP and
CdP related to kinetic and potential energies:
Z
CP = ∑ Ve
(γ̃ + α)NuT · Bψ + αGuT · Nψ dV (36.28)
e
= CkP + CdP , (36.29)
where
Z
CkP = ∑ Ve
(γ̃ + α)NuT · Bψ dV, (36.30)
e
Z
CdP = ∑ Ve
αGuT · Nψ dV. (36.31)
e
The dissipated powers related to these two contributions can be computed using
the following expressions:
ω
Wvck = − I m P∗T CkT ∗T k
P U + U CP P , (36.32)
2
and
ω
Wvcd = − I m P∗T CdT
P U − U ∗T d
C P P . (36.33)
2
36.7.4 Power and energy indicators

The power/energy indicators computed for each material and stored in the plt
file are defined as follows:
• sDP: (Re(sDP)=2ωEs , Im(sDP)= Wds );
• sKP: (Re(sKP)=2ωT s , Im(sKP)= Wvs );

f
• fDP: (Re(fDP)=2ωE f , Im(fDP)= Wt );
f
• fKP: (Re(fKP)=2ωT f , Im(fKP)= Wv );
• cDP: (Re(cDP)=2ωEcd , Im(cDP)= Wvcd );
• cKP: (Re(cKP)=2ωEck , Im(cKP)= Wvck );
where dissipated powers are defined as:
• Wds = power dissipated by structural damping in the skeleton averaged over

one period;
• Wvs = power dissipated by viscous damping in the skeleton averaged over

one period;
f
• Wt = power dissipated by thermal effects in the fluid averaged over one
period;
f
• Wv = power dissipated by viscous effects in the fluid averaged over one
period;
• Wvcd = power dissipated by coupling solid and fluid phases averaged over
one period (related to strain energy);
• Wvck = power dissipated by coupling solid and fluid phases averaged over
one period (related to kinetic energy);
while energies are defined as:
• Es = potential energy stored in the skeleton over one period;
• T s = kinetic energy of the skeleton over one period;
• E f = potential energy stored in the fluid over one period;
• T f = kinetic energy of the fluid over one period;
• Ecd , Eck = coupling energies over one period.

36.8 Power spectral density for random responses 495
These energy/power quantities can be combined in order to evaluate the total

stored energy Etot , the total kinetic energy Ttot and the total dissipated power
Wtot :
1
Etot = Re (sDP + f DP + cDP) , (36.34)
2ω
1
Ttot = Re (sKP + f KP + cKP) , (36.35)
2ω
Wtot = Im (sDP + f DP + sKP + f KP + cDP + cKP) . (36.36)
36.8 Power spectral density for random responses

The auto-correlation function of a random process is defined as:
R x (τ ) = E [ x (t) x (t + τ )] (36.37)
where E[...] is the mathematical expectation operator.
The power spectral density Sx of a random process is defined as the Fourier

transform of its correlation function multiplied by 1/2π:
1
R x (t) ⇔ Sx (ω ) (36.38)
2π
For a stationary random process with a zero mean, the value of the auto-
correlation function at the origin (τ = 0) reduces to the variance σ2 :
Z +∞
2
R x (0) = σ = Sx (ω )dω (36.39)
−∞
For a continuous signal of period T, the auto-correlation function R x (τ ) can be

obtained from:
1 T
Z
R x (τ ) = x (t) x (t + τ )dt (36.40)
T 0
Substitution of equation (36.40) into equation (36.39) gives:
Z T Z +∞
1
x2 (t)dt = Sx (ω )dω (36.41)
T 0 −∞
With the notation Sxn = Sx (n4ω ), the discrete form of equation (36.41) can be
formulated as:
1 N −1 2 N −1
∑
N 4 t k =0
xk 4t = ∑ Sxn 4ω (36.42)
n =0
According to Parseval’s theorem, this equation can be rewritten as:
N −1 N −1
1
N 2 4 t2 ∑ | Xn |2 = ∑ Sxn 4ω (36.43)
kn=0 n =0
This reduces to the following relation between Xn and Sxn :

p
| Xn | = 2πSxn N 4t (36.44)
This relation shows that the module of the discrete Fourier transform of a random
signal is directly related to its power spectral density.
Eq. (36.44) can be used for simulating a random process with a known power
spectrum Sx . Each complex Fourier coefficient of the transient sample to be
simulated can be written as:
Xn = | Xn | ζ n (36.45)
where | Xn | is given by equation (36.44) while the phase factors ζ n = eiφn are
obtained by selecting random phases φn in the interval [0, 2π [. A uniform
distribution is usually selected for these phase angles.
The Fourier coefficients Xn of the requested sample are therefore given by:
p
Xn = 2πSxn N 4tζ n (36.46)
The constraint of a zero mean sample implies that X0 and Sx0 are zero. Any
particular choice of phase factors ζ n allows for the evaluation of a transient
sample. This is obtained by substitution of equation (36.46) into the discrete
inverse Fourier transform:
N −1 p
1
xk =
N 4t ∑ 2πSxn N 4tζ n e+2πikn/N (36.47)
n =0
According to the central limit theorem, the transient sample being the sum of a
large number of random variables will be Gaussian. This result does not depend
on the particular distribution selected for phase angles φk . Additionally each
generated sample has effectively the requested power spectral characteristics.
36.9 Evaluation of random results for modal frequency re-

sponses
36.9.1 Mean squared pressure and energetic response
The mean values of the (spatial) averaged quadratic response indicators can be
evaluated efficiently in a random modal context, as a result of the orthogonality
property of the structure and fluid modes.
Let us consider the time-dependent local acoustic pressure p(t). The spatial
averaged quadratic pressure < p2 > (t) is given by integrating the local response
over the fluid domain Ω F :
1
Z
< p2 > ( t ) = p(t) p(t)dΩ F . (36.48)
|Ω F | ΩF
36.9 Evaluation of random results for modal frequency responses 497
In a modal finite element context, the vector of nodal acoustic pressures pe (t) =
ΦF · ffF (t) is used and the integral is replaced by a matrix product :
ρc2 e T ρc2
< p2 > ( t ) = p (t) · MF · pe (t) = ff (t) · MF · ffF T (t), (36.49)
|Ω F | |Ω F | F
where ρ and c are the fluid density and the speed of sound in the (assumed
homogeneous) fluid medium. Note that the modal mass matrix MF is a diag-
onal matrix, the elements of which are the modal masses m Fi . In case of mass
normalization of the fluid modes, the modal masses are equal to one. Now, the
mean value of the time-dependent quadratic pressure < p2 > (t) is obtained by
applying the mathematical expectation operator to Eq. (36.49):
NF
ρc2 ρc2
E[< p2 > (t)] =
|Ω F |
E[ffF (t) · MF · ffF T (t)] =
|Ω F | ∑ mFi E[αF,i (t)αF,i (t)].
i =1
(36.50)
From the definition of the correlation function and the Wiener-Khintchine relation
between the correlation function and the power spectrum, we can write :
Z ∞
Rα F,i (0) = E[α F,i (t)α F,i (t)] = Sα F,i (ω )dω. (36.51)
−∞
Substituting Eq. (36.51) into Eq. (36.50), we finally obtain the expression of the
PSD of the mean (spatial) averaged quadratic pressure :
NF
ρc2
S< p2 > ( ω ) =
|Ω F | ∑ mFi SαF,i (ω ). (36.52)
i =1
Similar considerations lead to the expressions of the PSD of the energetic response
indicators :
• kinetic energy in the structure :
1 NS
4 i∑
ST (ω ) = mSi ω 2 SαS,i (ω ); (36.53)
=1
• strain energy in the structure :
1 NS
4 i∑
SV ( ω ) = k Si SαS,i (ω ); (36.54)
=1
• dissipated power in the structure (modal structural damping ηSi ):
1 NS
2 i∑
SWd (ω ) = k Si ηSi ωSαS,i (ω ); (36.55)
=1
• kinetic energy in the cavity :
1 NF k Fi
4 i∑
ST (ω ) = S ( ω );
2 α F,i
(36.56)
=1 ω
• strain energy in the cavity :
1 NF
4 i∑
SV ( ω ) = m Fi Sα F,i (ω ); (36.57)
=1
• dissipated power in the cavity (modal structural damping η Fi ):
1 NF
2 i∑
SWd (ω ) = m Fi η Fi ωSα F,i (ω ). (36.58)
=1
Under the assumption of mass normalization of the modes, the values for the
modal masses mSi and m Fi are equal to one and the values of the modal stiffnesses
k Si and k Fi are equal to the eigenvalues ωS2 and ω 2Fi , respectively.
i
36.10 Evaluation of random results with the sampling ap-

proach
The sampling techniques described in the sections 22.9.1 and 22.9.2 generate
samples of the random excitation. Considering several samples as loadcases in
a multiple-loadcase analysis, samples of the system response are obtained. All
response indicators supported in the deterministic analysis mode are supported
in the sampled random analysis mode. Statistical operations on the response
samples enable to evaluate the random response. Also envelopes of the response
indicators can be obtained.
36.11 Results on modal basis

A unique number Mode_ID is attributed to each mode in each modal basis. It is a
combination of the modal basis number, Modal_Basis_ID, and the mode number
i inside that basis, expressed by
Mode_ID=1000 x Modal_Basis_ID + i
where the default value of 1000 can be modified via LC_OFFSET_DUCT_MODE (

see 3.111 of Volume 2 for details ).
Four information are output for each mode in the plt file:
36.12 Broadband Noise Level for Turbo Machines 499
p
• the mode amplitude, ma, which is equal to Amn in Eq. (21.60);
• the mode intensity, mi, given by Eq. (21.32);
• the mode intensity in dB, mid, related to the mode intensity I = mi by

!
|I|
IdB = 10 log10 , (36.59)
Ire f
where
(1 + sign(order1 ) M) (2 10−5 )2
Ire f = , (36.60)
ρ0 c
with c the (local) sound speed, ρ0 the (local) fluid density, M the Mach
number and order1 the first order describing the mode (+1 for a mode
propagating along the positive direction of first local axis, -1 for a mode
propagating along the negative direction of the first local axis);
• the modal axial wavenumber, mka, which corresponds to k zmn in

Eqs. (21.63), (21.65), (21.80), (21.82), (21.96), (21.98), or k z in
Eqs. (21.105) and (21.107).
Finally the total incident and reflected powers are computed on a modal basis. The
incident power (iP) corresponds to the power of all the modes which propagate in
the same direction than the first axis defined in the MODAL_BASIS data block. The
reflected power (rP) corresponds to the power of all the modes which propagate
in the opposite direction of the first axis defined in the MODAL_BASIS data block.
36.12 Broadband Noise Level for Turbo Machines

A broadband simulation consists of various stochastic noise sources. The strategy
for computing broadband far field directivity is to assume that each propagating
duct mode carries a part of the total acoustic power, and is uncorrelated to all
other propagating duct modes.
Using the linearity of the acoustic propagation operator, one can express the
far-field pressure as a superposition of the pressure related to each propagating
mode φj , with a random phase θ j :
Nmode
p( x ) = ∑ A j Γ j ( x, φj )eiθ j (36.61)
j =1
where:
• Nmode is the total number of propagating modes;
• A j is the amplitude of the mode φj ;

• Γ j ( x, φj ) is the transfer function between the incident pressure of the mode

φj and the far-field pressure at the x position.
By using the FRANGE keyword in the MODAL_BASIS data block, Actran defines as
incident pressure all the propagating modes up to a defined frequency.
The square norm of the pressure is equal to:

Nmode
k pk2 = p.p∗ = ∑ A j Γ j A k Γ k ei (θ j −θk ) (36.62)
j,k =1
It is useful to split the contributions into a self-contribution and a cross-

contribution:
Nmode Nmode
k p k2 = ∑ Aj2Γj2 + ∑ A j Γ j Ak Γk ei(∆θ jk ) (36.63)
j =1 j,k =1;j6=k
If the modes j and k are uncorrelated, ∆θ jk is uniformly distributed between 0

and 2π and the cross-contribution vanishes on average. Hence, the equation
becomes:
Nmode
k p k2 = ∑ pj2 (36.64)
j =1
where p j = A j Γ j .
36.12.1 Equidistribution
Let’s define A0j as the amplitude of mode j so that it carries a unit acoustic power
W0 . Therefore the power carried by mode j is equal to:
2
A
j
Wj = 0 W0 (36.65)
A j
The total power carried by the Nmode propagating modes (correlated or not) is
equal to:
Nmode
W= ∑ Wj (36.66)
j =1
Note that there is no cross-term because propagating modes are energetically

independent.
36.12 Broadband Noise Level for Turbo Machines 501
In the case of the equidistribution, Wj is equal to a unique value W whatever the

mode j:
Wj = W ∀j (36.67)
and W = Nmode W (36.68)
Using Eq. 36.65 it can be found that:
s
1 W 0
Aj = √ A (36.69)
Nmode W0 j
Nmode
2 W
and k p k2 = ∑ p0j
W0
(36.70)
j =1
where p0j = A0j Γ j .
The Eq. (36.70) shows that the square sound pressure level is directly proportional
to the injected power W.
If the user needs to compute broadband noise without any equidistribution, some
participation factors can be used in post-processing by using the broadband
utility (see section 47.13).
36.12.2 Radiated power

In a broadband computation, the modes are usually injected with a unit value:
W = W0 (36.71)
The broadband far-field directivity is thus obtained simply by summing the far-
field square pressure of every propagating duct mode computed independently.
In practice, each individual duct mode is part of a loadcase.
The radiated power quantities provided for the infinite and modal basis domains
or admittance surfaces can be post-processed in the same way than the squared
pressure quantity:
Nmode
Wrad = ∑ Wrad j (36.72)
j =1
where Wrad is the radiated power indicator as described in the Table 10.2.
36.12.2.1 Circular and annular modal basis

For circular and annular modal basis, one can identify the modes of the Eq. 36.64
following their azimuthal and radial orders. The sound pressure level in far-field
can be written as follow:
Nmode mcut ncut
k p k2 = ∑ k p0j k2 = ∑ ∑ k p0m,n k2 (36.73)
j =1 m=−mcut n=1
where:
• mcut is the maximal azimuthal order (whatever the radial order),
• ncut is the maximal radial order for a given azimuthal order m.
The power quantities can be post-processed in the same way than the squared
pressure quantity:
mcut ncut
Wrad = ∑ ∑ Wradm,n (36.74)
m=−mcut n=1
For 2D axi-symmetric computation (see AXISYMMETRY data block), the negative

azimuthal orders are equal to the positive azimuthal order allowing to rewrite
the Eq. Eq. (36.73) as:
ncut mcut ncut
k p k2 = ∑ k p0m=0,n k2 + 2 ∑ ∑ k p0m,n k2 (36.75)
n =1 m =1 n =1
The power quantities can be post-processed in the same way than the squared
pressure quantity:
ncut mcut ncut
Wrad = ∑ Wradn,m=0 + 2 ∑ ∑ Wradm,n (36.76)
n =1 m =1 n =1
36.13 Forces and Moments on Constraint nodes

The computation of the forces and moments on constraint displacements and
rotations is enabled through the specification of the REACTION keyword in the
DISPLACEMENT and/or ROTATION data blocks. Two type of results are provided:
• Global indicators which represent the resultant on each boundary condition;
• Local indicators for each specified STORAGE_NODE that is specified on a

constrained node.
36.13 Forces and Moments on Constraint nodes 503
The constraining forces are obtained by multiplying a sparse dynamic stiffness

matrix Ac of size number of constrained degrees of freedom times number of
degrees of freedom with the matrix of solutions X of size number of degrees of
freedom times number of right hand sides as follows:
F = Ac · X (36.77)
The resultants for each specified boundary condition is computed by summing

up the different reactions along this boundary condition:
Ftotal = ∑ F(node) (36.78)

Constrained_nodes
When constraining a non-zero displacement or rotation, an injected power may

be computed and is provided for each boundary condition:
iω
Pinj =
2 ∑ F · Yq (36.79)
Constrained_nodes
where Yq is the imposed displacement/rotation at node q.
Remark. The assembly of the Ac matrix is not compatible with the usage
of the KRYLOV solver.
Part IV
Trimmed Body Simulation
With Actran
505
Thirty Seven
Updated Modal Approach

Contents
37.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
37.2 Trim components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
37.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a theoretical support of the updated modal approach
implemented in Actran. The problem to be solved is the identification of the
vibro-acoustic response of a structure S and a cavity F coupled with N trim
components Ti (i = 1, . . . , N). Appropriate boundary conditions are applied to
the coupled configuration : for instance, a structure loading or acoustic sources
in the cavity. The Section 6.1.5 states the untrimmed vibro-acoustic problem in
modal coordinates. The updated modal approach, allowing for the handling of
the trim components, is detailed in this section. The solution for the trimmed
problem is identical to the one for the untrimmed problem and can be found in
Section 6.1.5.
37.2 Trim components

The handling of the trim components using the updated modal approach results
from a two-steps procedure :
• construction, for each trim component, of an energetic database describing

the component behavior when it is excited by the trace of the structure
modes and/or fluid modes;
• conversion of this energetic database into in an update of the modal stiff-
nesses, modal masses and modal dampings, for both the fluid and structure
parts, and update of the fluid/structure modal coupling matrix.
507
508 Updated Modal Approach
These steps are reviewed in the following subsections for a given trim component
T. As the method is based on energetic considerations, contributions of various
trim components are additive and the extension to the general case of a collection
of trim components is straightforward.
37.2.1 Modal excitations of a trim component

Let us consider a trim component T coupled to a structure S through an interface
ΓS and to the cavity through an interface Γ F . For each structural mode ΦS,i
(i = 1, . . . , NS ) and each cavity mode Φ F,j (j = 1, . . . , NF ), we denote by ΦΓS ,i
and ΦΓ F ,j the trace of these modes on the interfaces ΓS and Γ F , respectively.
Given an appropriate finite element model of the trim component, it is possible
to investigate the energetic behavior of the trim component by performing the
following NS + NF analyses :
• configurations CS,i (i = 1, . . . , NS ) : finite element analysis of the trim

component at the frequency ωS,i , subjected to a prescribed displacement
ΦΓS ,i on ΓS and to zero pressure on Γ F ;
• configurations CF,j (j = 1, . . . , NF ) : finite element analysis of the trim
component at the frequency ω F,j , subjected to a zero displacement on ΓS
and to a prescribed pressure ΦΓ F ,j on Γ F .
Note that conversion of the displacement boundary conditions into velocity

boundary conditions is necessary if the coupling surface ΓS holds pressure dofs
instead of displacement dofs. This occurs for instance if the layer of the trim
component touching ΓS is an air layer. Similarly, conversion of the pressure
boundary conditions into distributed pressure boundary conditions is necessary
if the coupling surface Γ F holds displacement dofs instead of pressure dofs. This
occurs for instance if the trim component contains a solid septum layer touching
ΓF .
37.2.2 Energetic post-processing of a trim component

For each of the NS + NF analyses above, it is possible to compute the strain,
kinetic and dissipated powers in the trim component :
• VT (ΦΓS ,i , ωS,i ) = VT,S,i , the strain power in the trim component in configu-
ration CS,i ;
• TT (ΦΓS ,i , ωS,i ) = TT,S,i , the kinetic power in the trim component in configu-
ration CS,i ;
• WT (ΦΓS ,i , ωS,i ) = WT,S,i , the dissipated power in the trim component in
configuration CS,i ;
• VT (ΦΓ F ,j , ω F,j ) = VT,F,j , the strain power in the trim component in configu-
ration CF,j ;
37.2 Trim components 509
• TT (ΦΓ F ,j , ω F,j ) = TT,F,j , the kinetic power in the trim component in configu-
ration CF,j ;
• WT (ΦΓ F ,j , ω F,j ) = WT,F,j , the dissipated power in the trim component in

configuration CF,j .
Note that these energetic evaluations are made possible by the POWER_EVALUATION
feature of Actran. In fact, each configuration generates a result .plt file in which
energetic information is stored. Depending on the material type, the sDP, sKP,
fDP, fKP, cDP and cKP values can be combined in order to provide the strain,
kinetic and dissipated powers :
• for poroelastic material :
V = Re(sDP) + Re(fDP) + Re(cDP) (37.1)

T = Re(sKP) + Re(fKP) + Re(cKP) (37.2)
W = I m(sDP) + I m(fDP) + I m(cDP) + I m(sKP) + I m(fKP) + I m(cKP)
• for a rigid porous material :
V = Re(fDP) + Re(cDP) (37.3)

T = Re(fKP) + Re(cKP) (37.4)
W = I m(fDP) + I m(cDP) + I m(fKP) + I m(cKP)
• for a solid material :
V = Re(sDP) (37.5)
T = Re(sKP) (37.6)
W = I m(sDP) + I m(sKP)
• for a fluid material :
V = Re(fDP) (37.7)
T = Re(fKP) (37.8)
W = I m(fDP) + I m(fKP)
For more details about the POWER_EVALUATION feature, please refer to Section 3.10
of Volume 2.
37.2.3 Update of the structural modal parameters

The update of the structure modal parameters is based on energetic considerations.
In the absence of any trim component, the strain, kinetic and dissipated powers
corresponding to a displacement field U = ΦS,i at the frequency ωS,i are given

by :
ωS,i 3
ωS,i T
VS (ΦS,i ) = VS,i = ΦS,i · KS · ΦS,i = , (37.9)
2 2
3
ωS,i ω3
TS (ΦS,i ) = TS,i = T
ΦS,i · MS · ΦS,i = S,i , (37.10)
2 2
3
ηS,i ωS,i
WS (ΦS,i ) = WS,i = ηS,i VS (ΦS,i ) = . (37.11)
2
where ηS,i denotes a damping factor for the i-th structure mode. These relations
clearly relate the modal stiffness to the strain power, the modal mass to the kinetic
power and the damping factor to the dissipated energy. If we now consider the
trimmed configuration and we assume that the mode shapes are not altered by
the presence of the trim, the strain, kinetic and dissipated powers in the trimmed
structure are altered :
VS,i → VS,i + VT,S,i , (37.12)

TS,i → TS,i + TT,S,i , (37.13)
WS,i → WS,i + WT,S,i . (37.14)
From an energetic point of view, the trimmed configuration can thus be replaced
by an equivalent untrimmed structure having the following modal parameters :
T 2 2 2
ΦS,i · KS · ΦS,i = (VS,i + VT,S,i ) = ωS,i + V , (37.15)
ωS,i ωS,i T,S,i
T 2 2
ΦS,i · MS · ΦS,i = 3 ( TS,i + TT,S,i ) = 1 + 3 TT,S,i , (37.16)
ωS,i ωS,i
2
ηS,i,new = ηS,i + 3
WT,S,i . (37.17)
ωS,i
37.2.4 Update of the fluid modal parameters

Similarly to the update of the structure modal parameters, energetic considera-
tions are used to derive the updated fluid modal parameters. In the absence of
any trim component, the strain, kinetic and dissipated powers corresponding to
a pressure field p = Φ F,j at the frequency ω F,j are given by :
ω F,j T ω F,j
VF (Φ F,j ) = VF,j = Φ F,j · MF · Φ F,j = , (37.18)
2 2
1 ω F,j
TF (Φ F,j ) = TF,j = Φ TF,j · KF · Φ F,j = , (37.19)
2ω F,j 2
η F,j ω F,j
WF (Φ F,j ) = WF,j = η F,j VF (Φ F,j ) = . (37.20)
2
where η F,j denotes a damping factor for the j-th fluid mode. Again, in the
presence of the trim, the above powers are altered and an equivalent untrimmed
37.2 Trim components 511
configuration can be identified. This untrimmed cavity has the following modal
parameters :
Φ TF,j · KF · Φ F,j = 2ω F,j TF,j + TT,F,j = ω 2F,j + 2ω F,j TT,F,j ,

(37.21)
2 2
Φ TF,j · MF · Φ F,j =

V + VT,F,j = 1 + V , (37.22)
ω F,j F,j ω F,j T,F,j
2
η F,j,new = η F,j + W . (37.23)
ω F,j T,F,j
37.2.5 Update of the fluid/structure modal coupling

Not only the structure and the fluid modal parameters are affected by the presence
of the trim component, but also the fluid/structure modal coupling should be
updated in order to reflect the amplification (or attenuation) effect that the trim
component introduces at the interface between the fluid and structure parts.
Considering the Eq. (6.46) giving the fluid/structure modal coupling term, the
effect of the trim can be modelled by an amplification factor AS,i so that the
coupling factor becomes :
Z
ZSF ,new ij = ( AS,i ΦS,i · n)Φ F,j dΓSF . (37.24)
ΓSF
From the computational point of view, this is equivalent to multiplying the rows
of the ZSF matrix by the factors AS,i .
The values of the amplification factors can be extracted from the NS analyses of
the trim component in the configurations CS,i (i = 1, . . . , NS ). In fact, if we denote
by < v2 >ΓS ,i and < v2 >Γ F ,i the square velocities on the structure/trim and
trim/cavity interfaces ΓS and Γ F , respectively, the amplification factor is written :
s
< v2 >Γ F ,i
AS,i = . (37.25)
< v2 >ΓS ,i
The result .plt files related to the configurations CS,i (i = 1, . . . , NS ) store the
mean square velocities for the COUPLING_SURFACE 1 and 2, that is ΓS and Γ F ,
under the code mv.
Thirty Eight
Reduced Impedance (ZRED)

Approach
Contents
38.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
38.2 Reduction of the trim component impedance matrix . . . . . 514
38.3 Projection into the modal space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
38.4 Improving the performance of the ZRED Approach . . . . . 514
38.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a theoretical support of the reduced impedance matrix
approach (also known as the ZRED approach) implemented in Actran.
In this approach, a reduction of the trim component is performed in the sense

that its impedance matrix is condensed on the interface dofs with the structure
and the fluid domains. This reduced impedance matrix is then projected on the
structure/fluid modal basis. The modal impedance matrix of the trim component
then contributes to the modal impedance matrix of the coupled system.
The handling of the trim components in the reduced impedance matrix approach
results from a two-steps procedure :
• Reduction : for each trim component, reduction of the frequency-dependent

impedance matrix describing the component to coupling dofs with the
structure and the cavity;
• Projection : projection of the reduced impedance matrix on the structure
and fluid modal bases.
513
514 Reduced Impedance (ZRED) Approach
38.2 Reduction of the trim component impedance matrix

Let us consider a trim component T coupled to a structure S along an interface
ΓS and to a cavity F along an interface Γ F . We also assume that the dofs in the
finite element model of the trim component can be partitioned into displacement
inner dofs UT,inner , pressure inner dofs p T,inner , displacement coupling dofs with
the structure UT,ΓS and pressure coupling dofs with the cavity p T,Γ F . Defining
only inner dofs DT,inner and coupling dofs DΓ leads to :
T
(UT , p T )T = UT,inner , p T,inner , UT,ΓS , p T,Γ F = ( DT,inner , DT,Γ )T . (38.1)
Under such convention, the assembled impedance matrix related to the discrete
model of the trim component can be written :

Zinner (ω ) Zinner,Γ (ω )
ZT (ω ) = (38.2)
ZΓ,inner (ω ) ZΓ (ω )
and a reduction to the coupling dofs can be performed :
ZT,red (ω ) = ZΓ (ω ) − ZΓ,inner (ω ) · Zinner −1 (ω ) · Zinner,Γ (ω ). (38.3)
Note that the above evaluation requires the inversion of the Zinner matrix, which
controls the computational efficiency of the reduction procedure.
38.3 Projection into the modal space

Let us denote by ΦΓS ,i and ΦΓ F ,j the trace of the structure modes ΦS,i (i =
1, . . . , NS ) and cavity modes Φ F,j (j = 1, . . . , NF ) on the interfaces ΓS and Γ F ,
respectively. Using the relation Eq. (38.3) and the previous notations, the projec-
tion of the reduced impedance matrix on the structure and fluid modal basis is
obtained by the following relation :
ΦΓS T ΦΓS

0 0
ZT (ω ) = · ZT,red (ω ) · . (38.4)
0 ΦΓF T 0 ΦΓF
The so-obtained modal impedance matrix provides the contribution of the trim
component in modal coordinates and can therefore be injected in the coupled
modal system of Eq. (5.3). Note that modal coupling is introduced by this modal
impedance matrix, which is non-diagonal. These non-zero out-of-diagonal terms
reflect the alteration of the structure and fluid mode shapes due to the presence
of the trim components.
38.4 Improving the performance of the ZRED Approach

This section presents several techniques for improving the performance when
using the Reduced Impedance Approach.
38.4 Improving the performance of the ZRED Approach 515
38.4.1 Matrix Interpolation

The generation of the reduced impedance matrix is the most time consuming
part in a trimmed body simulation. This task is performed in the TRIM_DATABASE
sequence.
In order to reduce the computation time, one can specify a subset of the driving
frequencies and request the reduced impedance matrices to be calculated only on
this frequency subset. For this purpose, the frequency subset needs to be specified
in the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN block of the Actran input file in the TRIM_DATABASE
sequence.
In the modal recombination step (MODAL_SOLVER sequence), the full frequency list
needs to be specified in the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN block so that a complete frequency
response can be obtained.
For frequencies on which impedance matrices are not computed in the

TRIM_DATABASE sequence, linear interpolation/extrapolation is performed based
on available impedance matrices computed in the TRIM_DATABASE sequence. The
assumption behind this technique is that the reduced impedance matrix does not
have a strongly nonlinear frequency-dependence.
When selecting the frequencies in the TRIM_DATABASE sequence:
• It is not compulsory that the frequency steps are regularly spaced. Experi-
ence shows that at low frequency range, small frequency steps are usually
needed, while at higher frequency range, one can use relatively larger
frequency steps;
• Different trim components may have different sets of reduction frequencies.
38.4.2 Partitioning of Trim Components

Trim component partitioning enables a reduction of the computational require-
ments without a significant deterioration of the results accuracy.
The partitioning of the trim can be performed automatically by Actran. This

feature is controlled by the PARTITION keyword in the INTERFACE block. Each
partition can be seen as an independent trim component and the boundary
conditions at the interface are considered as:
• perfect reflection (hard wall) for the fluid degrees of freedom
• free motion for the solid degrees of freedom
These assumptions may affect the results.

516 Reduced Impedance (ZRED) Approach
38.4.3 Control of the Reduction Nodes

The number of reduction dofs impacts the TRIM_DATABASE sequence. By de-
fault, Actran considers that all nodes of the COUPLING_SURFACE surface_id
(surface_id=1,2,3,4,5) are reduction nodes.
Depending on the trim component nature, some reduction nodes could be re-
moved without significant alteration of the results (typically in the low frequency
range of the trim component). The REDUCTION_STRUCTURE and REDUCTION_CAVITY
keywords in the INTERFACE block enable the user to specify a distance thresh-
old. The reduction nodes are automatically selected amongst the nodes on
the COUPLING_SURFACE in such a way that the distance between two reduc-
tion nodes exceeds the provided value. Values for REDUCTION_STRUCTURE and
REDUCTION_CAVITY can be different and the user is informed about the effect of
the provided values in terms of eliminated nodes.
Thirty Nine
Trim Models Denition

Contents
39.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
39.2 Syntax of the trim model file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
39.3 Specific remarks for the TRIM data blocks . . . . . . . . . . . 520
39.1 Introduction
This part only concerns trimmed body simulations. Such simulation generally
involves a body structure coupled to an acoustic cavity and covered by a set of
trim components. The trim components are modeled in physical coordinates.
In both the Updated Modal Approach and the Reduced Impedance Matrix
approach, standard Actran direct frequency responses of the trim components
are performed in order to account for the presence of the trim that alters the
modal behavior of the structure and the cavity. This process is embedded in the
TRIM_DATABASE sequence and the use of Actran is transparent to the user. This
section describes the specifications, mandatory and optional blocks of the trim
models.
The trim component model can be easily set up from an existing mesh within
ActranVI, the pre- and post-processing software dedicated to Actran.
39.2 Syntax of the trim model file

Each trim component model needs to be defined in a separate file. The reference
to the trim component model file in the main input file of the modal frequency
response analysis (ACTRAN_MODAL ) is done in the INTERFACE data block through
the keyword TRIM_FILE (see Section 3.66 of Volume 2).
517
518 Trim Models Definition
A trim component model contains:
• a mesh (linear or quadratic), defined in a TOPOLOGY data block ;
• the properties of the different materials and components that compose the
trim model, defined by a combination of MATERIAL and COMPONENT data
blocks;
• one (or several) coupling surfaces defining the trim interface in contact with
the structure (if a structure is involved), defined by the COUPLING_SURFACE
data block of ID 1, ID 3 or ID 5.
– COUPLING_SURFACE 1: glued coupling condition, the trim component is

glued to the structure;
– COUPLING_SURFACE 3: sliding coupling condition, the trim component

is allowed to slide on the structure. The reduction nodes carry only 1
displacement dof, the normal displacement;
– COUPLING_SURFACE 5: air gap coupling condition, the trim component

is assumed to be coupled to the structure through a very thin air layer.
The thin air layer is taken into the analysis without being modeled
(not being defined in the trim model file).
• one (or several) coupling surfaces defining the trim interface in contact with
the cavity (if a cavity is involved), defined by a COUPLING_SURFACE data
block of ID 2 or ID 4
– COUPLING_SURFACE 2: open coupling condition, describing a perforated

interface, the air flow is enabled at the interface between fluid phase
of the trim component and acoustic cavity;
– COUPLING_SURFACE 4: closed coupling condition, describing an imper-

vious interface, the air flow is blocked at the interface between fluid
phase of the trim component and the acoustic component.
The basic syntax of an Actran trim model is the following:

39.2 Syntax of the trim model file 519
for each topology

BEGIN TOPOLOGY topology_id
[NAME topology_name]
either
ACTRAN
BEGIN MESH
...
END MESH
or
BOXPRO
BEGIN MESH
...
END MESH
or
format
FILE file_name
end either
[SPACE_DIMENSION 2 or 3]
[MASS_UNIT mass_value]
[LENGTH_UNIT length_value]
[CHECK_QUADTRI 0 or 1]
...
for each domain
BEGIN DOMAIN domain_name
...
END DOMAIN domain_name
end for
END TOPOLOGY topology_id
end for
for each material

BEGIN MATERIAL material_id
[NAME material_name]
material_type
for each material property
either
property_identifier, complex property value
or
property_identifier, TABLE, table number
or
property_identifier, FIELD, field number
end either
end for
END MATERIAL material_id
end for
for each component

BEGIN COMPONENT component_id
[NAME component_name]
component_type
[MATERIAL material_id]
DOMAIN domain_name_list
for each component property
either
property_identifier, complex property value
or
property_identifier, TABLE, table number
or
property_identifier, FIELD, field number
end either
end for
END COMPONENT component_id
end for
for each coupling surface

BEGIN COUPLING_SURFACE surface_id
[NAME coupling_surface_name]
DOMAIN domain_name_list
END COUPLING_SURFACE surface_id
end for
All the blocks are standard Actran data blocks. However, some particular
arguments or parameters are mandatory for a trimmed body analysis. These
specific options are presented in the next section.
39.3 Specific remarks for the TRIM data blocks

Remark. For details about the syntax supporting the definition of the
trim components, please refer to the manual of EDAT Input File syntax,
Actran User’s Guide, Volume 2.
39.3.1 Mandatory POWER_EVALUATION keyword for the Up-

dated Modal Approach
When the Updated Modal Approach is activated, the presence of the keyword
POWER_EVALUATION set to 1 in all the MATERIAL data blocks is compulsory to
enable the evaluation of the energetic behavior of the trim component.
39.3 Specific remarks for the TRIM data blocks 521
39.3.2 COMPONENT data block

This data block defines the various components that compose the trim model.
The complete description of this block is provided in the related section of the
Section 3.10 of Volume 2.
39.3.3 COUPLING_SURFACE data block

The coupling surfaces are used to define the trim surfaces that are coupled to the
structure and/or to the cavity.
At least one occurrence of this data block is mandatory and up to five such
sections can be defined in a trim model file. Specific sections for non-matching
meshes are also possible, but should not have IDs in the range 1 to 5.
The ID of COUPLING_SURFACE must correspond to the interface coupling type. The

COUPLING_SURFACE related to the structure must always have the ID 1, ID 3 or
ID 5 depending on the glued, sliding or air gap nature of the coupling condition;
and the COUPLING_SURFACE related to the cavity must have the ID 2 or ID 4
depending on th open or closed nature of the coupling condition.
The Updated Modal approach supports only glued and open coupling conditions.
The COUPLING_SURFACE in contact with the structure must always have the ID 1
and the COUPLING_SURFACE in contact with the cavity must have the ID 2.
The complete description of this block is provided in Section 3.42 of Volume 2.
39.3.4 DOMAIN data block

The DOMAIN data block is used to select one or multiple parts of the finite element
mesh described in the TOPOLOGY data block, and to assign these to a specific
alpha-numeric identifier. This data block is a sub-section of the TOPOLOGY data
block.
39.3.5 ELEMENT data block

This data block defines the element topologies for the trim’s finite element model
given in an explicit Actran format and is a sub-section of the MESH data block.
39.3.6 MATERIAL data block

This data block allows to define the various materials presented in the trim model
and is referenced by COMPONENT block.
The complete description of this block is provided in the related section of

Section 3.75 of Volume 2.
39.3.7 MESH data block

The MESH data block is used to explicitly define a mesh in an Actran format
or a structured boxpro mesh. This block is optional and is a sub-section of the
TOPOLOGY data block.
39.3.8 NODE data block

This data block contains the coordinates of the nodes of a finite element mesh
given in an explicit Actran format and is a sub-section of MESH data block.
39.3.9 TOPOLOGY data block

The TOPOLOGY data block allows to define a finite element mesh, either explicitly
through the MESH data block, using the integrated boxpro mesher or through an
external file. It also allows to specify the different domains to be used during the
computation through the DOMAIN data blocks.

Fourty
Delta Fluid Approach

Contents
40.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
40.2 Incorporation of Equivalent Fluid into Cavity Modes . . . . 523
40.3 Practical Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
40.1 Introduction
This chapter provides a theoretical support for the incorporation of the trim
material into the cavity modal basis. With this approach, the trim material is not
modelled as an individual component, but incorporated into the cavity model
as an equivalent fluid and is included in the cavity modal extraction procedure.
Therefore, this strategy is only valid for trim components that can be represented
by an equivalent fluid material.
40.2 Incorporation of Equivalent Fluid into Cavity Modes

Let us consider a vibro-acoustic problem involving a shell structure, a trim
material (modelled as an equivalent fluid) and an acoustic cavity, as illustrated in
Figure 40.1.
The trim material is modelled as an equivalent fluid with frequency dependent

material properties ( ρt (ω ) is the equivalent fluid density and ct (ω ) is the equiva-
lent sound speed). Such material properties result from the use of the so-called
’rigid porous’ model (Biot model with a rigid skeleton), the lumped porous model
or the semi-empirical Delany-Bazley or Miki models.
In a modal procedure, the structural response will be expanded in terms of a

finite set of structural modes (in vacuo modes for instance) while the acoustic
and trim response will be expanded in a suitable modal basis.
523
524 Delta Fluid Approach
Figure 40.1: Vibro-acoustic problem with a trim component made of equivalent fluid
material
A conventional choice for this fluid basis consists in the selection of the modes of
the untrimmed cavity. A better choice could rely on the incorporation of the trim
material in the modal extraction procedure. This can be done in the following
way:
• Identify a key intermediate frequency f mean in the requested frequency

range [ f min , f max ];
• Evaluate the material properties ρt (ωmean ) and ct (ωmean ) of the equivalent

fluid model (selected for the trim material) at this frequency;
• Extract the real parts ρtr (ωmean ) and ctr (ωmean ) of these trim material prop-
erties and the (real) material properties ρc and cc for the cavity;
• Formulate discrete stiffness and mass matrices in the following form:
K ( ω ) = Kc + K T ( ω ) (40.1)
M ( ω ) = Mc + M T ( ω ) (40.2)
where Kc and Mc are the stiffness and mass matrices of the cavity FE model
while KT and MT are the stiffness and mass matrices of the (frequency-
dependent) trim FE model.
These last matrices can be formulated in a factorized form using:
KT (ω ) = k T (ω )KTr (ωmean ) (40.3)

40.2 Incorporation of Equivalent Fluid into Cavity Modes 525
MT (ω ) = m T (ω ) MTr (ωmean ) (40.4)
where KTr and MTr are the stiffness and mass matrices obtained using the
real parts of equivalent material properties at the intermediate frequency
while k T and m T are complex and frequency-dependent scalar functions
• Formulate the following eigenvalue problem for the system ’trim + cavity’:
(Kc + KTr )Φ = Λ( Mc + MTr )Φ (40.5)
• Use a truncated modal expansion of the fluid pressure in the ’trim + cavity’
system:
[(Kc + KT (ω )) − ω 2 ( Mc + MT (ω ))] P(ω ) = F (ω ) (40.6)
where P(ω ) = Φx p (ω ). This leads to :
Φ T [(Kc + KT (ω )) − ω 2 ( Mc + MT (ω ))]Φx p (ω ) = Φ T F (ω ) (40.7)
or
[K̂ (ω ) − ω 2 M̂(ω )] x p (ω ) = F̂ (ω ) (40.8)
,
where the modal matrices have the following form:
K̂ (ω ) = Φ T [Kc + KT (ω )]Φ
= Φ T [Kc + k T (ω )KTr ]Φ
= Φ T [Kc + KTr − (1 − k T (ω ))KTr ]Φ
= Λ − (1 − k T (ω ))Φ T [KTr ]Φ (40.9)
and
M̂ (ω ) = Φ T [ Mc + MT (ω )]Φ
= Φ T [ Mc + m T (ω ) MTr ]Φ
= Φ T [ Mc + MTr − (1 − m T (ω )) MTr ]Φ
= 1 − (1 − m T (ω ))Φ T [ MTr ]Φ (40.10)
• These expressions show that modal matrices at a particular frequency ω can

be obtained by adding perturbation matrices (directly linked to distribution
matrices and to the scalar functions k T and m T ) to the diagonal matrices Λ
and I.
526 Delta Fluid Approach
40.3 Practical Aspects

This approach is activated by specifying the METHOD in a INTERFACE block to be
DELTA_FLUID.
With this approach, instead of creating a trim component, the equivalent fluid is
incorporated in the cavity model for modal extraction. Since no trim component
is created, the TRIM_FILE in the INTERFACE block should not be defined.
Only the trim materials that are of equivalent fluid type are supported. These
include: rigid porous model, lumped porous model, semi-empirical Delany-
Bazley and Miki models and visco-thermal fluid.
In order to compute the equivalent properties (density and speed of sound)

of the equivalent fluid, one could use the utility get_equivfluid described in
Section 47.7.
Fourty One
Execution Sequences
Specic for a Trimmed Body
Analysis
Contents
41.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
41.2 TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
41.3 GENERATE_BC execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
41.4 RUN_ACTRAN execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
41.5 NRJ execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
41.6 MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . 531
41.7 TEST_TRIM execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
41.1 Introduction
This chapter concerns only the execution sequences that are specific to a trimmed
body analysis. The execution sequences for general modal frequency response are
presented in Chapter 8.
41.2 TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence

41.2.1 Description
This sequence is available in both the Updated Modal approach and the Reduced
Impedance Matrix approach. During the TRIM_DATABASE sequence, Actran
creates a database containing the contribution of the trim components. With the
527
528 Trimmed Body Execution Sequences
Updated Modal Approach, this information is the energetic database of trim

under the excitations of structure modes and cavity modes. With the Reduced
Impedance approach, the database contains the reduced impedances of the trim
components projected to the structure and cavity modal basis.
In the Updated Modal approach, TRIM_DATABASE launches successively the

MODAL_FILTERING, GENERATE_BC, RUN_ACTRAN and NRJ sub-sequences.
In the Reduced Impedance Matrix approach, TRIM_DATABASE launches succes-

sively the GENERATE_BC and RUN_ACTRAN sub-sequences.
A detailed presentation of all these sequences is provided in the following

sections.
The inputs of the TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence are:
• the structural modal basis;
• the cavity modal basis;
• the generic trim models in the Actran format.
Figure 41.1: TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence
41.3 GENERATE_BC execution sequence

41.3.1 Description
The GENERATE_BC sequence is a sub-sequence of the TRIM_DATABASE sequence
related to the creation of the set of input files. These files are stored at the end of
the sequence in the directory of the trim component model.
41.3 GENERATE_BC execution sequence 529
Figure 41.2: GENERATE_BC execution sequence
41.3.2 GENERATE_BC in the Updated Modal approach

In the framework of the Updated Modal approach, the GENERATE_BC sequence
performs the following operations:
1. A set of trim models input files is generated. Considering one generic trim
model among all trim models to be analyzed, two coupling surfaces must
be defined on the trim component;
2. Each structural mode is projected on the coupling surface 1 and is applied

as a prescribed displacement (or equivalent) boundary condition. This
provides a first set of trim input files, one for each structural mode;
3. Each acoustic mode is projected on the coupling surface 2 and is applied as

a prescribed pressure (or equivalent) boundary condition. This leads to the
generation of a second set of trim input files.
The created files are trim_radical.S.mode_id.dat and

trim_radical.S.mode_id.act_bc for structure modes;
trim_radical.A.mode_id.dat and trim_radical.A.mode_id.act_bc for
cavity modes.
At this stage, note that:
• the include file mechanism is used in the sets of input files in order to limit
the storage space on disk;
• the input files related to the excitation on the trim model by the structure
and/or fluid models are not generated if the trim model is not coupled
to the structure and/or the fluid model (see the INTERFACE data block
description in Section 3.66 of Volume 2);
• the user can select the range of structure and/or cavity modes that will
be taken into account, using FIRST_MODE_INDEX and NUMBER_OF_MODES in
STRUCTURE_MODEL and/or CAVITY_MODEL data blocks.
41.3.3 GENERATE_BC in the Reduced Impedance Matrix ap-

proach
In the framework of the Reduced Impedance Matrix approach, the GENERATE_BC
sequence generates:
1. A set of input files with the name convention

trim_radical.zred.frequency_index.dat. In these input files, an
EXTERNAL_MATRICES and a MASTER_NODES data blocks are created. The
purpose of these blocks is to output reduced impedance of the trim
component w.r.t. the dofs on its coupling surfaces with the structure and
with the cavity for each frequency of the analysis.
2. The modal projection matrices on the trim’s coupling surfaces with
the name convention trim_radical.modes.coupling_type.op4, where
coupling_type is the ID number of the corresponding coupling surface of
the trim component (See Section 39.2).
41.4 RUN_ACTRAN execution sequence

41.4.1 Description
The RUN_ACTRAN execution sequence is a sub-sequence of the TRIM_DATABASE
sequence related to the computation of the contribution from each set of input
files generated in the GENERATE_BC execution sequence.
Figure 41.3: RUN_ACTRAN execution sequence
41.4.2 RUN_ACTRAN in the Updated Modal approach

In the framework of the Updated Modal approach, the RUN_ACTRAN sequence
launches the input file created during the GENERATE_BC sequence. A result file
41.5 NRJ execution sequence 531
with an extension .plt is created for each couple of mode and trim component.
All .plt files are stored in the directory of the trim component model. If the user
changes the range of modes, a new RUN_ACTRAN sequence needs to be executed.
Note that the results that have been previously obtained will not be recomputed.
41.4.3 RUN_ACTRAN in the Reduced Impedance Matrix ap-

proach
In the framework of the Reduced Impedance Matrix approach, the RUN_ACTRAN
sequence launches Actran on the input file created during the GENERATE_BC
sequence.
For each trim and at each computational frequency, the impedance matrix of
the trim component is computed. These impedance matrices are reduced w.r.t.
the dofs to the coupling surfaces with the structure and the cavity and stored
on disk in the Nastran .op4 format. The reduced impedance matrices are then
projected on the structure and cavity modal basis.
Remark. If the keyword SKIP_MODAL_PROJECTION is activated in

the INTERFACE data block, the projection of the reduced impedance ma-
trices on the structure/cavity modal basis is operated at the beginning of
MODAL_SOLVER executable sequence (See Section 3.66 of Volume 2).
41.5 NRJ execution sequence

Remark. The NRJ is only active for the Updated Modal approach.
41.5.1 Description
The NRJ execution sequence is a sub-sequence of the TRIM_DATABASE sequence
related to the post-processing of all the plt outputs files generated by each
direct frequency response (couple trim and mode) during the RUN_ACTRAN exe-
cution sequence. For each trim component, the NRJ execution sequence creates
a trim_radical.database file containing all the data required for the modal
update. This database corresponds to the output of the TRIM_DATABASE sequence.
41.6 MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence

Remark. The MODAL_FILTERING is only active for the Updated Modal
approach.
41.6.1 Description
The MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence examines the modes of the structure
model and evaluates the indicators for a modal filtering.
Figure 41.4: NRJ execution sequence
Figure 41.5: MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence
This sequence evaluates the mean value of structural modes on the trim coupling
surface 1 and the modal forces (projection of the user-defined excitation on the
modal basis). Using these indicators and user-controlled parameters (type of the
modal filtering and numerical ratios), a list of modes that should be taken into
account is created and stored on disk. The list is then read by the GENERATE_BC
execution sequence and only the selected modes are regarded to excite the trim
component. Note that the MODAL_FILTERING execution sequence is optional
but, in case it is used, should be launched prior to the GENERATE_BC execution
sequence.
If the criteria on the modal filtering are relaxed (i.e. more modes are to be
considered), the MODAL_FILTERING sequence should be run again in order to
update the list of selected modes. In this case, the relaxed mode will change
the (intermediate) results of all the following sequences. If the relaxed modes
were not calculated in the RUN_ACTRAN sequence, then this sequence need to be
launched again after the modification of the filtering criteria.
The modal filtering is controlled by the data block MODAL_FILTERING (See 3.95 of
41.7 TEST_TRIM execution sequence 533
Volume 2). If this data block is not defined, none of the modes will be filtered
during the MODAL_FILTERING sequence.
The MODAL_FILTERING is always performed at the beginning of the

TRIM_DATABASE execution sequence. If the data block MODAL_FILTERING is not
defined in the input file, none of the modes will be filtered.
The list of modes that should be taken into account for each trim component is
stored in the file: trim_radical.S.filtered_modes located in the directory of
the trim component model.
The computation of modal forces is also stored on disk. It can be re-used for
another MODAL_FILTERING sequence with a different filtering criterion. These files
are named actrantrim.S.modal_forces (structure).
41.7 TEST_TRIM execution sequence

41.7.1 Description
The TEST_TRIM execution sequence checks the consistency of the trim models of
an Actran trimmed body analysis. This test does not use any modal result and
can thus be used prior launching the modal extractions. It applies a uniform
distributed pressure at surface where the modes trace is applied and tests if the
energy analysis is performed correctly. This is not compatible with the parallel
execution mode.
Important messages are output in the Actran report and screen files as well
as in the Actran standard output files of the trim components. These latter
have the following name pattern trim_name.T.*. See Section 10.2 for a detailed
description of these reports or information files.
Part V
Utilities for Actran and
Interface with Other CAE
Software
535
Fourty Two
Processing CFD Results with

iCFD
Contents
42.1 ICFD in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
42.2 Computation of the aeroacoustic sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
42.3 Aeroacoustic sources for Fan noise simulations . . . . . . . . 553
42.4 Transformation into the frequency domain . . . . . . . . . . . 556
42.5 Importing the mean flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
42.6 Automatic Rotation and Translation of the CAA Model . . . 587
42.1 iCFD in a Nutshell

Many industrial aeroacoustic problems require the use of a CFD code in combina-
tion with Actran. To make this possible, FFT has developed a specific interface
between CFD codes and Actran. The main ingredients are grouped under the
umbrella of the iCFD utility that allows to perform different kinds of operation
depending on the type of results available and the application :
1. Computation of the aeroacoustic sources through the application of the

Möhring’s or Lighthill’s analogies, which are required to analyze the aero-
dynamically generated noise (see Chapter 27). Section 42.2 explains how
the aerodynamic sources produced by the CFD codes may be imported into
Actran;
2. Projection of the mean aerodynamic fields which are used in a convected
propagation analysis (see Chapter 27). Section 42.5 explains how to im-
port the steady mean flow, mean pressure, mean density or temperature
computed by a CFD code into Actran;
537
538 iCFD
3. Fourier transform of time domain quantities (see Section 42.4). In particular,

this feature is used to transform the aeroacoustic source term from the time
domain to the frequency domain. It can also be used to post-process
experimental measurements performed in the time domain;
4. Projection of wall pressure fluctuations which can be used to load mechan-

ically a structure (for example a side window) by aerodynamic pressure
results. See Section 42.2.4 to create an iCFD input file for projecting these
quantities.
iCFD directly reads CFD information in most CFD native formats. The currently
supported formats are:
• .ccmg and .ccmt formats produced by star-CD (starting from star-CD

version 4.0 to version 4.08);
• .ccm format produced by star-CCM+ (starting from star-CCM+ version

3.06 to version 9.04);
• .cas and .dat or .cdat formats produced by Fluent (starting from Fluent
version 6.3.26 to version 15.0);
• .case format which corresponds to the Ensight-Gold format that is sup-

ported by most of the CFD softwares;
• .cgns format produced by FINE/Turbo (starting from FINE/Turbo version

8.9);
• .cgns format produced by SCTetra;
• .cgns format produced by TRACE (starting from TRACE version 7.3.120);
• the OpenFoam format;
• the AcuSolve format.
42.2 Computation of the aeroacoustic sources

42.2.1 Introduction
Actran aeroacoustic simulations are based on different quantities computed
previously by an external CFD solver during an unsteady flow simulation. The
transformation of the native CFD data into quantities that can be directly imported
in Actran involves several steps that are handled by iCFD:
1. read pressure, density, velocity and temperature fields output by a CFD

solver;
42.2 Computation of the aeroacoustic sources 539
2. compute the different contributions according to the FEM formulation

implemented in Actran;
3. project the contributions on the acoustic mesh;
4. store the corresponding data in a format readable by Actran and that can
be displayed in ActranVI;
5. transform these quantities from the time to the frequency domain using a
Fourier transform algorithm.
Most CFD solvers allow to select the types of quantities to be saved. These
quantities depends on the target simulation:
• vibro-acoustic analysis of a structure submitted to a pressure load: the CFD

files should contain the pressure field on the wetted surface;
• aero-acoustic analysis: the CFD files should contain density and velocity
within all CFD cells and on all external boundaries for compressible CFD
computation. For incompressible CFD computation only the velocity field
is required.
Solving an aero-acoustic problem involves the following steps (see Figure 42.1):
1. set-up of the CFD model;
2. run the CFD computation and output of the data at each CFD time step ;
3. creation of the Actran model;
4. use of iCFD to compute the aero-acoustic source terms (Section 42.2);
5. use of iCFD to perform the Fourier transform (Section 42.4);
6. run the acoustic computation with the Actran solver.
By default, iCFD looks for the different quantities in the CFD solution files.
However, if some quantity is missing, iCFD first looks for a default value specified
in the input file. For density, temperature or pressure, if no default value is
specified or present in the CFD solution files, iCFD attempts to compute this field
based on perfect gas law.
540 iCFD
Figure 42.1: Actran process for the computation of aero-acoustic sources from unsteady
CFD results
42.2.2 Lighthill’s analogy

For low Mach number flows, the convection effects on acoustic propagation can
be considered negligible. This is valid if the flow is contained within the source
zone. In this case the convection effects are supposed to be accounted for in the
Lighthill’s right hand side (see Section 27.5.2 for more details). The unsteady
CFD field is used to compute the right hand side of Eq. (27.110):
i ∂δψ ∂ 1
Z Z
F ρ̃ṽi ṽ j + τ̃i j + ( p̃ − c2 ρ̃)δij dΩ − F (ρ̃ṽi ni ) dΓ (42.1)
Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j Γ ρ
which involves a volume contribution discussed in Section 42.2.2.1 and a bound-

ary contribution discussed in Section 42.2.2.2.
42.2.2.1 Volume contribution

The volume integral contains three terms:
i ∂δψ ∂
R
• Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j F ρ̃ṽi ṽ j dΩ which represents the divergence of convective
fluxes.
i ∂δψ ∂
( p̃ − c2 ρ̃)δij dΩ which is equal to zero for homentropic
R
• Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j F

flows, by definition of the speed of sound (c2 = ∂ρ ). This term is
∂p
s
therefore related to entropy variations and is called the entropy source term.
i ∂δψ ∂
R
• Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j F τ̃ij dΩ which is the divergence of the viscous stresses.
The relative magnitude of convective fluxes and viscous stresses is measured by

the Reynolds number based on the CFD cell size. In general, even in boundary
layers, this cell Reynolds number is greater than one so that convective fluxes
dominates and viscous stresses can be neglected. The entropy term disappears for
homentropic flows (e.g. in the absence of combustion or related processes).
Based on this analysis, iCFD does not compute entropy sources and viscous
stresses but only the divergence of convective fluxes.
i ∂δψ ∂
R
iCFD computes the Ω ρ0 ω ∂xi ∂x j F ρ̃ṽi ṽ j dΩ volume integral using the unsteady
velocity and density fields stored in the CFD files and data related to the acoustic
mesh (δψ). This computation is performed in the time domain and an oversam-
pling is performed by default (the aerodynamic fields are interpolated between
two time steps) to avoid aliasing effects during the Fourier transform.
The COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_VOLUME line in the iCFD input file (Section 42.2.4) acti-
vates the computation of this volume integral.
42.2.2.2 Surface contribution
The surface contribution is due to the integration by part and to the application of
the Gauss’ theorem to the original right hand side of the variational formulation
of Lighthill’s analogy. The surface contribution results from an integral over the
CFD boundaries:
1
Z
− F (ρ̃ṽi ni ) δψdΓ (42.2)
Γ ρ
For the different types of boundaries it corresponds to :
• Interface between finite and infinite element domains - The infinite do-
main does not support aero-acoustic sources. The aero-acoustic sources
are therefore supposed to be zero when reaching the infinite domain. The
different terms involved in the surface integral are therefore equal to zero
so that the boundary integral is not calculated.
• Rigid walls - The CFD software applies a zero normal velocity component
condition on this type of wall. The normal acceleration should therefore
also be zero so that the boundary integral vanishes on this type of boundary.
• A Permeable surface is a boundary for the acoustic problem but not for the
CFD simulation. All fluctuations observed on this surface will be accounted
for in the aero-acoustic computation and the surface integral must clearly
be evaluated. It generally corresponds to the interface between rotating and
static CFD domains.
• Vibrating walls - The unsteady flow structures may generate vibrations of

the structure which correspond to the unsteady forces generated by the flow
on the structure. In this case, the normal forces distributed over the surface
542 iCFD
are taken into account by the Actran formulation. This case corresponds
to aero-vibro-acoustic applications.
In conclusion the surface integral only needs to be evaluated on permeable surface

and vibrating boundaries as it is equal to zero on all other boundaries.
The COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_SURFACE line in the iCFD input file (Section 42.2.4)
activates the computation of this surface integral.
42.2.3 Möhring analogy

In some aero-acoustic applications with a high Mach number, the flow convection
effects on the acoustic propagation can not be considered as negligible1 and the
assumptions made by Lighthill are not valid anymore. The Möhring’s analogy
(see Chapter 27, section 27.5.3 for more details) covers the entire the range of
flows and therefore complements the Lighthill’s analogy. The Möhring’s analogy
is based on a more general approach than the Lighthill’s analogy. However it has
a slightly higher number of terms in the discrete model and can require more
computational resources. The Möhring analogy is activated by default in Actran
if the aerodynamic noise source field contains the MÖHRING keyword in the name
and if a flow field is provided to the acoustic component.
The unsteady CFD field is used to compute the right hand side of Eq. (27.110):

1 ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃
Z

Ni ∂ρ̃ ∂s̃ 1
Z
+ F + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ dΩ, (42.3)
Ni
Z
Fivibro,e = F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ aero
Γ aero ρ T
Z
ρ0
− Ni (iωun + v0 · ∇un − un n · (n · ∇)v0 ) dΓvibro,v
Γ vibro,u ρ T
Z
ρ0
− Ni vn dΓvibro,v
Γvibro,v ρ T
Z
ρ0
− δψan dΓvibro,a . (42.4)
Γ vibro,a iωρ T
42.2.3.1 Volume contribution

As for the Lighthill’s analogy, the volume integral can be split in 2 parts:
1
(ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ) − ∇τ̃ ) · ∇ Ni dΩe is related to the vorticity and to
R
• Ωe ρ T F
viscous stresses. It therefore represents the turbulent noise associated to the
flow.
1 The convection effects are generally estimated by the Mach number associated to the flow field.
In general, one assumes that for M & 0.2, compression effects are not negligible and flow convection
affects significantly the acoustic propagation.

− ∂∂ρ̃s̃ ṽ ∂∂ts̃ + ρ̃ T̃ ∇s̃ · ∇ Ni dΩe + Ωe ρNTi F ∂∂ρ̃s̃ ∂∂ts̃ + ρ̃ṽ · ∇ ρ1T dΩ cor-
1
R R
• Ωe ρT F
responds to the part of the noise generated by entropy variations (combus-
tion noise for instance).
As for Lighthill, iCFD does not currently compute the noise associated to entropy
variations, but mainly focuses on the turbulent part of the noise. In the turbu-
lent part, except in boundary layer regions, the viscous stresses are negligible
compared to the Lamb vector L = ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ). In boundary layer regions,
neglecting the viscous stresses is also valid except in the close vicinity of the wall
where they are accounted by the boundary integral.
iCFD computes the Ωe ρ1T F (ρ̃ṽ × (∇ × ṽ)) · ∇ Ni dΩe volume integral using the
R
unsteady velocity and density fields stored in the CFD files and the properties of
the acoustic mesh (∇ Ni ). This computation is performed in the time domain; an
oversampling is performed by default to avoid aliasing effects during the Fourier
transform step that follows.
The COMPUTE MOHRING_VOLUME line in the iCFD input file (Section 42.2.4) activates
the computation of this volume integral.
42.2.3.2 Surface contribution
The original right hand side associated to Möhring analogy does not contain
a boundary integral. The integrations by part and the use of Green’s theorem
generate a boundary term which has been described in Section 42.2.3. This
boundary integral corresponds to the general vibro-acoustic excitations. On
boundaries separating a region where aeroacoustic sources are computed and
a region where they are not, this boundary should be computed using known
density and velocity fields:
Ni
Z
F (ρ̃ṽ) · n dΓ aero . (42.5)
Γ aero ρT
The COMPUTE MOHRING_SURFACE line in the iCFD input file (Section 42.2.4) acti-
vates the computation of this surface integral.
42.2.4 iCFD input file for aero-acoustic sources and wall pres-
sure fluctuations computation
This section describes the syntax of the iCFD input file for the computation and
the mapping of the aero-acoustic sources on the acoustic mesh. This step in the
procedure requires as inputs the acoustic mesh and the files containing the results
and mesh of the CFD solution.
The iCFD input file syntax is similar to the Actran syntax. It consists in a series
of data blocks (see syntax in Chapter 2 of Volume 2) and definition of parameters.
The iCFD input file must be structured as follows in order to compute the
aero-acoustic sources from the CFD results. This file can be edited in ActranVI.
544 iCFD
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN CAASOURCES
INPUT_FILE cfd_file_format cfd_file_name
OUTPUT_FILE NFF output_file_name
ACTRAN_FILE actran_file_name
[BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN
t_min [t_step] t_max
END TIME_DOMAIN]
COMPUTE quantity_to_compute
[CHECK_CFD_FILES waiting_time]
[BEGIN CFD_FIELD_NAMES
...
END CFD_FIELD_NAMES]
[BEGIN 2D
THICKNESS CFD_model_thickness
END 2D]
[CFD_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[DISABLED_CFD_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY type]
[EXTFACE_SUBLEVEL cfd_mesh_level_of_refinement]
METHOD SAMPLING or INTEGRATION
COMPONENT list_of_component_id
[DEFAULT_VALUE quantity quantity_value]
[DIMENSION dimension]
[REFERENCE_PRESSURE pressure_value]
END CAASOURCES
END ICFD
• INPUT_FILE defines both the format and the name of the CFD files. iCFD is
compatible with different formats. cfd_file_format can take the following
values :
– STARCD if the files correspond to star-CD native files (supported re-
visions are indicated in Section 42.1). CFD mesh containing rotating
parts are not supported;
– STARCCM+ if the files correspond to star-CCM+ native files (supported
revisions are indicated in Section 42.1). CFD mesh containing rotating
parts are not supported;
– FLUENT if the files correspond to Fluent native files (supported revi-
sions are indicated in Section 42.1);
– ENSIGHTGOLD if the CFD files are produced by another CFD solver and
exported to the Ensight-Gold format;
– OPENFOAM if the files correspond to OpenFoam native files;
– CGNS_FINETURBO if the files correspond to CGNS FINE/Turbo native

files (supported revisions are indicated in Section 42.1);
– CGNS_TRACE if the files correspond to CGNS TRACE native files (sup-
ported revisions are indicated in Section 42.1). As the CGNS format
can change from a version to another, please contact FFT Support Team
to ensure that your CGNS files are compatible.
– CGNS_SCTETRA if the files correspond to CGNS SCTetra native files. As
the CGNS format can change from a version to another, please contact
FFT Support Team to ensure that your CGNS files are compatible.
– ACUSOLVE if the files correspond to AcuSolve native files. As the
AcuSolve format can change from a version to another, please contact
FFT Support Team to ensure that your AcuSolve files are compatible;
cfd_file_name specifies the name of CFD mesh and CFD solution files:
– For the Fluent, star-CD and star-CCM+ formats, cfd_file_name

can be a master file, which should be named files.dat, in which
the name of all the CFD files are specified (one file per line). In the
example below, iCFD reads the files produced by star-CD whose
names are mesh.ccmg and results.ccmt.
INPUT_FILE STARCD files.dat
The master file files.dat contains the following two lines:

mesh.ccmg
results.ccmt
If the CFD files (mesh and results files) have the same prefix, this
list can be defined by the prefix followed by the wildcard "*". In the
example below iCFD will read all the Fluent files whose name begins
by 'LES_case_'.
INPUT_FILE FLUENT LES_case_*
– For files using the Ensight-Gold format, cfd_file_name is used to

define the name of the .case or .encas file;
– For files using the CGNS FINE/Turbo format, cfd_file_name is used
to define the name of the .cgns files and if existing or .run file contain-
ing the information on the rotating part of the mesh. .cgns and .run
files must have the same prefix followed by the wildcard "*". In the
example below iCFD will read all the .cgns and .run FINE/Turbo
files whose name begins by " CFD_files_1 ";
546 iCFD
INPUT_FILE CGNS_FINETURBO CFD_files_1*
• OUTPUT_FILE defines the NFF database that is the result of the iCFD com-
putation. This NFF database records all fields in the time domain. If the
NFF database already exists before the iCFD run, the new fields will be
appended to the database;
• ACTRAN_FILE: defines the name of the Actran input file containing the
acoustic mesh on which the aero-acoustic quantities will be projected. The
projection process is described in Section 42.5.3 . If the acoustic mesh is not
in the same coordinate system than the CFD mesh, iCFD is able to rotate or
translate the results to be projected (see Section 42.6);
• TIME_DOMAIN data block: defines the time range for which iCFD computes
and integrates the aero-acoustic sources. This data block is optional and
can be multiple. Several syntax choices are possible:
– If no TIME_DOMAIN data block is defined, iCFD computes the aerody-
namic fields according to CFD time steps contained in the CFD results
file:
∗ at every half CFD time step, if at least one of the COMPUTE
LIGHTHILL_VOLUME, COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_SURFACE, COMPUTE
MOHRING_VOLUME or COMPUTE MOHRING_SURFACE is specified. This
solves the aliasing problem for second order quantities involved
in incompressible CFD computations. It is the user responsibility
to perform the computation of the aeroacoustic sources every one
third of the time step if the CFD computation is compressible
in order to solve the aliasing problem for third order quantities
involved in compressible CFD computations;
∗ at all CFD time steps involved in solution files if
PRESSURE_SURFACE is specified.
– t_min t_max: the behavior of iCFD is the same as above but only the
time steps between t_min and t_max are considered;
– t_min t_step t_max: iCFD computes the source terms at each t_step
between t_min and t_max;
– t_0 provides the CFD field for one single time step at t=t_0.
• CHECK_CFD_FILES forces iCFD to wait for new CFD files (idle mode) after
a period in seconds fixed by the waiting_time parameter. A TIME_DOMAIN
data block including t_min, t_step and t_max is mandatory for using the
idle mode. This option is only compatible with FLUENT, STARCCM+ and
CGNS_SCTETRA formats.
• COMPUTE: defines which quantity must be computed by iCFD. iCFD input
file may contain several COMPUTE keywords. quantity_to_compute must be
selected from the following list:
– LIGHTHILL_VOLUME: to compute the volume contribution of the source

term using the Lighthill’s analogy (see section 42.2.2.1).
– LIGHTHILL_SURFACE: to compute the surface contribution of the source
term using the Lighthill’s analogy (see Section 42.2.2.2).
– MOHRING_VOLUME: to compute the volume contribution of the source
term using the Möhring’s analogy (see section 42.2.3.1).
– MOHRING_SURFACE: to compute the surface contribution of the source
term using the Möhring’s analogy (see section 42.2.3.2).
– PRESSURE_SURFACE: to compute the unsteady aerodynamic pressure
on external surfaces. (see also the DIMENSION keyword).
• the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block is optional and is used only if the CFD files
are in the Ensight-Gold format. This data block specifies the name of the
pressure, density, temperature and velocity fields within the CFD files. By
default iCFD assumes that these names are pressure, density, temperature and
velocity. The syntax of the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block is the following:
BEGIN CFD_FIELD_NAMES
PRESSURE pressure_field_name
TEMPERATURE temperature_field_name
VELOCITY velocity_field_name
VELOCITYX velocity_field_name_along_the_x_axis
VELOCITYY velocity_field_name_along_the_y_axis
VELOCITYZ velocity_field_name_along_the_z_axis
DENSITY density_field_name
SPEED_OF_SOUND speed_of_sound_field_name
AXIAL_VELOCITY axial_velocity_field_name
RADIAL_VELOCITY radial_velocity_field_name
COORDINATEX
COORDINATEY
COORDINATEZ
END CFD_FIELD_NAMES
• 2D data block: if the user wants to use 3D flow simulation results in a 2D

acoustic computation, all results can be averaged over the thickness and
projected on a 2D acoustic mesh. THICKNESS is used to specify the thickness
of the 3D CFD model.
• CFD_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of CFD domain IDs in which iCFD will
read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent aeroacoustic sources.
• DISABLED_CFD_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of CFD domain IDs in which

iCFD will not read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent aeroa-
coustic sources. This option is only available for SCTetra, Ensight-Gold,
OpenFoamand Fluent formats.
548 iCFD
• CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of rotating CFD domain IDs

in which iCFD will read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent
aeroacoustic sources.
• CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY specifies the type of velocity, RELATIVE or AB-

SOLUTE to the rotor. For example, if the velocity field output by the CFD
driver is relative to the rotor, CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY RELATIVE needs to
be specified. Absolute velocity is read by default. This option is only
supported for Ensight-Gold and star-CCM+ drivers.
• EXTFACE_SUBLEVEL allows iCFD to artificially refine the surfaces of the

CFD mesh. This option can only be used in the frame of the com-
putation of surface sources (LIGHTHILL_SURFACE, MOHRING_SURFACE or
PRESSURE_SURFACE). It will improve the quality of the surface sources in-
tegration if the CFD surface mesh refinement is the same or coarser than
the CAA surface mesh refinement. This option should not be used if
the CFD surface mesh is finer than the CAA surface mesh. The use of
this option can have a significant influence on the iCFD computational
time. The level of refinement of the CFD surface mesh is defined through
cfd_mesh_level_of_refinement (starting from 1): at each increasing of
this level, ICFD subdivides the CFD cells in 4 triangles (see Figure 42.2.4).
Usually a level set to 2 or 3 is sufficient.
Figure 42.2: EXTFACE_SUBLEVEL option in ICFD
• METHOD specifies which method is used by iCFD to map the quantities on

the acoustic mesh. If the method selected is SAMPLING, all nodal acoustic
values are sampled into the CFD mesh (iCFD identifies the closest CFD
cell to each acoustic node). If the method selected is INTEGRATION, the aero-
acoustic fields are integrated over the CFD mesh using the shape functions
of the acoustic mesh. The METHOD keyword is optional the INTEGRATION
method is selected by default.
• COMPONENT specifies the list of component IDs (see Section 3.10 of Volume 2)
on which iCFD computes the unsteady fields. These IDs correspond to the
component IDs of the ACTRAN_FILE. This keyword is optional. By default,
iCFD computes the requested quantities on the boundary condition corre-
sponding to the requested quantity to compute (the DOMAIN corresponding
to the LIGHTHILL_VOLUME if this is selected). If no boundary condition is
specified in the ACTRAN_FILE, the requested quantities on all components
or the requested components using the COMPONENT keyword.
• If a field is required for the analysis but is not present in the CFD solution
files, iCFD attempts to compute this field based on the perfect gas law.
550 iCFD
DEFAULT_VALUE allows defining the default value used by iCFD. quantity

can be defined as DENSITY, TEMPERATURE or PRESSURE. The default value is
defined by quantity_value. This keyword is optional. If not specified, the
default values are as follows:
– Density : 1.225 kg.m−3 ;

– Pressure: 101325 Pa;
– Temperature=293.15K.
Only one default quantity can be defined at a time, the remaining are
computed using the perfect gas law assumption. Note that this default
value will be set to the field if requested.
• DIMENSION specifies the dimension of the problem. Volume integral will be

computed on all domains characterized by a dimension which is identical to
dimension. Surface contributions will be computed on each entity having a
dimension equal to dimension-1.
iCFD identifies the external boundaries as all geometrical entities whose
dimension is 1 unit lower than the highest dimension of the acoustic prob-
lem. The dimension of the problem can be forced to a given value using
the DIMENSION keyword. This should be used when one wants to compute
some surface sources (like PRESSURE_SURFACE) from CFD results available
on a 2D CFD mesh. In this case, the DIMENSION must be set to 3. If the CFD
mesh is in 3D it is not required to use the DIMENSION keyword.
• REFERENCE_PRESSURE enables to transform obtained pressure quantities to

absolute pressure if these are provided as relative pressure values.
Some options may be used to specify the iCFD tolerances during the localization
of CFD cells in the acoustic mesh (see Section 42.5.4). iCFD can also automatically
rotate or translate the CAA model in order to put it in the same coordinate system
than the CFD model (see Section 42.6).
Examples:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN CAASOURCES
INPUT_FILE FLUENT CFD_files_*
OUTPUT_FILE Lighthill_volume_time_domain.nff
ACTRAN_FILE actran_model.dat
COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_VOLUME
COMPONENT 1 2 3
DEFAULT_VALUE DENSITY 1.5
END CAASOURCES
END ICFD
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN CAASOURCES
INPUT_FILE STARCD star_Results.*
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN
0.1401 0.00005 0.26
END TIME_DOMAIN
COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_SURFACE
END CAASOURCES
END ICFD
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN CAASOURCES
INPUT_FILE ENSIGHTGOLD ensigth_case_file.case
COMPUTE MOHRING_VOLUME
BEGIN 2D
THICKNESS 0.1
END 2D
END CAASOURCES
END ICFD
42.2.5 Running iCFD for aero-acoustic sources and wall pres-

sure fluctuations computation
42.2.5.1 Sequential run
An iCFD sequential computation can be launched by typing the following com-
mand into a prompt :
actranpy -u ICFD --inputfile=inputfile.dat
where :
--inputfile is followed by the path to the iCFD input file.
iCFD produces a NFF database containing the aerodynamic results but also the
following files:
• A report directory that contains information about the computation (see

Section 10.2);
552 iCFD
• parsetime.dat contains the list of CFD time steps contained in the CFD files;
• f iles.dat contains the name of all CFD files used by iCFD during the run.
42.2.5.2 Parallel run

The computation of the equivalent aeroacoustic sources at the different CFD time
steps can be partitioned between the different processes. The speed-up is almost
linear. The command line to perform a parallel computation is the same than the
command line of an Actran parallel computation (see Section 7.2) excepted that:
• The -u ICFD option must be used in the command line to specify that iCFD
must be launched;
• The --parallel=time must be specified to launch the iCFD computation

in parallel.
All the other options of the command line to perform the computation in parallel
are described in Section 7.2. An example of command line to perform a parallel
computation with iCFD using IntelMPI as MPI implementation on 4 processes
located on two different nodes named ’machine1’ and ’machine2’ is shown below:

-u ICFD...
--inputfile=<absolute-path>/icfd.edat...
--mem=200 --parallel=time
where the file hostfilename contains :
machine1
machine2
machine1
machine2
The output files are the same than the one described in Section 42.2.5.1.
42.3 Aeroacoustic sources for Fan noise simulations 553
42.3 Aeroacoustic sources for Fan noise simulations

Turbomachinery fluid simulations have a specific set of simulation’s features.
The flow is intrinsically unsteady and several CFD simulation means have been
designed in the past to address this type of problems:
• Multiple Reference Frame (MRF) : This simulation technique considers

that the flow inside the rotating part is steady (in the rotating reference
frame). The flow is resolved in the rotor by means of a steady computation
of the Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) translated into the rotating coordi-
nate system. The method decomposes in a set of sub methods, depending
on the connection between the rotating and stationary CFD domains: The in-
terface may consider (1) the mean azimuthal average or (2) the local solution
value in the stator. The rotor-stator interactions are therefore approximated.
• Sliding mesh: This technique solves the unsteady Navier-stokes equations
on a mesh which rotates according to the rotor speed specifications. At
each timestep, the rotating cells may see different neighbouring stationary
cells. The rotor-stator interactions are considered with high fidelity.
• Non-Linear Harmonics - Harmonic Balance method (NLH): This methods
assumes that the rotor solution could be decomposed into a set of Fourier
modes. The frequency associated to these modes are related to Tyler and
Sofrin rules and left to user decision. The method is really efficient if a
reduced set of frequencies accurately represents the real solution.
These CFD methods could be classified according to their accuracy and to the
associated computational CFD cost. On one side, MRF method is very cheap
and provides results with acceptable level of confidence for simulations with a
weak rotor-stator interaction. Sliding mesh method is the most expensive one,
with a high accuracy level. It should however be pointed out that the accuracy of
the method mainly relies on the algorithm handling the rotor-stator connections
on the rotor-stator interface (to propagate the wakes emanating from the rotor
with low dispersion and dissipation properties). NLH is an intermediate method
providing results with a good level of accuracy if the real solution is efficiently
decomposed into a finite set of Fourier modes.
iCFD accommodates with all these methods, reading and translating the CFD
solution into Lighthill or Möhring surface excitations. The CFD solution used
to compute the corresponding excitation could be read in the rotating or in the
stationary CFD domains. The aeroacoustic solutions are very sensitive to the
informations provided on the Lighthill or Möhring surface and the user should
decide where the information should be retrieved with the best accuracy in its
CFD solution.
The location where iCFD extracts the information depends on the syntax used
for LIGHTHILL_SURFACE or MOHRING_SURFACE block.
554 iCFD
42.3.1 Specifying the rotating CFD domains
The CFD mesh does not always clearly mention the rotating CFD parts. De-
pending on the CFD solution format, not all rotation characteristics are available
(rotation speed, rotation axis, ...). The user may therefore specify these infor-
mations such that iCFD process correctly the CFD solution. If CFD domain
decomposes into stationary domains and rotating domains characterized by a
single rotation speed, the CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS keyword in CAASOURCES
block specifies the labels or ids of the CFD domains which are rotating. The
rotating characteristics are retrieved from the single ROTATION_SPEED datablock
found in the actran inputfile.
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN CAASOURCES
INPUT_FILE ENSIGHTGOLD ensigth_case_file.case
OUTPUT_FILE mohring_time_domain.nff
COMPUTE MOHRING_SURFACE
CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS rotor_region1 rotor_region2
END CAASOURCES
END ICFD
where rotor_region1, rotor_region2 are numbers for EnsightGold and Fluent

formats and strings for the StarCCM+ files corresponding to the rotating CFD do-
mains. The rotating characteristics are retrieved from the single ROTATION_SPEED
block found in the actran_model.dat file.
42.3.2 CFD data interpolation
For LIGHTHILL_SURFACE and MOHRING_SURFACE contributions, the user may spec-

ify where iCFD should retrieve the information. This mainly depends on the
syntax of these block in the Actran input file:
42.3 Aeroacoustic sources for Fan noise simulations 555
BEGIN LIGHTHILL_SURFACE lighthill_surface_id

FIELD field_id
[COUPLING_LINE coupling_line_id]
END LIGHTHILL_SURFACE lighthill_surface_id
BEGIN FIELD field_id

FIELD_NDIM 1
RESULT_FUILE NFF sources.nff
END FIELD field_id
BEGIN COUPLING_LINE coupling_line_id

DOMAIN domain_name
ROTATION_SPEED rotation_speed_id
END COUPLING_LINE coupling_line_id
BEGIN ROTATION_SPEED rotation_speed_id

RPM rpm_value
ORDER -m1 ... 0 m2 ... m3
AXIS_ORIGIN xo yo zo
AXIS_DIRECTION xa ya za
[ROTOR_FREQUENCIES fmin fstep fmax]
[ANGULAR_PERIODICITY angle_deg]
END ROTATION_SPEED rotation_speed_id
• If COUPLING_LINE is not specified in the LIGHTHILL_SURFACE or

MOHRING_SURFACE, the results are retrieved from the boundaries faces of
the CFD domains. If COUPLING_LINE is used, iCFD rotates this coupling
line around the axis mentioned in the ROTATION_SPEED block. The CFD
solution is recorded on the surface generated by this rotated coupling line.
If rpm_value= 0, the results are retrieved from stationary cfd domains, if
rpm_value6= 0, CFD results are recorded from rotating CFD domains.
• AXIS_ORIGIN indicates the coordinates of the rotation axis.
• AXIS_DIRECTION indicates the direction of the rotation axis.
• ORDER keyword is mandatory and specifies the azimuthal modes that will
be considered by iCFD when interpolating CFD data in the rotating or in
the stationary part.
• ANGULAR_PERIODICITY should be used only if the rotating CFD mesh in-
volves a sector β =angle_deg of the rotor. The solution pattern is repro-
360
duced time periodically to generate a full rotor.
β
• ROTOR_FREQUENCIES is used to select the frequencies in the rotor that should
be considered when mapping results on the stator surface.
556 iCFD
42.4 Transformation into the frequency domain

iCFD can be used to convert various types of quantities from the time domain
into the frequency domain using an efficient Direct Fourier Transform algorithm.
In particular, for aero-acoustic studies, iCFD converts the time dependent source
terms into the frequency domain since Actran solves the wave equation in the
frequency domain. Section 42.4.1 details the formulas implemented in iCFD
for performing this transformation. Section 42.4.2 presents the iCFD input file
parameters controlling the Fourier transform.
42.4.1 Fourier transform

42.4.1.1 Convention
In the present section, we consider N values composing the discrete series qk
(0 ≤ k ≤ N − 1). The set of qk represent, in the present framework, the set of
samples of a time signal produced (for instance) by a CFD simulation. The time
sequence qk and the associated complex spectral amplitudes Qn are related by
the following equations:
N −1 i2πnk
qk = ∑ Qn e N 0 ≤ k ≤ N−1 , (42.6)
n =0
N −1
1 −i2πnk
Qn =
N ∑ qk e N 0 ≤ n ≤ N−1 . (42.7)
k =0
If the signal qk is real, then Q N −n = Q∗n and only the lower half part of the
spectrum (0 ≤ n ≤ N/2 − 1) is useful, the remaining part being computed using
this spectral symmetry property. The Fourier transform application therefore
translates the N real values qk to N/2 complex coefficients Qn . Fourier trans-
form Eq. (42.6) and Eq. (42.7) therefore simplifies into the following relations
implemented in iCFD:
" #
N/2−1 i2πnk
q k = Re ∑ Qñ e N 0 ≤ k ≤ N − 1, (42.8)
n =0
N −1
2 −i2πnk
Qñ =
N ∑ qk e N 0 ≤ n ≤ N/2 − 1 . (42.9)
k =0
Note that the definition 42.6 implicitly assumes that the signal qk is periodic
(qk+ N = qk ). This is due to the use of periodic functions in the Fourier decom-
position. In practice, CFD signals are not periodic and a specific treatment is
required to reduce the effect of truncation of a non-periodic signal are detailed in
Section 42.4.1.5.
42.4.1.2 Nyquist Theorem - Relation between the characteristics of a
signal in the time domain and in the frequency domain
The Nyquist’s theorem estimates the quality of the sampling and the conversion
from the time domain to the frequency domain. The Nyquist theorem states
42.4 Transformation into the frequency domain 557
that the N time samples qk (each time sample being separated by a constant
time step ∆t) and the continuous signal q(t) contain the same information if
1
∆tCFD
> 2 · f max where f max is the maximum frequency observed in the signal
q(t) [47]. CFD simulations provide an access to a sampled signal qk and the
CFD time step is supposed to abide by Nyquist’s criterion for all primary fields
(density, pressure, velocity and temperature).
The time separating consecutive write-down (∆t) of the CFD fields to file may be
a multiple of the time step. This saving rate has to satisfy the Nyquist criterion
1
( ∆t > 2 · f max ). If this is the case, the spectrum of CFD results will range from f 0
to f m by step of f 0 with:
1
f0 = , (42.10)
N∆t
1
fm = , (42.11)
2 · ∆t
The characteristics of a signal in the time domain (i.e. the length of the signal and
the time step) determine the characteristics of a signal in the frequency domain
(i.e the maximum frequency and the frequency step). The frequency step is linked
to the signal length (Eq. (42.10)) and the maximum frequency is linked to the
time step (Eq. (42.11)).
42.4.1.3 Energy content of a signal
The variance of the time series qk corresponds to the sum of the squares of each
component:
N −1
E( T = N∆t) = ∑ q2k ∆t. (42.12)
k =0
This variance E depends on the number of samples N. N∆t represents the period
over which the signal has been integrated. As mentioned in the previous section,
the Fourier decomposition converts the information into the frequency domain.
Using the Parseval’s theorem [47], the evaluation of the variance (energy content)
can be done using Fourier coefficients rather than time samples:
N −1 N −1
∑ q2k ∆t = N∆t ∑ | Q n |2 (42.13)
k =0 n =0
N −1
E( T ) = T ∑ | Q n |2 . (42.14)
n =0
| Qn |2 represents the contribution of the nth harmonic to the power defined as the
ratio between energy and integration time T. The power does not depend on the
time integration T.
558 iCFD
42.4.1.4 Comparison of different spectra

According to Eq. (42.6), Qn values correspond to the amplitudes of the sine and
cosine functions used for the decomposition. This is due to the factor N1 used in
Eq. (42.7). Alternative normalization factors exist in the literature.
The Fourier transform preserves the power spectral density Sn defined as:
N −1 N −1
1
∑ Sn ∆ f =
T ∑ q2k ∆t, (42.15)
n =0 n =0
where ∆ f = N∆t
1
corresponds the spectral resolution fixed by the time step ∆t
and the number of samples N. Using Parseval’s theorem,
N −1 N −1
∑ q2k = N ∑ | Q n |2 , (42.16)
k =0 n =0
the spectral amplitudes Qn can be related to the spectral power density coefficients
Sn :
N −1 N −1
1
∑ Sn ∆ f =
T ∑ q2k ∆t, (42.17)
n =0 n =0
N −1 N −1
1 1
∑ Sn
N∆t
=
N ∑ q2k , (42.18)
n =0 n =0
N −1
= ∑ | Q n |2 . (42.19)
n =0
By identification of the different coefficients in the sum, this leads to :

r
1
Sn = | Q n |. (42.20)
N∆t
In particular, two different samplings of the same signal have the same power
density spectrum. Therefore, the corresponding spectra Q1n and Q2n are related by
the relationship:
p
| Q1n | N1 ∆t1 = Sn = | Q2n | N2 ∆t2
p p
(42.21)
or equivalently:
| Q1n | T1 = | Q2n |
p p
T2 (42.22)
where Ti is the length (in seconds) of the time series qk . The formula 42.21
shall be used to compare different simulation results with each others or with
measurement results.
42.4.1.5 Non-periodic signals

In general the time sequences correspond to a truncated part of a signal provided
by CFD simulations. The truncated part q˜k correspond to a product in the time
domain with a window function wk :
q˜k = qk · wk . (42.23)
The Fourier transform of q˜k corresponds to the convolution between the Fourier
transform of the original signal and the Fourier transform of the window function:
N
Qñ = ∑ Qn−r · Wr . (42.24)
r =0
Truncation in the time domain therefore modifies the whole spectrum. To mini-
mize these effects mainly due to an unappropriate truncation of the time signal,
iCFD provides a set of built-in windows which are multiplied with the time
series. The different windows have been designed [21, 47] in order to minimize
truncation error and spectrum modifications induced by windowing. In the
following, we detail the different window functions implemented in iCFD.
In order to improve the accuracy of this procedure, iCFD can subdivide the set
of samples into a number of sub-intervals. Fourier transforms are computed on
each of these sub-intervals (after, possibly, multiplication by a window function).
The spectral resolution of the Fourier transform corresponds to the inverse of
the period T on which the Fourier transforms are computed. Subdivision in
sub-intervals therefore leads to a reduction of the spectral resolution.
Rectangular window The rectangular window is defined as
wk = 1 for 0 6 k < N . (42.25)
Triangular window The triangular window ensures that the transformed signal
will be continuous at the end of the time interval (q˜0 = q N˜−1 = 0):
k+1 N−1
wk = 2 06k6 , (42.26)
N 2
N−1

k+1
wk = 2 1 − < k 6 N−1 , (42.27)
N 2
Hamming window The Hamming window is defined as

2π (k + 1)
wk = 0.54 − 0.46 cos 06k<N. (42.28)
N
560 iCFD
Hanning window The Hanning window is given by

1 2π (k + 1)
wk = 1 − cos 06k<N. (42.29)
2 N
Blackman window The Blackman window is given by

2π (k + 1) 4π (k + 1)
wk = 0.42 − 0.5 cos + 0.08 cos 0 6 k < N . (42.30)
N N
42.4.2 iCFD input file for the Fourier transform of CFD results
iCFD has a dedicated module which performs the Fourier transform of CFD
results stored in a NFF database.
For the conversion of CFD results in the frequency domain, the iCFD input file is
structured as follows:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
INPUT_FILE NFF NFF_database_name
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN id
t_min [t_step] t_max
END TIME_DOMAIN id
BEGIN MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN
t_start interval_length t_end
OVERLAP overlap_factor
[LOADCASE first_loadcase_id]
END MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN
BEGIN FREQUENCY_DOMAIN
f_min f_max
END FREQUENCY_DOMAIN
[WINDOW window_name]
[NORMALIZED_DFT 0 or 1]
[SCALE_FACTOR factor]
END DFT
END ICFD
Where:
• INPUT_FILE NFF specifies the name of the NFF databases generated by

iCFD in Section 42.2. If several databases have to be taken into account,
specify the prefix (or suffix) followed (preceded) by a "*" character. All
unsteady fields are Fourier transformed.
• OUTPUT_FILE NFF defines the name of the NFF database produced by iCFD.
This NFF database records all fields in the frequency domain. If the NFF
database already exists before the iCFD run, the new fields will be appended
to the database.
Prior to the Actran computation, this NFF database needs to specified in
the Actran input file through the FIELD data block. Depending on the
quantities computed in the CAASOURCES data block (see Section 42.2) this
FIELD data block is attached a LIGHTHILL_VOLUME , LIGHTHILL_SURFACE ,
MOHRING_VOLUME or MOHRING_SURFACE data block. It can also be attached to
a POINT_LOAD data block if the user has defined the COMPUTE keyword as
PRESSURE_SURFACE in the CAASOURCES data block (see Section 42.2).
• TIME_DOMAIN data block defines the time range in which iCFD must perform
the Fourier transform. It can be used in parallel with MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN
data blocks. Several syntaxes are possible:
– By default iCFD performs the Fourier transform on the whole time

range available in the NFF database;
– t_min t_max: iCFD only considers time steps between t_min and
t_max;
– t_min t_step t_max: in this case iCFD performs the Fourier transform
from t_min to t_max using a step of t_step.
This data block is optional. Several TIME_DOMAIN data blocks can be de-
fined and must be identified by their id. This is generally used for multi-
loadcases computations (see LOADCASE data block). The contribution_id
of the LOADCASE data block corresponds to the id of the TIME_DOMAIN
data block. If the user wants to activate the sources computed from the
TIME_DOMAIN data block n, the contribution_id must be set to n. Finally
the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN being unique (see Section 42.4.1.2) the different
TIME_DOMAIN data blocks parameters (i.e. time step and length) must be
identical.
• MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN data block: defines multiple time ranges for which

iCFD must perform the Fourier transform. This data block is optional and
can be multiple. It can be used in parallel with TIME_DOMAIN data blocks.
One loadcase is created for each interval in the output file.
– By default iCFD performs the Fourier transform on the whole time

range available in the NFF database;
– t_start interval_length t_end: iCFD computes the source terms
on multiple intervals:
∗ t_start is the first time step of the first time interval;
∗ interval_length is the length of each interval;
562 iCFD
∗ t_end is the maximum time step which can be used in the the last
interval. If t_end does not correspond to the last time step of an
interval, iCFD chooses the last complete interval as the last one.
– OVERLAP keyword enables a percentage of overlap for each interval on
the previous interval. This option is mandatory. The overlap_factor
value must be included in the interval [0;1[. 0 means no overlap
whereas 1 would define a complete overlap.
– LOADCASE is an optional parameter and enables to choose the loadcase
id of the first interval:
∗ first_loadcase_id keyword defines the loadcase id of the first
interval;
∗ For each following interval, the loadcase id is incremented by 1;
∗ During the run, iCFD checks an eventual conflict of loadcase ids
between the different TIME_DOMAIN and MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN data
blocks present in the iCFD analysis.
• FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block: to define the frequency range in which iCFD

must compute the Fourier transform. This data block is optional.
– By default iCFD outputs results at frequencies corresponding to the

Nyquist theorem;
– f_min f_max: iCFD only considers Nyquist theorem frequencies be-
tween f_min and f_max;
• The optional WINDOW keyword allows activating the usage of a particular

window filtering. The windows described in Section 42.4.1.5 are activated
by defining window_name as:
– TRIANGULAR
– HANNING
– HAMMING
– BLACKMAN
By default iCFD uses a rectangular window.
• The optional NORMALIZED_DFT allows regularizing the obtained frequency

outputs by normalizing√ the solutions to 1 second. The sources are thus
multiplied by a factor N∆t. In presence of the SCALE_FACTOR keyword,
only the NORMALIZED_DFT is taken into account.
• The optional SCALE_FACTOR keyword allows multiplying the obtained

sources by a provided factor.
Some examples of iCFD input files to post-process time-domain aerodynamic

sources are shown below:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
INPUT_FILE NFF Sources_time_domain.nff
OUTPUT_FILE NFF Sources_frequency_domain.nff
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN
0.1401 0.26
END TIME_DOMAIN
0 2000
WINDOW HANNING
END DFT
END ICFD
In the example below the NFF data base Sources_frequency_domain.nff con-

tains 2 loadcases:
• one for the DFT that has been performed between 0.14s and 0.26s;
• one for the DFT that has been performed between 0.26s and 0.38s.
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN 2
0.14 0.26
END TIME_DOMAIN 2
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN 3
0.26 0.38
END TIME_DOMAIN 3
END DFT
END ICFD
In the example below the NFF data base Sources_frequency_domain.nff con-

tains 6 loadcases:
• one for the DFT that has been performed between 0.36s and 0.72s with the
loadcase id 10;
• five for the DFT that has been performed on sub-intervals of 0.12s on the
same range (using a 50% overlap):
564 iCFD
– from 0.36s to 0.48s with loadcase id 101
Remark: the t_end value of the MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN data block is 0.75s but this
value can not be the last time of an interval. So the last complete interval selected
is the interval [0.60;0.72].
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
BEGIN TIME_DOMAIN 10
0.36 0.72
END TIME_DOMAIN 10
BEGIN MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN 2
0.36 0.12 0.75
OVERLAP 0.5
LOADCASE 101
END MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN 2
END DFT
END ICFD
42.4.3 iCFDinput file for the Fourier transform of experimental

results
iCFD can perform Fourier transform of experimental results. The syntax of the
iCFD input file is similar to the syntax described in Section 42.4.2:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
INPUT_FILE EXP experiment_results_file_name
OUTPUT_FILE PLT output_file_name
t_min t_max
END TIME_DOMAIN id
BEGIN MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN
t_start interval_length t_end
OVERLAP overlap_factor
[LOADCASE first_loadcase_id]
END MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN
f_min f_max
END DFT
END ICFD
The main difference is that the input file that contains the experimental results
in the time domain is in the ASCII format. This ASCII file must respect the
following structure:
• The first column corresponds to the time series;
• The others columns are the pressure levels measured on the microphones
(1 column per microphone).
iCFD outputs a plt file containing the pressure levels measured on each micro-
phone and at the frequencies defined in the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block. This
plt file can be post-processed with plt_get (see Section 47.1) or with PLTViewer.
This data needs to be sampled with a constant time step.
Example:
566 iCFD
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
INPUT_FILE EXP Experimental_results.txt
OUTPUT_FILE PLT ICFD_results.plt
BEGIN MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN 1
0.2 0.1 1.2
OVERLAP 0.3
LOADCASE 1001
END MULTI_TIME_DOMAIN 1
END DFT
END ICFD
42.4.4 iCFDinput file for the Fourier transform of SOL 700 re-
sults
iCFD can perform Fourier transform of SOL 700 results. The syntax of the iCFD
input file is similar to the syntax described in Section 42.4.2:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN DFT
INPUT_FILE BINOUT binout_results_file_name
MESH_FILE BDF bdf_sol_700_mesh_file_name
t_min t_max
END TIME_DOMAIN id
f_min f_max
END DFT
END ICFD
The main difference consists of specifying the MESH_FILE supporting the binout
results.
Remark. Most of the time for computation over a long time period the
results of the sol 700 computation are stored within several binout files.
Only the master binout file should be specified for the INPUT_FILE. All
other binout files will be automatically read.
42.4.5 Running iCFD for DFT computation

The conversion of aero-acoustic sources in the frequency domain by iCFD can be
launched by typing the following command into a prompt :
actranpy -u ICFD -i inputfile.dat -m memory
where :
-i is followed by the path to the iCFD input file.
-m specifies the size in Mbytes of the available memory for Fourier Transform
computations. The Fourier transform process allocates very large matrices.
Based on the available memory specified, iCFD identifies the optimum
size of matrix. Increasing the available memory may speed up the process
significantly.
For Fourier transform computation iCFD can only be launched in sequential.

In addition to the NFF database containing the aero-acoustic sources in the
frequency domain, iCFD output different information files:

Section 10.2);
• ic f d_ f req.dat contains the frequencies at which the aero-acoustic sources

have been computed by iCFD based on the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block.
568 iCFD
42.5 Practical import of the mean flow computed by a CFD

code
Various industrial problems involve the generation and the propagation of acous-
tic disturbances within a flow. The theoretical details on are given in Chapter 27.
For these applications, iCFD can be used interpolate the mean aerodynamic fields
like the velocity, density, pressure and temperature fields from the steady CFD
results to the acoustic mesh.
In this process, iCFD is the successor of map_actran_flow that was available in

previous versions of Actran.
42.5.1 iCFD input file for importing the aerodynamic fields
This section describes the syntax of the iCFD input file for the mapping of the
aerodynamic fields on the acoustic mesh. This step in the procedure requires
as inputs the acoustic mesh and the CFD solution and mesh files. iCFD can
compute the mean aerodynamic fields:
• From unsteady CFD results. In this case iCFD performs an average of the
mean aerodynamic fields over the available time steps;
• From steady CFD results.
For the mapping of aerodynamic fields, the iCFD input file is structured as
follows:
42.5 Importing the mean flow 569
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN MEAN_CFD_FLOW
OUTPUT_FILE output_file_format output_file_name
ACTRAN_FILE actran_file_name
COMPUTE quantity_to_compute
[BEGIN CFD_FIELD_NAMES
...
END CFD_FIELD_NAMES]
[BEGIN FLOW_TREATMENT id
...
END FLOW_TREATMENT id]
[BEGIN FLOW_MAPPING id
...
END FLOW_MAPPING id]
[COMPONENT list_of_component_id]
[CFD_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[DISABLED_CFD_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS id_list]
[CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY type]
[MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM dimension]
[REFERENCE_PRESSURE pressure_value]
[DEFAULT_VALUE quantity quantity_value]
[DIMENSION dimension]
[REGULARIZE regularization_type]
[INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF nff_name]
END MEAN_CFD_FLOW
optional: either
BEGIN PERIODICITY
...
END PERIODICITY
or
BEGIN PLANE_SYMMETRY
...
END PLANE_SYMMETRY
END ICFD
• INPUT_FILE defines both the format and the CFD filenames. iCFD is com-
patible with different formats. cfd_file_format can take the following
values :
– STARCD if the files correspond to star-CD native files (supported revi-
– STARCCM+ if the files correspond to star-CCM+ native files (supported
revisions are indicated in Section 42.1);
570 iCFD
– FLUENT if the files correspond to Fluent native files (supported revi-

– CGNS_FINETURBO if the files correspond to CGNS FINE/Turbo native
files (supported revisions are indicated in Section 42.1);
– CGNS_TRACE if the files correspond to CGNS TRACE native files (sup-
ported revisions are indicated in Section 42.1). As the CGNS format
can change from a version to another, please contact FFT Support Team
to ensure that your CGNS files are compatible;
FFT Support Team to ensure that your CGNS files are compatible;
– UNV if the files correspond to I-deas universal files;
– NFF if the aerodynamic fields are stored in a NFF data base. This is usu-
ally the case when the mean flow is computed with the compressible
flow solver of Actran (see Section 3.39 of Volume 2);
– ACTRAN if the aerodynamic fields are stored in a Actran FLOW data
block;
– TECPLOT if the files correspond to TECPLOT files;
– ACUSOLVE if the files correspond to AcuSolve files. As the AcuSolve
format can change from a version to another, please contact FFT Sup-
port Team to ensure that your AcuSolve files are compatible.
• cfd_file_name specifies the name of CFD mesh and CFD solution files:
– For the Fluent, star-CD or star-CCM+ format, cfd_file_name can
be a master file which should be named files.dat in which the name
of all the CFD files to be read are defined. In the example below, iCFD
will read the files produced by star-CD whose names are mesh.ccmg
and results.ccmt.
INPUT_FILE STARCD CFD_files.dat
The master file CFD_files.dat contains the following two lines:

mesh.ccmg
results.ccmt
If the CFD files (mesh and results files) have the same prefix, this
list can be defined by the prefix followed by the wildcard "*". In the
example below iCFD will read all the Fluent files whose name begins
by "LES_case_":
INPUT_FILE FLUENT LES_case_*
– For files using the Ensight-Gold format cfd_file_name is used to

define the name of the .case or .encas file. The name of the different
fields can be defined through the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block.
– For files using the I-deas format cfd_file_name is used to define the
name of the .unv file. The name of the different fields must be defined
through the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block.
– For files using the CGNS FINE/Turbo format, cfd_file_name is used
to define the name of the .cgns files and if existing or .run file contain-
ing the information on the rotating part of the mesh. .cgns and .run
files must have the same prefix followed by the wildcard "*". In the
example below iCFD will read all the .cgns and .run FINE/Turbo
files whose name begins by " CFD_files_1 ".
INPUT_FILE CGNS_FINETURBO CFD_files_1*
– For files using the TECPLOT format cfd_file_name is used to define

the name of the Tecplot file. The name of the different fields must be
defined through the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block.
– For files using the CGNS format cfd_file_name is used to define the
name of the .cgns file.
• OUTPUT_FILE defines both the format and the name of the output file
produced by iCFD. output_file_format can be:
– NFF : In this case iCFD generates a NFF database that contains all the
interpolated fields. The NFF database can then be used in acoustic
COMPONENT (Section 3.11 of Volume 2);
– ACTRAN : In this case iCFD generates an ASCII file which will con-
tain the FLOW data block if the mean velocity is interpolated and the
ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY data block if the pressure, density or tem-
perature is interpolated. This method corresponds to the former way
to provide thermodynamic fields to ActranṪhe use of NFF database
should be preferred.
• ACTRAN_FILE: defines the name of the Actran input file containing the
acoustic mesh on which the aerodynamic quantities will be interpolated.
The projection process is described in Section 42.5.3. If the acoustic mesh
is not in the same coordinate system than the CFD mesh, iCFD is able to
rotate or translate the results to be projected (see Section 42.6).
• COMPUTE: defines which quantity will be projected on the acoustic mesh
by iCFD. iCFD input file may contain several COMPUTE keywords.
quantity_to_compute must be selected from the following list:
572 iCFD
– MEAN_PRESSURE: to compute the time averaged pressure field based on

all CFD pressure fields read during the iCFD iterations. iCFD is able
to take into account the reference pressure defined in the Fluent files
during the interpolation of the pressure field on the CAA mesh;
– MEAN_DENSITY: to compute the time averaged density field based on
all CFD density fields read during the iCFD iterations;
– MEAN_TEMPERATURE: to compute the time averaged temperature field
based on all CFD temperature fields read during the iCFD iterations;
– MEAN_VELOCITY: to compute the time averaged velocity field based
on all CFD velocity fields read during the iCFD iterations. The aver-
aged field will be represented by sampling the averaged CFD field.
This maximum dimension can be forced to a given value using the
MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM keyword.
– MEAN_SPEED_OF_SOUND: to compute the time averaged speed of sound
field based on all CFD speed of sound fields read during the iCFD
iterations;
• CFD_FIELD_NAMES : see Section 42.5.1.1
• FLOW_TREATMENT : see Section 42.5.1.2
• FLOW_MAPPING : see Section 42.5.1.3
• CFD_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of CFD domain IDs in which iCFD will
read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent interpolated flow.
• DISABLED_CFD_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of CFD domain IDs in which

iCFD will not read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent inter-
polated flow. This option is only available for SCTetra, Ensight-Gold,
OpenFoamand Fluent formats.
• CFD_ROTATION_DOMAIN_IDS specifies the list of rotating CFD domain IDs

in which iCFD will read the CFD results used to compute the equivalent
interpolated flow.
• CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY specifies the type of velocity, RELATIVE or AB-

SOLUTE to the rotor. For example, if the velocity field output by the CFD
driver is relative to the rotor, CFD_ROTATION_VELOCITY RELATIVE needs to
be specified. Absolute velocity is read by default. This option is only
supported for Ensight-Gold and star-CCM+ drivers.
• COMPONENT specifies the list of component IDs (see Section 3.10 of Volume
2) on which iCFD computes the steady fields. These IDs correspond to the
component IDs of the ACTRAN_FILE. This keyword is optional. By default
iCFD computes the requested quantities on all components.
• MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM specifies the dimension of the velocity field that is

interpolated on the acoustic mesh. Different scenarios are possible (see
Table 42.1).
574 iCFD
MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM value
CAA model dimensions
CFD model dimensions
CFD flow dimensions
Interpolated mean flow dimensions

2 2 2 - 2
2 3 2 - 2 (The third component of the CFD flow
is removed)
2 2 2 3 3 (A third 0 component is created)
2 3 3 - 3 (iCFD assumes that the CFD mean flow
is axisymmetric and creates a 3D interpo-
lated mean flow)
2 3 2 3 3 (The third component of the CFD flow
is kept)
2 2 3 - 3 (The third flow component is set to 0
and the interpolated flow is assumed to
be axisymmetric)
3 3 2 - 2 (The third component of the CFD flow
is removed)
3 3 2 3 2 (The third component of the CFD flow
is kept)
3 3 3 - 3
Table 42.1: Possible scenarios for mean flow interpolation
• REGULARIZE specifies the type of regularization that is applied. The regular-

ization acts on all aerodynamic fields of the mean flow (velocity, density,
pressure, temperature and sound speed). regularization_type can have
the following values:
– NO_REGULARIZATION: this allows disabling the regularization process.

By default iCFD does not regularize the aerodynamic fields.
– STANDARD: This allows correcting the projected aerodynamic fields in
order to account for:
∗ unmapped points : the mean flow values at unmapped points
can not be evaluated and are therefore set to default values of air
at 20 degrees. The regularization process enables to set values
at these points based on the mean flow values in their vicinity.
The localization of the unmapped nodes is controlled by the in-

plane and absolute tolerances specified in the TOLERANCE_LIST
data block;
∗ flow boundary conditions : depending on the assumptions made
for the CFD computation, the mean flow might present boundary
layers and have small or zero velocity values at boundaries (RANS
mean flow). This can be problematic in the Actran model as the
normal admittance boundary condition takes a modified mathe-
matical form in presence of a grazing mean flow (Myers boundary
condition). By defining an IMPERVIOUS boundary condition on a
surface of the Actran model used by iCFD, the user forces iCFD
to perform the regularization on all nodes of the so-selected sur-
face. The projected mean flow at these nodes is corrected based on
the mean flow in their neighborhood and the mean flow velocity
normal to the boundary is set to zero (grazing flow only). This
procedure thus ensures a correct usage of the Myers boundary
condition.
• If a field is required for the analysis but is not present in the CFD solution
files, iCFD attempts to compute this field based on the perfect gas law.
DEFAULT_VALUE allows defining the default value used by iCFD. quantity
can be defined as DENSITY, TEMPERATURE or PRESSURE. The default value is
defined by quantity_value. This keyword is optional. If not specified, the
default values are as follows:
– Density: 1.225 kg.m−3 ;
– Pressure: 101325 Pa;
– Temperature: 293.15K.
Only one default quantity can be defined at a time, the remaining are
computed using the perfect gas law assumption. Note that this default
value will be set to the field if requested.
• DIMENSION specifies the dimension of the problem. Volume integral will be
computed on all domains characterized by a dimension which is identical to
dimension. Surface contributions will be computed on each entity having a
dimension equal to dimension-1.
iCFD identifies the external boundaries as all geometrical entities whose
dimension is 1 unit lower than the highest dimension of the acoustic prob-
lem. The dimension of the problem can be forced to a given value using
the DIMENSION keyword. This should be used when one wants to compute
some surface sources (like PRESSURE_SURFACE) from CFD results available
on a 2D CFD mesh. In this case, the DIMENSION must be set to 3. If the CFD
mesh is in 3D it is not required to use the DIMENSION keyword.
• REFERENCE_PRESSURE enables to transform obtained pressure quantities to
absolute pressure if these are provided as relative pressure values.
576 iCFD
• INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF allows specifying a .nff database in which the

initial mapped flow (before any flow treatment or regularization) is stored.
Some options may be used to specify the iCFD tolerances during the localization
of CFD cells in the acoustic mesh (see Section 42.5.4). iCFD can also automatically
rotate or translate the CAA model in order to put it in the same coordinate system
than the CFD model (see Section 42.6).
Examples:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN MEAN_CFD_FLOW
INPUT_FILE FLUENT CFD_input_*
ACTRAN_FILE input_acoustic_mesh.dat
OUTPUT_FILE ACTRAN flow.dat
COMPUTE MEAN_VELOCITY
MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM 3
REGULARIZE STANDARD
END MEAN_CFD_FLOW
END ICFD
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN MEAN_CFD_FLOW
INPUT_FILE ENSIGHTGOLD CFD_input.case
ACTRAN_FILE input_acoustic_mesh.dat
OUTPUT_FILE NFF flow.nff
COMPUTE MEAN_DENSITY
COMPUTE MEAN_PRESSURE
MEAN_VELOCITY_NDIM 2
END MEAN_CFD_FLOW
END ICFD
42.5.1.1 CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block

The CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block is optional and is used only if the CFD files are
in the Ensight-Gold format, in the I-deas or in the TECPLOT format . This data
block specifies the name of different field like the pressure, density, etc... within
the CFD files. By default iCFD assumes that these names are pressure, density,
temperature and velocity. The syntax of the CFD_FIELD_NAMES data block is the
following:
BEGIN CFD_FIELD_NAMES
PRESSURE pressure_field_name
TEMPERATURE temperature_field_name
VELOCITY velocity_field_name
VELOCITYX velocity_field_name_along_the_x_axis
VELOCITYY velocity_field_name_along_the_y_axis
VELOCITYZ velocity_field_name_along_the_z_axis
DENSITY density_field_name
SPEED_OF_SOUND speed_of_sound_field_name
AXIAL_VELOCITY axial_velocity_field_name
RADIAL_VELOCITY radial_velocity_field_name
COORDINATEX
COORDINATEY
COORDINATEZ
END CFD_FIELD_NAMES
42.5.1.2 FLOW_TREATMENT data block

The FLOW_TREATMENT is optional and is an advanced use of the REGULARIZE
keyword. Instead of using a REGULARIZE option, this data block can be specified
for defining additional and complementary flow treatments. Multiple occurrences
of the block can therefore exist in one single iCFD analysis.
The syntax of the block FLOW_TREATMENT is the following:
BEGIN FLOW_TREATMENT flow_treatment_id

DOMAIN domains_list
METHOD method
END FLOW_TREATMENT flow_treatment_id
• DOMAIN: Specifies the domain in the ACTRAN_FILE on which the flow treat-
ment is applied. It can be a 3D domain or a 2D domain (2D domain and
1D domain for 2D analysis).
• METHOD: Provides the name of the technique applied to process the mapped
mean flow. The techniques available are:
– REGULARIZE_UNMAPPED: The mean flow values at unmapped points can

not be evaluated and are therefore set to default values of air at 20
degrees. This regularization process enables to set values at these
points based on the mean flow values in their vicinity. The localization
of the unmapped nodes is controlled by the in-plane and absolute
tolerances specified in the TOLERANCE_LIST data block. The DOMAIN
keyword is optional with this method.
578 iCFD
– FORCE_CFD_BOUNDARY: The option forces the localization of

domain_list surface nodes on the surface available on the CFD mesh
(external or interfaces between CFD domains). This option is avail-
able for ENSIGHTGOLD, FLUENT, STARCCM+, STARCD, CGNS_FINETURBO,
CGNS_TRACE and OPENFOAM CFD drivers.
The syntax is the following:

DOMAIN domains_list
METHOD FORCE_CFD_BOUNDARY
[PLANE_TOL plane_tol_value]
[GAP_TOL gap_tol_value]
The optional keywords PLANE_TOL and GAP_TOL are used to define

the relative in-plane and absolute tolerances. If these options are
not specified the in-plane and absolute tolerances specified in the
TOLERANCE_LIST data block will be taken by default. The DOMAIN
keyword is mandatory with this method.
– REGULARIZE_BOUNDARY_LAYER: Depending on the assumptions made

for the CFD computation, the mean flow might present boundary
layers and have small or zero velocity values at boundaries (RANS
mean flow). This can be problematic in the Actran model as the
normal admittance boundary condition takes a modified mathematical
form in presence of a grazing mean flow (Myers boundary condition).
The user forces iCFD to perform the regularization on all nodes of
the surface(s) present in the domain_list. The projected mean flow at
these nodes is corrected based on the mean flow in their neighborhood
and the mean flow velocity normal to the boundary is set to zero
(grazing flow only). This procedure thus ensures a correct usage of the
Myers boundary condition. The DOMAIN keyword is mandatory with
this method.
– REGULARIZE_BOUNDARY_LAYER_ALLOW_PENETRATE: Similar to
REGULARIZE_BOUNDARY_LAYER but the normal contribution is
not removed (penetrating flow). The DOMAIN keyword is mandatory.
– REGULARIZE_ISENTROPIC: This alternative method can only be ap-

plied on CFD entries. It modifies the CFD data in such a way
that boundary layers are suppressed within a particular region
where the total quantities are almost identical. The two tolerances
TOTAL_TEMPERATURE_TOLERANCE and TOTAL_TEMPERATURE_TOLERANCE
are therefore used, as shown in the syntax below. The methodology
relies on flow quantity Misentropic which is equal to:
v
u γ −1
2 t ptotal
u γ
Misentropic = −1 (42.31)
γ−1 pstatic
The local Mach number M equals to Misentropic everywhere, except

in supersonic regions and in the boundary layer. The method de-
tects these regions where M differs from Misentropic and will scale the
velocity such that M = Misentropic .
METHOD REGULARIZE_ISENTROPIC
TOTAL_VALUES_POSITION x y z
TOTAL_TEMPERATURE_TOLERANCE tol
TOTAL_PRESSURE_TOLERANCE tol
– SMOOTH: It allows improving the quality of the mapping when the

CFD mesh is coarser than the CAA mesh by smoothing the mean flow.
Practically, the smoothing consists in averaging the mean flow using an
inverse distance weighting. The spatial resolution of the smoothing is
equal to the dimension of the CFD cells multiplied by one plus the max-
imum in-plane tolerance specified in the TOLERANCE_LIST data block
through the PLANE_TOL keyword. The DOMAIN keyword is optional
with this method. This option is available for ENSIGHTGOLD, FLUENT,
STARCCM+, STARCD, CGNS_FINETURBO, CGNS_TRACE and OPENFOAM CFD
drivers.
– CUT_SOS: It is used to remove the supersonic regions during the inter-
polation of the mean flow.
The syntax of the block is the following:
[DOMAIN domains_list]
METHOD CUT_SOS
TECHNIQUE cutsos_technique
MACH_THRESHOLD mach_number
The CUT_SOS algorithm is driven by two additional parameters :

TECHNIQUE and MACH_THRESHOLD. The MACH_THRESHOLD keyword al-
lows to specify the maximal Mach number present in the mean flow
after the cut sos operation. MACH_THRESHOLD should be strictly inferior
to 1. The TECHNIQUE keyword specifies the method used to recom-
pute the mean flow in the supersonic region; where the original Mach
number has been reduced to MACH_THRESHOLD. Two techniques are
available:
580 iCFD
∗ CUT_VELOCITY:The local velocity field is cut so that the local Mach

number becomes inferior to MACH_THRESHOLD. All the other mean
quantities are not recomputed, only the mean velocity field is
modified.
∗ ISENTROPIC: This option recomputes the mean quantities in an

isentropic manner. The total quantities of the flow are preserved
during the cut sos operation. In other words, the local quantities
are recomputed so that the total quantities before and after the
cut sos operation are identical. More information concerning the
isentropic relations between the static and total fields can be found
in Chapter 11 section 11.6.4 in function of the material type.
The DOMAIN keyword is optional with this method.
Remark. The cut sos operation in an isentropic manner is conducted

thanks to the material properties specified in the MATERIAL data block of
the Actran analysis. The material properties definition of the acoustic
media should thus be coherent to the material properties used during
the CFD computation. Furthermore, there should be a MATERIAL data
block for each element set belonging to the acoustic media domain and
the MATERIAL data block ID(s) should correspond to the PID(s) of the
element sets belonging to the acoustic media domains. If no MATERIAL
block is present in the Actran analysis or if the MATERIAL data block
ID(s) is(are) not corresponding to the PID(s) of the element sets be-
longing to the acoustic media domain, the PERFECT_GAS material with
default values will be used.
• The optional keyword INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF allows outputting the

intermediate mapped flow (after the current FLOW_TREATMENT) in an external
.nff database. If several FLOW_TREATMENT are used the successive operations
are followed step by step thanks to this option.
Example:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN MEAN_CFD_FLOW
INPUT_FILE FLUENT cfd_results*
ACTRAN_FILE Actran_TM_input.edat
OUTPUT_FILE DAT flow_mapped.dat
INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF initial.nff
BEGIN FLOW_TREATMENT 1
METHOD REGULARIZE_UNMAPPED
INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF reg_unmapped.nff
END FLOW_TREATMENT 1
METHOD CUT_SOS
TECHNIQUE ISENTROPIC
MACH_THRESHOLD 0.9
INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF cutsos.nff
METHOD REGULARIZE_BOUNDARY_LAYER
DOMAIN rigid_surface
INTERMEDIATE_OUTPUT_NFF reg_bl.nff
END MEAN_CFD_FLOW
END ICFD
iCFD will map the pressure, density and velocity contained in the cfd_results*
files on the mesh read in the analysis Actran_TM_input.edat. The final results
are written in the file flow_mapped.dat. The .nff database initial.nff will
contain the results before any flow treatment.
A first treatment is applied by precaution on all the unmapped points. The
intermediate result is written in reg_unmapped.nff.
A second flow treatment is applied to remove the supersonic regions with a Mach
number superior to 0.9, using the isentropic relations. The intermediate result
after this treatment is written in cutsos.nff.
A third flow treatment is finally applied to remove the boundary layer of all
the nodes present in the domain rigid_surface defined in the Actran analysis
Actran_TM_input.edat. The intermediate result after the regularization is writ-
ten in reg_bl.nff.
582 iCFD
Finally, reg_bl.nff. and flow_mapped.dat contains the same mapped flow.

42.5.1.3 FLOW_MAPPING data block
The FLOW_MAPPING is optional. It allows improving the quality of the mapping
when the CFD mesh is finer than the CAA mesh by smoothing the mean flow. It
is the equivalent of the SMOOTH flow treatment but for fine CFD mesh.
The syntax of the block FLOW_MAPPING is the following:
BEGIN FLOW_MAPPING flow_mapping_id

DOMAIN domains_list
METHOD method
[PLANE_TOL plane_tol_value]
[GAP_TOL gap_tol_value]
END FLOW_MAPPING flow_mapping_id
• DOMAIN: Specifies the domain in the ACTRAN_FILE on which the flow map-
ping is applied. It works for both 3D and 2D meshes.
• METHOD: Provides the name of the technique applied to process the mapped
mean flow. Two techniques are available:
– INVERSE_DISTANCE: The flow mapping consists in averaging the mean
flow using an inverse distance weighting. The weights are computed
in function of the distance between the CFD cell center and the nodes
of the acoustic mesh. The effect of this method is important when the
density of CFD cells is large with respect to density of acoustic nodes.
– RECONSTRUCT_GRADIENT: The smoothing effect in that case is due to a
gradient reconstruction. Gradients of the mean flow are computed.
The contribution of each CFD cell to the mean flow at one acoustic
node is then recomputed based on the flow gradients and the distance
between the CFD cell center and the acoustic node. The effect of
this method is important when the density of CFD cells is small with
respect to density of acoustic nodes. This method is not appropriated
in the presence of a boundary layer.
• The spatial resolution of the smoothing is driven by the in-plane and ab-
solute tolerances fixed by the optional PLANE_TOL and GAP_TOL parameters.
If not used, the values specified in the TOLERANCE_LIST data block will be
retrieved for these two parameters.
Remark. A FLOW_MAPPING and a FLOW_TREATMENT using the SMOOTH

method should not be used simultaneously on a same domain. Indeed, both
treatments are applied in the volume (or surface) of the acoustic mesh. Using
both methods on a same domain therefore leads to a conflict. The priority is
given to the FLOW_MAPPING, which erases the mean flow obtained with the
SMOOTH treatment.
42.5.1.4 PERIODICITY data block

The PERIODICITY data block is optional and is a main section of the iCFD data
file. It allows to map a 3D mean flow from a sector (a periodic flow) from the
CFD model over a full 360 degree acoustic mesh. The syntax of the PERIODICITY
data block is the following:
BEGIN PERIODICITY
AXIS x-, y- and z-component of the symmetry axis
MODE mode integer or PERIOD angle
END PERIODICITY
• AXIS :This keyword defines the vector around which the mapping revolution
is performed;
• PERIOD : This keyword allows specifying the angle of the sector in the CFD.
• MODE : This keyword allows to specify the angle in an alternative way. It

represents the number of sectors contained in a full model.
360
MODE =
sectorangle
For instance, a 90 degrees sector corresponds to a MODE 4
Example:
BEGIN ICFD
BEGIN MEAN_CFD_FLOW
INPUT_FILE BVOIR3D cfd_input.b_voir3d
ACTRAN_FILE flow_mesh.dat
OUTPUT_FILE NFF flow_mapped.nff
END MEAN_CFD_FLOW
BEGIN PERIODICITY
AXIS 1.0 0.0 0.0
PERIOD 20
END PERIODICITY
END ICFD
584 iCFD
42.5.1.5 PLANE_SYMMETRY data block

The PLANE_SYMMETRY data block is optional and is a main section of the iCFD
data file. It allows to map a symmetric 3D mean flow CFD on a complete acoustic
model by adding an image of the region by symmetry to a given plane. The
syntax of the PLANE_SYMMETRY data block is the following:
BEGIN PLANE_SYMMETRY
either
NORMAL nx ny nz
POINT x0 y0 z0
or
POINT_1 x1 y1 z1
POINT_2 x2 y2 z2
POINT_3 x3 y3 z3
END PLANE_SYMMETRY
The plane of symmetry is either determined by one point and a normal vector, or
by three points.
• NORMAL defines the vector normal to the plane of symmetry. It has to point
towards the exterior of the CFD region.
• POINT is the reference point on the plane of symmetry.
• POINT_1, POINT_2 and POINT_3 are the three points that allow to define the
symmetry plane on which they rely. The vector product of vector between
point 1 and 2 and vector between 1 and 3 should point towards the exterior
of the CFD region.
42.5.2 Running iCFD for mean aerodynamic fields projection

42.5.2.1 Sequential run
The projection of the mean aerodynamic fields on the acoustic mesh can be
launched by typing the following command into a prompt :
actranpy -u ICFD -i inputfile.dat -m memory
where :
-i is followed by the path to the iCFD input file.
-m specifies the size in Mbytes of the available memory for the interpolation of
the aerodynamic fields.
iCFD produces an NFF database or an ASCII file in the Actran format contain-
ing the aerodynamic results but also a report directory that contains different
information about the computation (see Section 10.2).
42.5.2.2 Parallel run

The projection of the mean aerodynamic fields on the acoustic mesh by computing
an average of the unsteady CFD results available at all the CFD time steps can be
partitioned between the different processes. The speed-up is almost linear. The
command line to perform a parallel computation is the same than the command
line of an Actran parallel computation (see Section 7.2) excepted that:
• The -u ICFD option must be used in the command line to specify that iCFD
must be launched;
• The --parallel=time must be specified to launch the iCFD computation

in parallel.
All the other options of the command line to perform the computation in parallel
are described in Section 7.2. An example of command line to perform a parallel
computation with iCFD using IntelMPI as MPI implementation on 4 processes
located on two different nodes named ’machine1’ and ’machine2’ is shown below:

-u ICFD...
--inputfile=<absolute-path>/icfd.edat...
--mem=200 --parallel=time
where the file hostfilename contains :
machine1
machine2
machine1
machine2
The output files are the same than the one described in Section 42.5.2.1.
586 iCFD
42.5.3 Projection process

During the projection process, the nodes of the Actran model are localized in
the CFD mesh. For a given node, this involves the identification of the element of
the CFD mesh containing the node and the computation of its local coordinates
within the CFD element. If the node does not belong to any finite element, it is
said to be unmapped.
The projection parameters are controlled by the PLANE_TOL option of the

TOLERANCE_LIST data block option (see Section 42.5.4) . Through this option, the
user can provide iCFD with a list of successive planar tolerances. The localization
process is first launched using the first planar tolerance. If unmapped points
are detected, the projection process is launched a second time, on this set of
unmapped point, with the second planar tolerance, which should therefore be
less strict than the first one. The tolerance is interpreted as the relative amount
by which the point may be located outside of a CFD element. This iterative
refinement continues until there are no more unmapped points or the list of
planar tolerances has been completely used.
Once the localization process is completed, the values of the mean flow at the
nodes of the Actran model are sampled using the mean flow values on the
corresponding CFD elements and associated local coordinates.
42.5.4 Projection tolerances

The iCFD tolerances are controlled through the TOLERANCE_LIST data block. This
data block must respect the following syntax:
BEGIN TOLERANCE_LIST
PLANE_TOL value
GAP_TOL value
END TOLERANCE_LIST
• PLANE_TOL (default value : 0.05) is followed by an optional list of successive

projection in-plane tolerances (see subsection 42.5.3 for more details). It is
the relative tolerance used during computation of volume contributions.
The tolerance is interpreted as the relative amount by which the CFD cell
may be located outside of the acoustic element;
• GAP_TOL (default value : 0.001) is the absolute tolerance used to map CFD
boundary values on acoustic boundaries. This option specify the maximum
distance between the CFD and acoustic surface for mapping.
42.5.5 Extracting CFD data on particular points

When not having a proper access to read the CFD data, the evaluation of the CFD
on specific points can be prompted. The CFD quantities are then output in a plt
42.6 Automatic Rotation and Translation of the CAA Model 587
file. The list of points is controlled through the OUTPUT_FRF data block. This data
block must respect the following syntax:
BEGIN OUTPUT_FRF
output_file_name
BEGIN FIELD_POINT field_point_id
number of field points
for each field point
field point external number,...
x, y and z point coordinates
end for
END FIELD_POINT field_point_id
END OUTPUT_FRF
where:
• output_file_name corresponds to the output file name;

• The provided field point coordinates are corresponding to the CFD coordi-
nates.
42.6 Automatic Rotation and Translation of the CAA

Model
If the CFD and CAA model are not in the same coordinate system, iCFD can
automatically translate or rotate the CAA model using the TRANSFORMATION data
block.
The TRANSFORMATION data block takes as input:
• the origin of the CFD coordinate system, referred as { T } in Eq. (42.32),

expressed in the CAA coordinate system;
• the rotational matrix, referred as [ R] in Eq. (42.32), which links up the CFD
coordinates system to the CAA coordinates system.
The transformation can be represented by the following equation:
{VCFD } = [ R] . {{VCAA } − { T }}
       
 xCFD  R11 R12 R13  xCAA   Tx 
⇒ yCFD =  R21 R22 R23  .  yCAA − Ty  (42.32)
zCFD R31 R32 R33 zCAA Tz
     
This data block must respect the following syntax:

588 iCFD
BEGIN TRANSFORMATION
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
coordinate of point in the CAA mesh corresponding...
...to the CFD origin in the CAA coordinate system
CAA axis corresponding to the X CFD axis
CAA axis corresponding to the Y CFD axis
CAA axis corresponding to the Z CFD axis
END TRANSFORMATION
The different terms of Eq. (42.32) correspond to the following values:
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
T_{x} T_{Y} T_{Z}
R_{11} R_{12} R_{13}
R_{21} R_{22} R_{33}
R_{31} R_{22} R_{33}
END TRANSFORMATION
For example the user needs to define the TRANSFORMATION data block shown
below if the CAA and CFD models are defined in the coordinate system shown
in Figure 42.3.
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
0 0 1
END TRANSFORMATION
42.6 Automatic Rotation and Translation of the CAA Model 589
Figure 42.3: ICFD transformation data block - Example

590 iCFD
Fourty Three
Decomposition of Unsteady
CFD Results into Acoustic
Duct Modes : iTM
Contents
43.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
43.2 The Triple Plane Pressure matching method (TPP-method) . 592
43.3 iTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
43.4 The iTM input file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
43.5 The iTM result files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
43.6 Helpful hints and error checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
43.7 Running iTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
43.8 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
43.1 Introduction
When investigating the propagation of the noise generated by turbomachines,
Actran provides the functionality to couple a discrete FE/IE model, where
the acoustic field is sought for, to a modal duct component that represents the
part of the turbomachinery not included in the FE/IE model but where sound
is generated and represented in terms of duct modes (see Chapter 21). The
acoustic excitation consists of a superposition of such duct modes of different
orders. In Actran, the user can either compute the acoustic field corresponding
to a superposition of modes1 or investigate the sound generated by each mode
1 For axi-symmetric geometries, modes with different azimuthal orders must be considered in
separate simulations.
591
592 iTM
individually. In either case, the amplitude of the incident modes is set by the user
to an arbitrary value, while the amplitude of the reflected modes is solved by
Actran along with the acoustic near- and far fields. Alternatively, it is possible to
specify the intensity of the duct modes instead of their amplitude. A conventional
assumption is that the propagating modes carry all the same energy. Although
this is particularly useful for investigating the attenuation of noise by acoustic
liners, absolute noise levels cannot be predicted with this approach.
iTM is a software tool which complements the methodology explained above.

Based on the Triple Plane Pressure matching method (TPP-method) of Ovenden and
Rienstra [48], iTM makes use of unsteady, compressible CFD simulations results
to compute the amplitude of incident modes, thereby allowing the prediction of
absolute noise levels.
This chapter is organized as follows. The TPP-method is briefly laid out in

Section 43.2, Section 43.3 gives an overview of iTM. Sections 43.4 and 43.5 give a
description of the input and result files respectively. Section 43.6 provide useful
hints and recommendations. Finally, section 43.8 provides an example of input
file for iTM .
43.2 The Triple Plane Pressure matching method (TPP-

method)
Generally speaking, the Triple Plane Pressure matching method deals with the
translation of aerodynamic data into acoustic ones. In the context of numerical
simulations, the issue is to transfer information from a CFD domain, where
aerodynamic fields satisfy the non-linear, unsteady Navier-Stokes equations
usually supplemented by a turbulence model, to a CAA domain, where the
assumption that acoustic fluctuations in the field variables are much smaller
in magnitude than their steady counterpart allows the use of a linear model
(see Figure 43.1). The transfer of information between the two models or domains
is called a matching problem.
Figure 43.1: The matching problem consists in translating aerodynamic data into acoustic
data in a matching region where the CFD and CAA domains overlap.
43.3 iTM 593
The matching problem is far from trivial because discrepancies between the CFD
and the CAA models generate aerodynamic fluctuations that are inconsistent
with purely acoustic ones, while spurious acoustic waves are generated at the
interface between CFD and CAA domains. Moreover, acoustically imperfect
inflow and outflow CFD boundary conditions yield reflected acoustic waves that
should be distinguished from their incident counterpart, although both types of
waves contribute to the acoustic field. One can therefore not just take CFD field
variables to feed an acoustic simulation.
In the TPP-method, results from compressible, unsteady CFD simulation are

sampled on a set of matching planes, Fourier-transformed in time and projected, in
the least-squares sense, onto a modal basis made of duct acoustic eigenfunctions.
A remarkable feature of the method is that it naturally yields separate amplitude
values for incident and reflected modes, provided that aerodynamic data be taken
on at least two matching planes. As a consequence, the method also provides
a posteriori error estimation as matching zones selected appropriately yield
incident mode amplitudes much higher than their reflected counterpart.
The reader is encouraged to read [48], where the TPP-method is explained in

detail.
43.3 iTM
43.3.1 Features of iTM
Although the TPP-method is mathematically robust, it relies on the selection of
parameters that can not be set a priori but do impact the computed amplitude
values. In particular, the method is shown to be sensitive to the location of the
matching region, i.e., the planes interspacing, their location, and the number of
matching planes. The matching zone’s location is here of primary importance.
Indeed, a matching region located too close to the actual source region yields
overestimated amplitude values because non-linearities are important in that
region and the linear acoustic model is no longer valid there. On the other
hand, setting the matching zone far from the source yields underestimated
amplitude values since dissipative2 numerical schemes used in CFD simulations
have acoustic information vanish as it travels from the actual source region to the
matching region.
It is therefore mandatory, when computing modal amplitudes with the TPP-

method, to perform a parametric study by varying the matching planes’ location,
in the search for a matching region where CFD results contain enough acoustic
information to feed a linear acoustic model valid in that region. To a lesser extent,
the impact of the number of planes on the computed amplitudes should also be
investigated.
2 From an acoustic simulation point-of-view.

594 iTM
iTM is an implementation of the “All-P“ formulation of the TPP-method (see

[48]) complemented with functionalities that improve the usability of the method
in the context of industrial applications. In particular, iTM was designed with
the following objectives in mind:
• To enable the computation of modal amplitudes from pressure samples

available on a set of matching planes. Each matching plane consists of a
collection of discrete sampling points.
• To ease parametric studies by
– providing pre-processing capabilities to compute the coordinates of

the sampling points for a number of matching planes larger than the
number of planes strictly necessary to compute modal amplitudes;
– computing, in a single run, modal amplitudes corresponding to several
matching regions, that is for various locations of the matching planes,
the number of sampling points on each plane and number of planes.
From a practical point-of view, the complete sequence of operations necessary to

compute modal amplitudes from CFD results with iTM is:
1. To perform an unsteady, compressible CFD simulation.
2. To compute the coordinates of the sampling points with iTM and interpolate
the aerodynamic pressure on these points.
3. To compute the modal amplitudes with iTM for several values of the
numerical parameters found in the All-P TPP-method.
An Actran acoustic simulation can then be run with the computed amplitudes
as input. Data are exchanged between iTM and the CFD software via CFD native
results files that comply with Actran specifications.
43.3.2 Underlying assumptions

The iTM implementation of the TPP-method is valid for straight untreated static
ducts of constant cross-section. Moreover, the velocity field should be purely
axial, uniform and constant on the matching planes.
43.4 The iTM input file

Like Actran input files, iTM input files consist of a collection of keywords
followed by a set of values (strings of character, integers, real numbers, ...),
grouped together into sections, also called data blocks.
43.4 The iTM input file 595
Remark. Throughout this chapter, text displayed in true type font

denotes iTM keywords or commands, while text displayed in italic denotes
variables that should be replaced with user-specific values.
The iTM input file is structured as follows:
BEGIN ITM
either
freq
or
fstart fstep fend
OUTPUT_FILE output_file_name.nff
GEOMETRY_METHOD either POINTS or VOLUME
MODE_PARTICIPATION txt_mode_file_name
MODE_ERROR txt_error_file_name
BEGIN DUCT duct_id

(...)
END DUCT duct_id
BEGIN MP_MODAL_BASIS modal_basis_id

(...)
END MP_MODAL_BASIS modal_basis_id
END ITM
Every data block and every keyword must be specified explicitly in the input file
since iTM does not substitute default values for data omitted by the user. The
only exception to this is the GEOMETRY_METHOD which by default is set to VOLUME.
• the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block defines the frequency range over which
the response must be computed, where:
– freq is a single frequency;

596 iTM
– fstart, fstep and fend are used to define a frequency range with a
linear step. fstart is the starting frequency, fend the last frequency
and fstep the step.
• INPUT_FILE defines both the format and the CFD filenames. iTM is com-
patible with different formats. cfd_file_format can take the following
values :
– STARCCM+ if the files correspond to star-CCM+ native files
– FLUENT if the files correspond to Fluent native files
FFT Support Team to ensure that your CGNS files are compatible;
– NFF if the aerodynamic fields are stored in a NFF data base.
• OUTPUT_FILE defines the name of the output file produced by iTM.
output_file_format.nff is an NFFdatabase that contains all the inter-
polated values of the pressure. Two NFF databases will be generated:
– output_file_format.nff containing all the interpolated values in the
time domain;
– output_file_format_freq.nff containing all the interpolated values
in the frequency domain.
• GEOMETRY_METHOD defines the method used to generate the matching planes.
The following methods are available:
– The POINTS method where the matching planes are defined through a
set of points.
– The VOLUME method where the matching planes are defined through a
set of points and connections between them allowing a better visual-
ization of the NFF databases specified by the OUTPUT_FILE keyword.
This method is used by default in case the GEOMETRY_METHOD is not
defined in the iTM input file.
• MODE_PARTICIPATION: defines the name of the output file containing the
modal amplitudes and intensities computed by iTM.
• MODE_ERROR: defines the name of the output file containing the error for
each plane used for the iTMcomputation (see Section 43.6.2).
• The optional WINDOW keyword allows activating the usage of a particular
window filtering. Two of the windows described in Section 42.4.1.5 are
avaialble in iTM: the rectangular and the hanning windows. These windows
can be activated by defining window_name as:
– RECTANGULAR
– HANNING
By default iTM uses a rectangular window.
43.4.1 The DUCT data blocks

BEGIN DUCT duct_id
TYPE duct_type l1 l2
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
Ox0 Oy0 Oz0
m x0 x m x0 y m x0 z
my0 x my0 y m y0 z
mz0 x mz0 y m z0 z
PLANES Nplanes xmin 0 0
xmax
N_1 N1
N_2 N2
END DUCT duct_id
The purpose of a DUCT data block is to specify geometrical and numerical param-
eters necessary for the computation of the points’ coordinates in a given duct.
There can be several DUCT data blocks in the input file. The parameters listed in a
DUCT data block can be listed in any order. They are detailed next:
• duct_id
As an iTM input file may contain several DUCT data blocks, it is necessary
to label each block with a unique identifier. This is the purpose of the
variable duct_id, a strictly positive integer. duct_id will be used by iTM in
the definition of the MP_MODAL_BASIS data block (see Section 43.4.2).
• TYPE duct_type l1 l2
With the TYPE keyword, the user specifies the type of the duct and two geo-
metrical dimensions. Three duct types are supported, namely RECTANGULAR,
ANNULAR and CIRCULAR, for which parameters l1 and l2 take different mean-
ings, as summarized in Table 43.1. Note that, for annular ducts, iTM
exchanges the values l1 and l2 with one another if l1 , the inner radius of the
duct, is larger than l2 , the outer radius of the duct. For circular ducts, l2
must be omitted as only the radius of the duct, l1 , needs to be specified.
• COORDINATE_SYSTEM
Ox0 Oy0 Oz0
m x0 x m x0 y m x0 z
my0 x my0 y my0 z
mz0 x mz0 y mz0 z
598 iTM
duct_type l1 l2
half-height, measured along half-width, measured along
RECTANGULAR
axis y0 axis z0
ANNULAR inner radius outer radius
CIRCULAR radius -
Table 43.1: Supported duct types and meaning of geometrical dimensions
With the COORDINATE_SYSTEM keyword, the user specifies the loca-

tion of the local frame of reference with respect to the global one
(see Figure 43.2):
– [Ox0 , Oy0 , Oz0 ] is the location of origin of the local frame of reference;
– mαβ denotes the β component, in the global frame of reference, of the
local axis α.
Figure 43.2: Definition of the local coordinate system associated to a modal basis.
Remark. The axis of the duct must coincide with the first axis of
the local frame of reference, x 0 . A similar definition of the local coor-
dinate system is specified in a MODA_BASIS data block of an Actran
simulation.
• PLANES Nplanes xmin

0 0
xmax
With the PLANES keyword, the user specifies the number of matching planes,
Nplanes , and their location in the local frame of reference of the duct. iTM
generates discrete sampling points on Nplanes planes equally spaced be-
tween xmin0 0
xmax
and . The distance between neighboring planes is therefore

0 0

xmax − xmin / Nplanes − 1 . When Nplanes = 1, a single plane is created
at x 0 = xmin
0 . N 0 0
planes is a strictly positive integer, while xmin and xmax are
real numbers.
• N_1 N1
With the keyword N_1, the user specifies the number of discrete sampling
points on a plane along the first transverse direction, that is along the y0 -axis
for rectangular ducts or along the radius for annular and circular ducts (see
Table 43.2). N1 is a strictly positive integer.
• N_2 N2
With the keyword N_2, the user specifies the number of discrete sampling
points on a plane along the second transverse direction, that is along the
z0 -axis for rectangular ducts or in the azimuthal direction for annular and
circular ducts (see Table 43.2). N2 is a strictly positive integer.
Note that different DUCT blocks in the iTM input file may correspond to the same
physical duct and only differ in their numerical parameters, N1 and N2 .
duct_type N1 N2
number of points along axis number of points along axis
RECTANGULAR
y0 z0
number of points along the number of points in the an-
ANNULAR
radius gular direction
number of points along the number of points in the an-
CIRCULAR
radius gular direction
Table 43.2: Meaning of parameters N_1 and N_2 for the supported duct types
43.4.2 The MP_MODAL_BASIS data blocks

BEGIN MP_MODAL_BASIS mp_modal_basis_id
DUCT_ID duct_id
PLANES plane_ids
FLOW Ux0
MODE n1 m1
(...)
MODE n Nmodes m Nmodes
END MP_MODAL_BASIS mp_modal_basis_id
600 iTM
The purpose of a MP_MODAL_BASIS data block is to specify all necessary data for
a single computation of modal amplitudes. By single computation, we refer to
the computation of modal amplitudes with a unique combination of numerical
parameters like the number of planes, the inter-plane spacing, ... The parameters
listed in a MP_MODAL_BASIS data block can be listed in any order. They are
detailed next:
• mp_modal_basis_id
As an iTM input file may contain several MP_MODAL_BASIS data blocks, it
is necessary to label each such block with a unique identifier. This is the
purpose of the variable mp_modal_basis_id, a strictly positive integer.
• DUCT_ID duct_id
duct_id is the duct identifier defined in the input file used for generating
the sampling points’ coordinates, next to the BEGIN DUCT keywords.
• PLANES plane_ids
This line specifies the set of matching planes used for the computation
of modal amplitudes. The set of planes is identified by the indices of the
matching planes plane_ids, a set of strictly positive integers smaller than or
equal to Nplanes . The index of a matching plane is defined during the gener-
ation of the sampling points’ coordinates, where planes are conventionally
labelled from 1 to Nplanes in each duct.
• FLOW Ux0
With the FLOW keyword, the user specifies the value of the axial velocity,
Ux0 , that is the component of the fluid velocity aligned with x 0 , the duct
local axis. Ux0 is a positive or negative real number. A positive value means
that the fluid flows in the positive x 0 direction. Note that, in order for the
TPP-method to be applicable, the axial velocity should be uniform on each
matching plane.
• MODE n1 m1
With the MODE keyword, the user specifies the order of the modes whose
amplitude must be computed. nl and ml are two integers whose meaning
depends on the duct type, as summarized in Table 43.3.
duct_type nl ml
RECTANGULAR mode order along y0 mode order along z0
ANNULAR radial order azimuthal order
CIRCULAR radial order azimuthal order
Table 43.3: Meaning of parameters nl and nm for the supported duct types
43.5 The iTM result files 601
43.5 The iTM result files

43.5.1 The iTM “mode” file
The iTM mode file, txt_mode_file_name, contains the computed modal amplitudes.
The file is divided into blocks, row-wise, each block of lines containing the results
for a given modal basis specified by the user, as follows:
• For each mode of the modal basis:
– The modal basis index, mp_modal_basis_id;

– The duct index, duct_id;
– The mode index, generated by iTM;
– The mode orders, n1 and m1 ;
– The amplitude of the incident and reflected modes;
– The intensity of the incident and reflected modes.
• On the line containing −999 as mode index:
– The sum of the intensities of the incident modes;

– The sum of the intensities of the reflected modes.
The iTM mode file can be easily imported into third-party utility programs to
plot the computed modal amplitudes and intensities as a function of the modal
basis index, the mode order, ... , thereby easying parametric studies.
43.5.2 The iTM “error” file

The iTM error file, txt_error_file_name, contains the computed matching error (see
Section 43.6.2). Each line contains the matching error on each plane of a given
modal basis, preceded by the modal basis index.
43.6 Helpful hints and error checking

43.6.1 Matching Plane Positions
To compute modal amplitudes, iTM numerically computes, on each matching
plane, integrals of the form:
Z Z
φl φl∗ ds , φl∗ P→ ds (43.1)
S S
with a midpoint rectangle rule in each direction. In Eq. (43.1), φl denotes a duct
eigenfunction (see Section 21.2.3), l is a combination of the mode orders in the
two transverse directions and Pω is the Fourier transform of the CFD pressure at
602 iTM
ω
the frequency f = 2π . How accurately the above integrals are evaluated depends
on the values N1 and N2 (higher values increase the accuracy of the computation).
Since the integrals (43.1) depend on the mode order and the Fourier pressure, N1
and N2 should be selected so as to ensure that the integrals (43.1) are computed
with a sufficient accuracy for the highest mode order and the pressure signals
considered. Both CPU time and file size scale linearly with N1 ∗ N2 .
To compute modal amplitudes, iTM also solves an over-determined3 system of

equations that results from a least-squares fit of the pressure data on the matching
planes. In order for the least-squares method to work, it is mandatory that the
pressure on a matching plane differs from the pressure on the neighboring
matching planes. Therefore, the spacing between matching planes should be
such that sampling points with identical transverse coordinates but located on
neighboring matching planes do not fall in same cell of the CFD mesh, unless the
pressure is allowed to vary inside CFD cells.
43.6.2 Error checking on the results performed by iTM

After the computation of modal amplitudes, iTM computes on each matching
plane the relative mean square error, also called matching error :
0 0 0 0 2
R
S Pω ( y , z ) − Pω ( y , z ) ds

e = . (43.2)
0 0 2
R
S |Pω ( y , z )| ds
In Eq. (43.2), Pω is the Fourier transform of the CFD pressure at the frequency
1
f = 2π while Pω is the analytical acoustic solution computed with the reduced
set of modes specified by the user:
Nmodes
−ik+ ( x0 − x00 ) −ik− ( x0 − x00 )
0 0
∑ 0 0
A+ A−

Pω y , z = φl y , z x 0 ,l + x 0 ,l
l e l e . (43.3)
l =0
The matching error is written, for each modal basis, in the text file
txt_error_file_name (see Section 43.5.2).
The matching error is a good indicator of the accuracy of the results and should,
as a rule of thumb, be smaller than 1%. If the matching error is larger, the user is
advised to perform the following verifications, in order to improve the accuracy
of the results :
• Every propagating mode is listed in the input file. The list of propagating
modes can be obtained by computing cut-off frequencies for several mode
orders with the utility program cutget.
3 Provided that the number of planes in the matching zone be at least 3.
43.7 Running iTM 603
• The axial velocity is uniform on each matching plane.
• There are enough sampling points on every matching plane (see Sec-
tion 43.6).
Finally, matching zones selected appropriately yield incident mode amplitudes

much higher than their reflected counterpart.
43.7 Running iTM

An iTM computation can be launched by typing the following command into a
prompt :
actranpy -u ITM --inputfile=inputfile.dat
where :
--inputfile is followed by the path to the iCFD input file.
iTM produces :
• Two NFF database containing the pressure in the time domain and in the
frequency domain;
• A text file containing the modes amplitudes and intensities;
• A text file containing the error at each matching plane;

Section 10.2);
• parsetime.dat contains the list of CFD time steps contained in the CFD files;
• f iles.dat contains the name of all CFD files used by iTM during the run.
604 iTM
43.8 Example
A sample iTM input file for the computation of modal amplitudes is provided
below.
BEGIN ITM
200
400
600
INPUT_FILE ENSIGHTGOLD cfd_results.case

GEOMETRY_METHOD VOLUME
MODE_PARTICIPATION mode_participation.txt
MODE_ERROR mode_error.txt
OUTPUT_FILE pressure.nff
BEGIN DUCT 1
TYPE RECTANGULAR 0.04135 0.05
ORIGIN 0.12 -0.09165 0.034
XAXIS 1.0 0.0 0.0
YAXIS 0.0 1.0 0.0
ZAXIS 0.0 0.0 1.0
PLANES 10 0.0 0.1
N1 20
N2 30
END DUCT 1
BEGIN MP_MODAL_BASIS 1
DUCT_ID 1
PLANES 1 2 4 5 6 8
FLOW 0.0
MODE 0 0
MODE 1 0
MODE 2 0
MODE 0 1
MODE 0 2
MODE 1 1
END MP_MODAL_BASIS 1
END ITM
43.8 Example 605
In this example, iTM will compute modal amplitudes for one modal bases,
labelled 1, at three frequencies: 200, 400 and 600 Hz. The sampling points’
coordinates are defined in the duct data block and their position as well as the
interpolated CFD pressure in the time domain and in the frequency domain
may be verified in the pressure.nff and pressure_freq.nff, respectively. The
results and the matching error will be written in files mode_participation.txt
and mode_error.txt, respectively.
In the modal basis section labelled 1, the user specifies that modal amplitudes
must be computed for the duct with id 1, using the six matching planes with ids:
1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8. The fluid velocity is 0 m/s. The modal amplitudes shall be
computed for modes with orders ranging from 0 to 1 in each transverse direction.
606 iTM
Fourty Four
Transfer Matrix Method

Contents
44.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
44.2 Acoustic prediction using a Transfer Matrix Method . . . . . 608
44.3 Using the TMM utility program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
44.4 TMM command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
44.5 TMM output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
44.1 Introduction
The acoustic wave propagation in duct systems and the need for the prediction of
their acoustic transmission characteristics (such as the transmission loss, TL) are
often encountered in the study of acoustics. Typical applications include, among
others, intake or exhaust lines, HVAC systems, etc.
For these applications, Actran offers an attractive solution of a Finite Element

Method coupled with a Transfer Matrix Method. This is available through a spe-
cific utility program named tmm. The purpose of this program is to industrialize
the use of Actran for the acoustic analysis of complex subsystems and their
coupling with each others using the principles of the Transfer Matrix Method.
Advantages of this hybrid approach are, among others:
• it allows to handle real-life systems (such as an exhaust line) made of

complex components (or subsystems). Each component will be related to
an Actran model and as such can be made of an irregular shape, include
any kind of acoustic treatment or involve flow or temperature gradients;
• no maximal frequency limit, compared to the cut-off frequency limit of the
cross section of the components like in an analytical TMM approach;
607
608 Transfer Matrix Method
• thanks to the tmm utility, the impact of replacing one component by another
on the acoustic behavior of the entire system can be easily assessed.
The tmm utility can be applied to a system made of subsystems to compute:
• the global transmission loss of the system (TL);
• the local and global acoustic responses under a given excitation by post-
processing the related FRFs or maps.
44.2 Acoustic prediction using a Transfer Matrix Method

The components of a duct system (such as a car exhaust line) can be classified in
three categories, as illustrated in Figure 44.1:
• the acoustic source (or inlet);
• the acoustic internal subsystems (like a muffler, a pipe, or an air filter);
• the acoustic outlet condition.
Figure 44.1: A duct connected system
Solving the acoustic problem implies to characterize all these components and
the connections between each others.
44.2.1 Definition of an acoustic source

An acoustic source is characterized by two parameters:
• The source amplitude C ;
• The source reflection factor r (related to the source impedance).

44.2 Acoustic prediction using a Transfer Matrix Method 609
The amplitude of the source characterizes the incident acoustic pressure emitted
by the component upstream the duct system (for example: incident pressure
emitted by an engine at the inlet of the exhaust line). The reflection factor of the
source is linked to the source impedance (for example: the acoustic reflection
from the engine at the inlet of the exhaust line). The reflection factor is a complex
number and its amplitude is in the range of [-1, 1]. One can identify three
particular cases of source:
• If the source is a pressure boundary condition (C = P0 ), then the source

reflection factor is r = −1. This means that the source totally reflects the
acoustic wave, with a phase difference of π;
• If the source is a velocity boundary condition (C = V0 /(ρc)), then the
source reflection factor is r = 1. This means that the source totally reflects
the acoustic wave, with no phase difference;
• If the source has an anechoic termination, then the source reflection factor
is r = 0. This corresponds to the case of plugging a semi-infinite duct to
the inlet of the line.
A real source is often a mix of "velocity source" and a "pressure source". The
nature of the source usually depends on the frequency.
The relation between the source reflection factor r and the source impedance Z is:
1+r
Z = ρc (44.1)
1−r
Z − ρc
r= (44.2)
Z + ρc
The inlet condition of a system is related to the source characteristics in the

following way:
I1 = C + rR1 (44.3)
where I1 and R1 are respectively the incident and reflected pressures at the inlet
section. This is illustrated in Figure 44.2.
44.2.2 Definition of the components

In the context of the acoustic characterization of the system, the entire line
can often be divided into components (also called subsystems). Two types of
components can be identified:
• the complex components that can include, among others: an irregular

shape, absorbing materials, perforations, flow or temperature effects. These
components will be represented by Actran models;
Figure 44.2: Acoustic source and system inlet
• the simple ducts connecting the various complex components with each
others. They can be modelled analytically or by equivalent Actran models.
As shown in Figure 44.3, a component Ci can be described by a transfer matrix Ti :

α β
Ti = , (44.4)
γ δ

I1 I2
= Ti (44.5)
R1 R2
where I1 , R1 are respectively the incident and reflected pressures at the inlet
section and I2 and R2 are respectively the incident and reflected pressures at the
outlet section.
Figure 44.3: A component can be described by its transfer matrix
In order to calculate the transfer matrix coefficients of the component, an Actran

computation with a MULTIPLE_LOAD data block is required. Two LOADCASE data
blocks are included in one model. Each LOADCASE corresponds to the excitation
of either the inlet or the outlet of the component as illustrated in Figure 44.4.
44.2.3 Definition of the outlet

The outlet condition of the system is characterized by its radiation impedance (or
reflection factor). A typical outlet condition is the free field radiation condition
(Figure 44.5).
The outlet condition can be described by the following relation:

44.2 Acoustic prediction using a Transfer Matrix Method 611
Figure 44.4: Multiple load computation to compute the transfer matrix coefficients
Figure 44.5: Outlet of the system
eI2 = R2 (44.6)
where e is the reflection factor of the outlet and I2 and R2 are respectively the
incident and reflected pressures at the outlet section.
44.2.4 Solving the complete system using the Transfer Matrix

Method
A typical system to be studied using the tmm utility is made of the following
components:
• An inlet determined by its source amplitude and source reflection factor

(Eq. 44.3);
• The interior subsystems: each of them is characterized by its transfer matrix
(Eq. 44.4);
• An outlet condition determined by its reflection factor (Eq. 44.6).
The entire system can be described by the following relation:
 −1 
−1 0
   
I2 0
T
 R2   0 −1   0 
 I1  =  (44.7)
     
e −1 0 0   0 
R1 0 0 1 −r C
where C is the source amplitude; I1 , R1 are the incident and reflected pressures
at the inlet section; I2 , R2 are the incident and reflected pressures at the outlet
section; r is the reflection factor of the source; e the reflection factor of the outlet
and T is the transfer matrix of the entire system. T is the matrix product of the
transfer matrices of all the subsystems.
As an example, one can consider a system made of three subsystems (Figure 44.6).
Figure 44.6: A system made of three subsystems
In this example, the global transfer matrix T is obtained by multiplying the

transfer matrices T1 , T2 and T3 (Eq. 44.8).
T = T1 × T2 × T3 (44.8)
This global relationship can be easily extended within the tmm utility to multiple
parallel connections (bifurcations) and higher order modes, which are coupled as
for planar modes.
44.3 Using the tmm utility program
A tmm analysis requires as input a master input file and individual component
model files expressed in the Actran format.
44.3.1 tmm master input file
The syntax of the master input file is the following:

44.3 Using the TMM utility program 613
BEGIN ACTRAN_TMM
...
BEGIN MATERIAL material_id

...
END MATERIAL material_id
for each analytical component

BEGIN COMPONENT analytical_component_id
...
END COMPONENT analytical_component_id
end for
for each numerical component

BEGIN COMPONENT numerical_component_id
...
END COMPONENT numerical_component_id
end for
for each link

BEGIN LINK link_id
...
END LINK link_id
end for
...
END ACTRAN_TMM
The different components of the system are defined through COMPONENT data
blocks. Two types of COMPONENT are available: numerical components and analyt-
ical components.
Numerical components usually represent the complex acoustic components in

the system that are represented by Actran models. The syntax for a numerical
component is:
BEGIN ACTRAN_TMM
...
BEGIN COMPONENT numerical_component_id
NUMERICAL
FILE component_model_file
for each section
BEGIN SECTION section_id
MODAL_BASIS modal_basis_id
END SECTION section_id
end for
END COMPONENT numerical_component_id
...
END ACTRAN_TMM
The keyword FILE specifies the name of the file storing the Actran model of the
component.
The keyword SECTION refers to a MODAL_BASIS data block defined in the compo-
nent model file. There can be multiple SECTION defined in a numerical COMPONENT.
Analytical components usually represent the source or specific outlet conditions.

The syntax for an analytical component data block is:
44.3 Using the TMM utility program 615
BEGIN ACTRAN_TMM
for each source type analytical component
IMPOSED_MODE or IMPOSED_PRESSURE or IMPOSED_VELOCITY
either
AMPLITUDE constant_amplitude_value or TABLE
or
for each imposed mode
MODE_AMPLITUDE mode_order amplitude_value or TABLE
[REFLECTION reflection_factor]
[FLOW]
MATERIAL material_id
end for
for each anechoic analytical component
ANECHOIC
MATERIAL material_id
[FLOW]
[REFLECTION reflection_factor]
end for
END ACTRAN_TMM
The keywords IMPOSED_MODE, IMPOSED_PRESSURE and IMPOSED_VELOCITY repre-

sent an imposed mode, imposed pressure and imposed velocity respectively.
The keywords AMPLITUDE and REFLECTION define the amplitude and the reflection
factor of the source. If a mode is imposed using the IMPOSED_MODE, a particular
mode or a combination of modes can be imposed using the MODE_AMPLITUDE
keyword followed by the identification number of the mode and its amplitude.
The ANECHOIC keyword can be used to set a free duct termination at the outlet of
a component. In addition, a reflection factor can be set.
The keyword MATERIAL specifies to which material the analytical component is

related.
The FLOW keyword allows to account for a constant flow within the analytical
component. This flow must be oriented towards the direction of the MODAL_BASIS
to which the analytical component is attached.
The LINK data block connects different analytical or numerical components. The
syntax of the LINK data block is:
BEGIN ACTRAN_TMM
...
for each link
BEGIN LINK link_id
CONNECT COMPONENT component_id_1 [SECTION section_id]...
... COMPONENT component_id_2 SECTION section_id
[LENGTH length]
END LINK link_id
end for
...
END ACTRAN_TMM
where the keyword CONNECT is used to link together:
• two numerical COMPONENTs with their specified SECTION ID or;
• an analytical COMPONENT and a numerical COMPONENT with a SECTION specified

for the latter.
The numerical components that are linked together are assumed to have the same
section profile.
The LENGTH keyword can be used to represent analytically a duct with the speci-
fied length.
44.3.2 tmm component input file

A numerical component is described by an Actran model stored in an Actran
input file. These files should be placed in a specific folder.
The COMPONENT input file is similar to an Actran input but it has the following
characteristics:
• it does not contain an ACTRAN data block;
• each MODAL_BASIS data block should contain an equal number of incident

modes with AMPLITUDE 1 and reflected modes set to FREE. The incident
mode should be oriented towards the inside of the numerical component.
• Two connected modal bases of two different numerical components should

have a same number of specified modes.
• OUTPUT_FRF and OUTPUT_MAP requests should be defined.

44.4 TMM command line 617
44.4 tmm command line

The command line to launch tmm is:
actranpy -u TMM --inputfile=inputfile.dat [options]
or
actranpy -u TMM -i inputfile.dat [options]
where the main options available are listed here below.
--inputfile, -i : is followed by the path to the tmm master input file;

--executionsequence, -e : is followed by the execution sequence or a list of
execution sequences to be launched. -e can be used as a shortcut. The
available execution sequences are:
• RUN_ACTRAN,
• TMM_SOLVER and
• TMM_MATRIX.
The RUN_ACTRAN sequence launches the Actran computations related to

the different numerical components. The TMM_SOLVER sequence assembles
the transfer matrices for all the components and computes the local and
global indicators under the applied excitation. The TMM_MATRIX sequence
gives access to the transfer matrices of all components in the system. The
transfer matrices are output in two formats as shown below:

R1 I1
= T1 (44.9)
I2 R2
and

I1 I2
= T2 , (44.10)
R1 R2
where I1 , R1 are respectively the incident and reflected pressures at the inlet
section and I2 and R2 are respectively the incident and reflected pressures
at the outlet section. T1 and T2 are the two forms of transfer matrices;
--mem, -m : is followed by the total amount of memory allocated to the Actran

component computations in MB (see Section 7.3). This option is only valid
for the RUN_ACTRAN sequence;
--report : is followed by the name of the directory where tmm will store the
information files (default: report). Please refer to Section 10.2 for more
information about the information files.
If the frequency ranges in the main file and in the components are different, an
interpolation of the results within the TMM_SOLVER sequence will be performed.
44.5 tmm output files

The output results of a tmm computation are:
• the global Transmission Loss (TL) between the first component of the first
LINK (lowest ID) and the last component of the last LINK (highest ID),
defined in the master input file;
• the global Transmission Loss (TLp) between the same component, but only
accounting for the plane wave mode at the outlet;
• incident and reflected powers for each LINK specified within the input file;
• the local indicators and maps for each component are available in the files
*_out.plt and *_out.nff.
44.5.1 Remarks
• The tmm analysis is not bounded in frequency, as long as a sufficient
number of modes for insuring a non-reflecting boundary condition is
selected at each connecting section.
• The numerical component models support features that are generally sup-
ported by a standard Actran analysis. These features include: FLOW ,
ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY , INFINITE_DOMAIN , structure COMPONENT (SHELL
, BEAM , ...), etc;
• Axi-symmetric and 3D sub-components can be linked together;
• The tmm master input file is not supported by ActranVI.

Fourty Five
Exchanging Data with

Nastran for the
Computation of Modal
Frequency Responses
Contents
45.1 Accessing data in Output2 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
45.2 Export the modal damping matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
45.3 Exporting the modal reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
45.1 Accessing data in Output2 files

The modal solver implemented in Actran is directly interfaced with Nastran,
which provides powerful solutions for large-scale modal extraction of structural
and cavity models. Output2 files are binary result files created by Nastran.
They contain topological information, property values and results at nodes of
the finite element mesh. Element matrices can also be redirected by Nastran to
Output2 files.
Depending on the expected results, different modal quantities (modal displace-

ments, modal pressures, modal stresses,...) must be available in the Output2 files.
This is achieved through the definition of the appropriate Nastran commands
(DISPLACEMENT, STRESS,...) in the case control section of the modal extraction
input file. Please refer to the Nastran Quick Reference Guide for further details
about these commands.
619
620 Exchanging Data with Nastran
Actran uses efficient routines to access data in Output2 files and supports:
• access to Output2 files created with POST -1 (Patran output), POST -2

(I-deas output) and POST -4 (Msc/LmsNF output) parameters;
• transparent access to Output2 files, independently of the big/little endian

property (cross-platform portability of binary Output2 files);
• reading topological information from Output2 files, including topologies,

element connectivities (classical 3D, 2D and 1D elements), nodal coordinates,
and also rectangular, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems;
• reading nodal results (typically pressure, displacement, rotation, stress and

strain quantities), that may be spread over several Output2 files;
• reading element matrices. The supported elements are :
– 3D elastic solid and acoustic elements: CHEXA, CTETRA, CPENTA, CPYRA,;

– 2D CQUAD, CQUADR, CTRIA and CTRIAR elements;
– BEAM, BAR and ROD beam elements;
– CBUSH dampers;
– CONM2 concentrated mass elements;
– CAABSF acoustic impedance elements;
– RBE2 rigid body elements.
Caching techniques are implemented in order to optimize the reading capabilities.

The memory consumption is also optimized by selecting optimal value types for
the nodal results (for instance, modal displacements are stored as single precision
real fields). The result reading functionality further enables to select the range
of results to be imported as well as the PID domains on which results should be
imported. These capabilities give more flexibility in the way data are imported
from the Output2 files and allows for a substantial reduction of the required
memory.
Tables 45.1 and 45.2 respectively show model and result data blocks that are
automatically exported by Nastran for different values of the POST output
parameter. A successful computation of Actran requires the following data
blocks to be defined:
• either GEOM1 and BGPDT, or GPL, GPDT and CSTM : for the definition of nodes
and coordinate systems;
• GEOM2 : for the definition of the element connectivities;
• LAMA and OUGV : for the modal analysis results.

45.1 Accessing data in Output2 files 621
Datablock Datablock POST parameter

name description -1 -2 -4
GEOM1 Grid point definition X X -
BGPDT Basic grid point definition X X -
GPL Grid point list (int to ext) - - X
GPDT Grid point definition - - X
CSTM Coordinate systems - - X
GEOM2 Element connectivities X X X
KDICT Element stiffness dictionary - - X
KELM Element stiffness matrices - - X
MDICT Element mass dictionary - - X
MELM Element mass matrices - - X
Table 45.1: Some model data blocks exported by Nastran in Output2 files.
Datablock Datablock POST parameter

name description -1 -2 -4
LAMA Eigenvalue summary X X X
OUGV Eigenvectors X X X
Table 45.2: Some result data blocks exported by Nastran in Output2 files.
Remark. Depending on the running version of Nastran, it may be

required to set the POSTEXT parameter (use PARAM,POSTEXT,YES) to ensure
the export of some requested data blocks when the POST parameter is -1 or
-2.
Remark. In some circumstances, depending on the POST configuration,

the OUGV data block contains results in global coordinate system (GCS).
If this coordinate system differs from the basic coordinate system (BCS), a
numerical inconsistency is introduced in the analysis. The current release of
Actran handles rectangular, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems
for the grid point definition. It is however, possible to force Nastran to
output results in BCS by using BASIC for the OUGCORD parameter (use
PARAM, OUGCORD, BASIC) in conjunction with POST set to -1.
Remark. Depending on the running version of Nastran, the definition

of the MPT data block (material properties) may differ. To ensure a correct
reading of this data block, it is strongly advised to export the information
version of the Output2 file. This can be done by specifying the Executive
System Parameter Modification OP2NEW=1 in the Nastran statement of
the Nastran input file. The command can also be set as default in the
configuration *.lcl file coming with the Nastran installation.
Remark. The modal data can be output in a set of several Output2

files (see the Nastran "POST TOFILE SDRC" command in the Nastran
Users’s Manual). In this case, the maximum size of each Output2 file is
limited to 4GB. Furthermore, a maximum set of 30 Output2 files can be
opened by Actranİf a larger number of Output2 should be read, a spe-
cific environment variable must be set (e.g.: ACTRAN_OP2_MAXFILES=150).
Be aware that increasing the default value may decrease the computation
performances.
45.2 Exporting the modal damping matrix from Nastran
The procedure for exporting the modal stiffness matrix from Nastran in
Output4 file format is described below. Let us assume that the model descrip-
tion (bulk data entries) is stored in a specific file model_bulk.bdf. The example
below illustrates the damping pad mechanism : two shell elements, having two
different property characterizations, which in turn refer to two different material
properties.
$ This is the file model_bulk.bdf

...
CQUAD4,100,1000,...
CQUAD4,101,1001,...
...
PSHELL,1000,10001,0.001,...
PSHELL,1001,10002,0.001,...
...
MAT1,10001,2.1e11,,0.3,7850.,,,0.05
MAT2,10002,2.1e11,,0.3,7850.,,,0.03
The first step of the procedure is the modal extraction process, which is done
classically, by invoking nastran on the file model_sol103.bdf. In addition to
specifying the analysis sequence SOL103, the frequency range EIGRL for modal
extraction and directing displacement results to an Output2 file, this file includes
the bulk data entries from model_bulk.bdf.
45.2 Export the modal damping matrix 623
$ This is the file model_sol103.bdf

PROJ='model-Nastran2013.0'
ASSIGN OUTPUT2='model_sol103.op2' UNIT=12
$
SOL 103
$
CEND $
METHOD=1
SPC=2
DISPLACEMENT=ALL
$
BEGIN BULK PARAM,POST,-1
PARAM,POSTEXT,YES
$
EIGRL,1,0.,400.
$
INCLUDE 'model_bulk.bdf'
$
ENDDATA
In order to extract the modal stiffness matrix (and also the modal mass matrix),
the restart mode of Nastran is used. This implicitly assumes that the Nastran
database has not been destroyed after the first run. This is controlled by the
scr=no option on nastran command line. The restart input file model_khh.bdf
is an altered SOL111 analysis. It points to the existing database and defines
Output4 files for the modal stiffness matrix and the modal mass matrix. Note
that the DMAP ALTER stops the run once the modal stiffness and mass matrices1
have been dumped on disk. The definition of frequency targets and loading is
not necessary. Note that the PARAM,SHLDAMP,DIFF might be necessary in case of
different damping values for the bending and membrane behavior of the shell
elements. The RESVEC=NO case control avoids the computation of residual vectors.
The PARAM,SERST,SEMI parameter enables a fast restart (also in case of use of the
ACMS solver).
1 This ALTER exports the KHH matrix (stiffness matrix projected on the modal basis) and the
MHH matrix (mass matrix projected on the modal basis). The KHH matrix incorporates the K4HH
matrix, which is, in Nastran’s formalism, the structural damping matrix related to element GE
values (i.e. extracted from the MAT cards).
$ This is the file model_khh.bdf

ASSIGN OUTPUT4='khh.op4' UNIT=24 FORM=FORMATTED
ASSIGN OUTPUT4='mhh.op4' UNIT=25 FORM=FORMATTED
PROJ='model - Nastran 2013.0'
RESTART PROJECT='model-Nastran2013.0' VERSION=1 KEEP
ASSIGN MASTER='model_sol103.MASTER'
DBCLEAN VERSION=2 PROJECT='model - Nastran 2013.0'
$
SOL 111
$
COMPILE SEMFREQ
ALTER 'IF ( postext','OUTPUT2.*frl'
OUTPUT4 KHH//-3/24/// $
OUTPUT4 MHH//-3/25/// $
EXIT
ENDALTER
$
CEND
$
METHOD=1
RESVEC=NO
SPC=2 $
BEGIN BULK
$
PARAM,SHLDAMP,DIFF
PARAM,SERST,SEMI
$
ENDDATA
45.3 Exporting the modal reactions 625
45.3 Exporting the modal reactions (SPC Forces) from

Nastran
The support of kinematic excitations is based on the so-called modal reaction
method (See Section 23 for details of the method). This method requires :
• to constraint the nodes subjected to the excitation at the modal extraction

time (at least the degrees of freedom on which the excitation applies);
• to know the values of the modal reaction at these nodes.
The procedure for both constraining the nodes and exporting the modal reac-
tion values at the modal extraction time with Nastran is described below. Let
us assume that the model description (bulk data entries) is stored in a spe-
cific file model_bulk.bdf, and that the nodes 56 and 334 will be excited in the
MODAL_SOLVER sequence.
$ This is the file model_bulk.bdf

...
SOL 103
CEND
...
SUBCASE 1
...
SPCFORCES(PLOT)=ALL
SPC=2
...
...
BEGIN BULK
...
GRID,56, ,0.,1.,0.
GRID,334, ,1.,0.,0.
...
SPC,2,56,123456,0.0
SPC,2,334,123456,0.0
...
ENDDATA
In the example above, the two SPC cards (in the SUBCASE and BULK sections) are
used to constraint the nodes 56 and 334 along their 6 degrees of freedom. The
SPCFORCES card at the definition of the SUBCASE enables the export of modal
reaction from the same Output2 file where the modes values are stored. Modal
reactions can be exported only at the excitation points. For further documen-
tation about the Nastran cards mentioned above, please refer to the Nastran
documentation.
Fourty Six
Acoustic Radiation with

radact
Contents
46.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
46.2 RADACT command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
46.3 RADACT execution sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
46.4 RADACT input file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630
46.1 Introduction
The purpose of radact is to ease the generation, the computation and the post-
processing of Actran models dedicated to acoustic radiation.
A radact complete procedure is stepped as follow :
Step 1 - Pre-processing : Generation of a standard Actran input file based on a

mesh provided under the Nastran bdf file format and various parameter
provided in a simplified and dedicated input file (see Section 46.4);
Step 2 - Actran computation : The input file generated in step 1 is used as the
input file of an Actran computation;
Step 3 - Post-processing : Automatic post-processing procedures are automat-

ically applied based on the radact input file. Waterfall diagram, modes
contribution, panel contribution or element contribution are directly pro-
duced.
627
628 Acoustic Radiation with RADACT
46.2 radact command line

To launch a radact calculation procedure, type the following command line:
actranpy -u RADACT --inputfile=inputfile.dat [options]
or
actranpy -u RADACT -i inputfile.dat [options]
where the different options available are listed here below.
--inputfile, -i : is followed by the path to the radact input file;

--executionsequence, -e : is followed by the execution sequence or a list of
execution sequences to be launched. -e can be used as a shortcut. The
available execution sequences are:
• PREPROCESS;
• RUN_ACTRAN;
• POST_VI;
• POST_PLT;
• POST_WATERFALL.
Please refer to Section 46.3 for a description of the different execution

sequences used in a radact analysis.
--mem, -m : is followed by the total amount of memory allocated to Actran in

MB (see Section 7.3). This option is only valid for the RUN_ACTRAN sequence.
--scratch, -s : is followed by the name of the directory where Actran will

store its temporary files. This directory (default: scratch) is erased at the
end of the simulation if the computation is successful;
--command :is followed by the required command line for launching the compu-
tation in parallel mode (for instance, mpirun -np 2 ). The command line can
also be replaced by a script file instead of the full command line, allowing
the usage on Windows machines. For instance:
actranpy -u RADACT -i inputfile.dat -m 500 ...

--command=’D:\run\mycommand.bat’
where mycommand.bat contains:

46.3 RADACT execution sequences 629
mpiexec
-n 2
--keepscratch : allows not removing the scratch directory at the end of the
run;
--errorlevel : defines at which error level the code stops. Four error levels are
distinguished in Actran : EFFICIENCY, WARNING, CAUTION, FATAL.
EFFICIENCY is the lowest error level and FATAL is the highest one. If for
instance the --errorlevel option is followed by CAUTION, then the code
will be stopped if a CAUTION or FATAL message occurs. By default, the
code will stop when a FATAL error is encountered. It is possible to disable
the stop when a FATAL error is encountered by selecting the NONE level.
--report : is followed by the name of the directory where Actran will store
the information files (default: report). Please refer to Section 10.2 for more
information about the information files;
46.3 radact execution sequences

A radact computation is separated in several steps that can be launched inde-
pendently :
• PREPROCESS;
• RUN_ACTRAN;
• POST_VI;
• POST_PLT;
• POST_WATERFALL.
The PREPROCESS step is mandatory and must be launched in the first place.
During this step, radact generates a standard Actran input file according to
the various options defined in the radact input file.
The RUN_ACTRAN step is mandatory and must be launched in a second step.

During this step, radact computes the analysis generated in the PREPROCESS
step. All the results are stored in dedicated plt and nff databases.
The POST_VI,POST_PLT,POST_WATERFALL steps are optional and are used to post-

process the result databases generated during the RUN_ACTRAN step.
POST_VI allows the plot of color maps (pressure, intensity, ...) in ActranVI.
A result selector (Figure 46.1) can be used to access quickly advanced
Figure 46.1: RADACT Result Selector
results such as the MODE_CONTRIBUTION, the ELEMENT_CONTRIBUTION or the

PANEL_CONTRIBUTION.
POST_PLT allows the plot of frequency response functions (sound pressure level,
sound power ...) in PLTViewer.
POST_WATERFALL allows the plot of waterfall diagrams (i.e. sound pressure level
following the mode IDs and the frequency) in WATERFALLViewer.
46.4 radact input file

The radact input file uses a block syntax that is very similar to the Actran
syntax. The file includes one main data block, the RADACT block, which is a
container for all other blocks.
Three data blocks must then be defined :
• ACOUSTIC_MODEL_IMPORT
• STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT
• RUN_ACTRAN
An additional FIELD_POINT data block must also be defined when a Green Analysis
is run. This data block is optional for a direct frequency response.
46.4.1 ACOUSTIC_MODEL_IMPORT data block

The syntax of the acoustic model depends on the provided input data and desired
modeling strategy. Different strategies are available:
46.4 RADACT input file 631
• Generation of the acoustic mesh based on the provided structural model.

In such a strategy, the shrinkwrap surface will be generated inside radact
using the following sequence on demand:
– Filling of the holes present within the structure;
– Shrinkwrap on the filled surface;
– Surface mesh on the provided shrinkwrap.
The acoustic model will be handled using an EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC compo-

nent.
• Generation of the acoustic mesh based on a user provided shrinkwrap. In

this case, the acoustic model will be handled using an EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC
component.
• The acoustic mesh is provided by the user and contains surface and volume
mesh. 3 strategies for handling the free field radiation are available:
– Infinite Elements;
– Perfectly matched layers (PML);
– Adaptive Perfectly matched layers (APML).
46.4.1.1 Syntax
If the acoustic mesh is provided by the user, the syntax is the following:
BEGIN ACOUSTIC_MODEL_IMPORT
BEGIN FINITE_DOMAIN
NASTRAN mesh_file_name
PID list_of_pid
SOUND_SPEED c
FLUID_DENSITY rho
END FINITE_DOMAIN
either
BEGIN INFINITE_DOMAIN
[NASTRAN mesh_file_name]
PID list_of_pid
ORDER radial_interpolation_order
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
coordinates of the local system origin
for each dimension (3)
components of the related local axis
end for
END INFINITE_DOMAIN
or
BEGIN APML_DOMAIN
PID list_of_pid
[ELEMENTS_PER_WAVELENGTH elm_lambda]
[THICKNESS_RELATIVE_TO_WAVELENGTH thick_lambda]
[MESH_GRADATION mesh_grad]
[METHOD TETMESH or EXTRUSION]
[ADAPTIVE_FACTOR adapt_fact]
[ADAPTIVE_MIN_FREQ min_freq]
[FWH_SYMMETRY (position_i or NOSYM, (i=1,ndime))]
END APML_DOMAIN
or
BEGIN PML_DOMAIN
PID list_of_pid
NON_REFLECTING_PID list_of_pid
END PML_DOMAIN
end either
BEGIN PROJECTION_SURFACE
PID list_of_pid
GAP_TOL extrude_tolerance
PLANE_TOL relative_tolerance
[SPLITTING_METHOD NO or AUTO]
END PROJECTION_SURFACE
END ACOUSTIC_MODEL_IMPORT
where:
• The FINITE_DOMAIN sub-data block is mainly used to define the acoustic 3D

domain. The NASTRAN keyword allows the definition of the file containing
the acoustic mesh (under Nastran bdf format). The keyword PID allows
the selection for the 3D fluid domain of one or multiple PID’s (3D elements)
of the acoustic mesh. SOUND_SPEED and FLUID_DENSITY are used to define
the fluid material properties.
• The free field boundary condition is defined using either the

INFINITE_DOMAIN , the APML_DOMAIN or the PML_DOMAIN sub-data blocks.
• The INFINITE_DOMAIN sub-data block is used to define the free field bound-
ary condition based on infinite elements. The keyword PID allows the
application of infinite elements on one or multiple PID’s (surface 2D el-
ements) of the acoustic mesh. The syntax for the other parameters are
identical to the INFINITE_DOMAIN data block (Section 3.18 of Volume 2) of
a standard Actran computation. Optionally, the description of the infi-
nite elements might be contained in a specific Nastran bdf file using the
NASTRAN keyword.
• The APML_DOMAIN sub-data block is used to define the free field bound-
ary condition based on adaptive perfectly matched layers. The key-
word PID allows the application of PML elements on one or mul-
tiple PID’s (surface 2D elements) of the acoustic mesh. Option-
ally, the description of the PML might be contained in a specific
Nastran bdf file using the NASTRAN keyword. The optional key-
words ELEMENTS_PER_WAVELENGTH, THICKNESS_RELATIVE_TO_WAVELENGTH,
MESH_GRADATION, METHOD, ADAPTIVE_FACTOR, ADAPTIVE_MIN_FREQ and
FWH_SYMMETRY are identical to the APML component properties and allow to
control the adaptive mesh generation.
• The PML_DOMAIN sub-data block is used to define the free field boundary
condition based on perfectly matched layers. The keyword PID allows the
application of PML elements on one or multiple PID’s (3D elements) of
the acoustic mesh while the keyword NON_REFLECTING_PID allows specify-
ing the surface 2D elements bounding the PML domain. Optionally, the
description of the PML might be contained in a specific Nastran bdf file
using the NASTRAN keyword.
If the shrinkwrap mesh surrounding the structural object is provided by the user,
the syntax is the following:
BEGIN EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC_DOMAIN
PID list_of_pid
SOUND_SPEED c
FLUID_DENSITY rho
THICKNESS thick_value
[SYMMETRY (position_i or NOSYM , (i=1,ndime)) ]
[ELEMENTS_PER_WAVELENGTH elm_lambda]
[MESH_GRADATION mesh_grad]
//boundary component properties
[BOUNDARY_METHOD PML or IFE]
if method is IFE
[IFE_INTERP_ORDER radial_interpolation_order]
else
[PML_THICKNESS_RELATIVE_TO_WAVELENGTH thick_lambda]
[PML_METHOD TETMESH or EXTRUSION]
//adaptive options
[ADAPTIVE_FACTOR adapt_fact]
END EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC_DOMAIN
where
• The file provided supports the shrinkwrapped surface.
• Only the THICKNESS keyword is mandatory and specifies the thickness of

the exterior acoustic component to be generated.
• All other keywords are optional and are identical to the EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC
component.
If only the structural object is provided by the user, the syntax is the following:
BEGIN EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC_DOMAIN
PID list_of_pid
[BEGIN FILL_HOLES
MAX_HOLE_DIAMETER diam
FEATURE_ANGLE angle
END FILL_HOLES]
[BEGIN SHRINKWRAP
SHRINK_ELEMENT_SIZE elm_size
DISTANCE dist
END SHRINKWRAP]
[BEGIN MESH_ON_MESH
ELEMENT_SIZE elm_size
FEATURE_ANGLE angle
END MESH_ON_MESH]
SOUND_SPEED c
FLUID_DENSITY rho
THICKNESS thick_value
...
\\exterior acoustic options
...
END EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC_DOMAIN
where
• The file provided supports the structure and may contain surface or
volume elements. It is usually identical to the one provided in the
STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT.
• The presence of one of the additional sub-blocks FILL_HOLES , SHRINKWRAP

or MESH_ON_MESH activates the generation of the shrinkwrap mesh.
• Only the THICKNESS keyword is mandatory and specifies the thickness of

the exterior acoustic component to be generated.
• All other keywords are optional and are identical to the EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC
component.
One common sub-block to all methods is the following:

...
[PID list_of_pid]
GAP_TOL extrude_tolerance
PLANE_TOL relative_tolerance
[SPLITTING_METHOD NO or AUTO]
...
The PROJECTION_SURFACE sub-data block is used to define the projection param-

eters to couple the structure mesh to the acoustic domain. The keyword PID
allows the selection of one or multiple PID’s (2D elements) of the acoustic mesh.
Using an EXTERIOR_ACOUSTIC_DOMAIN, this specification becomes optional. The
optional SPLITTING_METHOD parameter set to AUTO controls the partition of the
acoustic projection surface according to the projection of the different structure
PID’s and the creation of the related COUPLING_SURFACE datablocks. This should
be activated to access the PANEL_CONTRIBUTION averaged by panel in the POST_VI
sequence.
46.4.1.2 Example
BEGIN FINITE_DOMAIN
NASTRAN acoustic.bdf
PID 1 2
SOUND_SPEED 340.
FLUID_DENSITY 1.225
END FINITE_DOMAIN
BEGIN INFINITE_DOMAIN
PID 3
ORDER 10
COORDINATE_SYSTEM
0. 0. 0.
1. 0. 0.
0. 1. 0.
0. 0. 1.
END INFINITE_DOMAIN
PID 4 5
GAP_TOL 1.e-2
PLANE_TOL 1e-2
46.4.2 STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT data block

46.4.2.1 Syntax
BEGIN STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT
NASTRAN_BC_FILE result_file_name
[NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION modal_part_file]
[PID list_of_pid]
[LOADCASE list_of_subcases or ALL]
END STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT
The keyword NASTRAN is used to define the structural mesh file used supporting
the vibration results. This mesh must be in the Nastran bdf format.
The keyword NASTRAN_BC_FILE is used to define the files containing the imported
results:
• If no NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION keyword is present radact assumes

that the NASTRAN_BC_FILE contains frequency response results at the various
frequencies.
• If a NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION keyword is present, radact assumes

that the NASTRAN_BC_FILE contains structural modes of vibration. radact
defines the boundary conditions at the different frequencies by recombining
the modes using the modal participation factors. These modal participa-
tion factors are defined in the Nastran punch file defined through the
NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION keyword.
The Nastran results file referred by the NASTRAN_BC_FILE keyword can contain
the solution of multiple subcases. All the subcases are post-processed inde-
pendently in order to provide related acoustic results. radact can also handle
multiple Output2 files if :
• the files are located in a folder ending by a .op2 extension. The folder must
be referred by the NASTRAN_BC_FILE keyword;
• all the Output2 files are related to one subcases. Multiple files containing
multiple subcases are not supported in the current syntax of radact
The keyword LOADCASE allows the selection of a particular loadcase if many are
present. By default, the first subcase found in the Nastran results files are
treated. The keyword ALL makes it possible to address all loadcases present in
the result files.
The keyword PID allows the selection of one or multiple PID’s contained in the
structure mesh file. Only the PID’s selected in the STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT data
block are used to create the acoustic boundary condition. By default, radact
uses all the PID’s present in the structure mesh file.
46.4.2.2 Example
BEGIN STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT
NASTRAN structure.bdf
NASTRAN_BC_FILE vibration_modes.op2
NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION modal_participation.pch
PID 1 3 5
END STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT
46.4.3 RUN_ACTRAN data block

46.4.3.1 Syntax
BEGIN RUN_ACTRAN
either
FREQUENCY_LIST list_of_frequencies
or
FREQUENCY_RANGE fstart fstep fend
end either
[GREEN_ANALYSIS 0 or 1]
[PANEL_CONTRIBUTION 0 or 1]
[MODE_CONTRIBUTION 0 or 1]
[SOLVER MUMPS]
[PLT_FILE plt_result_file_name]
[MAP_FILE NFF map_result_dir_name]
[FIELD_MAP_FILE fieldmesh_file_name NFF ...
... fieldmap_dir_name]
END RUN_ACTRAN
where:
• the FREQUENCY_LIST keyword is followed by a set of discrete frequencies

at which the acoustic radiation must be performed. Alternatively, the
FREQUENCY_RANGE keyword defines a set of frequencies where fstart is the
starting frequency, fend is the last frequency and fstep is a linear frequency
step;
• GREEN_ANALYSIS set to 1 (default = 0) enables the use of a Green Analysis
during the RUN_ACTRAN sequence. This particular option allows the post-
processing of the ELEMENT_CONTRIBUTION . During the POST_VI sequence,
the user has access to the contribution of each element of the coupling
surface to the SPL at the various microphones;
• the keyword PANEL_CONTRIBUTION set to 1 (default = 0) allows the post-

processing of the panel contribution. During the POST_VI and POST_PLT
sequences, the user can access to the contribution of each structure PID
(contained in the structure mesh file) to various indicators (color maps,
radiated power, sound pressure level...). The PANEL_CONTRIBUTION can also
be averaged by panel. In that case the SPLITTING_METHOD AUTO should
be used in the STRUCTURE_MODEL_IMPORT to split the coupling surfaces
according to the structure PID’s.
• the keyword MODE_CONTRIBUTION set to 1 (default = 0) allows the post-
processing of the mode contribution. During the POST_VI and POST_PLT
sequences, the user can access the contribution of each structure mode (con-
tained in the result file) to various indicators (color maps, radiated power,
sound pressure level...). Please note that this option is only available when
the structure results are provided as a collection of modes and participation
factors (the use of NASTRAN_MODAL_PARTICIPATION is required);
• the keyword PLT_FILE is used to define the name of the plt file output by
the Actran computation;
• the keyword MAP_FILE is used to define the name of the NFF results
database computed by Actran on the computational mesh;
• the keyword FIELD_MAP_FILE is used to define the name of the field mesh
(in Nastran format) and of the NFF results database computed by Actran
on the field mesh.
46.4.3.2 Example
BEGIN RUN_ACTRAN
FREQUENCY_RANGE 10 10 100
SOLVER MUMPS
PLT_FILE output.plt
MAP_FILE NFF output.nff
END RUN_ACTRAN
46.4.4 Remarks
• Further useful information on radiation analysis with Actran can be found
in:
– Section 3.7 of Volume 2 about the BC_MESH data block;
– Section 3.61 of Volume 2 about the GREEN_ANALYSIS data block;
– Section 3.18 of Volume 2 about the INFINITE_DOMAIN data block;
• Please refer to the ActranVI documentation for advanced post-processing
options in ActranVI, PLTViewer and WATERFALLViewer.
• The radact input file is currently not supported by ActranVI.
Fourty Seven
Other Utilities for Actran

Contents
47.1 plt_get utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
47.2 mapget utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
47.3 nff_get utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
47.4 plt_save rescue utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
47.5 plt_merge utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
47.6 cutget utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
47.7 get_equivfluid utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
47.8 get_freq utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
47.9 ODB2ACT utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
47.10 nas2act conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
47.11 reducecomposite utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
47.12 plt2audio utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
47.13 broadband utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678
47.14 symasym utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680
47.1 Frequency Response Functions using the plt_get util-

ity
47.1.1 Extracting frequency response functions
Individual response functions can be extracted from the actran.plt file using
the plt_get utility. Help on plt_get can be obtained by typing:
plt_get -h
641
642 Other Utilities for Actran
The program operates as follows:
plt_get -objtype objID [-NaN NaNstring]...

[-loadcase lcnb] [-frequency $fval]...
-operation resultidentifier < actran.plt > ...
output.file
where:
• objtype is the object type:
– node;
– point;
– surface;
– interface;
– mode;
– material;
– domain;
– modal_basis;
– element;
– component.
• objID: is the object ID, which is a positive integer or an alphanumeric

string beginning by a letter ("all" or 0 can also be used as special object
id, selecting all objects of a particular type). The possible alphanumeric
strings are listed on Tables 10.6 and 10.5. If objID is negative, it refers to
the objIDth object of type objtype present in the actran.plt file;
• lcnb: is the external number of the load case (when no specific load case is
selected, results are extracted for all load cases);
• operation: is the operation to be performed on the result, Re for real part,

Im for imaginary part, Am for amplitude, Ph for phase and dB for dB value
(available for pressure only);
• resultidentifier: is a string defined in Table 10.2 identifying the result

to be extracted from the file.
A list of available results in the plt file is obtained by typing:
plt_get -what < actran.plt

47.1 plt_get utility 643
Some remarks:
1. Note that velocity and acceleration results are automatically computed

from displacement results by plt_get if the plt file does not contain such
quantities.
| p(ω )|
2. dB values are computed using the formula: 20 log pre f where is the refer-
ence pressure value (2.10−5 Pa).
3. The [-operation resultidentifier] option can be repeated several times.
The output of the plt_get utility is then a printout on (n+1) columns:
• column 1: frequency;
• column 2: value at the selected node using the first operation and
result code;
• ...
• column n + 1: value at the selected node using the nth operation and
result code.
4. The plt_get output is compatible with most curve plotting program (e.g.
MATLAB, Excel or gnuplot).
5. The identifier all produces a table for all stored objects. This table is
restricted to the required results (given by successive columns of results for
all stored frequencies or time steps).
6. If more than one loadcase is present in the plt file, and no -loadcase option
is provided, the results are printed for all loadcases on (n+2) columns:
• column 1: frequency;
• column 2: loadcase external number;
• column 3: value at the selected node using the first operation and
result code;
• ...
• column n + 2: value at the selected node using the nth operation and
result code.
7. The plt files can also be post-processed with PLTViewer.
47.1.2 Examples
The following command prints the Sound Pressure Level SPL (dB) at node 25 on
the screen:
plt_get -node 25 -dB fp < actran.plt

The following command writes the acoustic pressure at node 23 in amplitude

and dB in the file pressure.out.
plt_get -node 23 -Am fp -dB fp < actran.plt...

> pressure.out
The following command writes the acoustic pressure at node 12 for load case
1001 (the part of pressure due to incident mode 1001) in amplitude and dB in the
file pressure.out:
plt_get -node 12 -loadcase 1001 -Am fp -dB fp ...

< actran.plt > pressure.out
The following command writes the mean square pressure in the material 1 in
amplitude in the file pressure.out:
plt_get -domain Acoustic1 -Am fp ...

< actran.plt > pressure.out
When multiple load-cases are present, the -loadcase command line option allows
to select the desired one. By default the first loadcase is selected (contrary to the
previous usage, where all loadcases were selected simultaneously).
Examples The following command writes the acoustic pressure at the first
frequency in amplitude and dB in the file pressure.out:
plt_get -frequency -1 -Am fp -dB fp < ACTRAN.plt >...

pressure.frf
47.2 mapget utility 645
47.2 Extracting color maps with mapget

47.2.1 Introduction
If the NFF format is the output map selected format, Actran writes maps in
a proprietary database format called NFF (Native FEMTown Format). These
database can be directly post-processed using ActranVI. If the user wants to
convert the NFF maps in another standard format, the command-line conversion
utility mapget should be used downstream of Actran. The output formats
supported by mapget include:
• MSC.Patran 2.5 Nodal results file;
• I-DEAS Universal file;
• Output2 binary format .op2 files;
• FLOW format for the creation FLOW data block;
• FLOW_PVD format for the creation of both the FLOW and the
ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY data blocks, this latest containing static pressure
and density;
• FLOW_PVT format for the creation of both the FLOW and the
ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY data blocks, this latest containing static pressure
and temperature;
• INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT format for the creation of the

INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT data block;
• VTK format.
47.2.2 mapget usage

Color maps can be extracted from the NFF database using the mapget utility
program contained in the Actran distribution. Help on mapget can be obtained
by typing:
actranpy -u mapget -h
actranpy -u mapget -i input_nff -o output...

--format=fmt [--ifreq=idx][--pressure_only] ...
[--compress_op2]
where:
• input_nff is the input data base in NFF format.
• output is the output map.
• fmt is the output format; it can be:
– “output2” or “op2” (Output2 binary format);

– “patran” or “nod” (Patran .nod format);
– “ideas” or “unv” (I-deas universal file);
– “flow” (Actran FLOW data block format);
– “flow_pvd” (Actran FLOW and Actran ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY
data block format) including pressure and density;
– “flow_pvt” (Actran FLOW and Actran ACOUSTIC_HETEROGENEITY
data block format) including pressure and temperature;
– “initial_displacement” (Actran INITIAL_DISPLACEMENT data block
format);
– “vtk” (VTK format).
• idx is the index of the frequency for which output maps must be extracted.
If not specified, output maps are extracted for all available frequencies.
• -pressure_only serves to only output the pressure field. If not specified, all
available quantities are output.
• -compress_op2 allows to compress the output of constant data over the

complete model. When performing multiple load analysis with different
frequency ranges, this option allows to reduce drastically the size of the
output file. For all cases were the solution is constant, only a value at the
first node is exported.
47.3 nff_get utility 647
47.3 Extracting Frequency Response Functions from an

NFF database using nff_get
47.3.1 Introduction
The nff_get utility allows the extraction of FRF results from an existing NFF
database and the output to a standard plt result file.
Remark. The field points can be located in finite (fluid or structure) or

infinite elements. The results for field points located in an infinite domain
are based on the results stored on the finite/infinite element interface. The
results produced by nff_get have the same accuracy as that of the results
provided directly by the Actran computation.
47.3.2 nff_get usage

Help on nff_get can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u nff_get -h
actranpy -u nff_get -i results.nff -o output.plt ...

--meshfile=field_point.dat
[--remove_ie_orders order]
[--static]
where:
• result.nff is the acoustic results database output by an Actran computa-

tion;
• field_point.dat contains the coordinates of the field points in a
FIELD_POINT data block. The FIELD_POINT keyword can be followed by
any id. The assignment to a particular PID can be performed using the
PIDS keyword.
BEGIN FIELD_POINT 1
PIDS 7
3
1 1.50 0.00 2.00
2 0.50 1.00 0.00
3 0.00 0.00 1.00
END FIELD_POINT 1
• the optional order defines the number of infinite element orders whose
contribution is set to zero for the evaluation of the pressure field in the
infinite domain.
• output.plt is results produced by nff_get under the plt file format (see
Sections 10.5 and 10.6.2); the option --static activates the mapping of
static fields present in the nff database.
47.4 plt_save rescue utility 649
47.4 plt_save rescue utility

plt_save is a rescue utility able to generate a plt file if Actran stops before
completing its solution sequence. plt_save will be able to create the plt file
from the temporary file Actran created during the simulation. The number of
frequencies restored depends on the moment where Actran has been stopped,
and on the buffer size of the computer. Help on plt_save can be obtained by
typing:
plt_save --h
plt_save -i scratch/0/plt.0.tmp -o fileout [--timeplt]
where:
• scratch/0/plt.0.tmp is the complete path to the temporary file created

during the simulation ;
• fileout is the name of the generated plt file;
• the optional timeplt option allow to interpret time domain data.

47.5 plt_merge utility

plt_merge is a utility able to merge plt files produced by Actran when the
frequency parallelism is selected or when several runs are performed to cover the
total frequency range.
The plt_merge tool is embedded within the PLTViewer module. Please refer to
the ActranVI user’s Guide for furthers information.
Help on plt_merge can be obtained by typing:
plt_merge -h or plt_merge --help
The script operates as follows:
plt_merge [--help] ...

[--title=TITLE ] ...
[--out=FILE ] ...
[--rad=FILE ]...
[--tol=TOL]
[--axisymmetricorder]
[--lc_offset_duct_mode=NUMBER]
[--force_average]
[--ids_only]
list of files to be merged
where:
• --help will show the help message;
• --title=TITLE specifies TITLE as title of the plt file (by default TITLE will
be the concatenation of all titles);
• --out=FILE specifies FILE as the filename of the output merged plt (by
default the standard output is selected);
• The option --rad=FILE allows to merge all the files having their name
matching with this radical instead of specifying a list of files;
• The option --tol=TOL allows to specify a tolerance under which frequencies

(or times) are considered equal and merged in the resulting plt file;
• The option --axisymmetricorder allows to merge plt files with different

axisymmetric orders;
47.5 plt_merge utility 651
• The option --lc_offset_duct_mode=NUMBER allows to specify the offset

to be applied on the loadcases corresponding to the different duct mode
excitations when merging plt files from different axisymmetric orders;
• The option --force_average allows to trigger averaging of duplicated

quantities because of duplicated frequencies/loadcases in different user
plt files. By default, the averaging is not activated (correct for domain
decomposition). The pressure quantity is automatically averaged. This
option is only required for additives quantities (radiated power, ...).
• The option --ids_only allows to merge results for DOMAIN , SURFACE and
INTERFACE data blocks that have the same identifier. By default, this option
is not activated.
47.5.0.1 Examples
The following command allows to merge all the files f1.plt, . . . fn.plt in the file
final.plt
plt_merge --out=final.plt f1.plt f2.plt ... fn.plt

47.6 Finding propagating duct modes with cutget

47.6.1 Main features and syntax
cutget is a utility that computes all the duct modes that are cut-on at a given
frequency. Help on its usage can be obtained by typing;
cutget -h
To compute the modes that propagate at a given frequency, type;
cutget -freq frequency -duct duct_type

[-r radius |-ir inner_radius -or outer_radius |
-hly half_length_y [ -hlz half_length_z ]]
[OPTIONS]
where:
• frequency: is the frequency that cutget uses to find all propagating modes;
• duct_type: is the type of duct, the value can be either circular, annular or
rectangular;
• radius: is the radius of a circular duct (to be used if duct_type is circular);
• inner_radius: is the inner radius of an annular duct (to be used if

duct_type is annular);
• outer_radius: is the outer radius of an annular duct (to be used if

duct_type is annular);
• half_length_y: is the half length of the duct section in the local Y direction
(to be used if duct_type is rectangular);
• half_length_z: is the half length of the duct section in the local Z direc-
tion (to be used if duct_type is rectangular, the default value is 0, which
corresponds to a 2D rectangular duct).
OPTIONS can be a combination of the following:
• -flow flow_velocity: specifies the flow velocity along the duct axis (de-
fault = 0);
47.6 cutget utility 653
• -c speed_of_sound: specifies the speed of sound of the acosutic fluid

inside the duct (default = 340);
• -gamma gamma: specifies the ratio of specific heats. In previous versions of

cutget the default value was equal to 1.4. In Actran gamma is computed
from c p (default=1004 [ J/ (kg · K )]) and cv (default=716 [ J/ (kg · K )]). This
means that the default value of gamma in Actran is set to 1004/716 =
1.402. In order to be consistent with Actran the default value of gamma
has been set to 1.402 in the current version of cutget;
• -static: indicates the provided speed_of_sound is considered as being

a static value. By default, cutget assumes the provided values are total
quantities;
• -ao axial_order: specifies the axial order of the modes, +1 or -1 (default

= -1);
• -m azimuthal_order: indicates that only the modes with a given azimuthal

order must be considered, and that the mode description will only specify
the axial and radial mode orders. The default behavior is to consider 3D
computations;
• -mi mode_intensity: indicates that modes have an intensity of

mode_intensity;
• -mid mode_intensity_dB: indicates that modes have an intensity in dB of

mode_intensity_dB;
• -mar mode_amplitude_real: indicates that modes have an amplitude

whose real part is mode_amplitude_real. This option can be used together
with -mai (see below);
• -mai mode_amplitude_imaginary: indicates that modes have an amplitude

whose imaginary part is mode_amplitude_imaginary. This option can be used
together with -mar (see above).
47.6.2 Examples
To investigate an axisymmetric configuration with m = 4, the command
cutget -flow 50 -duct annular -ir 0.1 -or 0.5...

-freq 3000 -m 4
produces
/* Duct type : annular */

/* inner radius : 0.1 */
/* outer radius : 0.5 */
/* flow : 50 */
/* c : 340 */
/* gamma : 1.4 */
/* axisymmetry : yes, azimuthal order : 4 */
/* There is a total of 7 propagating modes at */
*/ frequency = 3000 */
MODE -1 1 FREE /* cut freq. = 5.6795499e+02 */
To investigate a 3D configuration, the command:
cutget -flow 50 -duct circular -r 0.5 -freq 1000

47.6 cutget utility 655
produces:
/* Duct type : circular */

/* radius : 0.5 */
/* flow : 50 */
/* c : 340 */
/* gamma : 1.4 */
/* axisymmetry : no */
/* frequency = 1000 */
MODE -1 1 0 FREE /* cut freq. = 0.0000000e+00 */
MODE -1 1 -1 FREE /* cut freq. = 1.9666019e+02 */
To define an excitation with unit acoustic intensity for all cut-on modes, the
command:
cutget -flow 150 -duct circular -r 0.5 -freq 3000 ...

-m 4 -ao 1 -mi 1
produces:
/* Duct type : circular */

/* radius : 0.5 */
/* flow : 150 */
/* c : 340 */
/* gamma : 1.4 */
/* axisymmetry : yes, azimuthal order : 4 */
/*frequency = 3000 */
MODE 1 1 INTENSITY 1.0e+0 /* cut freq. = 5.0382397e+02 */
47.7 get_equivfluid utility 657
47.7 Retrieving equivalent material properties using

get_equivfluid
47.7.1 Introduction
Different components available in Actran are using equivalent fluid formulations.
Equivalent fluid properties such as the speed of sound and the fluid density are
computed at each frequency, depending on the micro-model. The get_equivfluid
utility allows retrieving the equivalent properties of such components.
Following components are supported for the get_equivfluid utility:
• RIGID_POROUS ;
• LUMPED_POROUS ;
• DELANY_BAZLEY_POROUS ; MIKI_POROUS ;
• VISCOTHERMAL .
Remark. Extracting equivalent properties for viscothermal fluids re-

quires the specifications of either the THICKNESS, or the RADIUS or the
THICKNESS and WIDTH parameters.
47.7.2 Launching get_equivfluid

Help on get_equivfluid can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u get_equivfluid -h
Usage: actranpy -u get_equivfluid -i input.dat
where:
• input.dat contains an Actran input file with the components and fre-
quency range of interest.
A typical example of a get_equivfluid input file is:

BEGIN ACTRAN
20.0 10 1000
BEGIN COMPONENT 2
RIGID_POROUS
POWER_EVALUATION 1
MATERIAL 2
END COMPONENT 2
BEGIN MATERIAL 2
POROUS
FLUID_DENSITY 1.225
VISCOSITY 18.2e-6
THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY 25.61e-3
CP 1004
CV 716
POROSITY 0.99
FLOW_RESISTIVITY 1e4
FLUID_BULK_MODULUS 101300
BIOT_FACTOR 1
TORTUOSITY 1
END MATERIAL 2
BEGIN OUTPUT_FRF
res.plt
END OUTPUT_FRF
END ACTRAN
where the equivalent speed of sound and fluid densities for the selected frequen-
cies will be sorted in res.plt.
47.8 get_freq utility 659
47.8 Retrieving frequencies from result files using

get_freq
get_freq is a utility able to retrieve the frequencies present in various output
files produced by Actran or external codes. This allows selecting the different
frequencies of interest for an Actran computation.
Help on get_freq can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u GET_FREQ -h
actranpy -u GET_FREQ [--help] ...

-i or --inputfiles=INPUTFILES ...
-f or --format=FORMAT ...
[--modal ]
Where:
• --help shows the help message;
• --inpufiles=INPUTFILES specifies the files containing the frequencies to

be extracted;
• --format=FORMAT specifies the format of the input files. Seven formats

are supported: ANSYS (corresponding to RST files), NFF, ACTRAN_OP2,
NASTRAN_OP2, IDEAS, PLT and NASTRAN_PUNCH.
• The option --modal allows to extract the frequencies corresponding to
modes (only available for OP2 files).
47.8.0.1 Examples
The following command allows extracting from all Nastran punch files in the
current directory the frequencies and to store these in the file freq.dat.
actranpy -u GET_FREQ -i *.pch -f NASTRAN_PUNCH > freq.dat

47.9 Importing ABAQUS Results in ACTRAN

47.9.1 Introduction
In order to use Abaqus structural results as an input of a radiation analysis
(BC_MESH ), it is required to convert the Abaqus *.odb file into Output2 file. This
is the purpose of the odb2act utility.
odb2act convert the *.odb file into a binary Actran Output2 file.
47.9.2 Compatibility Restrictions

The odb2act utility is compatible with *.odb files created with Abaqus 6.12. FFT
cannot guarantee the compatibility with other versions of *.odb files. odb2act is
not supported for aix53-power5 platform.
47.9.3 odb2act usage

Help on odb2act can be obtained by typing:
odb2act -h
Usage: odb2act -odb input.odb -bdf outmesh.bdf ...

-op2 outres.op2 [-read_sets]
where:
• input.odb contains the results and the related mesh in the Abaqus file
format;
• outmesh.bdf is the mesh extracted from input.odb;
• outres.op2 is the results extracted from input.odb in the ACTRAN_OP2 file

format (see Section 3.7 of Volume 2);
• The read_sets option allows to read the different element sets contained
within the Abaqus file.
Remark.
• odb2act is able to convert frequency results for mono-loadcase simu-

lation, modal extraction results or time domain results for using with
Actran_F.
47.9 ODB2ACT utility 661
• For modal extraction results, both translational and rotational results

are translated.
• The odb2act utility is based on version 6.12 of the Abaqus libraries.
Any *.odb file generated by a previous version of Abaqus needs to be
upgraded to the right version by using a specific command of Abaqus.
*.odb files generated by a further version of Abaqus are not sup-
ported. Please contact the FFT support team if you encounter such a
situation.
47.10 Converting a NASTRAN bulk data file into an

Actran data file
Actran allows an automatic conversion of Nastran bulk data files into Actran
input files. This can directly be performed within the graphical user interface
ActranVI, and allows to improve existing Nastran cases with Actran specific
features.
Since not all Actran concepts have clear equivalents in Nastran (and inversely),
only a limited number of Nastran cards are supported by the translator. All
unsupported data should be introduced manually later in the resulting Actran
input file.
47.10.1 How to translate a Nastran bulk data file into an

Actran data file
The conversion of a Nastran bulk data file into an Actran data file is directly
performed within ActranVI by importing an Nastran analysis as shown in
Figure 47.1. This operation automatically translates the bulk data file including
its properties, materials, boundary conditions, analysis parameters and meshes.
Figure 47.1: Import a Nastran analysis in ActranVI
This operation can also be embedded within the ActranVI API for directly
obtaining an Actran input file using the following session format:
actranvi = ActranVI()
analysis_1 = actranvi.read_analysis(file=input.bdf, type='NASTRAN')
actranvi.write_analysis(analysis=analysis_1, file=out.edat, ...
format='.edat')
Alternatively, a Nastran bulk data file can also be directly used to launch an
Actran computation:
actranpy --inputfile=input.bdf --mem=200...

--analysis=NASTRAN
47.10 nas2act conversion 663
47.10.2 Strategy of conversion

Besides a relative difference of element libraries, the syntax of Nastran bulk data
files is very different of an Actran input file. One particular difference relies in
the specification of spatially depending information. In Nastran bulk data files,
these are provided within the elements or grid cards (for instance, the orientation
vector of beams) while in Actran, these are usually specified through a FIELD .
When converting the Nastran bulk data file, Actran will automatically generate
on the fly FIELD data blocks containing the different element properties that are
not part of the topological information. These will be automatically assigned
to the different translated COMPONENT using this data. For boundary conditions,
when these are constant, the related FIELD will be suppressed and replaced by
a CONSTANT value. For particular elements, the topological information might
also be translated into a different format, depending on the type of element card.
More information on the practical translation of elements or properties can be
found in Sections 47.10.5 and 47.10.6.
47.10.3 Concatenation of properties

The performance of an Actran computation decreases when the number of
components present within an analysis becomes too important. As Nastran bulk
data file usually contain an important amount of PIDs (as different parameters
cannot be made spatially dependent in the same property), an important aspect
of the translation resides in the ability to convert those in equivalent concatenated
components.
The concatenation of properties within an Actran input file can be done either
in ActranVI or directly within the command line options. In ActranVI, this is
performed using the API command as follows:
analysis_1 = actranvi.read_analysis(file=input.bdf, type='NASTRAN')
actranvi.merge_components(analysis_1)
While running an Actran computation, this is performed using the following

command line argument:
actranpy --inputfile=actran.edat --mem=200...

--merge_components
47.10.4 Convert bulk data file created with JMAG

Electromechanical design simulation software JMAG can output electromechan-
ical load on a component in bulk data file format. The loading consists of one
DLOAD card referring to one RLOAD1 card for each loaded grid and each direction.
If the bulk data file output by JMAG is converted using the standard conversion
strategy presented above, one POINT_LOAD COMPONENT referring to a FIELD is
created for each loaded point and each direction.
The performance of an Actran computation decreases when the number of

components present within the analysis becomes too important. Another strategy
should therefore be used when dealing with bulk data file output by JMAG. When
the jmag_data option is activated, only one POINT_LOAD COMPONENT is created.
This COMPONENT refers to one FIELD containing information over all loaded grids.
The alternative strategy to convert bulk data file created with JMAG can be
activated either in ActranVI or directly within the command line options. In
ActranVI this is performed using the API command as follows:
analysis_1 = actranvi.read_analysis(file=input.bdf, type='NASTRAN', ...
jmag_data=True)
While running an Actran computation, this is performed using the following

command line argument:
actranpy --inputfile=input.bdf --mem=200...

--analysis_type=NASTRAN --jmag_data
47.10.5 Supported Nastran Element cards

This section deals with the supported element cards and their element properties.
Table 47.1 provides the list of supported element cards and their representation
in Actran, including their PID assignment. Table 47.2 provides by element type
the element property quantities that are translated (orientation vectors, ...).
NASTRAN CARD Translation to Actran

CBAR Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
the same node numbering. The PID of the Nastran
card is kept.
CBEAM Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
card is kept.
CROD Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
card is kept.

CELAS1 Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
the same node numbering. The PID is constructed
from the Nastran card entries PID, C1 and C2:
2000000 + 100 × PID + 10 × C1 + C2.
CELAS2 Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
the same node numbering. The PID is constructed
from the Nastran card entries C1 and C2: 2000000 +
10 × C1 + C2.
CBUSH Converted to an Actran element of type LIN02 with
the same node numbering if entries GA and GB are
defined . The PID of the Nastran card is kept.
CQUAD Converted to an Actran element of type QUA04 or
QUA08 depending on the number of described nodes.
The PID of the Nastran card is kept.
CQUAD4 Converted to an Actran element of type QUA04. The
PID of the Nastran card is kept.
CQUADR Converted to an Actran element of type QUA04. The
CQUAD8 Converted to an Actran element of type QUA08. The
CACINF4 Converted to an Actran element of type QUA04. The
CTRIA3 Converted to an Actran element of type TRI03. The
CTRIAR Converted to an Actran element of type TRI03. The
CTRIA6 Converted to an Actran element of type TRI06. The
CACINF3 Converted to an Actran element of type TRI03. The
CHEXA Converted to an Actran element of type HEX08 or
HEX20 depending on the number of described nodes.
CPENTA Converted to an Actran element of type PENTA6 or
PENTA15 depending on the number of described nodes.
CPYRAM Converted to an Actran element of type PYR05 or
PYR13 depending on the number of described nodes.
CTETRA Converted to an Actran element of type TET04 or
TET10 depending on the number of described nodes.

GRID Converted to Actran nodes. A 0-dimension domain
is constructed that contains all nodes not referred in
supported topological entities.
CONM2 Converted to an Actran element of type POINT. A
single domain containing all nodes is constructed. The
PID of this domain is 0.
RBE2 Converted to a set of Actran elements of type LIN02
linking GN to the GMi grid identifiers. The PID of the
domain is constructed from the Nastran entry CM:
1000000 + CM. The EID entry is not preserved.
RBE3 Converted to a set of Actran elements of type LIN02
linking REFGRID to the Gi,j grid identifiers. The PID
of the domain is constructed from the Nastran entry
CM: 1000000 + CM. The EID entry is not preserved.
Table 47.1: Topological translation of Nastran elements
NASTRAN Supported Entries

CARD
CBAR Entries X1,X2,X3 or G0 are translated into an orienta-
tion vector referred by the REFERENCE_DIRECTION key-
word through a FIELD . Entries W2A,W3A,W2B and W3B
are translated into offsets referred by the CG_OFFSET_X,
CG_OFFSET_Y, SHEAR_OFFSET_X and SHEAR_OFFSET_Y
keywords through a FIELD .
CBEAM Entries X1,X2,X3 or G0 are translated into an orienta-
tion vector referred by the REFERENCE_DIRECTION key-
word through a FIELD . Entries W2A,W3A,W2B and W3B
are translated into offsets referred by the CG_OFFSET_X,
CG_OFFSET_Y, SHEAR_OFFSET_X and SHEAR_OFFSET_Y
keywords through a FIELD .
CROD Not relevant
CELAS1 Not relevant
CELAS2 Entries K and GE are translated into a complex-
valued stiffness referred by the X_STIFFNESS,
Y_STIFFNESS, Z_STIFFNESS, X_ROTATION_STIFFNESS,
Y_ROTATION_STIFFNESS or Z_ROTATION_STIFFNESS
through a FIELD .
CBUSH Entries GA and G0 or X1,X2,X3 are translated into an
orientation vector referred by the REFERENCE_DIRECTION
keyword through a FIELD . Entry CID not supported for
integer value > 0.

CARD
CQUAD Not relevant
CQUAD4 Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
vector referred by the REFERENCE_DIRECTION keyword
through a FIELD . Entry ZOFFS is translated into an offset
referred by the OFFSET keyword through a FIELD .
CQUADR Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
CQUAD8 Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
CACINF4 Not relevant
CTRIA3 Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
CTRIAR Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
CTRIA6 Entries THETA or MCID are translated into an orientation
CACINF3 Not relevant
CHEXA Not relevant
CPENTA Not relevant
CPYRAM Not relevant
CTETRA Not relevant
GRID The entry CP referring to CORD2R, CORD2S or CORD2C is
supported for the definition of a node into a local coor-
dinate system.
CONM2 For all such entries, a POINT_MASS component is created.
The entry M is translated into the MASS keyword, entries
X1, X2 and X3 are translated into the OFFSET_DISTANCE,
while entries entries I11, I12, I13, I22, I23 and I33
are translated into the equivalent INERTIA. All these
keywords are referred to through a FIELD .

CARD
RBE2 For all such entries sharing the CM entry, a RIGID_BODY
component is created.
RBE3 For all such entries sharing the REFC entry, a
MEAN_CONSTRAIN component is created. Entries WTi
are translated into an ponderation referred by the
PONDERATION keyword through a FIELD .
Table 47.2: Field translation of Nastran elements
47.10.6 Supported Nastran Property and analysis cards

This sections deals with the supported property or material cards and control
case commands. Table 47.3 provides the list of supported material cards and
their translation in Actran. Table 47.4 provides the list of supported property
cards and their translation in Actran components. Table 47.5 provides the list
of supported boundary conditions and their translation in Actran boundary
conditions. Table 47.6 provides the list of supported control case commands and
their translation in Actran.

MAT1 The entries E, NU, RHO and GE are used to create an
Isotropic Solid Material (Young-Poisson).
MAT2 The entries G11, G22, G33 and RHO are used to create
an Orthotropic Material. SOLID_DENSITY keyword is
directly fed by these values. YOUNG_1 is set to G11 −
G12 ∗ ∗2/G22, YOUNG_2 is set to G22 − G12 ∗ ∗2/G11,
POISSON_12 is set to G12/G22 and SHEAR_12 is set
to G33. POISSON_13 and POISSON_23 are set to 0,
YOUNG_3 is set as 1000 ∗ max ( E1, E2). SHEAR_13 and
SHEAR_23 are set equal to SHEAR_12.
MAT8 The entries E1, E2, NU12, G12 and RHO are used to cre-
ate an Orthotropic Material. The YOUNG_1, YOUNG_2,
SHEAR_12, POISSON_12 and SOLID_DENSITY keywords
are directly fed by these values. POISSON_13 and
POISSON_23 are set to 0, YOUNG_3 is set as 1000 ∗
max ( E1, E2). SHEAR_13 and SHEAR_23 are fed by G1Z
and G2Z respectively, or to G12 if these values are not
provided.

MAT10 Converted to an Actran material of type FLUID.
Entries RHO and C are translated respectively as
SOUND_SPEED and FLUID_DENSITY. If BULK is specified,
this is used to compute SOUND_SPEED. Damping co-
efficient GE is translated into the imaginary part of
the SOUND_SPEED, where a 0.5 factor is introduced to
obtain equivalence.
Table 47.3: Translation of Nastran materials

PACINF The entries RIO, XP, YP, ZP are used to create an
Actran component of type INFINITE_ACOUSTIC .
PBAR A BEAM component referring a Beam Material is cre-
ated for converting this card. The values I2, I3 and
J entries are assigned to the INERTIA_XX, INERTIA_YY
and INERTIA_Z keywords of the Beam Material. A
very small value is assigned to the INERTIA_XY. Fi-
nally, the K1 and K2 entries set the SHEAR_FACTOR_X
and SHEAR_FACTOR_Y keywords of the BEAM compo-
nent.
PBEAM A BEAM component referring a Beam Material is cre-
ated for converting this card. The values I1(A),
I2(A), I12(A) and J(A) entries are assigned to the
INERTIA_XX, INERTIA_YY, INERTIA_XY and INERTIA_Z
keywords of the Beam Material. The K1 and K2 en-
tries set the SHEAR_FACTOR_X and SHEAR_FACTOR_Y key-
words of the BEAM component. Finally, the N1(A) and
N2(A) entries are used to modify the FIELD values re-
ferred by the CG_OFFSET_X and CG_OFFSET_Y keywords
of the BEAM component.
PBUSH A DISCRETE component referring to a Spring Ma-
terial is created for converting this card. The
ALLOW_RIGID_BODY option is triggered. Depending on
the CID entry, the translation of values K1 to K6 and
GE1 to GE6 occurs in the basic coordinate system (if
CID is 0) or in local system (if left blank).

PCOMP A DSHELL component referring to a Composite Solid
Material (Layers) is created for converting this card.
The MIDi, Ti and THETAi entries describe the lay-
ers. Also the "SYM" value is supported and triggers
the automatic creation of the symetrical layers. The
THICKNESS keyword of the DSHELL component is eval-
uated automatically. The Z0 is taken into account for
in the evaluation of the OFFSET of the components.
PCOMPG A DSHELL component referring to a Composite Solid
Material (Layers) is created for converting this card.
The MIDi, Ti and THETAi entries describe the layers.
Also the "SYM" value is supported and triggers the
automatic creation of the symetrical layers. Finally,
the THICKNESS keyword of the DSHELL component is
evaluated automatically.
PELAS A DISCRETE component referring to a Spring Material
is created for converting this card. Entries K and GE
are translated into a complex-valued stiffness referred
by the X_STIFFNESS, Y_STIFFNESS, Z_STIFFNESS,
X_ROTATION_STIFFNESS, Y_ROTATION_STIFFNESS or
Z_ROTATION_STIFFNESS.
PROD A BEAM component referring a Beam Material is created
for converting this card. The value of the J entry is
assigned to the INERTIA_Z keyword of the Beam Mate-
rial. Very small value are assigned to the INERTIA_XX,
INERTIA_YY and INERTIA_XY keywords.
PSHELL A DSHELL component is created for converting this
card. The MID1 entry is used for identifying the re-
ferred material and the value of the T entry is assigned
to the THICKNESS keyword of the component.
PSOLID Depending on the type of the material referred through
the MID entry, this property is converted into an
Actran component of type ACOUSTIC or SOLID .
Table 47.4: Translation of Nastran Properties

SPC1 This card is translated into a DISPLACEMENT and/or
ROTATION boundary condition. A domain of dimen-
sion 0 is created with a PID corresponding to the entry
SID. Constraint values are collected in a FIELD block.

FORCE This card is translated into a POINT_LOAD boundary
condition. A domain of dimension 0 is created with a
PID corresponding to the entry SID. Excitation values
described by the entries F, N1, N2 and N3 are collected
in a FIELD block.
MOMENT This card is translated into a POINT_MOMENT boundary
condition. A domain of dimension 0 is created with a
PID corresponding to the entry SID. Excitation values
described by the entries M, N1, N2 and N3 are collected
in a FIELD block.
DLOAD This card is translated into a LOADCASE pointing to all
RLOAD1 entries including the scale factors S.
RLOAD1 This card is translated into a combination of
POINT_MOMENT or POINT_LOAD boundary conditions. A
domain of dimension 0 is created with a PID corre-
sponding to 2000000 + SID, using the SID of the DAREA
referred by the excitation. Excitation values described
by the DAREA are collected in a FIELD block. The exci-
tation level is scaled by a TABLE created from the TC
and TD entries.
Table 47.5: Translation of Nastran boundary conditions

EIGRL Along with a SOL 103 card, this card triggers the
generation of a Modal Extraction analysis. The
FREQUENCY_RANGE and NBMODE keywords are set based
on the values of the entries V1, V2 and ND.
FREQ Along with a SOL 108 card, this card triggers the gener-
ation of a Direct Frequency Response analysis. The set
of described frequencies is directly translated within
the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block.
FREQ1 Along with a SOL 108 card, this card triggers the gener-
ation of a Direct Frequency Response analysis. Linear
frequency ranges are directly translated within the
FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block.
FREQ2 Along with a SOL 108 card, this card triggers the gen-
eration of a Direct Frequency Response analysis. Loga-
rithmic frequency ranges are directly translated within
the FREQUENCY_DOMAIN data block.
XYPUNCH This card will generate a STORAGE_NODE data block con-
taining the nodes identified by the XY output request.
Table 47.6: Translation of Nastran case control commands

47.11 reducecomposite utility 673
47.11 The reducecomposite program

47.11.1 Using the reducecomposite program
The software program reducecomposite allows for the generation of stress-strain
relations starting from the description of the composite material. This description
is given in an input file while stress-strain relations are written in an output file.
The program is run using the following command:
reducecomposite [-if inputfile.dat] ...

[-of outputfile.dat] ...
[-vref cx cy cz] ...
[-mat numat] [-extid nuext]
where
-if is followed by the input filename (default = compositeinput.dat);
-of is followed by the output filename (default = compositeoutput.dat);
-vref is followed by the directon cosines (cx, cy, cz) of the reference direction
(default = (1,0,0));
-mat is followed by the external number numat assigned to the created MATERIAL
data block (default = 1);
-extid is followed by the external number nuext assigned to the created

EXTERNAL_PROPERTIES data block (default = 1).
47.11.2 Example
reducecomposite -if mycomposite.dat -of myactran.dat ...
-vref 0.0 1.0 0.0 -mat 111 -extid 111
47.11.3 Input file

The input data are as follows:
Line 1 : NLAYR = number of layers
For each layer i (from 1 to NLAYR):

Line 1+i : Characteristics of layer i
H(i) = thickness,
ALPHA(i) = angle (in degrees),
RHO(i) = density of material,
CODE(i) = code of material model,
(PROPR(i,j), PROPI(i,j) (j = 1 to NP(i)) = material properties (real and

imaginary parts).
The number of material properties NP(i) is depending on the material model (as
identified by CODE(i)):
• CODE(i) = 0 : orthotropic material with NP(i) = 9 properties;
• CODE(i) = 1 : transverse isotropic material (fibers along axis 1) with NP(i)

= 5 properties;

= 5 properties;

= 5 properties;
• CODE(i) = 4 : isotropic material with NP(i) = 2 properties.
The material properties related to each material model are summarized below:
• Orthotropic model: E1 , E2 , E3 , ν12 , ν13 , ν23 , G12 , G13 and G23 ;
• Transverse isotropic model: EL , ET , νLT , νTT 0 and GLT ;
• Isotropic: E and ν.
For each material model, real and imaginary parts have to be specified for all
properties.
47.11 reducecomposite utility 675
47.11.4 Reference direction

Since the orientation of the reference material coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) changes
from one element to the other, a particular procedure is selected in order to
define automatically the related coordinate system. This procedure relies on
the definition of a reference direction (to be specified by the user with respect
the global coordinate system supporting the finite element model). The local
reference material coordinate system (x 0 , y0 , z0 ) in a particular element is generated
by selecting the (positive) normal direction as z0 . The x 0 and y0 directions therefore
defines a plane parallel to the local mean surface. Direction x 0 is defined as the
projection of the reference direction in this plane while y0 is computed in such a
way that one obtains a direct orthonormal system.
47.11.5 Output file

The output file contains the Actran data blocks that are requested in order to
specify the homogenized stress-strain relation. This includes the MATERIAL data
block (where the SHELL material type is specified) and the EXTERNAL_PROPERTIES
data block where the following information are specified:
• REFERENCE_DIRECTION followed by the cosine directors of the reference

direction;
• LAMINATE followed by the coefficients of the 7 x 7 matrix relating membrane,

normal and bending stresses to membrane, normal and bending strains;
• LAMINATE_SHEAR followed by the coefficients of the 4 x 4 matrix relating

zero and first order transverse shear stress and strains.
47.12 Convert frequency results to audio files using the

plt2audio utility
47.12.1 Introduction
The plt2audio utility converts an acoustic pressure response into an audio file in
the *.wav format. The input is a .plt file in the frequency or time domain.
The plt2audio tool is embedded within the PLTViewer module. Please refer to
the ActranVI user’s Guide for further information.
47.12.2 plt2audio usage

Help on plt2audio can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u plt2audio -h
actranpy -u plt2audio --inputfile=res.plt [OPTIONS]
The different options that control the generation of the audio file are:
• --inputfile=INPUTFILE: name of the .plt input file;
• --outputname=OUTPUTNAME: output audio file radical name (optional);
• --node=NODE: storage nodes to be output. Default: "all";
• --point=POINT: field points to be output. Default: "all";
• --point_id=ID: identification number of the set of field points to be output.

Default: "0";
• --loadcase=LOADCASE: loadcases to be output. Default: "all";
• --mono: if set output wave file will be mono (if not set, wave file will be
stereo, with left channel = right channel ). Default : not set;
• --what: show available fluid pressure results;
• --window=WINDOW: window function, to be multiplied with the frequency

pressure signal before applying inverse Fourier Transform (in case of plt
with a broadband response) Available choices: none, bartlett, blackman,
hamming, hanning, kaiser. Default : none;
47.12 plt2audio utility 677
• --maxlevel=MAXLEVEL: Max level in dB (used for normalization purpose,

as wave file has a limited range due to integer 16 bits quantization ). Above
maxlevel clipping will be performed. Default: 100;
• --length=LENGTH: Output wave file duration in seconds. Default: 10;
• --df=DF: Frequency resolution in Hz. Default: 1;
• --interpolation: If set interpolation between frequencies (broadband

response). If not set, no interpolation (discrete frequencies response, corre-
sponding to a tonal response). Default: not set;
• --convolution: If set, a convolution with an input wave file will be

performed between the source file (in wave format, given with option
--wavefile) and the transfer function from the plt file;
• --time: This option is for plt files containing time results;
• --concatenatelc: Concatenates the results of different available loadcases

(or RPMs) into multiple sequences of each loadcase following each other.
This method can be controlled by the following options:
– --lcdt=LCDT: This sets the duration in seconds of each loadcase. By

default, a duration of 1 second is selected;
– --numinterplc=NUMINTERPLC: Sets the number of interpolated load-
cases between 2 provided loadcases. This option is used to smoothen
the loadcase changes. By default, no interpolation is set;
– --complinterp=COMPLINTERP: This option gives the possibility to
choose an interpolation method: either AMPH for Amplitude-Phase
or RI for Real-Imaginary (default).
47.13 Compute Broadband Values

The broadband utility converts plt file(s) containing acoustic results for a set of
acoustic duct modes into a plt file containing broadband results. The broadband
results are computed based on Eq. (36.73).
47.13.2 broadband Usage

Help on broadband can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u broadband -h
actranpy -u broadband -p input.plt -o broadband.plt
or
actranpy -u broadband -i actran.edat -o broadband.plt
The different options controlling the generation of the broadband results are:
• --version shows the program’s version number;
• -h, --help shows this help message;
• -i, --inputfile=INPUTFILE Actran input file used during broadband

computations, required only if the model is 2D-axi;
• -p, --pltfile= PLTFILE plt file produced by the Actran broadband com-
putation;
• -o, --outputplt=OUTPUTPLT plt file containing the broadband results;
• -f, --factors=FACTORS file containing modal participation factors. The

factor is applied on the modal amplitude. For instance, the participation
factor of 2 leads to an increase of all PSD indicators and modal intensities
by a factor 4;
47.13 broadband utility 679
• --axi automatically add counter-rotating modes when not present. This op-
tion enables the computation of the broadband results following Eq. (36.75)
instead of Eq. (36.73).
where FACTORS is an ASCII column file providing scaling factor for the modes of
the original computation (A j in Eq. (36.61)). In the following example, the modes
1001, 1002 and 1003 are scaled for the frequencies 500Hz, 600Hz and 700Hz.
FREQU 500.0 600.0 700.0

1001 1 2 6
1002 1 10.3 2
1003 12.0 1 1
47.14 Automate Symmetric and Anti-symmetric Simula-

tions
When using a duct modes excitation (through a MODAL_BASIS component) to
predict the acoustic performance of a treated turbofan intake or bypass duct, it is
sometimes possible to take advantage of the symmetry of the problem to improve
the performance of the computational chain. In this case, only one half of the
model is meshed and the symmetric and anti-symmetric contributions of the
noise are computed separately in Actran.
The sym-asym utility can be used to automate the computational chain. At the end
of the process, the results from the symmetric and anti-symmetric computations
will be combined in order to obtain the results corresponding to the complete
problem.
Figure 47.2: Symmetric-Antisymmetric Computation
47.14.2 Computational Process

Based on an Actran model of the half of the symmetric geometry, this utility
will perform the following steps:
1. prepare and run the symmetric analysis;

47.14 symasym utility 681
2. prepare and run the anti-symmetric analysis;
3. recombine the results of the two previous analysis into full 3D results, for
both the maps (NFF) and FRF’s (plt). The results of the symmetric and the
anti-symmetric analyses are available in the "intermediate results" directory.
The recombined results on the whole 3D model are available in the working
directory.
This computational process is illustrated in Figure 47.14.3.
Figure 47.3: sym-asym computational strategy
As pre-requisite for a proper sym-asym computation, the Actran model to be

used as input must satisfy the following conditions:
• the symmetry plane should be oriented in the YZ plane;
• the mesh should be located in the half space X >= 0;
• the MULTIPLE_LOAD data block should be defined;
• if the total number of injected modes of the recombined case exceeds

1000, the specification of a higher LC_OFFSET_DUCT_MODE parameter in the
PARAMETER data block is mandatory;
• the orientation of the MODAL_BASIS should be standardized (see below);
• A zero PRESSURE boundary condition should be applied to the symmetry

plane.
The orientation of the modal basis local coordinate system [O’; X’,Y’,Z’] should
be standardized as illustrated in Figure 47.14.2 :
• O’ must be the local center of the modal basis

• The X’ axis must be the axis of propagation
• The Y’ axis must be the second axis of the symmetry plane
• The Z’ axis must be the axis normal to the symmetry plane
Figure 47.4: sym-asym Modal Basis coordinate system
During the anti-symmetric computation, the zero pressure boundary condition is

activated so that the acoustic field remains anti-symmetric.
During the symmetric computation, the pressure boundary condition is automat-

ically deactivated by the sym-asym utility. The natural boundary condition of the
acoustic finite element is then active (normal acoustic velocity is zero = perfectly
reflecting wall).
47.14.3 Recombination of the acoustic results

The pressure results corresponding to the full problem can be reconstructed
from those of the symmetric and anti-symmetric computations, as shown in
Figure 47.14.3.
Figure 47.5: sym-asym Results Recombination

47.14 symasym utility 683
The total incident, reflected, transmitted and absorbed powers are the sum of
their symmetric and anti-symmetric contribution.
For color maps, the field meshes must only be created in the computational
domain (half space). The maps are automatically output in the whole 3D space.
Both the positive and negative azimuthal order modes are available in the result
files.
47.14.4 Running the sym-asym Utility

Help on sym-asym can be obtained by typing:
actranpy -u sym_asym -h
47.14.4.1 Sequential Computation

actranpy -u sym_asym -i input.dat [OPTIONS]
where most of the available options are the same as for a standard Actran
simulation (Section 7.1).
If NUMERICAL MODAL_BASIS are used, a first modal extraction of the modes must
be activated using the utility to account for symmetry :
actranpy -u sym_asym -i input.dat -m 1000 -e extraction
Two Actran computations are launched sequentially:
• Simulation 1 for the symmetric model;
• Simulation 2 for the anti-symmetric model;
• Merge of the results.

47.14.4.2 Parallel Computation

Both symmetric and anti-symmetric computations can be parallelized indepen-
dently. The merge of the results should be done in a third step. Please refer to
Section 7.2 for additional information concerning the parallel computations.
The launch of computational chain therefore involves three command line in-
structions:
mpirun -np 2 actranpy_mp --sym -i input.dat ...

... -m 1000 --parallel=parallel_type
mpirun -np 2 actranpy_mp --asym -i input.dat ...

... -m 1000 --parallel=parallel_type
actranpy -u merge_sym_asym -i input.dat
47.14.5 Remarks
The sym-asym procedure is not compatible with a MODAL_BASIS of the type
ARBITRARY and RECTANGULAR.
Part VI
Appendix
685
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Index
693
694 Index
General Index
Actran MODAL_SOLVER, 99
Installation, 41 RUN_ACTRAN, 530
TEST, 100
Beam, 179 TEST_TRIM, 533
Broadband Noise, 499, 678 TRIM_DATABASE, 527
Execution sequences, 97, 527
CG_ILU, 65 Export Output4 files, 622
Combustion Excitations, 353 Export SPC forces in Output2 files,
Component 625
Acoustic, 153 Exterior Acoustic, 273
Beam, 180
Incompressible solids, 173 Flow, 375
Membrane, 175 Fluid output quantities, 130
Solid, 163 Forces and Moments on Constraint
Solid Shell, 166 nodes, 502
Stiffener, 186 Frequency response functions (FRF),
Thin Shell, 170 126
Viscothermal, 161
Composite material, 427 Green Analysis, 50
Compressible Flow, 52
iCFD, 537
Convected wave propagation, 375
Import of Output2 files, 619
Coupling, 510
Incident surface, 490
Coupling (Fluid/Structure), 74
Incompatible mesh, 359
Delany-Bazley Porous, 210 Infinite element, 245
DeltaFluidApproach, 523 Information files, 122
Diffuse sound field, 325 Convergence frequencies file
Direct Frequency Response, 48 (.act), 124
Discrete mass-spring, 191 Modal Extraction Files (blz-
Dissipated power, 491 pack_report), 124
Duct mode, 289, 498 Report file (.pdf), 122
Screen file (.log), 122
Element Trace file (.trace), 123
Normal orientation convention, Initial displacement, 445
149 Intensity, 486
Transverse elements, 150 Intensity in mean flow, 487
Execution Sequences Introduction for beginners, 21
DATABASE, 103
Kinematic Excitations, 349
GENERATE_BC, 528
KRYLOV, 66
LOCAL_DATA, 102
MAPPING_CONTROL, 101 Lumped Porous, 208
MODAL_COUPLING, 98
MODAL_FILTERING, 531 Maps, 125
GENERAL INDEX 695
Material Random excitations, 313, 495

Acoustic fluid, 154, 157, 161 Rayleigh surface, 243, 281, 490
Acoustic perfect gas, 158 ReducedImpedanceApproach, 513
Acoustic water, 159 Results files, 124
Beam Inertia, 181 FRF, 126
Fluid, 155 Maps, 125
Isotropic Solid, 164, 167 Output Quantities, 128
Orthotropic Solid, 164, 167 Results on modal basis, 498
Sheet, 175 Rigid Porous, 206
Stringer, 186 Running Actran, 77
Transverse Isotropic Solid, 164,
167 Sequential processing, 77
Mean square velocity, 490 Solvers, 53
Mean-square pressure, 490 CG_ILU, 65
Micromodels for porous material, KRYLOV, 66
202 Modal solvers, 71
Miki Porous, 212 MUMPS, 62
Modal extraction, 51 PARDISO, 64
Modal Frequency Response, 49 SPARSE, 61
Modal solvers, 71 Sound pressure level, 486
Modal/Physical coupling, 451 Source, 233
Multiple loads, 309 SPARSE, 61
MUMPS, 62 Stiffener, 185
Superelement, 455
NRJ, 531
TMM, 607
Output Quantities, 128 Trim components, 507
Output quantities, 485 Trim model specifications, 517
Turbulent boundary layer, 332
Parallel processing, 83, 95
PARDISO, 64 Units, 128
Pellicular Analysis, 50 Updated Modal Approach, 507
Perforated plates, 367 Utilities, 641
PerformanceReducedImpedanceApproach, Broadband, 678
514 Cutget, 652
Plot file (.plt), 127 frfsave, 649
plt_save, 649 Getequivfluid, 657
PML, 255 Getfreq, 659
Poroelastic, 200 iCFD, 537
Porous, 214 Mapget, 645
Power, 490 Nas2act, 662
Power spectral density (PSD), 495 nffget, 647
Pressure, 485 Odb2act, 660
plt2audio, 676
Radact, 627 plt_get, 641
Radiating surface, 490 plt_merge, 650
696 Index
Radact, 627
reduce_composite, 673
Sym-Asym, 680
TMM, 607
Viscothermal acoustic fluid, 409

ACTRAN KEYWORDS AND DATA BLOCKS INDEX 697
Actran keywords and data blocks index
Symbols BEM_ INTEGR, 287

2D, 547 BEM_ LIMITS, 287
BOUNDARY_ METHOD, 278
A
ACOUSTIC, 670 C
ACOUSTIC_ HETEROGENEITY, CAASOURCES, 30, 554
125, 405, 571, 618, 645, 646 CAVITY_ MODEL, 530
ACOUSTIC_ MODEL_ IMPORT, 630 CENTER, 258, 261
ACTRAN, 48, 50–52, 473, 570, 616 CFD_ DOMAIN_ IDS, 547, 572
ACTRAN_ FILE, 546, 549, 571, 572, CFD_ FIELD_ NAMES, 547, 571, 572,
577, 582 576
ACTRAN_ MODAL, 28, 33, 49, 80, CFD_ ROTATION_ DOMAIN_ IDS,
517 548, 554, 572
actran_ model.dat, 554 CFD_ ROTATION_ VELOCITY, 548,
ACTRAN_ OP2, 660 572
ACUSOLVE, 545, 570 CFD_ ROTATION_ VELOCITY REL-
ADAPTIVE_ FACTOR, 258, 277, 633 ATIVE, 548, 572
ADAPTIVE_ MIN_ FREQ, 258, 277, CG_ ILU, 30, 48, 54, 55, 65, 66, 112,
633 113, 124
ADMITTANCE, 33 CG_ OFFSET_ X, 666, 669
ALLOW_ RIGID_ BODY, 191, 669 CG_ OFFSET_ Y, 666, 669
AMPLITUDE, 615, 616 CGNS_ FINETURBO, 545, 570, 578,
ANECHOIC, 615 579
ANGULAR_ PERIODICITY, 555 CGNS_ SCTETRA, 545, 546, 570, 596
ANISOTROPIC_ POROUS, 27, 200, CGNS_ TRACE, 545, 570, 578, 579
206 CHECK_ CFD_ FILES, 30, 546
APML, 26, 27, 30, 32–34, 80, 257, 633 COMPONENT, 80, 135, 140, 150, 151,
APML_ DOMAIN, 633 162, 171, 450, 467, 518, 521,
ARBITRARY, 684 549, 571, 572, 618, 663, 664
AUTO, 636, 639 COMPOSITE_ SOLID, 166, 167, 171,
AUTO_ INTERFACE, 135, 137 443
AUTO_ ORIENT, 28, 150, 151, 186 COMPRESSIBLE_ FLOW, 52, 407
AXIS, 583 COMPUTE, 546, 571
AXIS_ DIRECTION, 555 COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_ SURFACE,
AXIS_ ORIGIN, 555 542, 546
AXISYMMETRY, 115, 502 COMPUTE LIGHTHILL_ VOLUME,
546
B COMPUTE MOHRING_ SURFACE,
BAFFLE, 242 543, 546
BC_ MESH, 27, 34, 67, 365, 639, 660 COMPUTE MOHRING_ VOLUME,
BEAM, 188, 450, 618, 669, 670 543, 546
BEAM_ INERTIA, 180 CONNECT, 616
698 Index
CONSTANT, 663 FIELD_ MAP_ FILE, 639

COUPLING_ LINE, 555 FIELD_ POINT, 630, 647
COUPLING_ SURFACE, 360, 466, FIELD_ SAVE, 125
468, 511, 516, 518, 521, 636 FILE, 614
CUT_ SOS, 579 FILL_ HOLES, 635
CUT_ VELOCITY, 580 FINITE_ DOMAIN, 633
CYLINDRICAL, 240 FIRST_ MODE_ INDEX, 530
FLOW, 125, 156, 157, 405, 407, 408,
D 570, 571, 615, 618, 645, 646
DBLNSF, 27 FLOW_ MAPPING, 572, 582
DEFAULT_ VALUE, 550, 575 FLOW_ PVD, 125
DELANY_ BAZLEY_ POROUS, 657 FLOW_ TREATMENT, 29, 572, 577,
DENSITY, 550, 575 580, 582
DIFFUSE_ FIELD, 30, 33, 67, 330 FLUENT, 544, 546, 578, 579
DIMENSION, 547, 550, 575 FLUID, 155–157, 161
DIRECTION, 131, 135 FLUID_ DENSITY, 633, 669
DISABLED_ CFD_ DOMAIN_ IDS, FORCE_ CFD_ BOUNDARY, 578
547, 572 FORCE_ ROTATION, 195
DISCRETE, 30, 189, 191, 669, 670 FRANGE, 500
DISPLACEMENT, 502, 670 FREQUENCY_ DOMAIN, 48, 49,
DISPLACEMENT_ MASS, 191 125, 515, 561, 562, 565, 671
DOF_ TO_ LINK, 195, 198 FREQUENCY_ LIST, 638
DOMAIN, 29, 135, 521, 522, 549, 577– FREQUENCY_ RANGE, 638, 671
580, 582, 651 FWH_ SYMMETRY, 33, 259, 261, 633
DSHELL, 34, 65, 149, 450, 670 FWH_ SYMMETRY_ FACTOR, 33
E G
ELEMENT, 151 GAP_ TOL, 361, 578, 582, 586
ELEMENT_ CONTRIBUTION, 630, GRAVITY, 130
638 GREEN_ ANALYSIS, 50, 80, 125, 638,
ELEMENTS_ PER_ WAVELENGTH, 639
633
ENSIGHTGOLD, 544, 570, 578, 579, H
596 HOMOGENIZATION_ OPTION,
EPSILON, 258, 261 444
EXTERIOR_ ACOUSTIC, 26, 30, 31,
275, 631, 634, 635 I
EXTERNAL_ MATRICES, 530 IDEAS, 125
EXTERNAL_ PROPERTIES, 673, 675 ILU_ LEVEL, 65, 114
EXTFACE_ SUBLEVEL, 548 IMPERVIOUS, 575
EXTRUSION, 257 IMPOSED_ MODE, 615
IMPOSED_ PRESSURE, 615
F IMPOSED_ VELOCITY, 615
FACTORIZATION_ INVOLVED_ INCIDENT_ SOURCE, 153
MASTER, 84 INCLUDE_ FILE, 92–94
FIELD, 561, 663, 664, 666–671 INCOMPRESSIBLE, 173, 174
INERTIA, 667 M
INERTIA_ XX, 669, 670 MACH_ THRESHOLD, 579, 580
INERTIA_ XY, 669, 670 MAP_ FILE, 639
INERTIA_ YY, 669, 670 MASS, 193, 667
INERTIA_ Z, 669, 670 MASTER_ NODES, 530
INFINITE_ ACOUSTIC, 669 MATERIAL, 151, 152, 155, 160, 444,
INFINITE_ DOMAIN, 30, 33, 405, 518, 520, 580, 615, 673, 675
618, 633, 639 MAX_ ITERATIONS, 407
INITIAL_ DISPLACEMENT, 126, MEAN_ CONSTRAIN, 189, 668
171, 450, 645, 646 MEAN_ DENSITY, 572
INITIAL_ ROTATION, 126, 171, 450 MEAN_ PRESSURE, 572
INPUT_ FILE, 544, 566, 569 MEAN_ SPEED_ OF_ SOUND, 572
INTEGRATION, 549 MEAN_ TEMPERATURE, 572
INTERFACE, 26, 75, 85, 135, 360, 362– MEAN_ VELOCITY, 572
364, 466, 468, 515–517, 526, MEAN_ VELOCITY_ NDIM, 572–
529, 531, 651 574
INTERMEDIATE_ OUTPUT_ NFF, MEMBRANE, 149
576, 580 MESH, 521, 522
INVERSE_ DISTANCE, 582 MESH_ FILE, 566
ISENTROPIC, 580 MESH_ FREQUENCY, 258, 277
ISOTROPIC_ SOLID, 163, 166, 171, MESH_ GRADATION, 633
443 MESH_ ON_ MESH, 635
ITERATIVE, 50, 55, 115 METHOD, 526, 549, 577, 582, 633
MICROPHONE, 489
K
MIKI_ POROUS, 67, 657
K_ FREQUENCY, 67
MKL, 64
K_ NBVECTORS, 66, 68
MODAL_ BASIS, 67, 80, 128, 135,
K_ TOLERANCE, 67
301, 307, 310, 311, 405, 499,
KRYLOV, 23, 29, 48, 54, 63, 65–68,
500, 614–616, 680, 681, 683,
112, 153, 238, 464, 503
684
L MODAL_ DAMPING, 28
LAPACK, 62 MODAL_ ELASTIC, 34
LAYER, 135 MODAL_ EXTRACTION, 51, 52
LC_ OFFSET_ DUCT_ MODE, 681 MODAL_ FILTERING, 532, 533
LENGTH, 616 MODAL_ PARTICIPATION_ OUT-
LIGHTHILL_ SURFACE, 547, 548, PUT, 28
554, 555, 561 MODAL_ RADIATION_
LIGHTHILL_ VOLUME, 547, 549, IMPEDANCE, 28
561 MODAL_ SOLVER, 50, 53, 55
LINK, 618 MODE, 583
LOADCASE, 125, 561, 562, 610, 637, MODE_ AMPLITUDE, 615
671 MODE_ CONTRIBUTION, 630, 639
LOCAL_ SYSTEM, 34 MOHRING_ SURFACE, 547, 548,
LUMPED_ MASS, 171 554, 555, 561
LUMPED_ POROUS, 67, 657 MOHRING_ VOLUME, 547, 561
700 Index
MULTI_ TIME_ DOMAIN, 561, 562, P

564 PANEL_ CONTRIBUTION, 630, 636,
MULTIPLE_ LOAD, 124, 125, 309, 639
610, 681 PARAMETER, 80, 130, 287, 309, 681
MUMPS, 48, 51, 52, 54–56, 62–67, 84, PARDISO, 48, 51, 52, 54–56, 62, 64–
93, 95, 112, 113, 118, 119, 67, 95, 112, 113, 478
478 PARTITION, 117, 515
MXITER, 65, 66 PATRAN, 125
PELLICULAR_ ANALYSIS, 50, 80,
125, 473, 478
N PELLICULAR_ MODE, 478, 479
NASTRAN, 633, 637 PENALTY, 362
NASTRAN_ BC_ FILE, 637 PERFECT_ GAS, 155–157, 580
NASTRAN_ MODAL_ PARTICIPA- PERFORATION, 26
TION, 637, 639 PERIOD, 583
NBMODE, 671 PERIODICITY, 583
NFF, 125, 570, 596 PHASE_ ORDER, 365
NO_ REGULARIZATION, 574 PHASE_ SHIFT, 365
NON_ REFLECTING_ PID, 633 PID, 633, 636, 638
NORMAL, 584 PIDS, 647
NORMAL_ ROTATION_ STIFF- PLANE, 241, 242
NESS, 363 PLANE_ SYMMETRY, 584
NORMAL_ STIFFNESS, 363 PLANE_ TOL, 361, 578, 579, 582, 586
NORMALIZED_ DFT, 562 PLT_ FILE, 639
NUMBER_ OF_ MODES, 530 PML, 27, 30, 80, 256
NUMERICAL, 30, 683 PML_ DOMAIN, 633
POINT, 584
POINT_ 1, 584
O
POINT_ 2, 584
OFFSET, 171, 667, 670
POINT_ 3, 584
OFFSET_ DISTANCE, 193, 194, 667
POINT_ INTERFACE, 360, 467
OFFSET_ RELATIVE, 171 POINT_ LOAD, 561, 664, 671
OP2, 125 POINT_ MASS, 189, 193, 667
OPEN_ FWH, 263 POINT_ MOMENT, 671
OPENFOAM, 544, 570, 578, 579, 596 POINT_ REF, 180
OPTION, 140, 310 POISSON_ 12, 668
ORDER, 555 POISSON_ 13, 668
ORTHOTROPIC_ SOLID, 163, 166, POISSON_ 23, 668
171, 443 PONDERATION, 668
OUTPUT_ FILE, 546, 571 POROUS, 200, 206, 208, 210, 212
OUTPUT_ FRF, 126–128, 130, 142, POROUS_ UP, 27, 67
616 POWER_ EVALUATION, 138, 139,
OUTPUT_ MAP, 125, 616 141, 154, 161, 163, 166, 171,
OUTPUT_ REQUEST, 30, 131 175, 180, 186, 191, 200, 206,
OVERLAP, 562 208, 210, 212, 260, 262, 478,
509, 520 rpm_ value, 555

PRESSURE, 33, 550, 575, 681
PRESSURE_ SURFACE, 546–548, 550, S
575 SAMPLING, 549
PRINT_ ITER, 30 SAVE, 125, 142, 450
PROJECTION_ SURFACE, 636 SCALAPACK, 63
PSD_ FILENAME, 128, 130 SCALE_ FACTOR, 562
SECTION, 614
R
SHEAR_ 12, 668
R10, 186
SHEAR_ 13, 668
RADACT, 630
SHEAR_ 23, 668
RADIATING_ SURFACE, 28
SHEAR_ FACTOR_ X, 669
RADIUS, 161, 657
SHEAR_ FACTOR_ Y, 669
RAYLEIGH_ SURFACE, 98, 103
SHEAR_ OFFSET_ X, 666
REACTION, 139, 140, 502
SHEAR_ OFFSET_ Y, 666
RECONSTRUCT_ GRADIENT, 582
SHEET, 175
RECTANGULAR, 684
SHELL, 65, 450, 618, 675
REDUCTION_ CAVITY, 516
REDUCTION_ STRUCTURE, 516 SHRINKWRAP, 635
REF_ DB, 30 SKIP_ MODAL_ PROJECTION, 531
REFERENCE, 50, 55, 115 SMOOTH, 579, 582
REFERENCE_ DIRECTION, 27, 166, SOLID, 27, 65, 670
171, 180, 191, 666, 667 SOLID_ DENSITY, 668
REFERENCE_ DIRECTION_ 1, 163 SOLVER, 28, 30, 48, 51–54, 56, 84,
REFERENCE_ DIRECTION_ 2, 163 107, 478
REFERENCE_ PRESSURE, 550, 575 SOUND_ SPEED, 633, 669
REFLECTION, 615 SOURCE, 239–243
REGULARIZE, 574, 577 SPARSE, 48, 51, 52, 54–56, 61–63, 66,
REGULARIZE_ BOUNDARY_ 67, 95, 112, 113, 118, 119,
LAYER, 578 478
REGULARIZE_ BOUNDARY_ SPHERICAL, 239, 240
LAYER_ ALLOW_ PENE- SPLITTING_ METHOD, 636, 639
TRATE, 578 SPRING, 190, 191
REGULARIZE_ ISENTROPIC, 578 STAGGERED, 65, 112
REGULARIZE_ UNMAPPED, 577 STAGGERED_ SOLVER, 29, 34, 48,
RELATIVE, 469 55, 71
RIGID_ BODY, 189, 668 STANDARD, 574
RIGID_ PERFORATED_ SHELL, 26 STARCCM+, 544, 546, 569, 578, 579,
RIGID_ POROUS, 27, 67, 657 596
ROTATION, 365, 502, 670 STARCD, 544, 569, 578, 579
ROTATION_ MASS, 191, 196, 197 STIFFENER, 186
ROTATION_ SPEED, 554, 555 STORAGE_ NODE, 34, 502, 671
ROTOR_ FREQUENCIES, 555 STRINGER, 186
rotor_ region1, 554 STRONG, 49, 55, 115
rotor_ region2, 554 STRUCTURE_ MODEL, 530
702 Index
STRUCTURE_ MODEL_ IMPORT, V

630, 638, 639 VELOCITY, 407
SUPERELEMENT_ DMIGOP2, 467 VELOCITY_ POTENTIAL, 407
SURFACE, 135, 243 VISCOTHERMAL, 27, 30, 657
SYMMETRY, 278
W
T WATER, 155, 159
TABLE, 30, 33, 671 WEAK, 49, 55, 115
TANGENT1_ ROTATION_ STIFF- WIDTH, 161, 657
NESS, 363 WINDOW, 562, 596
TANGENT1_ STIFFNESS, 363
X
TANGENT2_ ROTATION_ STIFF-
X_ ROTATION_ STIFFNESS, 666,
NESS, 363
670
TANGENT2_ STIFFNESS, 363
X_ STIFFNESS, 666, 670
TANGENT_ STIFFNESS, 363
TECHNIQUE, 579 Y
TECPLOT, 570 Y_ ROTATION_ STIFFNESS, 666,
TEMPERATURE, 550, 575 670
TENSION, 171, 450 Y_ STIFFNESS, 666, 670
THICKNESS, 161, 162, 171, 278, 547, YOUNG_ 1, 668
634, 635, 657, 670 YOUNG_ 2, 668
THICKNESS_ RELATIVE_ TO_ YOUNG_ 3, 668
WAVELENGTH, 633
TIME_ DOMAIN, 26, 49, 481, 546, Z
561, 562 Z_ ROTATION_ STIFFNESS, 666,
TIME_ INTEGRATION, 26 670
TITLE, 650 Z_ STIFFNESS, 666, 670
TOLERANCE, 65, 66, 407
TOLERANCE_ LIST, 575, 577–579,
582
TOPOLOGY, 518, 521, 522
TORSION_ MASS, 196
TORSION_ STIFFNESS, 196
TOTAL_ TEMPERATURE_ TOLER-
ANCE, 578
TRANSFER_ ADMITTANCE, 364
TRANSFORMATION, 365
TRANSVERSE_ ISOTROPIC_
SOLID, 163, 166, 171, 443
TRIM_ FILE, 517, 526
TURBULENT, 67
U
UNV, 570
USE_ EXTRACTED_ MODES, 80
Free Field Technologies is focused on three
main areas:
- Developing Actran software for acoustic,
aero-acoustic and vibro-acoustic simulation;
- Providing technical services to support, train
and deliver acoustic engineering projects;
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of acoustic analysis in order to remain the
leader in finite element acoustic modeling.
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Actran 15 User’s Guide

Volume 1 Installation, Operations, Theory and Utilities

Free Field Technologies SA

September 25, 2014

Disclaimer and Notices

User Documentation: Copyright

This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of this documentation, in whole

The ActranTM software may be accompanied by or contain certain third party

2 Introduction to Actran Release 15 25

2.2 Major new features of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.3 Major bug fixes of Release 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

3 Documentation and Support 35

3.1 Overview of the documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.2 How to get support on FFT products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.1 Supported platforms and FFT’s Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.2 Online download of Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.3 Setting Up Actran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.4 Setting up the Actran licensing server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

4.5 Advanced - Parallel version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5 Actran Calculation Procedures 47

5.2 Direct frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5.3 Time response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

5.4 Modal frequency response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

5.5 Green analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

5.6 Pellicular analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

5.7 Modal extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

5.8 Compressible flow analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

6.2 Algebraic solvers for a direct frequency response . . . . . . . . . . 56

6.3 Algebraic solvers for a modal frequency response . . . . . . . . . 71

7.1 Running a sequential job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.2 Running a parallel job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

7.3 Memory allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

7.4 Process Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

8 Execution Sequences for Modal Response 97

8.2 MODAL_COUPLING execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

8.3 MODAL_SOLVER execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.4 TEST execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5 MAPPING_CONTROL execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.6 LOCAL_DATA execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.7 DATABASE execution sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

9 High-Performance Computing 105

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

9.2 Model preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.3 Using the right computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

9.4 An overview of Actran solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

9.5 Model partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

10 Files Produced by Actran 121

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

10.2 Information files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

10.3 Results files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

10.4 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

10.5 Frequency response functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

10.6 Actran units and output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

10.7 Global indicator on domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

10.8 Maps output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

III Actran Theory 143

11 Acoustic and Elastic Elements 145

11.1 Finite element topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

11.2 Convention on normal orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

11.3 Transverse elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

11.4 2D, 3D and axisymmetric problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

11.5 Component and material definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

11.6 Finite elements for acoustic fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153