Energy Flux Streamlines versus Acoustic Rays for Modeling Interaction with Rigid Boundaries: Near Field of Sound from a Circular Loudspeaker

Sound emitted by a circular loudspeaker can be treated as equivalent to a plane wave diffracted by a circular aperture in a rigid, sound absorbing screen. Axial symmetry leads one to expect constructive interference along the symmetry axis in the near field (the Poisson-Arago spot). An energy flux streamline model was developed to help visualize this and other features of the near sound field. The model is used to draw out similarities and differences between energy flux streamlines and acoustic rays, particularly in the transition to the far field.