In the paper the author has described the visualization methods in acoustic flow fields and show how these methods may assist scientists to gain understanding of complex acoustic energy flow in real-life field. A graphical method will be presented to determine the real acoustic wave distribution in the flow field. Visualization of research results, which is unavailable by conventional acoustics metrology, may be shown in the form of intensity streamlines in space, as a shape of floating acoustic wave and intensity isosurface in three-dimensional space. In traditional acoustic metrology, the analysis of acoustic fields concerns only the distribution of pressure levels (scalar variable), however in a real acoustic field both the scalar (acoustic pressure) and vector (the acoustic particle velocity) effects are closely related. Only when the acoustic field is described by both the potential and kinetic energies, we may understand the mechanisms of propagation, diffraction and scattering of acoustic waves on obstacles, as a form of energy image. This attribute of intensity method can also validate the results of CFD/CAA numerical modeling which is very important in any industry acoustic investigations.
Flow fields could be of great interest in the study of sound propagation in aeroengines. For ducts with rigid boundaries, the fluid-resonant category may contribute significantly to unwanted noise. An understanding of the multi-modal propagation of acoustic waves in ducts is of practical interest for use in the control of noise in, for example, aero-engines, automotive exhaust and heating or ventilation systems. The purpose of our experiments was to test the acoustic energy transmission of duct modes based on studies carried out by the sound intensity technique. Sound intensity patterns in circular duct are discussed of modal energy analysis with particular reference to proper orthogonal decomposition and dynamic mode decomposition. The authors try to justify some advantages of the sound intensity experimental research in this area. In the paper, the wide-band sound signal propagated from source approximated with loudspeaker in hard-walled duct is imaged using a sound intensity - based approach. For a simple duct geometry, the sound intensity field is examined visually and by performing a modal decomposition greater insight into the acoustic structures is obtained. The image of sound intensity fields below and above “cut-off” frequency region are found to compare acoustic modes which might resonate in duct.