Learning acoustics through the boundary element method: an inexpensive graphical interface and associated tutorials

Abstract

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is a powerful tool which has become an important and useful numerical technique applied to problems in acoustics. It is particularly useful for analysing sound radiation and acoustic scattering problems. Numerous commercial BEM codes with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and mesh generators exist; however these are relatively expensive, which discourages their use by academic institutions and smaller companies. Helm3D is a three-dimensional BEM code available with purchase of a relatively inexpensive book, but the command file driven interface is difficult to learn and some mechanism to generate the mesh is required. In addition, there is a limited availability of suitable tutorial material, so the uptake of BEM throughout the acoustics community has so far been limited. In this paper, the development of both a mesh generator / GUI interface for the Helm3D code and an associated tutorial are described. The interface links the Helm3D code to a freely available numerical simulation pre/post processor. The tutorial demonstrates the capability of BEM in two application areas: interior acoustics and external acoustic radiation. It is envisaged that the availability of the interface and tutorial will accelerate the uptake of BEM by the wider acoustics community.