Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263

www.elsevier.com/locate/compfluid

Computational study of an incident shock wave

into a Helmholtz resonator
Y.-H. Kweon a, T. Aoki a, Y. Miyazato a, H.-D. Kim b,*
, T. Setoguchi c

a
Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Kyushu University, 6-1, Kasuga kouen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
b
School of Mechanical Engineering, Andong National University, 388, Songchun-dong, Andong 760-749, Republic of Korea
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saga University, 1, Honjo, Saga 840-8502, Japan

Received 14 July 2004; received in revised form 30 May 2005; accepted 10 September 2005
Available online 23 November 2005

Abstract

The behavior of an incident shock wave into a Helmholtz resonator is very important from the acoustical point of view as well as
the fundamental researches of shock wave dynamics. When a shock wave propagates into a Helmholtz resonator, complicated wave
phenomena are formed both inside and outside the resonator. Shock wave reflections, shock wave focusing phenomena, and shock–
vortex interactions cause strong pressure fluctuations inside the resonator, consequently leading to powerful sound emission. The
wave phenomena inside the resonator are influenced by detailed configuration of the resonator. It is well known that the gas inside
the resonator strongly oscillates at a resonance frequency, as the incident wavelength is larger, compared with the geometrical length
scale of the resonator, but there are only a few works regarding a shock wave that has an extremely short wavelength. Meanwhile,
the discharge process of the incident shock wave from the resonator is another interest with regard to an impulse wave generation
that is a source of serious noise and vibration problems of the resonator. In the present study, the wave phenomena inside and out-
side the Helmholtz resonator are, in detail, investigated with a help of a computational fluid dynamics method. The incident shock
Mach number is varied below 2.0, and many different types of the resonators are explored to investigate the influence of the reso-
nator geometry on the wave phenomena. A total variation diminishing (TVD) scheme is employed to solve two-dimensional,
unsteady, compressible Euler equations. The computational results are compared with existing experimental data to ensure that
the present computations are valid to predict the resonator wave phenomena. Based upon the results obtained, the shock wave
focusing and discharge processes, which are important in determining the resonator flow characteristics, are discussed in detail.
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction In general, Helmholtz resonator consists of a body to

In 1860, Helmholtz [1] first established the mathemat-
ical formula to explain the wave phenomenon inside a
resonator. His theory was strictly applicable only to a
resonator, which has a circular opening in the resonator
wall, without having a neck. After that, Rayleigh [2,3]
suggested a more simplified theory than the Helmholtz
work.
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 54 820 5622; fax: +82 54 823
5495/1630.
E-mail address: kimhd@andong.ac.kr (H.-D. Kim).
contain gas and a hole or a neck, and it has long been
utilized as an effective acoustic attenuation device at
the low frequencies, which are the resonance dictated
by the combination of cavity and neck, and their relative
orientation. The characteristic frequency of the Helm-
holtz resonator corresponds to the sound wave of the
wavelength which greatly exceeds the size of the resona-
tor, and is governed by its volume and the mass of the
fluid [4,5]. When the acoustic wavelength notably
exceeds the resonatorÕs dimension, the gas in and near
the neck moves compressing and expanding the gas vol-
ume, and the vibration system, which is similar to a

0045-7930/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compfluid.2005.09.001
 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263
Nomenclature
a speed of sound, eigenvalue of flux Jacobian
matrix
C acoustic compliance
D diameter of resonator
e total energy per unit volume
fr resonance frequency of resonator
F numerical flux in the x direction
g limiter function
G flux vectors in the y direction
H neck height of resonator
L differential operator, neck length of resonator
M acoustic mass
Ms Mach number of incident shock wave
p static pressure
R right eigenvector of the flux Jacobian, radius
of Helmholtz resonator
t time
Tr resonance period
u velocity component in the x direction
U vector of conservation variables
v velocity component in the y direction
V volume of resonator
W flux vectors on the symmetric axis, neck
width of resonator
spring-mass system is formed inside the resonator. Con-
sequently, the mass of the gas oscillates both back and
forth in the neck, and inside the resonator with a reso-
nance frequency.
Until now, a great deal of experimental and theoreti-
cal researches has been carried out to investigate the
acoustic characteristics of the Helmholtz resonator. Cha-
naud [6] investigated the effects of geometry on the reso-
nator frequency of Helmholtz resonators with a cavity
that is a rectangular parallel-piped and bounded by
either a circular, rectangular, and cross-shaped orifice,
and developed mathematical formulae for the internal
and external ‘‘end corrections’’ of Helmholtz resonator.
He also developed theoretical equations for the internal
end correction of a resonator with a cylindrical cavity [7].
Selamet and Lee [8] investigated theoretically and
experimentally the acoustic performance of a concentric
circular Helmholtz resonator with an extended neck,
and showed that the resonance frequency can be con-
trolled by the length, shape, and perforation porosity
of the extended neck without changing the cavity.
For the engineering applications of Helmholtz reso-
nator, it is known that a periodic array of Helmholtz
resonator is very effective to annihilate a shock wave
in propagation of nonlinear acoustic waves in an air-
filled tube. Recently, Sugimoto et al. [9] examined exper-
1253
x longitudinal distance in Cartesian co-ordi-
nate
y transverse distance in Cartesian co-ordinate
c ratio of specific heats
q density
Dt time interval
Dx grid space in the x direction
w entropy correction function
Sub/superscripts
1 atmosphere state
2 state behind the incident shock wave
0
non-dimensional quantity
d discharge
f focus
geo geometrical focus
gas gas dynamic focus
h incident shock wave propagated into a reso-
nator
i space node in the x direction
j space node in the y direction
max maximum peak value
n time step
imentally the effects of a periodic array of Helmholtz
resonators on forced longitudinal oscillations of an air
column in a closed tube. According to the results of their
experiments, the array reduces the resonance frequency
and the peak value, while its dispersive effect (i.e., the
dependence of sound speed on frequency) can effectively
annihilate the shock wave. They also developed the non-
linear cubic theory to obtain a frequency response of
shock-free, forced oscillations of an air column in a
closed tube with an array of Helmholtz resonators [10].
Moreover, the Helmholtz resonator is being employed
as a means of noise control strategy, the wave phenom-
ena generated in high-speed railway train, automobile
and aerospace technologies, MEMS (micro-electro-
mechanical systems) technologies, etc. In the high-speed
railway train/tunnel systems, the Helmholtz resonator
has been employed as the noise control means of the
impulse noise which is generated by the discharge of a
compression wave from the tunnel exit [11].
Vardy and Brown [12] investigated theoretically the
influence of air pockets in ballast track that is linked
to a series of Helmholtz resonators. Nagaya et al. [13]
investigated a new type of silencer to reduce the high-
frequency noise generated in a blower, and suggested
a two-stage Helmholtz resonator with automatically
tuning control.
1254 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263

With regard to the development of high-impulse where

momentum sources for application to micro-propulsion 2 3 2 3
q qu
and flow control, such as micro-electro-mechanical sys- 6 qu 7 6 qu2 þ p 7
tems (MEMS) fabrication technique, the resonator is U ¼6 7 6
4 qv 5; F ¼ 4 quv 5;
7
applied at the walls inside the nozzle, leading to a better
thrust performance [14]. Yoda and Konishi [15] have e ðe þ pÞu
2 3 2 3
improved the Helmholtz resonator performance by qv qv
6 quv 7 16 7
modifying the geometrical parameters to obtain effective G¼6 7 6 quv 7
noise reduction. They also tried to develop a compact 4 qv2 þ p 5; W ¼ y 4 qv2 5;
and adaptive passive noise control system for the ðe þ pÞv ðe þ pÞv
MEMS technologies, and suggested the noise control
and x is the longitudinal distance, y is the transverse dis-
system, being effective to control the acoustics in a duct.
tance, q is the density and u and v are the velocity com-
Unfortunately, most of these works associated with the
ponents for the x and y directions, respectively. The
Helmholtz resonator are mainly limited to sound waves or
total energy e per unit volume of the gas is expressed
compression waves, which have a comparatively long
as e = p/(c  1) + q(u2 + v2)/2.
wavelength. There are only a few works with regard to
In computations, Eq. (1) is rewritten in non-dimen-
shock waves, in which, the Helmholtz resonator gas
sional form by referring the quantities to atmospheric
dynamics can be different from that of the sound waves.
conditions, as follows:
In case that a shock wave propagates into the Helmholtz
p q
resonator, the wave characteristics are influenced by very p0 ¼ ; q0 ¼ ;
complicated shock wave dynamics, such as shock wave p1 q1
reflection and discharge [16–22], shock wave focusing u v t x y
u ¼ pffiffiffi ; v ¼ pffiffiffi ; t0 ¼
0 0
pffiffiffi ; x0 ¼ ; y 0 ¼ ;
[23,24], shock–vortex interaction [25], etc. At present, a1 c a1 c ðD=a1 Þ c D D
the associated wave phenomena are not known well. ð2Þ
Very recently, Matsuura et al. [26] carried out exper-
where the subscript 1 indicates the atmospheric condi-
imental work to investigate the behavior of a shock
tion, D the diameter of Helmholtz resonator and a the
wave propagating into a Helmholtz resonator. Their
speed of sound. If the symbol ( 0 ), indicating the non-
research was limited to a shock wave with a specific
dimensional quantities, is omitted for the sake of sim-
Mach number. Further study is needed to understand
plicity, then the equation system is exactly equivalent
the wave characteristics of the shock wave into a Helm-
to Eq. (1). For the present computational analysis, the
holtz resonator.
total variation diminishing (TVD) scheme is applied to
The objective of the current work is numerically to
solve the governing equations.
investigate the propagation characteristics of a shock
wave into a Helmholtz resonator in detail. Computa-
2.2. Numerical scheme
tions were carried out to solve the unsteady, two-dimen-
sional, compressible, Euler equations. The total
The TVD scheme has been known to be very effective
variation diminishing (TVD) scheme of Yee–Roe–Davis
for computing the phenomena of shock waves without
[27] was used to discretize the governing equations. For
presenting the spurious oscillations, which were often
several configurations of the Helmholtz resonator, the
encountered in the presence of strong discontinuities in
Mach number of the incident shock wave is varied in
conventional second-order schemes. The concept of
the range from 1.1 to 2.0. The results obtained from
the TVD scheme was first introduced by Harten [28],
the present computations are validated with the previ-
and has its origin in an important property of a scalar
ous experimental ones [23,26].
conservation law ut + fx = 0: the total variation (TV)
of any physically admissible solution
Z  
2. Computational analysis ou
TV ¼  dx;
ox
2.1. Governing equations does not increase in time. The total variation in x (TVD)
of a discrete solution to a scalar conservation law is
In order to analyze the wave phenomena generated in defined by
the Helmholtz resonator, two-dimensional, unsteady, X
compressible, Euler equations are used in the present TVðuÞ ¼ ðuiþ1  ui Þ. ð3Þ
i
study. The governing conservation equations are given by,
A numerical solution is considered as a bounded total
oU oF oG variation or a total variation if the total variation is
þ þ þ W ¼ 0; ð1Þ
ot ox oy uniformly bounded in t and Dx.
 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263 1255

Harten [28] proposed the total variation diminishing The function W(ai+1/2), called an entropy correction
condition as a monotonicity condition to be satisfied by function, is defined as,
TVðunþ1 Þ 6 TVðun Þ. ð4Þ (
jaiþ1=2 j if jaiþ1=2 j P e;
A scheme satisfying the above condition is called a TVD Wðaiþ1=2 Þ ¼ ð12Þ
ða2iþ1=2 þ e2 Þ=ð2eÞ if jaiþ1=2 j < e;
scheme.
For the present computational analysis, the Yee–
where e is a small positive number. This function cor-
Roe–Davis total variation diminishing (TVD) scheme
rects the entropy to prevent it from violating solutions,
[27], as will be described later, is applied to discretize
such as expansion shock waves.
the governing equations. For computation of the time-
dependent flows, an operator splitting technique, which
2.3. Computational domain and boundary conditions
was suggested by Sod [29], is employed for temporal and
spatial derivatives. Then Eq. (1) can be given by a set of
Fig. 1 shows the schematic description of the compu-
one-dimensional equations:
tational domain, boundary conditions and initial condi-
oU oF tions applied to the present computations. The
Lx : þ ¼ 0;
ot ox computational domain consists of the regions inside
oU oG and outside the Helmholtz resonator. The upstream
Ly : þ ¼ 0; ð5Þ domain of the resonator is extended up to 3D from
ot oy
the inlet of the resonator neck, where D and H mean
oU the resonator diameter and the neck height of the reso-
Lw : þ W ¼ 0;
ot nator, respectively. The computation was carried out
nþ2 only in the half domain of the resonator because the
U i;j ¼ Lw Lx Ly Ly Lx Lw U nn;j ; ð6Þ
flow field is assumed to be axisymmetric.
Dt b n n An incident shock wave with Mach number Ms is ini-
Lx U ni;j ¼ U i;j
nþ1
¼ U nj;j  ðF  Fb i1=2 Þ; ð7Þ
Dx iþ1=2 tially located at x/D = 0.5 away from the inlet of the
where subscripts i, j and superscript n indicate the space resonator neck, and at the instant of the start of compu-
nodes and time step, respectively, and Lx and Ly the dif- tation, it is assumed to propagate into the resonator. As
ferential operators for the x and y directions, respec- shown in Fig. 1(b), p1 and p2 indicate the atmospheric
tively. In Eq. (7), Dt and Dx indicate the time interval
and the grid space in the x direction, respectively, and
Fb denotes the numerical flux in the x direction, which
is expressed as, L D
2
n
D= 2R

Fb iþ1=2 ¼ 12ðF ni þ F niþ1 þ Rniþ1=2  Uniþ1=2 Þ;

H =D

ð8Þ
H

where Rniþ1=2 is a matrix whose column vectors are the

right eigenvectors of the flux Jacobian oF/oU, evaluated
with a symmetric average of Ui,j and Ui+1,j. The last term
Rniþ1=2  Uniþ1=2 represents the anti-diffusive flux contribu-
(Helmholtz resonator) (Half circular reflector)
tion that corrects the excessive dissipation of first-order
numerical flux in a non-linear way. The numerical flux (a) Helmholtz resonator and half circular reflector
bn
G in the y direction can be similarly expressed.
jþ1=2
For the Yee–Roe–Davis second-order TVD scheme, y /D
the vector Uniþ1=2 is given as, Slip-wall conditions
 
Dt 2
Uiþ1=2 ¼  ðaiþ1=2 Þ giþ1=2 þ Wðaiþ1=2 Þðaiþ1=2  giþ1=2 Þ ; Inflow/outflow
Dx
conditions
ð9Þ

where ai+1/2 is the eigenvalue of the Jacobian matrix, -3 0 x/D

ai+1/2 is the spatial difference of local characteristic vari- Incident Symmetric conditions
p2 shock wave
ables, and gi+1/2 is the limiter function. ai+1/2 and gi+1/2 p1
are defined respectively, as follows: Initial conditions
 
aiþ1=2 ¼ R1iþ1=2 U iþ1;j  U i;j ; ð10Þ (b) Boundary conditions and initial conditions
giþ1=2 ¼ min modðai1=2 ; aiþ1=2 ; aiþ3=2 Þ. ð11Þ Fig. 1. Computational domain and boundary conditions.
1256 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263

13.0 is based upon acoustic mass and acoustic compliance,

Δx=Δy=R/n where the acoustic mass M can be expressed by
M ¼ qSL; ð13Þ
12.5
where S is the cross sectional area of the neck and is given
as S = HW, q is the density of the gas inside the resona-
pmax /p1

12.0 n=200 n=250
n=150
11.5
n=100
11.0
0x105 1x105 2x105 3x105 4x105
Grid number
Fig. 2. Dependence of the numerical grid density on the predicted
maximum peak pressure (H/D = 0.46, Ms = 1.7).
pressure and the pressure just behind the incident shock
wave, respectively, in which its Mach number Ms is var-
ied between 1.1 and 2.0 in the present computations.
As the inflow and outflow boundary conditions, the
zeroth-order extrapolation is used for the conservative
variables. The symmetric conditions are applied on the
centre-line of the resonator. The boundary conditions
on all the surfaces inside and outside of the resonator
are the slip-wall conditions.
A square grid system is employed in the present com-
putation. The fineness of computational grid required to
obtain grid independent solutions was first examined
with the experimental data [23]. A grid density over
Dx = Dy = R/200 seemed to no longer change the accu-
racy of the obtained solutions, as can be seen in Fig. 2. A
grid size of Dx = Dy = R/250 was employed so that the
n=300 tor, L and H are the neck length and neck height of the
resonator, respectively, and W is the neck width of the
resonator. In the present study, W is equal to 2.27D for
the purpose of comparison with Matsuura et al.Õs exper-
iment (D = 22 mm, H = 10 mm, L = 5 mm, and W =
50 mm) [26]. The acoustic compliance C is related to
the volume of the resonator and the speed of sound, as
5x105 6x105
follows:
C ¼ V =qa2 ; ð14Þ
where V means the volume of the resonator, and a is the
speed of sound. From two equations above, the reso-
nance period Tr and frequency fr are obtained as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
T r ¼ 2p MC ; ð15Þ
fr ¼ 1=T r . ð16Þ
For instance, the resonance frequency of the resonator,
which is H/D = 0.46, is calculated to be 3.89 kHz. This
resonance frequency increases with an increase in H/D,
as shown in Fig. 3.
According to the linear acoustic theories which are
given in Eqs. (13)–(16), the resonance frequency of a
resonator is derived using the assumption that for
1.00
L/D=0.23
0.75
Tr (ms)

solutions obtained were independent of the grid density. 0.50

The dependence of the numerical solutions on the grid
density employed is found in Fig. 2, where the maximum 0.25
peak pressure pmax is defined as the peak value achieved
by the shock wave focusing. The maximum peak pres- 0.00
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
sure is no longer changed, when the number of the H/D
numerical grid n is larger than 250.
(a) Resonance period
Several different types of the resonator are employed
in the present study. In order to change the configura- 5.0
tion of the resonator, the value of H/D is varied between L/D=0.23
0.1 and 0.6 at fixed D. The length of the resonator neck 4.0
fr (kHz)

L is held constant at 0.23D. In addition, computations

are carried out for the half circular reflector whose H 3.0
is the same as the resonator diameter (i.e., H/D = 1.0),
as schematically shown in Fig. 1(a). 2.0

1.0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
3. Acoustic theory of Helmholtz resonator H/D
(b) Resonance frequency
The resonance frequency of the Helmholtz resonator
is obtainable using the acoustic theory of sound wave. It Fig. 3. Relationship between resonance frequency and H/D.
 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263 1257

oscillation, mass is concentrated on the neck of the res-

onator, and that spring constant is given by the resona-
tor volume. The present study is related to the shock
waves that are strong nonlinear phenomenon with high
frequency. When a shock wave propagates into the res-
onator, very complicated wave phenomenon take place
inside outside of the resonator, such as shock reflection,
shock wave focusing, shock–vortex interaction, and the
shock wave discharge from the resonator. Due to the
complicated shock wave reflections that occur inside
the resonator, the pressure continues to fluctuate after
the wave discharge. Such wave phenomena are different
from the simple sinuous wave-motion of mass-spring
system.
The resonance frequency, as given in Eq. (16), is not
adequate for the shock wave discharge from the resona-
tor. The present study yields the shock focusing time,
which is associated with the mean-velocity of shock
wave in the resonator. Thus, the shock wave focusing
time can be an important parameter in predicting the
shock wave discharge, as will be described later.

4. Results and discussion

Figs. 4 and 5 show the behavior of the shock wave

propagating into a Helmholtz resonator, where Ms =
1.7 and H/D = 0.46, and non-dimensional time t 0 is
assumed to be zero for the instant that the incident
shock wave arrives at the inlet of the resonator neck
(x/D = 0). At t 0 = 0.18, just after the incident shock
wave entered the inlet of the resonator neck, a part of
the shock wave propagates into the resonator through
the neck while the other part reflects from the wall of
the resonator neck and propagates back toward the inlet
of the resonator. The expansion waves are generated
behind the reflected shock waves, causing shock wave
diffractions near the edges of the resonator neck. It is
also found that the vortices are formed at the inlet of
the resonator neck. At t 0 = 0.37, the shock wave propa-
gates into the resonator and the resulting wave patterns
are changed from a normal to a curved shock wave. As
time increases, the curved shock wave propagates
toward the vertex of the resonator, and in this case,
the regular reflections are formed on the upper and
lower walls of the resonator (see Fig. 4(c)). Due to the
pressure difference in the region between the curved
shock wave and the expansion waves generated from
the edges of the resonator neck, a secondary shock wave
is formed and interacting with two vortices, as seen in
Fig. 4(c) and (d).
When the curved shock wave completely reflects from
the vertex of the resonator, the resulting shock wave is
converging. The reflected shock wave is convex to the res-
onator. Thus, the compression waves are formed along
the resonator wall surface. The triple point is generated
Fig. 4. Experimental and computed Schlieren images (H/D = 0.46,
Ms = 1.7).
by the two reflected shock waves and the compression
waves. Fig. 5 shows the formation and movement of the
triple point and the symbol T indicates the triple point.
The triple point moves toward the centre-line of the reso-
nator, consequently coalescing at a certain location on the
centre-line. Shock wave focusing is obtained at this loca-
tion, where the location pressure reaches a maximum
value. After the shock wave focusing, the reflected shock
waves are crossed and propagate toward the neck of the
resonator with time. As the reflected shock waves strongly
interact with the vortices and the secondary shock waves,
the complicated wave structures are formed, and dis-
charged from the resonator, as shown in Fig. 4(e). From
a comparison of the present computations and the previ-
ous experimental results [26], it is found that there is qual-
itative agreement.
1258 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263
Fig. 5. Formation and movement of triple point (H/D = 0.46, Ms = 1.7).
Fig. 6. Computed iso-pressure contours (H/D = 0.1, Ms = 1.7).
Fig. 6 shows the propagation process of the shock
wave inside the resonator, where the Mach number Ms
of the incident shock wave is 1.7, and H/D is 0.1. At
t 0 = 0.51, the shock wave inside the resonator is dif-
fracted more significantly due to the smaller neck height
of the resonator, compared with the case of H/D = 0.46
in Fig. 4. With an increase in time, the vortices generated
near the edges of the resonator neck grow gradually
and move into the resonator. At t 0 = 1.59, the shock
wave focusing is formed. The shock waves reflected
inside the resonator are discharged through the neck of
the resonator as an impulse wave, as shown in Fig. 6(g)
and (h).
For Ms = 1.5, Fig. 7 shows the detailed pressure
distributions before and after shock wave focusing at
H/D = 0.6. For reference, the pressure distributions
along the centre-line of the resonator are also presented.
Fig. 7(a) shows the pressure distribution before the
shock wave focusing, and the triple points and the vor-
tices are obviously found inside the resonator. Outside
the resonator, the shock waves reflected from the wall
of the resonator neck propagate back toward the
upstream boundary, and the regular reflection is formed
on the centre-line. With an increase in time, the regular
reflection is changed to the Mach reflection, as can be
seen in Fig. 7(c). At the instant of the shock wave focus-
ing, as shown in Fig. 7(b), the local pressure reaches a
maximum value at x/D = about 0.9. After the shock
wave focusing, the shock wave propagates toward the
neck of the resonator, and strongly interacts with the
vortices. This gives rise to the complicated wave struc-
tures inside the resonator, causing large pressure
fluctuations.
At the same conditions, the shock waves discharged
from the resonator are shown in Fig. 8. At t 0 = 2.19,
the strong vortices are observed inside the resonator,
and the shock waves propagate toward the neck of the
resonator, interacting with the vortices. At t 0 = 2.78,
the shock waves begin to discharge from the neck of
the resonator, leading to the impulse waves. The strong
vortices are indicated as the concave parts in the pre-
dicted pressure contours. The wave phenomenon, which
is generated outside the Helmholtz resonator, at the
vicinity of resonance condition, can be important with
regard to such engineering applications as mentioned
previously. In order to make clear such wave phenom-
ena, a tremendous computing time would be required.
The present study is concentrated on the flow phenom-
ena inside the Helmholtz resonator.
Fig. 9 shows the pressure-time histories at the inlet A
of the resonator and its gas-dynamic focus [24], where
xgas indicates the distance between the gas dynamic
focus B and the vertex C of the resonator. At the loca-
tion A, the pressure sharply rises up to a certain over
pressure level (p2/p1 = 3.2), as the incident shock wave
with Ms = 1.7 reaches the point A at t 0 = 0.28, and it
maintains constant for a short time. Then the pressure
suddenly decreases, as the expansion waves generated
from the edges of the resonator neck reaches the point
A. At t 0 = 2.5, the pressure rises again due to the inci-
dent shock waves reflected back from the resonator.
 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263
Fig. 7. Iso-pressure contours before and after shock wave focusing (H/D = 0.6, Ms = 1.5).
At t 0 = 3.0, the pressure rise is due to the discharge of
the complicated wave structures from the resonator.
At point B, the pressure rises to a certain value ph/p1,
which corresponds to the incident shock wave propa-
gated into the resonator. At t 0 = 1.4, the pressure shar-
ply rises to a maximum peak value (pmax,f/p1), which is
due to the shock wave focusing. This peak pressure is
extremely high and very sharp, being about 12 times
atmospheric pressure. After the shock wave focusing,
the pressure decreases with time, and fluctuating due
to the complicated wave structures inside the resonator.
Fig. 10 represents the relationship between the maxi-
mum peak pressure achieved by the shock wave focusing
and the Mach number of the incident shock wave, where
pmax,f/p1 means the maximum peak pressure due to the
shock wave focusing, divided by atmospheric pressure.
At fixed values of L/D and H/D, pmax,f/p1 increases with
an increase in Ms. This tendency seems remarkable as
H/D increases. It is also found that for a given Ms,
pmax,f/p1 increases with an increase in H/D. For instance,
1259
for the resonator of H/D = 0.6 and Ms = 2.0, the maxi-
mum peak pressure is about 150% higher than that of
H/D = 0.10. From a comparison of a half-circular
reflector and the Helmholtz resonator, it is found that
pmax,f/p1 for the half circular reflector is much higher,
compared with the Helmholtz resonator.
The variation of the maximum peak pressure with the
neck height of the resonator is shown in Fig. 11. For a
weak incident shock wave (Ms 6 1.3), the value of
(pmax,f  ph)/p1 increases slightly with an increase in
H/D. However, for strong shock waves, it increases with
H/D and becomes almost constant for further increase
in H/D. It is, thus, believed that for strong incident
shock waves, the value of (pmax,f  ph)/p1 is not influ-
enced by the neck height of the resonator which has
H/D larger than a certain value.
Fig. 12 shows the relationship between ph/p2 and Ms, for
various values of H/D, where p2 is the pressure just behind
the incident shock wave and ph the pressure of the incident
shock wave passing through the point B (see Fig. 9). For a
1260 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263
Fig. 8. Shock wave discharged from Helmholtz resonator (H/D = 0.6, Ms = 1.5).
given H/D, the value of ph/p2 decreases with an increase in
Ms. This tendency is rather weak as H/D increases.
For various values of H/D, the relationship between
pd/p1 and Ms is represented in Fig. 13, where pd is the
peak pressure at the point A, which is due to the shock
wave discharged from the resonator (see Fig. 9). The
value of pd/p1 increases with an increase in Ms. It is
interesting to note that for H/D > 0.1, the value of
pd/p1 has an inflection point at Ms = about 1.5, while
for H/D = 0.1, it increases monotonously with Ms. This
may be because the shock wave propagated into the
resonator is diffracted more significantly due to the
smaller neck height of the resonator and its strength
becomes very weak, compared with a larger neck height.
It is difficult to obtain the resonance frequency for the
shock wave propagating into the Helmholtz resonator,
because the complicated wave structures are formed
inside the resonator due to the shock wave reflection,
shock–vortex interaction, etc. However, it may be
obtained if the computing time is not limited, under a
very big computational domain enough to contain the
waves discharged from the resonator. In the present
study, the wave phenomena inside the Helmholtz reso-
nator are analyzed using the shock wave focusing time
and the shock wave discharge time.
Fig. 14 shows the shock wave focusing and discharge
time, where t0f is the shock wave focusing time, and t0d the
shock wave discharge time in which both are taken from
the instant that the incident shock wave arrives at the
inlet of the resonator neck (see Fig. 9). It is found that
t0f and t0d slightly decrease with an increase in both
H/D and Ms. From a comparison with the previous
experimental data [26], the present computation predict
well the experimental results of t0f and t0d .
Fig. 15 shows the relationship between Ms and xgas,
where the geometrical focus of the resonator is given
by xgeo, and defined as a location where linear acoustic
waves reflected from the concave solid wall are focused,
and for a circular reflector it is 0.25D, regardless of H/D
and Ms. All of the present computational data show that
 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263 1261

7
L/D=0.23
6
Vertex of Helmholtz
resonator Ms=2.0
A (Gasdynamic focus) B C 5
Ms=1.7
(Inlet of Helmholtz resonator) x gas

(pmax, f - ph) /p1

14 4 Ms=1.5
tf′
at B Ms=1.3
12
3
at A
10
2 Ms=1.1

8
p/p1

pmax, f /p1 1
6
td′
0
4 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
pd /p1 H/D
2 p2 /p1 ph /p1
Fig. 11. Variation of maximum peak pressure with H/D.

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
t′
Fig. 9. Pressure-time histories (H/D = 0.6, Ms = 1.7).
1.1
L/D=0.23

H/D=0.60
1.0
H/D=0.46

30
L/D=0.23 0.9
ph /p2

H/D=0.10
25 H/D=0.20
0.8
H/D=0.30
H/D=0.30
H/D=0.46
20 H/D=0.60 H/D=0.20
0.7
Half circular H/D=0.10
pmax, f /p1

15
0.6
1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Ms
10
Fig. 12. Magnitude of the incident shock wave propagated into
Helmholtz resonator.
5

0
1.0 1.2 1.4
Ms
Fig. 10. Variation of maximum peak pressure with Ms.
xgas decreases, as Ms increases, and that it is considerably
different from the geometrical focus of the resonator. For
the same Mach number Ms, xgas becomes shorter as H/D
increases. For instance, in the case of Ms = 1.7 and
H/D = 0.46, the present computation somewhat over-
1.6 1.8 2.0 predicts the location of the gas dynamic focus, compared
with the experimental data [26]. The shock wave focusing
is a typical nonlinear phenomenon, and the present
computational analysis was made using unsteady, com-
pressible Euler equations. The discrepancy between the
experimental and computed results can be due to the vis-
cous effects which are essentially involved in the shock
reflection and shock/shock interaction phenomena.
However, for the half circular reflector (i.e., H/D =
1.0), the present computation predicts the experimental
results [23] with quite good accuracy.
1262 Y.-H. Kweon et al. / Computers & Fluids 35 (2006) 1252–1263

8.0 5. Conclusion
L/D=0.23
7.0 H/D=0.10
H/D=0.20 In the present study, the wave phenomena inside the
6.0
H/D=0.30 Helmholtz resonator are analyzed with a help of compu-
H/D=0.46
H/D=0.60
tational method. Two-dimensional, unsteady, compress-
5.0 ible, Euler equations are numerically solved using the
pd /p1

Yee–Roe–Davis total variation diminishing (TVD)

4.0 scheme. Several kinds of resonators are employed to
investigate the effect of the resonator configuration on
3.0
the complicated wave phenomena inside the Helmholtz
2.0 resonator. The present computational results are vali-
dated with the previous experimental data available.
1.0 The obtained results show that the maximum peak pres-
1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0
Ms
sure at the shock wave focusing location increases and
the focusing location is closer to the resonator wall, as
Fig. 13. Peak pressure of the shock wave discharged from Helmholtz the Mach number of the incident shock wave and the
resonator. neck height of the resonator increase. For a given inci-
2.0
dent shock wave, an increase in the neck height of the
L/D=0.23 tf′ Experiment - Ref.26 resonator leads to a stronger shock wave, which is prop-
td′ (Ms =1.7, H/D=0.46)
agated into the Helmholtz resonator, resulting in a
tf′
Present CFD stronger wave discharge from the resonator. It is also
1.5 td′
found that an increase in the neck height of the resona-
Ms=1.1 Ms =1.3 Ms=1.5 Ms =1.7
tor decreases the shock wave focusing and discharge
Ms=2.0
time. Because the complicated wave structures are
t′f, td′

1.0
formed inside the resonator due to the shock wave
reflection and discharge, shock–vortex interaction, etc.,
the wave phenomena inside the Helmholtz resonator
0.5 can more effectively analyzed using the shock wave
Ms=2.0 Ms=1.7 Ms=1.5
focusing time and discharge time than theoretical reso-
Ms=1.3 Ms=1.1 nance frequency of the resonator.
0.0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
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