Nonlinear acoustics.

Abstract

The hydrodynamic equations governing the propagation of acoustic waves in fluids have been known to be nonlinear since Euler. An interesting presentation of some early attempts at analysing the effects of these nonlinearities is given by Lamb. In fact a solution by Earnshaw (1860) provides the basis for a very useful physical understanding of the distortion of a sinusoidal plane wave as it propagates in a non-viscous fluid. (A)