A systematic literature review on Lattice Boltzmann Method applied to acoustics

Abstract

The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) can be applied to several fluid dynamic problems in the time domain. This numerical method indirectly solves the Navier–Stokes equations in a weakly compressible limit that allows acoustic wave propagation. This work presents a systematic literature review concerning the application of the LBM in acoustics. Applications found in the literature are classified and presented in different categories, including wave theory, boundary conditions, sound absorption materials, aeroacoustics, and musical acoustics. The increasing amount of research in recent years about aeroacoustics is remarkable, thanks to the intrinsically coupled treatment of the acoustical field and the mean flow, the potential of studying different wave phenomena such as diffraction and scattering, the easy way to model complex geometric boundaries in 2D and 3D, and finally thanks to the increasing available computational power. Some examples were included to illustrate the LBM capabilities to simulate sound wave phenomena, including point source modeling, diffraction and interference of sound waves, jet noise, and edge noise. This work will give a retrospective of the research developed in the past and a perspective on how this numerical method might evolve in the acoustical field.