Calculation of acoustic streaming velocity and radiation force based on finite element simulations of nonlinear wave propagation

An extension of a recently developed simulation scheme for the calculation of nonlinear wave propagation in thermoviscous fluid media for the numerical calculation of acoustic streaming is presented. Based on the nonlinear wave equation derived by Kuznetsov, the nonlinear pressure field is calculated by means of a finite element formulation. The generated force density and mean streaming velocity are obtained by time averaging of the nonlinear pressure and velocity distributions. Therewith, nonlinear distortions of the finite amplitude wave are taken into account. The numerical calculation scheme is verified by means of a plane wave problem and several parameter studies are presented.