The Westervelt equation for nonlinear propagation: Numerical simulations and experimental validation of ultrasonic fields produced by array transducers

Abstract : The purpose of this work is to validate the ability of the Westervelt equation to predict the behavior of ultrasound beams generated by steered phased array transducers. To this end, the Westervelt equation is solved numerically and the results obtained are compared with experimental measurements. The comparison of simulated and measured ultrasonic fields is performed for a modified 32-element linear array transducer. It is demonstrated that the developed code is capable of correctly predicting the behavior of the main lobe, side lobes, and grating lobes in the cases of zero and nonzero steering angles for both the fundamental and the 2nd harmonic components.