Acoustic fields of nonplanar radiators.

A theoretical approach is described which predicts the fields of acoustic radiators with a predefined surface topography. This is achieved by dividing the surface of the source into small elements, each of which is oriented parallel to the tangent to the surface at that point. The result is an improved modeling performance, in that it is more efficient and requires far fewer elements compared to other numerical approaches using parallel elements. Theoretical predictions are compared to experimental results from curved electrostatic radiators, to demonstrate that the approach has promise.