In order to figure out the principles of acoustic leak detection for natural gas pipelines, a study on the leak-acoustics generation mechanism is carried out. The aero-acoustics generation mechanism is analyzed and when leakage occurs the wave equations of sonic sources are developed. The leak-acoustics generated by the quadrupole and dipole sonic sources are then simulated to obtain the laws of the acoustic characteristics. The simulation data are compared with the experimental data to verify the simulation accuracy under variable operating conditions. The results show that the quadrupoles and the dipoles generated by turbulent fluctuations cause leak-acoustics; the main component of pressure perturbations acquired by the dynamic pressure sensor is acoustic perturbations: both the simulation method and the experimental method can be applied to study the leak-acoustics generation mechanism of natural gas pipelines. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.