Search Results (14)

This study introduces a mechanical spectrum analyzer (MSA) inspired by the tonotopic organization of the basilar membrane (BM), designed to achieve two critical features. First, it replicates the traveling-wave behavior of the BM, characterized by energy dissipation without reflections at the boundaries. Second, it enables the physical encoding of the wave energy into distinct spectral components. Moving beyond the conventional focus on metamaterial design, this research investigates wave propagation behavior and energy dissipation within metastructures, with particular attention to how individual unit cells absorb energy. To achieve these objectives, a metastructural design methodology is employed. Experimental characterization of metastructure samples with varying numbers of unit cells is performed, with reflection and absorption coefficients used to quantify energy absorption and assess bandgap quality. Simulations of a basilar membrane-inspired structure incorporating multiple sets of dynamic vibration resonators (DVRs) demonstrate frequency selectivity akin to the natural BM. The design features four types of DVRs, resulting in stepped bandgaps and enabling the MSA to function as a frequency filter. The findings reveal that the proposed MSA effectively achieves frequency-selective wave propagation and broad bandgap performance. The quantitative analysis of energy dissipation, complemented by qualitative demonstrations of wave behavior, highlights the potential of this metastructural approach to enhance frequency selectivity and improve sound processing. These results lay the groundwork for future exploration of 2D metastructures and applications such as energy harvesting and advanced wave filtering. Full article

The efficacy of silencers in reducing piping noise is contingent upon the specific installation and operating environment. Among the various forms of silencers, the acoustic characteristics of dissipative silencers with sound-absorbing materials attached internally exist in an area that is difficult to explain by existing theories. This is dependent upon the specific type and placement of the attached sound-absorbing materials. This paper presents a methodology for calculating the acoustic transmission loss (TL) of a cylindrical silencer filled with a multilayer poroelastic material, employing the mode-matching method. To describe the numerical process of treating waves propagating within a poroelastic material and determine the modes in accordance with the boundary conditions necessary for analyzing the acoustic performance of the silencer, the Biot model and the Johnson–Champoux–Allard–Lafarge model were employed. The obtained modes were utilized to calculate the acoustic TL of silencers filled with single, double, and triple layers of poroelastic materials. In particular, the results obtained for the single layer were validated by comparing them with the results of a finite element analysis, and the results obtained for multiple layers with the same material were validated by comparing them with the equivalent single-layer results. Moreover, the results of the numerical calculations of the acoustic TLs of the silencer for three distinct types of poroelastic materials, including those with varying degrees of frame rigidity or softness, were compared, and the acoustic characteristics were analyzed in relation to the intrinsic properties of the materials and their arrangement. It is anticipated that the methodology presented in this paper will facilitate the design of silencers using poroelastic materials in accordance with the specific requirements of users or designers by allowing for a comprehensive consideration of the thickness of layers and the arrangement of materials. Full article

The modified second-grade fluid flow across a plate of semi-infinite extent, which is initiated by the plate’s movement, is considered herein. The relaxation parameters and fractional parameters are introduced to express the generalized constitutive relation. A convolution-based absorbing boundary condition (ABC) is developed based on the artificial boundary method (ABM), addressing issues related to the semi-infinite boundary. We adopt the finite difference method (FDM) for deriving the numerical solution by employing the L1 scheme to approximate the fractional derivative. To confirm the precision of this method, a source term is added to establish an exact solution for verification purposes. A comparative evaluation of the ABC versus the direct truncated boundary condition (DTBC) is conducted, with their effectiveness and soundness being visually scrutinized and assessed. This study investigates the impact of the motion of plates at different fluid flow velocities, focusing on the effects of dynamic elements influencing flow mechanisms and velocity. This research’s primary conclusion is that a higher fractional parameter correlates with the fluid flow. As relaxation parameters decrease, the delay effect intensifies and the fluid velocity decreases. Full article

Porous materials have emerged as one of the most widely employed sound-absorbing materials in practical applications, owing to their excellent sound absorption properties and lightweight nature. Unsaturated porous materials have the potential to achieve superior sound absorption effects and significantly reduce mass. However, current research on the sound absorption performance of unsaturated porous materials is limited. This paper used a modified transfer matrix method (MTMM), which relies on matrix dimensionality reduction, to analyze the sound absorption characteristics of unsaturated porous materials under various boundary conditions. The study also examines the impact of different parameters, such as material thickness and saturation, on sound absorption performance and compares the results. The findings indicate that when a solid elastic plate is attached to an unsaturated porous elastic plate, the absorption coefficient decreases while the transmission loss increases. Additionally, reducing the thickness of the plate and increasing its porosity and saturation levels lead to an increase in the absorption coefficient and a decrease in the transmission loss. Full article

Understanding the effect of vortexes on sound propagation is of great significance in the field of target detection and acoustic imaging. A prediction algorithm of the two-dimensional vortex scattering is realized based on a finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) numerical scheme with perfectly matched layers (PML). Firstly, the governing equation for flow–sound interaction is given based on the perturbation theory, and the FDFD program is built. Subsequently, the mesh independence is verified, and the result has a good convergence when the mesh corresponds to over 15 nodes per wavelength. Then, computational parameters of the PML are discussed to achieve better absorbing boundary conditions. Finally, the results of this algorithm are compared with previous literature data. Results show that for different cortex scattering cases, the absorption coefficient should vary linearly with the density of the medium and the incident wave frequency. When the thickness of the PML boundary is greater than 2.5 times the wavelength, the PML boundary can absorb the scattering sound effectively. This provides a reliable algorithm for the numerical study of the effect of vortexes on sound propagation. Full article

Modern weapon systems’ survival hinges on their detection capabilities more than anything else. In the active sonar equation, the acoustic target strength is crucial. Under the assumption of plane wave propagation, the standard target strength equation is used to forecast the reradiated intensity for the far field. The ability of a submarine to remain unnoticed while on patrol or accomplishing a mission is its primary defense. Sonar, sometimes known as sound navigation ranging, is a popular method for locating submarines. This is because saltwater effectively absorbs radio frequencies. Sonar technology is used in more than just the commercial fishing business; it is also used in undersea research. The submarine’s designers consider the reflection of acoustic waves to minimize the amount of space required for such reflections. The Target Strength (TS) metric is used to assess the sonar objects’ size. This manuscript explains and demystifies the Benchmark Target Echo Strength Simulation (BeTTSi) benchmark submarine’s TS analysis. This model’s Pressure Acoustic-Boundary Element Model (PA-BEM) interface has been stabilized, and the model itself is pretty huge acoustically. Full article

Façades cover a significant amount of surfaces in cities and are in constant interaction with the acoustic environment. Noise pollution is one of the most concerning burdens for public health and wellbeing; however, façade acoustic performance is generally not considered in outdoor spaces, in contrast to indoor spaces. This study presents a systematic literature review examining 40 peer-reviewed papers regarding the effects of façades on the urban acoustic environment and the soundscape. Façades affect sound pressure levels and reverberation time in urban spaces and can affect people’s perception of the acoustic environment. The effects are classified into three groups: Effects of façades on the urban acoustic environment, including sound-reflecting, sound-absorbing and sound-producing effects; Effects of façades on the urban soundscape, including auditory and non-auditory effects; Effects of the context on the acoustic environment around façades, including boundary effects and atmospheric effects. Full article

Wave-based acoustics simulation methods such as finite element method (FEM) are reliable computer simulation tools for predicting acoustics in architectural spaces. Nevertheless, their application to practical room acoustics design is difficult because of their high computational costs. Therefore, we propose herein a parallel wave-based acoustics simulation method using dissipation-free and dispersion-optimized explicit time-domain FEM (TD-FEM) for simulating room acoustics at large-scale scenes. It can model sound absorbers with locally reacting frequency-dependent impedance boundary conditions (BCs). The method can use domain decomposition method (DDM)-based parallel computing to compute acoustics in large rooms at kilohertz frequencies. After validation studies of the proposed method via impedance tube and small cubic room problems including frequency-dependent impedance BCs of two porous type sound absorbers and a Helmholtz type sound absorber, the efficiency of the method against two implicit TD-FEMs was assessed. Faster computations and equivalent accuracy were achieved. Finally, acoustics simulation of an auditorium of 2271 ${\mathrm{m}}^3$ presenting a problem size of about 150,000,000 degrees of freedom demonstrated the practicality of the DDM-based parallel solver. Using 512 CPU cores on a parallel computer system, the proposed parallel solver can compute impulse responses with 3 s time length, including frequency components up to 3 kHz within 9000 s. Full article

Sound-absorbing boundaries can attenuate noise propagation in practical long spaces, but fast and accurate sound field modeling in this situation is still difficult. This paper presents a coherent image source model for simple yet accurate prediction of the sound field in long enclosures with a sound absorbing ceiling. In the proposed model, the reflections on the absorbent boundary are separated from those on reflective ones during evaluating reflection coefficients. The model is compared with the classic wave theory, an existing coherent image source model and a scale-model experiment. The results show that the proposed model provides remarkable accuracy advantage over the existing models yet is fast for sound prediction in long spaces. Full article

The work proposes a methodology for the assessment of the performances of Passive Noise Control (PNC) for passenger aircraft headrests with the aim of enhancing acoustic comfort. Two PNC improvements of headrests were designed to reduce the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at the passengers’ ears in an aircraft cabin during flight; the first was based on the optimization of the headrest shape, whereas the second consisted of partially or fully covering the headrest surface with a new highly sound-absorbing nanofibrous textile. An experimental validation campaign was conducted in a semi-anechoic chamber. A dummy headrest was assembled in different configurations of shape and materials to assess the acoustic performances associated to each set up. In parallel, simulations based on the Boundary Element Method (BEM) were performed for each configuration and an acceptable correlation between experimental and numerical results was obtained. Based on these findings, general guidelines were proposed for the acoustical design of advanced headrests. Full article

Predicting room acoustics using wave-based numerical methods has attracted great attention in recent years. Nevertheless, wave-based predictions are generally computationally expensive for room acoustics simulations because of the large dimensions of architectural spaces, the wide audible frequency ranges, the complex boundary conditions, and inherent error properties of numerical methods. Therefore, development of an efficient wave-based room acoustic solver with smaller computational resources is extremely important for practical applications. This paper describes a preliminary study aimed at that development. We discuss the potential of the Partition of Unity Finite Element Method (PUFEM) as a room acoustic solver through the examination with 2D real-scale room acoustic problems. Low-order finite elements enriched by plane waves propagating in various directions are used herein. We examine the PUFEM performance against a standard FEM via two-room acoustic problems in a single room and a coupled room, respectively, including frequency-dependent complex impedance boundaries of Helmholtz resonator type sound absorbers and porous sound absorbers. Results demonstrated that the PUFEM can predict wideband frequency responses accurately under a single coarse mesh with much fewer degrees of freedom than the standard FEM. The reduction reaches $\mathcal{O}\left({10}^{-2}\right)$ at least, suggesting great potential of PUFEM for use as an efficient room acoustic solver. Full article

The diffuse sound absorption was investigated theoretically and experimentally for a periodically arranged sound absorber composed of perforated plates with extended tubes (PPETs) and porous materials. The calculation formulae related to the boundary condition are derived for the periodic absorbers, and then the equations are solved numerically. The influences of the incidence and azimuthal angle, and the period of absorber arrangement are investigated on the sound absorption. The sound-absorption coefficients are tested in a standard reverberation room for a periodic absorber composed of units of three parallel-arranged PPETs and porous material. The measured 1/3-octave band sound-absorption coefficients agree well with the theoretical prediction. Both theoretical and measured results suggest that the periodic PPET absorbers have good sound-absorption performance in the low- to mid-frequency range in diffuse field. Full article

Three-dimensional, permeable membrane space sound absorbers have been proposed as practical and economical alternatives to three-dimensional, microperforated panel space sound absorbers. Previously, the sound absorption characteristics of a three-dimensional, permeable membrane space sound absorber were predicted using the two-dimensional boundary element method, but the prediction accuracy was impractical. Herein, a more accurate prediction method is proposed using the three-dimensional boundary element method. In the three-dimensional analysis, incident waves from the elevation angle direction and reflected waves from the floor are considered, using the mirror image. In addition, the dissipated energy ratio is calculated based on the sound absorption of a surface with a unit sound absorption power. To validate the three-dimensional numerical method, and to estimate the improvement in prediction accuracy, the results are compared with those of the measurements and two-dimensional analysis. For cylindrical and rectangular space sound absorbers, three-dimensional analysis provides a significantly improved prediction accuracy for any shape and membrane sample that is suitable for practical use. Full article

The development of computational acoustics allows the simulation of sound generation and propagation in a complex environment. In particular, meshfree methods are widely used to solve acoustics problems through arbitrarily distributed field points and approximation smoothness flexibility. As a Lagrangian meshfree method, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method reduces the difficulty in solving problems with deformable boundaries, complex topologies, or multiphase medium. The traditional SPH method has been applied in acoustic simulation. This study presents the corrective smoothed particle method (CSPM), which is a combination of the SPH kernel estimate and Taylor series expansion. The CSPM is introduced as a Lagrangian approach to improve the accuracy when solving acoustic wave equations in the time domain. Moreover, a boundary treatment technique based on the hybrid meshfree and finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is proposed, to represent different acoustic boundaries with particles. To model sound propagation in pipes with different boundaries, soft, rigid, and absorbing boundary conditions are built with this technique. Numerical results show that the CSPM algorithm is consistent and demonstrates convergence with exact solutions. The main computational parameters are discussed, and different boundary conditions are validated as being effective for benchmark problems in computational acoustics. Full article