Search Results

In this paper an overview of recent experimental studies performed at KTH on the sound transmission and sound generation in turbochargers is presented. The compressor and turbine of the turbochargers are treated as acoustic active 2-ports and characterized using the unique experimental test facility established at KTH. The 2-port model is limited to the plane wave range so for higher frequencies the propagating acoustic power is estimated using an average based on pressure cross-spectra. A number of automotive turbochargers have been studied for a variety of operating conditions systematically selected from the compressor and turbine charts. The paper discusses the experimental procedures including special techniques implemented to improve the quality of the data. Results from a number of experiments on various modern automotive turbochargers including a unit with variable turbine geometry (VTG) are presented.

In this paper experimental procedures to determine the sound transmission through automotive turbo-charger compressors are described. An overview of a unique turbocharger testing facility established at KTH CICERO in Stockholm is given. The facility can be used to measure acoustic two-port data for turbo-compressors. Results from measurements on a passenger car turbo-compressor are presented and the influence of operating conditions on the sound transmission is discussed.

In this paper a unique experimental facility designed for a complete determination of the sound transmission in turbochargers is introduced. The facility can be used to characterize the passive acoustic effect for turbocharger compressors and turbines working in realistic operating conditions by extracting the acoustic two-port data. The acoustic pressure transmission loss results for a passenger car turbocharger compressor and turbine measured in up- and downstream directions regarding the mean flow are presented. The data are obtained for various operating points of the turbocharger and the influence of operating conditions on the sound transmission is discussed.

A modern exhaust silencer system designed for an internal combustion engine typically incorporates a number of acoustic elements, which all contribute in the overall acoustic performance of the system and determine the sound radiation into the surroundings. The characteristics of individual elements in acoustic silencers affecting sound propagation are referred to as the passive acoustic effect treated in this paper. An acoustic transmission loss is a parameter often used in engineering to describe the passive acoustic performance of exhaust system elements. However, in order to provide a complete acoustical characterization of silencers and silencer components the acoustic 2-port elements (the scattering matrix or alternatively the transfer matrix) should be additionally analyzed. In this paper the scattering matrixes are studied systematically for several small engine silencer elements in a variety of operating conditions.

Turbochargers are common parts of a modern automotive engine. This paper presents an overview of the recent studies performed in the competence center for gas exchange studies at KTH on the sound transmission in turbochargers. The compressor and turbine of the turbochargers are treated as acoustic 2-ports and the scattering matrix for these devices are determined. A unique experimental facility established in the competence center for gas exchange research at KTH has been utilized to study the turbochargers at a variety of operating conditions systematically selected from compressor and turbine charts. A description of the experimental procedures to determine the acoustic 2-port data including techniques implemented to improve the quality of the results is presented. Results from a number of experiments on various modern automotive turbochargers including a unit with variable turbine geometry (VTG) are included.

For the last couple of decades, catalytic converters (CC) have become a standard part of the internal combustion engine exhaust systems. Besides reducing toxic components in exhaust gases, catalytic converters can have a certain effect on the acoustic performance of the exhaust system. In this paper the sound transmission and attenuation in the catalytic converters has been investigated. A catalytic converter is known to have two distinct acoustic effects: the reactive effect originating from the acoustic wave reflections caused by cross-sectional area changes within the unit and the resistive effect which results in the acoustic wave dissipation caused by visco-thermal losses. The flow resistance in the narrow tubes in the catalytic converter element results in frequency dependent dissipative effects on the transmitted sound. An experimental investigation on engine catalytic converters treated as acoustic two-ports is carried out.

In order to increase the internal combustion engine efficiency turbocharging is today widely used. The trend, in modern engine technology, is towards higher boost pressures while keeping the combustion pressure raise relatively small. The turbocharger surge occurs if the pressure at the outlet of the compressor is greater than it can maintain, i.e., a reverse flow will be induced. In presence of such flow conditions instabilities will occur which can couple to incident acoustic (pressure) waves and amplify them. The main objective of the present work is to propose a novel method for investigation of turbocharger flow instabilities or surge precursors. The method is based on the determination of the acoustic two-port data. The active part of this data describes the sound generation and the passive part the scattering of sound. The scattering data will contain information about flow-acoustic interaction and amplification of sound that could occur close to surge.

To control noise emission from internal combustion inlet, designers often choose small chamber type silencers at the inlet. In order to improve the inlet acoustic efficiency, inlet ducts with improved acoustic attenuation can be used. One potentially applicable material is acoustic metamaterial rapidly gaining popularity in different fields of engineering application. Small engine inlet duct, designed by using acoustic metamaterial structure comprising an array of resonators inside the wall of a rigid duct is investigated in this study. Experimental investigation of different designs is performed to characterize the acoustic behavior in terms of transmission loss (TL). By connecting multiple resonators of different size and location it is shown that a broadband TL can be achieved. The resulted attenuation band can be tuned by varying the resonator physical characteristics, showing promising potentials such of the material in the described application.

As a suitable replacement for prevalent but environmentally hazardous fibrous materials used in exhaust system silencers, innovative micro-perforated (MP) elements have been progressively implemented for internal combustion engine noise control during the past decades. Although MP elements are already massproduced for IC engine noise control, surprisingly few scientific publications can still be found on the endurance of these MP elements. Recently the reliability of MP element was studied by the authors for a small four-stroke petrol engine silencer application. The results clearly demonstrated that the performance of the micro-perforated elements is influenced by the contamination of residual combustion products of the exhaust gas. In this paper the endurance of MP element tested in small industrial diesel engine application of a novel unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) has been treated.