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In the last decades numerical simulations have become reliable tools for the design and the optimization of silencers for internal combustion engines. Different approaches, ranging from simple 1D models to detailed 3D models, are nowadays commonly applied in the engine development process, with the aim to predict the acoustic behavior of intake and exhaust systems. However, the acoustic analysis is usually performed under the hypothesis of infinite stiffness of the silencer walls. This assumption, which can be regarded as reasonable for most of the applications, can lose validity if low wall thickness are considered. This consideration is even more significant if the recent trends in the automotive industry are taken into account: in fact, the increasing attention to the weight of the vehicle has lead to a general reduction of the thickness of the metal sheets, due also to the adoption of high-strength steels, making the vibration of the components a non negligible issue.

In this paper a three-dimensional time-domain CFD approach has been employed to predict and analyze the acoustic attenuation performance of complex perforated muffler geometries, where strong 3D effects limit the validity of the use of one-dimensional models. A pressure pulse has been imposed at the inlet to excite the wave motion, while unsteady flow computation have been performed to acquire the time histories of the pressures upstream and downstream of the silencer. Pressures in the time domain have been then transformed to acoustic pressures in the frequency domain, to predict the transmission loss.

The acoustic simulation of internal combustion engine exhaust systems is an important aspect to meet customer expectations and legislation targets. One dimensional gas dynamic simulation tools are used for the calculation of the exhaust orifice noise in the early stages of the engine development process. This includes the prediction of the acoustic performance of individual components in the exhaust line. One common element used in exhaust systems to increase the acoustic damping is the plug flow muffler. This study looks at the prediction of acoustic performance of various plug mufflers at different flow velocities. These include a single plug muffler, a double plug muffler and an eccentric plug muffler with different porosities for the perforated sections. To this purpose a generic 3D cell approach was developed and applied.