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The insertion loss of louvered terminations positioned at the end of a rectangular duct is determined using acoustic finite element analysis. Insertion loss was determined by taking the difference between the sound power with and without the louvers at the termination. Analyses were conducted in the plane wave regime and the acoustic source was anechoic eliminating any reflections from the source. The effect of different louver configurations on insertion loss was examined. Parameters investigated included louver length, angle, and spacing between louvers. Based on the analyses, equations were developed for the insertion loss of unlined louvers.

The sound attenuation performance of microperforated panels (MPP) with adjoining air cavity is demonstrated. First of all, simulated results are shown based upon Maa's work investigating the parameters which impact MPP performance [1]. It is shown that the most important parameter is the depth of the adjoining cavity. Following this, an experimental study was undertaken to compare the performance of an MPP to that of standard foam. Following this, two strategies to improve the MPP performance are implemented. These include partitioning the air cavity and having a cavity with varying depth. Both strategies show a marked improvement in MPP attenuation.

This paper considers two questions: how does one know when a boundary element mesh is reliable, and what are the advantages and potential pitfalls of various methods for sound radiation prediction. To answer the first question, a mesh checking method is used. With this method velocity boundary conditions are calculated on the nodes of the mesh using a point source or sources placed inside the mesh. A boundary element program is then used to calculate the sound power due to these boundary conditions. The result is compared to the known sound power of the point source or sources. This method has been used to determine the maximum frequency of a mesh, how many CHIEF points to use, etc. The second question is answered by comparing the results of several numerical methods to experimental results for a running diesel engine. The methods examined include the direct and indirect boundary element methods and the Rayleigh integral.

The paper presents work on testing of inflatable wings for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Inflatable wing history and recent research is discussed. Design and construction of inflatable wings is then covered, along with ground and flight testing. Discussions include predictions and correlations of the forces required to warp (twist) the wings to a particular shape and the aerodynamic forces generated by that shape change. The focus is on characterizing the deformation of the wings and development of a model to accurately predict deformation. Relations between wing stiffness and internal pressure and the impact of external loads are presented. Mechanical manipulation of the wing shape on a test vehicle is shown to be an effective means of roll control. Possible benefits to aerodynamic efficiency are also discussed.

Helmholtz resonators are often used in the design of vehicle mufflers to target tonal noise at a few specific low frequencies generated by the engine. Due to the uncertainty of temperature variations and different engine speeds, multiple resonators may have to be built in series to cover a narrow band of frequencies. Double-tuned Helmholtz resonators (DTHR) normally consist of two chambers connected in series. Openings or necks are created by punching small slots into a thin-walled tube which provide a natural neck passage to the enclosing volume of the Helmholtz resonator. In this paper, numerical analyses using both the boundary element (BEM) and the finite element (FEM) methods are performed and simulation results are compared against one another. A typical real-world muffler configuration commonly used in passenger vehicles is used in a case study.

The paper presents work on development, testing and vehicle integration of inflatable wings for small UAVs. Recent advances in the design of inflatable lifting surfaces have removed previous deterrents to their use and multiple wing designs have been successfully flight tested on UAVs. Primary benefits of inflatable wings include stowability (deploy upon command) and robustness (highly resistant to damage). The inflatable planforms can be either full- or partial-span designs allowing a large design space and mission adaptability. The wings can be stowed when not in use and inflated prior to or during flight. Since inflatable designs have improved survivability over rigid wings, this has the prospect of increasing vehicle robustness and combat survivability. Damage resistance of inflatable wings is shown from results of laboratory and flight tests.

The development of the more electric aircraft is in progress. An important part of more electric aircraft concept is the integral starter/generator (ISG) mounted on the shaft of the jet engine. The prime candidate technology for the ISG is a system based on the switched reluctance motor (SRM). Switched reluctance technology has been chosen for this application because the a single failure does not lead to a complete loss of electrical power. In fact, each phase of the SRM is essentially independent of every other phase. Thus it is possible to be able to loose a single phase as a result of a fault and still remain operational with all of the other phases. This characteristic of the SRM has been referred to as fault tolerance and it is a very important characteristic when there is only one generator per engine.

Experiments were performed to investigate the convective heat transfer from a two-dimensional slot jet of the dielectric liquid PAO to a smooth 15.2 mm by 9.5 mm film resistor surface. The effects of nozzle width, nozzle-to-plate distance, impinging velocity, and liquid properties have been examined. Heat transfer correlations and a discussion of relative parametric effects are provided.

This paper explores the use of inverse boundary element method to identify aeroacoustic noise sources. In the proposed approach, sound pressure at a few locations out of the flow field is measured, followed by the reconstruction of acoustic particle velocity on the surface where the noise is generated. Using this reconstructed acoustic particle velocity, the acoustic response anywhere in the field, including in the flow field, can be predicted. This approach is advantageous since only a small number of measurement points are needed and can be done outside of the flow field, and a relatively fast computational time. As an example, a prediction of vortex shedding noise from a circular cylinder is presented.

This paper is concerned with the prediction and experimental verification of the interior noise of cabs used on construction, highway, and farm equipment. The typical heavy equipment cab is totally enclosed and partially lined with absorbing materials but is much stiffer and more massive than automobile passenger compartments. The process to analyze a construction cab is explained in detail. Selected results are also presented to show the value of the method.

Intake, exhaust, and heating / air conditioning systems in automobiles consist of various common duct elements. Noise arises primarily due to the source and is attenuated using common elements like expansion chambers and resonators. This attenuation is straightforward to predict using plane wave simulation and more advanced numerical methods. However, flow noise is often an unexpected important noise source. Predictions require computer intensive analyses. To better understand the aeroacoustic sources in duct systems, a flow rig has been developed at the University of Kentucky. The flow rig consists of a blower, a silencer to attenuate blower noise, external noise sources, and then the test duct. The flow rig can be equipped with an anechoic termination to measure transmission loss or may be used to measure insertion loss directly. In the latter case, the sound power is measured from the pipe outlet inside of a hemi-anechoic chamber.

The two-source method was used to measure the bulk properties (complex characteristic impedance and complex wavenumber) of sound-absorbing materials, and results were compared to those obtained with the more commonly used two-cavity method. The results indicated that the two-source method is superior to the two-cavity method for materials having low absorption. Several applications using bulk properties are then presented. These include: (1) predicting the absorptive properties of an arbitrary thickness absorbing material or (2) layered material and (3) using bulk properties for a multi-domain boundary element analysis.

Properly characterizing input forces is an important part of simulating structure-borne noise problems. The purpose of this work was to apply a known force reconstruction technique to an earthmoving machinery cab to obtain input functions for modeling purposes. The technique was performed on a cab under controlled laboratory conditions to gain confidence in the method prior to use on actual machines. Forces were measured directly using force transducers and compared to results from the force reconstruction technique. The measured forces and vibrations were used as input power to an SEA model with favorable results.

This paper explores the use of inverse numerical acoustics to reconstruct the surface vibration of a noise source. Inverse numerical acoustics is mainly used for source identification. This approach uses the measured sound pressure at a set of field points and the Helmholtz integral equation to reconstruct the normal surface velocity. The number of sound pressure measurements is considerably less than the number of surface vibration nodes. A brief guideline on choosing the number and location of the field points to provide an acceptable reproduction of the surface vibration is presented. The effect of adding a few measured velocities to improve the accuracy will also be discussed. Other practical considerations such as the shape of the field point mesh and effect of experimental errors on reconstruction accuracy will be presented. Examples will include a diesel engine and a transmission housing.

This paper examines the feasibility of using the boundary element method (BEM) and the Rayleigh integral to assess the sound radiation from engine components such as oil pans. Two oil pans, one cast aluminum and the other stamped steel, are used in the study. All numerical results are compared to running engine data obtained for each of these oil pans on a Cummins engine. Measured running-engine surface velocity data are used as input to the BEM calculations. The BEM models of the oil pains are baffled in various ways to determine the feasibility of analyzing the sound radiated from the oil pan in isolation of the engine. Two baffling conditions are considered: an infinite baffle in which the edge of the oil pan are attached to an infinite, flat surface; and a closed baffle in which the edge of the oil pan is sealed with a rigid structure. It is shown that either of these methods gives satisfactory results when compared to experiment.

Micro-perforated panels have tiny pores which attenuate sound based on the Helmholtz resonance principle. That being the case, an appropriate cavity depth should be chosen to fully capitalize on the attenuation potential of the panel. Generally, the panel's sound absorbing performance can be predicted by Maa's theory given information about the panel and the cavity depth. However, in some cases, one cannot use the theory to predict the panel's performance precisely, especially when the micro-perforate has varying diameters and/or irregular hole shapes. In these cases, the sound-absorbing performance of the micro-perforate is different from that of a uniform pore diameter perforate. This paper presents an alternative method to predict the micro-perforated panel's performance precisely. As a first step, the transfer impedance of the micro-perforate should be measured.

Partial enclosures are a very common way to reduce noise emissions from machinery. However, partial enclosures exhibit complex acoustic behavior that is difficult to predict. The boundary element method (BEM) was used to model the airborne path of a partial enclosure. Simulation results were compared to measurement with good agreement. Special attention is given to the determination of negative insertion loss. It is demonstrated that the enclosure insertion loss will be negative at the Helmholtz frequencies for the enclosure.

Partial enclosures are commonly utilized to reduce the radiated noise from equipment. Often, enclosure openings are fitted with silencers or louvers to further reduce the noise emitted. In the past, the boundary element method (BEM) has been applied to predict the insertion loss of the airborne path with good agreement with measurement. However, an alteration at the opening requires a new model and additional computational time. In this paper, a transfer function method is proposed to reduce the time required to assess the effect of modifications to an enclosure. The proposed method requires that the impedance at openings be known. Additionally, transfer functions relating the sound pressure at one opening to the volume velocity at other openings must be measured or determined using simulation. It is assumed that openings are much smaller than an acoustic wavelength. The sound power from each opening is determined from the specific acoustic impedance and sound pressure at the opening.

This paper considers the use of partial enclosures and absorbing materials inside those enclosures to dissipate energy. Several experiments were conducted where various parameters of an enclosure were altered and the effect on the noise radiating through the opening was measured. From these results, the parameters that play the most important role in sound radiation through the opening of an enclosure were determined. The two-point method and decomposition theory were used to calculate the transmission loss, which was used as the primary variable to analyze the enclosure's performance; the transmission loss is shown to be a better variable than sound pressure or output sound power for this purpose. Numerical simulations were conducted using the indirect boundary element method, and the results were compared with experimental results.

Over 30 years ago, A. H. Vincent of Westland Helicopters demonstrated that if a structure is excited harmonically, the response at another position (at a fixed frequency) will trace a circle in the complex plane as a result of a dynamic stiffness modification between two points. As either the real or imaginary part of an introduced dynamic stiffness is varied from minus infinity to plus infinity, the structural or acoustic response on any position will map a circle in the complex plane. This paper reviews the basis for this little known principle for vibro-acoustics problems and illustrates the viability for a cantilevered plate example. The applicability of the method is then considered for strictly acoustic systems like intake and exhaust systems. Specifically, it is shown that the response traces a circle in the complex plane if either the real or imaginary parts of the source or termination impedance are varied from minus to plus infinity.