Effects of wall admittance changes on duct transmission and radiation of sound

This paper is concerned with the effect of changes in duct wall acoustic properties on the transmission of sound through ducts. Two special problems are considered. The first problem is that of a rectangular infinite-length duct with airflow and a single change in duct wall acoustic admittance. The second problem is that of an axisymmetric field in a finite circular duct without airflow and with an arbitrary number of duct wall acoustic admittance changes. Results for the first problem show the effect of wall admittance change and flow on the acoustic power transmission within the duct. Results for the second problem show the interactive effects of multiple duct liner sections on power radiated from a finite duct.     

Acoustic propagation in partially choked converging-diverging ducts

A computer model based on the wave-envelope technique is used to study acoustic propagation in converging-diverging hard walled and lined circular ducts carrying near sonic mean flows. The influences of the liner admittance, boundary layer thickness, spinning mode number, and mean Mach number are considered. The numerical results indicate that the diverging portion of the duct can have a strong reflective effect for partially choked flows.     

Propagation and radiation of sound from flanged circular ducts with circumferentially varying wall admittances,II: Finite ducts with sources

The radiation of sound from a flanged duct system containing various hard-walled pressure sources and a finite length of non-uniformly lined duct is considered. Reflection coefficients, transmission losses and the directivity of the radiated field are evaluated. Direct comparisons between the results for the non-uniformly lined ducts, a uniformly lined duct and a hard-walled duct are made for fixed values of admittance, liner length and source distributions. Several interesting wave scattering characteristics which relate to the design of aircraft turbofan inlet liners are uncovered.     

Sound transmission at low frequencies through the walls of distorted circular ducts

A theoretical treatment of sound transmission through the walls of distorted circular ducts is given, for plane mode transmission within the duct. The transmission mechanism is essentially that of “mode coupling”, whereby higher structural modes in the duct walls are excited, because of the wall distortion, by the internal sound field. The theory is in two parts: an approximate analytical model for the structural response of the walls to the internal sound field, and a structural radiation model. Computed results, based on the theory, are compared to measurements on “long-seam” air conditioning ducts. Where the duct geometry can be reliably specified, reasonably good agreement is obtained between theoretical and experimental data. It is concluded that mode coupling effects serve to account for the discrepancies between ideal and observed behaviour in sound transmission through duct walls.     

The acoustical impedance of holes in the wall of flow ducts

The radiation impedance of circular and oblong holes in the wall of a flow duct has been measured as a function of the flow velocity. The boundary layer at the wall of the duct is thin compared to the dimensions of the orifices. At low Strouhal numbers (quasi-static case) and constant boundary layer thickness, the flow resistance of the orifice (real part of the impedance) increases in proportion to the flow velocity. The imaginary part of the impedance corresponds to a constant, negative attached mass above the orifice, i.e. the impedance is spring-like. In the transition range from air at rest to the quasi-static case (high Strouhal numbers) the impedance as a function of the flow velocity describes a spiral in the complex plane. The mechanism causing the flow dependence of the impedance is illustrated by a simple model of the flow above the orifice. As a practical example of the flow-dependent impedance of orifices, the flow-dependent sensitivity of a probe microphone used in flowing media is discussed.     

Non-linear attenuation of sound in circular lined ducts

The attenuation of high intensity sound in circular ducts lined with fibrous material has been investigated. With no mean flow, the sound pressure levels are varied to illustrate the linear and non-linear absorption characteristics of the liner. Effects of liner thickness, perforation ratio of the duct wall and the $\text{d}\text{t}$ ratio are analysed.Optimum combinations of the perforation geometry and liner thickness are found to be of stable attenuation characteristics over a wide frequency range and at high sound levels.     

The attenuation of the higher-order cross-section modes in a duct with a thin porous layer

A numerical method for sound propagation of higher-order cross-sectional modes in a duct of arbitrary cross-section and boundary conditions with nonzero, complex acoustic admittance has been considered. This method assumes that the cross-section of the duct is uniform and that the duct is of a considerable length so that the longitudinal modes can be neglected. The problem is reduced to a two-dimensional (2D) finite element (FE) solution, from which a set of cross-sectional eigen-values and eigen-functions are determined. This result is used to obtain the modal frequencies, velocities and the attenuation coefficients. The 2D FE solution is then extended to three-dimensional via the normal mode decomposition technique. The numerical solution is validated against experimental data for sound propagation in a pipe with inner walls partially covered by coarse sand or granulated rubber. The values of the eigen-frequencies calculated from the proposed numerical model are validated against those predicted by the standard analytical solution for both a circular and rectangular pipe with rigid walls. It is shown that the considered numerical method is useful for predicting the sound pressure distribution, attenuation, and eigen-frequencies in a duct with acoustically nonrigid boundary conditions. The purpose of this work is to pave the way for the development of an efficient inverse problem solution for the remote characterization of the acoustic boundary conditions in natural and artificial waveguides.     

Higher order mode acoustic transmission through the walls of rectangular ducts

As an extension of previous work on low frequency fundamental mode acoustic transmission through the walls of rectangular ducts, results are presented here on the transmission of internally propagated higher order acoustic modes through the duct walls. Subject to various assumptions, it is possible to obtain a closed form solution to the structural wave equation governing the motion of the duct's walls, and this is used to predict the response of the walls to the internal pressure field. The resultant acoustic radiation is estimated here by assuming that the duct radiates like a circular cylinder with the same surface velocity distribution. Both experimental and theoretical results are given and agreement between the two is tolerably good.     

Guided waves in a circular duct containing an assembly of circular cylinders

This paper provides an analytical scheme to calculate the admissible acoustic propagation modes of fluid in a circular duct containing an assembly of circular cylinders, as might occur in gas-cooled fast breeder reactors and advanced gas-cooled reactors. The duct wall and cylinders are assumed to be stationary, and their axes are assumed to be parallel to each other. The solution to the acoustic wave equation is expressed in a sum of the partial fluid velocity potentials associated with each rod co-ordinate and duct co-ordinate. The technique of transformation of cylindrical wave functions is then used to solve the boundary value problem. Two kinds of acoustic boundary conditions are considered, acoustically hard and acoustically soft, respectively.     

Boundary layer effects on sound in a circular duct

Boundary layer effects on an acoustic field in a unidirectional flow with transverse shear are studied. The acoustic pressure variation in the direction normal to that of the flow is governed in the boundary layer by a second order differential equation. The problem in the boundary layer is reduced from a two point boundary value problem to a one point boundary value problem by transforming the governing equation into the Riccati equation. The Riccati equation is easily integrated with standard numerical procedures. The integration process yields the effective admittance of the wall-boundary layer combination. The acoustic field in the uniform flow is then determined for this effective admittance. Further complications imposed by the boundary layer are thus eliminated. The simplicity of the technique allows calculation of the propagation and decay constants in a circular duct over a wide range of parameters and duct modes.     

Comparison of measured broadband noise attenuation spectra from circular flow ducts and from lined engine intakes with predictions

Sound propagation in lined circular ducts is investigated in the presence of uniform and sheared flow. The modal solutions are obtained by solving an eigenvalue equation which, in the case of sheared flow, is derived by using finite differences and by matching the pressure and the radial component of the particle velocity at the interface of the regions of uniform and sheared flow. For the uniform flow region, standard Bessel function solutions are used. The attenuation of acoustic energy at a given frequency and for a given liner length is computed on the assumption that at the inlet to the lined duct, the acoustic energy is equally distributed among the propagating modes. The total number of propagating modes is determined from the hard wall “cut off” condition. The failure to find some of the modal solutions on the attenuation computed in this way is discussed. It is shown that the reliability of this method of computing liner attenuation depends on the ability to successfully compute most of the modal solutions over a large range of frequencies, flow conditions and duct wall impedance values. A numerical technique is developed which uses a fraction of the total number of solutions to compute the total attenuations without appreciable loss of accuracy. Measured attenuation spectra from a flow duct facility and from lined intake ducts of the RB.211 engine are compared with predictions. In general very good agreement between predictions and measurements is obtained.     

Sound wave propagation in ducts whose walls are lined with a porous layer backed by cellular cavities

This paper concerns propagation and attenuation of sound waves through acoustically lined ducts. For a cylindrical duct whose liner consists of a point-reacting porous material layer backed by cellular cavities, the admittance formula derived by taking into account a wave motion within the liner is applied to an analysis of waves propagating downstream. For the point-reacting liner of fixed porous material properties, influences of the porous layer thickness, cellular cavity depth, mean flow profile, and three dimensionality of the duct (i.e., cylindrical or plane) on the attenuation are examined. The results show a significant role of the porous layer thickness. For the cylindrical duct, attenuation spectra evaluated from this analysis are compared with those given by the widely used semi-empirical formula.     

Application of the time dependent finite difference theory to the study of sound and vibration interactions in ducts

The time dependent finite difference theory is extended to the solution of the acoustic wave equation in rectangular ducts when acoustic/structural interactions are allowed at a duct wall. The treatment of the boundary condition which describes the coupling is examined, and the stability of the procedure is studied and found to depend on the nature of this coupling. The convergence of solutions is discussed as a function of the discretization of the solution domain, particularly at frequencies approaching resonance.     

Two-dimensional acoustic wave propagation in elastic ducts

Integral transforms are employed in order to obtain a formal solution to the two-dimensional elastic-walled duct problem. The fluid inside the duct is stationary, inviscid and compressible, and is identical to the fluid outside the duct. A time-harmonic line source lies between the duct walls. With attention confined to the field inside the duct, an asymptotic analysis is implemented for high and low frequencies, yielding residues which are valid throughout the duct and branch-cut contributions which apply only in the far field.     

Initial values for the integration scheme to compute the eigenvalues for propagation in ducts

It has been found that in the integration method for calculating the eigenvalues for propagation in two-dimensional ducts with flow care must be taken not to exclude roots which in the hardwall case are at infinity. When the real part of the wall admittance is positive starting values for the integration procedure to obtain these extra eigenvalues can be obtained by a limiting case analysis. When the imaginary part of the admittance is negative it appears that all the roots can be accounted for by the usual hardwall initial values κ_nb = nπ.     

Measurement of radial and circumferential modes in annular and circular fan ducts

The distribution of acoustic energy among the modes in a duct is important in determining the source distribution, the radiation characteristics and the effect of any acoustic linings. This distribution can be determined by processing the microphone signals obtained over planes perpendicular to the duct axis. In an annular or circular duct, the circumferential analysis is simply a Fourier transform, but the radial analysis is in terms of Bessel functions. Methods of determining the radial mode distribution are discussed and results of such analyses on idealized distributions are presented. The use of the most suitable methods of analysis is then demonstrated in measuring the modal distribution of the distortion generated noise of an isolated fan.     

Active noise control in finite length ducts

A simple technique for the active control of sound in ducts, initially suggested by Olson and May [1], is investigated in detail. A simple, “virtual earth” principle, feedback loop is used to drive the sound pressure to a minimum at a microphone placed close to a loudspeaker in the duct wall. This produces a reflection of downstream travelling plane waves. A detailed investigation of the loudspeaker near field has enabled the optimum position of the microphone to be identified. The system is shown to be especially effective at the frequencies of the longitudinal duct resonances, where the acoustic response of the duct produces a high loop gain. Results are presented which show a reduction of up to 20 dB in the amplitude of low frequency broadband noise at a position downstream of the cancelling source.     

Investigation into higher-order mode propagation through orifice plates in circular ducts

Most established techniques for analyzing sound transmission in ducts containing orifices plates are only applicable for plane wave propagation. Once the wavelength of the sound approaches the cross section of the duct, higher order mode propagation in the system must be considered in the analysis. This is a numerically intensive activity if fully coupled calculations of the higher order modes are undertaken. This investigation estimates the acoustic fields in a duct with a simple orifice plate installed using an uncoupled model to estimate the higher order mode contribution. The uncoupled model is then used as the basis for a hybrid decomposition approach to estimate the sound field in the regions before and after the orifice plate installed in a circular duct. This approach is applied to a duct, excited by a point source over a wide frequency range, containing a single orifice plate installed a distance inside the duct. Different orifice plates with one, two and multiple openings are investigated. Of particular interest is the location of the point source relative to the duct axis. If the source is located concentric to the duct axis then, without any orifice plate present, only axially symmetric higher order modes may be excited in the duct. Thus, the investigation considers the point source located in the concentric position and in eccentric positions to vary the contribution from the different types of higher order mode. Estimates of the acoustic fields in the duct obtained using the hybrid decomposition approach are compared with measured data and the applicability of using an uncoupled estimate for the acoustic fields is commented on.     

Sound generation and transmission in flow ducts with axial temperature gradients

This article describes a one-dimensional, linearized, analysis of fundamental mode sound generation and propagation in rigid-walled flow ducts with axial temperature variation. An acoustic wave equation, including damping effects and volume sources, is derived and its solution (in the absence of sources) by a numerical technique and an approximate analytical method is discussed. The “forced” wave equation is then solved (the existence of an oscillating solution to the “unforced” equation being assumed) for sound generation by a side-branch volume source in an infinite duct, and the results are applied to a duct of finite length. Reasonably good agreement is obtained between measurements and predictions of the sound pressure field in a flow duct, away from the source region.     

On acoustic propagation in three-dimensional rectangular ducts with flexible walls and porous linings

The focus of this article is toward the development of hybrid analytic-numerical mode-matching methods for model problems involving three-dimensional ducts of rectangular cross-section and with flexible walls. Such methods require first closed form analytic expressions for the natural fluid-structure coupled waveforms that propagate in each duct section and second the corresponding orthogonality relations. It is demonstrated how recent theory [Lawrie, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 465, 2347-2367 (2009)] may be extended to a wide class of three-dimensional ducts, for example, those with a flexible wall and a porous lining (modeled as an equivalent fluid) or those with a flexible internal structure, such as a membrane (the "drum-like" silencer). Two equivalent expressions for the eigenmodes of a given duct can be formulated. For the ducts considered herein, the first ansatz is dependent on the eigenvalues/eigenfunctions appropriate for wave propagation in the corresponding two-dimensional flexible-walled duct, whereas the second takes the form of a Fourier series. The latter offers two advantages: no "root-finding" is involved and the method is appropriate for ducts in which the flexible wall is orthotropic. The first ansatz, however, provides important information about the orthogonality properties of the three-dimensional eigenmodes.