A finite element method for damped acoustic systems: An application to evaluate the performance of reactive mufflers

The approximate equations governing the forced harmonic motion of a damped acoustic system are set up by using a variational principle. Acoustic finite elements are then used in a computer program to study the transmission loss and insertion loss performance of some expansion chamber mufflers. The manner in which the equations are set up allows a number of input and output nodes, and two-dimensional effects involving the influence of transverse acoustic modes to be taken into account. Although only the simplest of elements and coarse mesh sizes are used the resulting accuracy of the solutions is extremely good; thus the method should be a viable one for studying the performance of more complicated mufflers, having variable cross-sections and internal energy dissipation.