TECHNICAL REPORT ON

MUFFLER

Submitted by
Ashit R. Nisal
III Semester

Under Guidance of
Er. S.D. Thakre

SESSION 2014-15
Department Of Mechanical Engineering
K. D. K. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
NAGPUR
1

INDEX
SR. NO.

CHAPTER

PAGE NO.

Abstract

Introduction

Application

16

Advantages

17

Disadvantages

18

Conclusions

19

References

20

K. D.K. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

NAGPUR.
Department Of Mechanical Engineering

C E R T I F I C AT E

This is to certify that the technical report on " Muffler " submitted by Mr/Ms
Ashit R. Nisal(Roll No.:-74) in partial fulfilment of requirement for the award of degree in
Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering Session at K. D. K. College of Engineering is an
authentic work carried out by him/her under supervision.

Guide Name

Seminar Incharge

Class Incharge

HOD(Mechanical)

ACKNOWLED
GEMENT

I feel immense pleasure while expressing my sincere, humble and deepest sense of
gratitude to seminar Er.S.D.ThakreDepartment of Mechanical Engineering for the valuable
guidance and necessary help. He guided me right from the beginning for preparation &
presentation of Technical Report and seminar.

I extend my thanks to Head of the Department Dr. C C Handa & Academic Incharge
Dr.S.K.Choudhary who made available the faculties required to ensure the success of the
Technical Report and Seminar. Also we would like to express our deep gratitude to Class
Incharge Prof.P.R.Gajbhiye, Technical Report and Seminar Incharge Er.S.D.Thakre other
faculties of Mechanical Engineering Department of K.D.K.C.E. Nagpur who were constant
source of our inspiration.

Although I sincerely hope the work fee from inaccurate statements and faulty judgment in
interpreting date. For these short comings we offer our sincere apology.

Thanking You,
Students Name
Ashit R. Nisal
(Roll No.74)
4

III Semester

ABSTRACT
A muffler is a device for reducing the noise emitted by a machine or internal
combustion engine the engine exhaust blow out through the muffler.
Due to the high energy created during the combustion process in the engine, exhaust
gases when they first enter the exhaust pipes will contain a variety of sound frequencies most

of which are not very acoustically pleasing to the ear. Mufflers are therefore used on vehicles
as a way to 'muffle' or reduce the sound level of the exhaust gases leaving the engine.
A muffler are typically installed along the exhaust system of an internal combustion
engine to reduced its exhaust noise.
Mufflers are expected to reduce the transmission of exhaust noise and they must do it
without significantly restricting the flow. A muffler is a "sound filter" and its performance
varies with the frequency of sound.
The mufflers are usually of following types :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Baffle type
Wave cancellation type
Resonance type
Absorber type
Combined resonance and absorber type

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
The muffler in an automobile plays an integral role in the sound of the automobile as
well as the ride itself. A muffler is a device for reducing the noise emitted by a machine or
internal combustion engine the engine exhaust blow out through the muffler.
Due to the high energy created during the combustion process in the engine, exhaust
gases when they first enter the exhaust pipes will contain a variety of sound frequencies most
of which are not very acoustically pleasing to the ear. Mufflers are therefore used on vehicles
as a way to 'muffle' or reduce the sound level of the exhaust gases leaving the engine. They

can also be used to tune the exhaust note (like a musical instrument) by cancelling out
undesirable sounds leaving behind only those which are most pleasant.
A muffler are typically installed along the exhaust system of an internal combustion
engine to reduced its exhaust noise. The muffler accomplish with a resonating chamber,
which is specially coated with destructive interference, where opposite sound waves cancel
each other out.
Mufflers are expected to reduce the transmission of exhaust noise and they must do it
without significantly restricting the flow. A muffler is a "sound filter" and its performance
varies with the frequency of sound. There are two basic types of mufflers. One is a dissipative
muffler. It contains a series of perforated tubes or chambers that are surrounded by a sound
absorbing material. The sound (acoustic energy) is absorbed by this material and dissipated as
heat. A familiar example is a straight through "glass pack" muffler.
The second is, a reactive muffler or one which the geometric shape, style and quantity
of chambers determines its sound reduction capabilities Many mufflers use a combination of
reactive and dissipative technologies.

CHAPTER-2
POSITION OF MUFFLER

With cars, lengthwise underneath, blowing backwards at the rear

Fig.2.1 position of muffler in car

To the sides before the rear wheels.

With large diesel-powered trucks:-

Fig.2.2 position of muffler in power trucks

Mounted vertically behind the cab

Crosswise under the front of the cab, blowing sideways.

With motorcycles:

Fig:2.3 position of muffler in motorcycles

Usually, beside the engine and rear wheel blowing backwards.

In more modern motorcycles, under the seat blowing backwards from under
the back of the seat. (Under-slung)

CHAPTER-3
WORKING PRINCIPLE

Muffler reduces the noise by reduce the pressure of exhaust gasses sufficiently to
permit them to be discharge to the atmosphere silently. To reduce the pressure the exhaust
gasses are permitted to expand slowly and to cool in muffler. The capacity of muffler should
be sufficiently large to permit the gasses in expand nearly atmospheric pressure before they
are discharge into the air.

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CHAPTER-4
WORKING

The key thing about sound waves is that the result at your ear is the sum of all the
sound waves hitting your ear at that time. If you are listening to a band, even though you may
hear several distinct sources of sound, the pressure waves hitting your ear drum all add
together, so your ear drum only feels one pressure at any given moment.
Now comes the cool part: It is possible to produce a sound wave that is exactly the
opposite of another wave. This is the basis for those noise-cancelling headphones you may
have seen. Take a look at the figure below. The wave on top and the second wave are both
pure tones. If the two waves are in phase, they add up to a wave with the same frequency but
twice the amplitude. This is called constructive interference. But, if they are exactly out of
phase, they add up to zero. This is called destructive interference. At the time when the first
wave is at its maximum pressure, the second wave is at its minimum. If both of these waves
hit your ear drum at the same time, you would not hear anything because the two waves
always add up to zero.

FIG.4.1 NOISE CANCELLATION

9

Inside a Muffler
Located inside the muffler is a set of tubes. These tubes are designed to create
reflected waves that interfere with each other or cancel each other out. Take a look at the
inside of this muffler:

FIG.4.2 : MUFFLER
The exhaust gases and the sound waves enter through the center tube. They bounce
off the back wall of the muffler and are reflected through a hole into the main body of the
muffler. They pass through a set of holes into another chamber, where they turn and go out
the last pipe and leave the muffler.
A chamber called a resonator is connected to the first chamber by a hole. The
resonator contains a specific volume of air and has a specific length that is calculated to
produce a wave that cancels out a certain frequency of sound.

10

The Resonator
When a wave hits the hole, part of it continues into the chamber and part of it is
reflected. The wave travels through the chamber, hits the back wall of the muffler and
bounces back out of the hole. The length of this chamber is calculated so that this wave
leaves the resonator chamber just after the next wave reflects off the outside of the chamber.
Ideally, the high-pressure part of the wave that came from the chamber will line up with the
low-pressure part of the wave that was reflected off the outside of the chamber wall, and the
two waves will cancel each other out.

11

CHAPTER-5
TYPES OF MUFFLER

The mufflers are usually of following types :

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Baffle type
Wave cancellation type
Resonance type
Absorber type
Combined resonance and absorber type

1. Baffle Type Muffler:

FIG.5.1 : BUFFLE TYPE MUFFLER

It consists of a number of baffles spot welded inside the cylindrical body. The purpose of
these baffles is to close the exhaust gases, thus the gases travel a longer path in the muffler.
There are many designs of the baffles used in the muffler. Fig5.1. shows two type of such

muffler. The major drawback of this type of muffler is its low efficiency due to the restricted
flow of the exhaust gases, back pressure increases causing the loss of engine horse power.
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2. Wave Cancellation Type Muffler

FIG.5.2: WAVE CANCELLATION TYPE

MUFFLER
In this type of muffler, the exhaust gases entering the mufflers are dividing into two parts
to flow in the muffler. The lengths of these paths are so adjusted that after they come out of
the muffler, crests of one wave coincide with the troughs of the second wave, thus cancelling
each other and reducing the noise to zero theoretically. This is achieved if the length of the
two paths differs by half the wave length. But this is not practically achieved, because the
noise created by exhaust gases is a combination of different frequencies at different engine
speeds. However appreciable noise is reduced.

3. Resonance Type Muffler

FIG.5.3: RESONANCE TYPE MUFFLER

It consist of the number of Helmholtz resonator in series through which a pipe having access
port passes. Helmholtz name of person who originated the idea
of this type of muffler.

13

4. Absorber type Muffler:

FIG.5.4:ABSORBER TYPE MUFFLER

The muffler is composed of a tube covered by sound absorbing material. The tube is
perforated so that some part of the sound wave goes through the perforation to the absorbing
material. The absorbing material is usually made of fibreglass or steel wool. The dampening
material is protected from the surrounding by a supplementary coat made of a bend metal
sheet.
The advantages of this method are a low back pressure and the relatively simple
design. The inconvenient aspect of this method is a low sound damping compared to the other
techniques, especially at low frequency.
Mufflers using the absorption technique are usually installed on sports vehicles to
increase the performances of the engine because of their low back pressure. A trick to
improve their muffling ability consist of lining up several "straight"

14

5. Combined Resonance and Absorber Type Mufflers:

Sometimes, a resonance chamber is provided at one end or in the middle of the straight
through absorber type muffler, to reduce the pressure and noise still further. In some design,
the resonance chamber is a separate unit called a resonator, which is connected in series to the
muffler.

15

Chapter-6

APPLICATION

A muffler is generally used in all type of automobile

car, busses ,truck, etc. And some petrol and diesel engine.

16

Chapter-7

vehicles such as bike,

ADVANTAGES

Muffler that reduced backpressure relative to earlier models became increasingly

available in the late 20th century, and resulted in increased engine efficiency,
performance, power output, and simultaneously decreased overall wear and tear on the
engines components, as well as sound to

levels in compliance with the law.

17

Chapter - 7

DISADVANTAGES

Removing or by passing a catalytic converter will violate emissions laws. Engine

sound may be more noticeable to both driver and pedestrians, resulting in increased
noisepollution. Some modifications can void factory warranties.

18

CONCLUSION

By studying a muffler it is understand to us that a muffler is very essential component

of all type of automobile and other engine which produce excess noise and pollution.
Due to the high energy created during the combustion process in the engine, exhaust
gases when they first enter the exhaust pipes will contain a variety of sound frequencies most
of which are not very acoustically pleasing to the ear. Mufflers are therefore used on vehicles
as a way to 'muffle' or reduce the sound level of the exhaust gases leaving the engine.

19

REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffler-15/10/2014
http://findebookee.com/e/exhaust-design-15/10/2014
http://www.2dix.com/document-pdf/muffler-pdf.php-17/10/2014
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/muffler3.htm-17/10/2014
R.B.GUPTA-Automobile Engineer

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