Journal of Sound and Vibration (1974) 37(1), 17-26

LOWER EXHAUST NOISE FROM BETTER SILENCER DESIGN

TECHNIQUESt
E. J. WONNACOTT
Military Vehicles and Enghzeering Establishment,
Chertsey, Surrey, England

(Received 19 April 1974)

Subject to the analytical and experimental work completed by Drs P. O. A. L. Davies

and R. J. Alfredson on the optimization of reactive type exhaust silencers in 1970, their rec-
ommendations and established theory have been used to analyse and build a series of
efficient silencers for general vehicle and stationary engine use. The recommended design
procedure has generally been found to be flexible in its application and the silencers thus
designed appear to have distinct advantages over their current counterparts in relation to
design simplicity, ease ofmanufacture and consistent attenuation performance throughout
their useful life. The results of these trials are described together with details of the manu-
facturing and testing problems that have been experienced in building such units for each
specific application.

1. INTRODUCTION
Since the birth of the internal combustion engine some eighty or ninety years ago it has
always been the aim of the engineer to achieve an engine which has the "strength of a lion
and yet is as quiet as a lamb". This ultimate aim has led to a vast expenditure of time and
effort in reducing the exhaust noise of the common automobile engine and until recently the
design of adequate silencers has remained largely empirical. However, it is now possible to
achieve perfectly satisfactory "one-off" designs with the aid of the computerized silencer
design techniques, developed at the Institute o f Sound and Vibration Research, University
of Southampton [1 ]. This technique is based on an understanding o f the fundamental engine
exhaust noise signature, the desired attenuation over the audible frequency bands and
vehicle layout constraints.

2. T H E O R E ~ C A L BACKGROUND
The design procedure is based on linear acoustic theory and includes a consideration of the
mean gas flow effects [1, 2, 3].
The problem of local changes in the sound field and the flow patterns around a discontinu-
ity, as would be experienced at changes in section throughout a silencer system, has been
simplified by considering the flow as one-dimensional at a distance of one or two pipe
diameters from the source of the discontinuity. The higher order modes generated at the
changes of section have been found to be of minor importance and as a first-order approxima~
tion have been neglected. From this fundamental basis a mathematical model was evolved

I Presented at the British Acoustical Society meeting on "Noise from prime movers" at the Institute of
Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton, England, 9-10 July 1973.
17
18 E..L WONNACOTT
and each step of the analysis was carefully checked by practical tests to evaluate its
authenticity.
The culmination of this work has been a computerized design technique capable of operat-
ing over the predominant audible frequency bands, 20 Hz to 20 kHz (wavelengths of approxi-
mately 23.0 m to 0.075 m, respectively) and capable of predicting attenuations up to 45 dB,
by optimization of the pipe and silencer box lengths, over the full range of load and speed
conditions for any particular engine installation.

3. DESIGN PROCEDURE
The design of a silencer for a particular application first entails taking recordings of the
basic engine exhaust noise spectrum with a straight through open exhaust pipe over the entire
operating range of engine speed and load.
The spectrum is normally obtained by placing a microphone I m from the open end of the
pipe, but in situations where the noise level from an open pipe is unacceptable the waveform
pattern in the exhaust pipe can be established with the aid of pressure transducers in the pipe
upstream of the standard test bed exhaust system. Also, it has been found that, for practical
purposes, an increase in engine load at each particular speed setting causes a corresponding
shift in the noise spectrum to a higher level and, since only the highest levels are required, it
is necessary solely to record at full load conditions.
From the composite noise spectra, obtained over the useful operating range of engine speed
and load, a noise envelope is established, from which an eight-line plot of the desired alterna-
tion against wavelength is evolved. This data together with the maximum tail pipe Mach
number, the desired areas of the exhaust pipe, silencer box and resulting end plate annulus,
and the initial silencer layout, constitute the input to the computer programme.

i I I I Gos,,o
!

I ....
x~ 1 ,- x3
Figure 1. Critical component layout in two box silencer.

The selection of the initial silencer component dimensions, for inclusion in the input data
of the programme, is of overriding importance in achieving the best results from the ultimate
optimization procedure; consequently a sound understanding of the function of each com-
ponent is essential. Figure 1 shows a twin chamber silencer design having intrusion pipe
lengths, li,/2,/3, and/4, silencer box lengths xl and x2, a connecting pipe length x4 and tail
pipe length xa. From analyses of the previous performance of this type of system, it has been
found that the attenuation modes occur at wavelengths corresponding to 4/, -41a,-~l, etc., in
descending order of attenuation performance, whilst reinforcement or amplification of the
driving signal occurs at 2x, 2x/2, 2x/3, etc., again in descending order of importance. The
layout of the initial design must obviously be a match of the attenuation and reinforcing modes,
and to obtain a good initial system coincident matching of the fundamental or harmonics of
either of these modes must be avoided. A further consideration of these characteristics, to
 LOWER EXIIAUST NOISE 19
I I I I i I i 11 l l l i l J J l q I Ill I I III
(o)
30

151 i ~1 131
20
:-+-----r-
Dsmen,~oPsin cm
tO

(b) 185
3C
ml--
Dime~ ~
2C

I0

(c)
50
~ O ~ 46
9 J~---"--~'~ 3 I
20
men..~C~Sin Crn
I0

30 (d)

~s item

I0

I i i I ~ t ii I I llllllllIltlll I IIII
05 I 2 3 4 5 6 78910
Wove]enQth (in)

Figure 2. Effects of parameter variations on silencer performance. Respective configurations (a)-(d)

shown on inset drawings.

achieve good low-frequency attenuation with a predominantly high-frequency filter, can best
be illustrated from Figure 2. A series of computational studies revealed that as long as the
maximum attenuation wavelength, i.e., 41 max, was greater than the maximum reinforcing
wavelength, i.e. 2x max, exceptional low-frequency attenuation could be achieved. Figure 2(a)
illustrates this more clearly since with a maximum attenuation occurring at 2.45 m wavelength
resulting from an intrusion pipe length of 0.61 m good attenuation has been achieved for all
wavelengths, even up to 5.5 m. In the second example, Figure 2(b), the maximum intrusion
length has been deliberately chosen to be less than the half box length which has resulted in
"chopping" of the attenuation characteristics at a wavelength equivalent to twice the box
length. By use of this technique substantial attenuation "spreading" can be achieved as further
shown in the extreme cases, illustrated in Figures 2(c) and 2(d).
20 E.J. WON~ACOTr

It should be appreciated that the designs shown in Figures 2(a), (b), (c) and (d) are not
considered good overall designs but were deliberately selected to show the above effect. This
understanding has led to substantial gains in overall silencer volume in situations where low
frequency attenuation is of the utmost importance. The use of side entry and outlet conditions
X3

--'I .L
I I
1 I

X3

Gasflow
Figure 3. Side entry and exit arrangements.
~aas also been evaluated and substantiated (Figure 3) and as long as dimensions lz and 14 are
~ai/ita~ned, together with overall tail pipe length x3, a satisfactory design can be achieved.
~i~se'lection'of the silencer box and exhaust sdiameters should be such that the maximum
l~acla':i~m~r is fie ver greater than 0.2 in the tail pipe, an d !hr area ratio should
!",d.'6ai:lt}~",r
y '~: 1.
4. COMPLETED D E S I G N S A N D TEST RESULTS

Silencers have been designed and built for a number of engines comprising compression
ignition and spark ignited, two- and fou~-stroke including a Wankel rotary, pressure charged
and naturally aspirated, variable and constant speed machines. The noise levels obtained for
four of these engines with both the open pipe and the optimized reactive type silencers are
plotted in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7. Where possible the results obtained with the standard com-
mercial silencers are also included. (The sound pressure levels are relative to a pressure of
2 x 10 -5 Pa (N/m2).)

i ! i i i i i i i i i itlili i iii I llll

~1, I f I
IB i 7
46 76
120 ~ O/mer~'ons
in era

m
I10 ~ "~Open pipe

I00
co
90 ~ Mer~sured
, t I I I III I it111,1,1 il,l I I III
I 2 3 4 5 678910
Wovelength (rn)
Figure 4. Attenuation performance of optimized silencer four-stroke, four-litre, spark-ignited engine.
Recorded at 1 m from tailpipe over speed range 1500-5000 rev/min.
 LOWER. EXHAUST NOISE 21

I00 i ~A I r~
Sp'~~I~IO'~V
l / " ~ l f~i~ i~I ~ ic VI ui~/~1 ~ i l l l i l l l I I il I IIII

oZ 90
0 <---- Open pipe
80 e n
I I l I I'll I '
"~ I i o I I ut]

GO -- 9 I I'
/ - 11 t ..o
q) 9 II 0~ " Ir"~l /~l ~0
o 50- Fn31sllencer
9
,," ~,',i 9/ ~ \% 9 I' 'i ,'
5 arrangement~ 9 ,, " ~ , o /
4 0 -- " ",} i/
" ~ ~~xJ J

I I I 1 >
I' I ?' I " I 46 i 30 9I ~,
~ 0 -- ~ 46
Dimensions in crn

I t , ~ , ~ t t ,,I , , ,~l,,sd , I~I I I I II

I -'2 -~5 4 5678910 ---
V,bvelength (m)
Figure 5. Attenuation performance of optimized and previous commercial silencer on spark-ignited, single
bank,
.
rotary engine. 0";4
.
litre. CalSh~{ty
.,:-
at. 4000
.
rev/min. Recorded at 1 m from tailpipe.

122 1?.2 -" 37 85

D~err~ns in cm

120
>~
~ y s t e l

llC

/
=IOC

90

,f- //
8O /,/i "/I

70 I I I
, 1000 2000 3000 .... 4000
Outpul s h a f l s p e e d (rev/min}

Figure 6. Vibrations in overall noise levels due to changes in engine load. Scavenge blown two-stroke
diesel. Recorded at 1 m from tailpipe. , Full load; . . . . , no load.

The results do indicate that substantial reductions in the noise levels throughout the
audible frequency range have been achieved and in all cases the attenuation performance is
at least as good as that o f the standard commercial silencer and in a number of cases sub-
stantially better.
With the exception o f the Wankel engine the complete silencer systems have been replaced
by the new design. In the case of the Wankel engine (Figure 5) part o f the original silencing
22 E.J. WONNACOTI"
i I I i i i i I i I i illllilll IIII I II II

) I
19
l
23 I 66
I
III
I
~1 Is
I )
A /'~ ~ 28 69
hal\ /vu3 Amoo'oo'om
/~l V ~/ ~/ I II ~ Openpipe

~ 8o

Optimised restive silencer

~.w (over~l 75 dB{A)k-- 9 I , . Current resistive silencer

/ - ,,, ,
9 s J 4
l o t, I
40 "J

:50 ,1 ~ 2 :5
#4 5 6 78910
I

Wowlength (m)
Figure 7. Attenuation performance of optimized and previous commercial silencer on single-speed, t h r e e .
cylinder, opposed piston, two-stroke diesel engine. Recordings at 1 m f r o m tailpipe. Background noise level
45 dB(A).

system was retained in order to simplify the installation. The input exhaust signature used
for this design was that of the noise emitted from the retained part of the original silencer.
Other silencers which were designed for a 600 c.c. twin motor cycle engine, a six-cylinder
two-stroke diesel engine, a four-stroke naturally aspirated V8 diesel engine and a six-
cylinder in-line four-stroke diesel engine have all indicated similar improvements in exhaust
noise attenuation.

t i l 6 I I I I I I I I II1111111 I I I I I I I II
~...Optlmised pipe lengths
, , t , , ;(X:4L)

I00 j~ "~ ~ // ~~ ~ ~ -- SOpenpipe spectrum

= f ! I I i vlxdl /~(o~mrlnoisele~lEIS~(A))
~ 9o I
I
t
I
m
i
I
I
IV"

"anr~,ri.g.t-'-.,~-;~r- .... r: ~ A I ~ /-" -45 B

9.'~,: i, " , f l ' l T ";",vv V 4o~
70 ~11: 11
I'-' I ::t
jl { I
i l~l
~l "
%,,~--.~Predicted 35 _
I '~g .I V I I '~ attenumion ~

(~g,o~-~ noise~e~I ,4,S,d,~CA)

1
I I I I I IIII t,,, I I,I
I 2 34 56789~0
IIIII

~h~elength (m)

Optimization of a system tailored to basic noise signature for single-speed, three-cylinder, opposed
F i g u r e 8.
piston, scavenge blown, two-stroke diesel engine; 2 2 k W output. Recorded at 1 m f r o m tailpipe.

From the results in Figure 8 it can be seen that the most beneficial effects can be achieved
on constant speed machines. This is due to the fact that with a constant exhaust driving
signal it has been possible to arrange for the peak attenuations to coincide with the peak
 LOWER EXHAUST NOISE 23
noise levels throughout the spectrum by careful selection of the initial pipe intrusion lengths
prior to optimization. By this method of"spectra tailoring" it is possible to achieve reductions
in overall noise levels considerably in excess of those with variable speed machines. For this
reason its application to such units as road rammers, road drills, burners and compressors
will be particularly useful and beneficial.

IO0 i i i * * i i i i i , l l i l l l i l l I

i i

I,
i I i i i i i i I i l l l l l l l l l l I
80
I 2 3 4 5
Y,bvetengfl'l {m)

Figure 9. Accuracy between predicted and measured results. Six-cylinder,four-litre, four-stroke, spark-
ignition engine; full load noise envelope over speed range 1000-5000 rev/min. , Measured; . . . . , pre-
dicted. Measured at I m from tailpipe.

With regard to the accuracy of the method, this has generally been found to be good,
laarticularly in the peak noise regions where the ultimate measured levels agree closely with
the predicted levels (Figure 9). However, it can be difficult to fully compare the predicted and
measured results since the computer programme has been deliberately limited to maximum
,attenuations of 45 dB whilst in practice attenuations in excess of this are experienced. Also,
it must be appreciated that, since in some parts of the spectrum levels as low as 30-40 dB(A)
have been measured (Figures 5 and 7), interference from minimal background noise during
testing can be recorded, with the result that confidence in the measurements in these regions
is questionable. From this aspect isolation from the other noise sources is of the utmost
importance.
To be certain that only the exhaust noise is being recorded it has been necessary on occasions
to encase the engine in sound absorbent materials: i.e., lead sheet packed with fibre glass
insulation. Similarly, there have been a number of reported instances where the overall
vehicle noise has been incorrectly assessed, with the result that extreme effort has been
expended on reducing exhaust noise, when in fact the predominant noise has emanated from
either the engine, fan, gears, wheels, tracks or body vibrations. This can happen particularly
when recording during drive past tests such as British Standard 3425.
Further factors which can also affect the noise spectrum are those of engine tune' and slight"
variations in engine build. For example, during the trial of a spark-ignited six-cylinder engine
an increase of at least 5 dB in the overall noise level was finally traced to a retarded spark
timing of 8 deg crankshaft rotation.

5. SILENCER BUILD AND FITTING TOLERANCES

Previous efforts to design satisfactory reactive type silencers have shown that their per-
formance has been difficult to predict and in many cases the results from individual vehicles
as well as from different models have been inconsistent. A detailed computer analysis of this
24 E.J. WONNACOXT
problem highlights the critical build and fitting tolerances that must be observed in order that
the attenuation is not unduly affected.
Figure 10 indicates the )redicted silencer performance that was obtained prior to and after
i I I I ii I I iiiliilll I II I I IIII

14"3 -~-II 2'4 - 24 I

80 ,1_
j -r-- ---w-
-I P -~~' -64
70 Dimen.~n~ ~ ~ mm

-~ 6O u..,.,.-Estimoted o,,~roll noise l e v i 6 5 dE}(A)

I~ ~ / E s t L , noted overoll noise level 5 8 d B ( A )
N
~. 5o
i!" 'i /1~ /1 tim f~om toitpi~)

= f t t IIl,I ,t,,l,,tll IIII I IIII

I 2 3 4 5 6 "/8910
Wovele~th (m)

Figure tO. Effectof build and installation tolerances on silencer performance.

the optimization procedure. Although basically these two spectra show the effective perform-
ance of the "Davidon" optimization procedure, it does indicate that fairly small variations in
expansion box and pipe lengths, as might be experienced from sliding joints during fitment
to the vehicle, can substantially affect the ultimate overall noise level. For example the varia-
tions shown in Figure 10 resulted in an increase in the estimated overall noise level of ap-
proximately 7 dB. At present the recommended manufacturing and fitting tolerances are
_+3 mm, and although it is appreciated that with current fitting techniques, these tolerances
are close, it is considered that care in this respect is worthwhile to achieve the optimum.
With regard to the silencer manuf~acture, the problem of radiated noise from the "flapping"
modes of the silencer box walls has also been experienced and was successfully overcome by
the use of strengthening ties and the application of damping materials. The use of long
cantilevered internal pipes sometimes make it necessary to provide internal supp0tts in order
to avoid failure at the end-plate welds, and from acoustic considerations it is beneficial to
stagger the internal pipe arrangement either side of the box centre line particularly when there
are small distances between the pipe ends.

6. ENGINE PERFORMANCE
With regard to the effects of this type of silencer on engine performance, an increase in
exhaust back pressure has been experienced, as compared to the straight-through resonant
type silencer. In Figure 11, the results from a full-load dynamometer run on a six-cylinder
four-stroke spark-ignited engine are shown and it is evident that for the gain in attenuation of
9 dB at the max torque condition there has been no loss in the corrected power of the engine.
Further trials involving fuel consumption loops, during which the exhaust gas temperatures
were recorded, are shown plotted in Figure 12 for three silencers: namely,
(a) resistive main chamber type with a reactive/resistive primary box;
(b) a proprietary reactive type where all pipe intrusion lengths were 0.051 m;
(c) the reactive type shown in Figure 7.
These results show quite clearly that there is no performance or thermal efficiency penalty with
this type of silencer, when properly designed, even though the mean exhaust back pressure is
 LOWER EXHAUST NOISE 25

I I I I i I -- - - 1=190

.if-- T~
~ 0'3

"~ 02

w OI
P,

I10

I00
r
&
~-'~7.5m f ~ ~0

80 o=

o
~t
o
I I I I I I
15OO 200O 25O0 aoo0 ~,~OO 4OOO 45OO
Er'~ne speed (rev/mln)
Figure 1 I. Effect o f optimized silencer o n engine p e r f o r m a n c e a n d overall noise levels. F o u r - s t r o k e , s p a r k -
ignited engine at full throttle. , Optimized e x p a n s i o n box silencer; . . . . , c u r r c n t resistive type silencer
acoustically lined.

I I I I I i i
(O ) /~...~ 0 5O0

0,700 3OO
2OO
o. 0600

0500 d
cL
(b)
4c~ ~
-~
w
tOO
I
06OO

O.500 _ ,.4,o"

I I I I I I I I
30 40 50 60 70 80 90
BMEP CORR (Ibf/in2)

Figure 12. Effect of silencer type on engine performance. (a) 30~.. rev/min; (b) 2000 rev/min, x, Resistive
type silencer; e , reactive type silencer with equal i n t r u s i o n lengths; o , reactive type silencer as in Figure 7.
26 E.J. WONNACOTT
frequently double that experienced with a "straight-through" resistive type of proprietary
silencer.

7. CONCLUSIONS
Results from the wide range of engines currently tested have substantiated that exhaust
noise levels equivalent to those required by current legislation can be achieved with the simple
expansion box type construction. The design involves plain pipes, protruding into silencer
boxes and as long as .a jig type of construction is used then reasonable accuracy during as-
sembly and subsequent fitting can be achieved. With respect to cost, this type of silencer
appears to offer advantages in its simplicity of design.
The flexibility of its application has amply been demonstrated since it has successfully been
used on engines ranging from a 3 kW single-bank spark-ignited rotary engine to a multi-
cylinder 1500 kW, 600 rev/min diesel engine used as a ship's main propulsion unit.
The increased mean back pressure experienced with these designs is obviously a problem,
even though its effect on engine performance, and fuel economy, is marginal. As a result
further work is being undertaken to evaluate fully the inter-reaction effects of mean back
pressure on engine durability and to analyse more fully the corresponding effects of the
reflected pressure wave profile on engine breathing. However it must be appreciated that the
effects so far established are all within the limits of experimental accuracy.
As for the future, it is intended to apply the technique to a wider range of engines and
possibly other equipment such as oil-fired burners. Also, work will continue on the basic
theory to further clarify its ultimate acoustic potential and improvements in design will be
investigated with the aim of achieving a reduction in the system volume.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express his appreciation to the Director, Military Vehicles and
Engineering Establishment, for his kind permission to publish, and Professor P. O. A. L.
Davies, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, for his assistance.

REFERENCES
1. R. J. ALFREDSON1970 Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southampton. The design and optimisation of
exhaust silencers.
2. R. J. ALFREDSONand P. O. A. L. DAVIES1970 JournalofSound and Vibration 13, 389-408. The
radiation of sound from an engine exhaust.
3. R. J. ALFREDSONand P. O. A. L. DAVIES 1971 Journal of Sound and Vibration 15, 175-196.
Performance of exhaust silencer components.