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F. D. DENIA
Depto. Ingenierı́a Mecánica y de Materiales. Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Camino de Vera, s/n. 46022-Valencia, Spain
The study of the three-dimensional acoustic field inside an exhaust muffler is usually performed
through the numerical solution of the linearized equations. In this paper, an alternative procedure
is proposed, in which the full equations are solved in the time domain. The procedure is based
on the CFD simulation of an impulsive test, so that the transmission loss may be computed and
compared with measurements and other numerical approaches. Also, the details of the flow inside
the muffler may be studied, both in the time and the frequency domains. The results obtained
compare favorably with a conventional FEM calculation, mostly in the ability of the procedure to
account for dissipative processes inside the muffler.
1. Introduction
The main function of exhaust mufflers is the attenuation of the flow pulsations generated
by the gas exchange process in internal combustion engines, namely by the quasi-periodic
discharge of hot gases from the engine cylinder. Increasingly restrictive legislation together
with the need to reduce development costs have led to the systematic use of computer
models for muffler evaluation and design.
Among the different models available, those based upon one-dimensional (plane-wave)
linear acoustics (in the frequency domain) are the most used, due to their extremely low
computational cost.1 However, realistic muffler geometries usually exhibit multi-dimensional
features. These may be acounted for, in principle, within the frame of linear acoustic theory.
In cases in which the geometry is relatively simple, such as expansion chambers analyti-
cal solutions based on modal expansion series are available.2 However, for more realistic
geometries it is imperative to resort to the numerical solution of the three-dimensional
wave equation.
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This has been achieved mostly through the use of the Finite Element Method (FEM)
and the Boundary Element Method (BEM). FEM has been applied to the design of realis-
tic automotive3 and powerplant4 mufflers; its extension to the consideration of dissipative
materials has also been reported.5 In general, two runs of the FEM computation with two
different boundary conditions at the muffler outlet are required in order to compute the
four-pole transfer matrix of a muffler for a given frequency. Intuitive magnitudes, such as
the transmission loss, may be obtained from the transfer matrix. However, it is possible to
obtain the transmission loss with a single run, by using an anechoic termination as the outlet
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boundary condition; this is equivalent to the use of the three-point method6 in the BEM.
Moreover, it is possible to obtain the four-pole matrix solving the finite element or the
boundary element matrix only once at each frequency.7 Thus, from a computational point
of view there is no substantial advantage in using FEM or BEM. However, the fact that with
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the BEM only the boundary surface has to be meshed, whereas in the FEM it is the internal
volume that is actually meshed, has made BEM quite attractive and has thus been used
quite extensively for design and analysis purposes, even in realistic complex geometries.8
In any case, the increasing use of advanced CAD tools makes this advantage less and less
important, while some shortcomings of the BEM (problems to handle anisotropy, need of
additional computations to obtain the internal acoustic fields, etc.) may turn out to be
relevant.
One of the main issues in exhaust systems is the existence of a nett mass flow. Although
this is actually coupled with the unsteady flow field in the real situation, it is possible to
account for this effect in the linear theory by assuming that the acoustic field is superimposed
over the decoupled mean flow. The convective effect of this decoupled mean flow should be
considered in both FEM and BEM computations.9 However, it is clear that this mean
flow has to be imported from an external steady state flow calculation, either a simplified
potential-flow approach10 or a full CFD simulation. In any case, only the convective effects
of the mean flow on the acoustic field would be accounted for, without consideration of
dissipative effects.
A further step is the use of full CFD simulations in order to obtain the acoustic char-
acteristics of a muffler. The “mean-flow” effects are thus directly considered, since the full
flow equations are solved in the time domain. Moreover, the dissipative effects may also
be taken into account, only limited by the validity of the turbulence model used. While
CFD has been mostly used to assess the steady pressure drop generated by mufflers, some
efforts to extend its use to unsteady flow situations have been reported.11,12 However, these
simulations were validated against linear acoustic results, by setting very small excitations,
so that the potential benefits of CFD regarding the description of dissipative effects were
not explored.
In this paper, a CFD approach to the computation of the acoustic response of mufflers is
proposed, that allows to exploit the potential of CFD codes for the description of dissipative
processes in quite realistic conditions. The approach is based on the direct simulation, in the
time domain, of a modified impulse method13 which incorporates a reasonable amount of
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flow and dissipative effects, that allows obtaining a realistic picture of the muffler behavior,
while keeping the acoustic characteristics essentially dependent on the muffler itself and
not on the particular excitation used. First, a brief account of the experimental set-up is
given, followed by a detailed description of the computational procedure. Then, the pro-
posed approach is applied to two representative muffler geometries: a simple expansion
chamber and a more realistic reverse muffler. The results are evaluated by comparison of
the transmission loss obtained with the modified impulse method measurements and with
the results from a conventional FEM calculation. These show that the behavior of the muf-
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fler is better described when the dissipative effects are taken into account. Also, a suitable
post-processing is presented, which was devised to obtain the detailed description of the
acoustic field inside the muffler at any frequency. In this case, the results are compared
with the corresponding FEM pressure amplitude distributions, showing good qualitative
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agreement. With the aim to point out that the proposed CFD approach can incorporate
in a natural way the presence of a mean flow, the response of the reverse muffler when a
mean flow is superimposed to the excitation is also analyzed in terms of internal velocity
and acoustic fields.
Here, pi and pr are respectively the incident and the reflected pulses, and ξ = (γ − 1)/2γ,
where γ is the ratio of specific heats. Figure 2 shows schematically the propagation of the
pressure pulses involved in the experimental set-up when transducer 2 is located just at
the muffler inlet. Since the propagation of the incident pulse is intrinsically nonlinear, it is
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not possible to estimate the incident pulse by a simple translation of the pulse recorded by
transducer 1 to the new measurement station (transducer 2).
To surpass this difficulty, the following experimental solution has been chosen. An addi-
tional test must be performed, in which the muffler is removed from the measurement setup,
so that the pressure pulse recorded by the transducer located in the position correspond-
ing to the muffler inlet is precisely pi . For this solution to be suitable, it is imperative to
ensure that the pulses generated by the valve in both tests, with and without muffler, are
comparable.13
Once the incident, reflected and transmitted pulses are identified, the use of the fast
Fourier transform allows estimating the reflection and transmission coefficients, R and T ,
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where A, B and C are, respectively, the complex amplitudes of the incident, the reflected
and the transmitted pulses; Su and Sd are the duct cross-sections upstream and downstream
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3. Numerical Methodology
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In this section, the numerical methodology proposed to assess the response in time and
frequency of automotive exhaust silencers is presented. For the calculations, the CFD com-
mercial code Fluent has been used. It is based on a finite-volume discretization of the
Navier–Stokes equations, which are solved in this study with the so-called coupled solver
that uses flux-difference splitting and an explicit formulation of the equations.15 The tem-
poral discretization is accomplished by an explicit time-marching multi-stage Runge–Kutta
scheme. The time step for the transient simulations is computed from the CFL stability
condition with a Courant number of about 1.5. The standard k- turbulence model for high
Reynolds numbers with wall function was chosen for closure.
The actual geometry and experimental conditions of the impulse test bench, described in
the preceding chapter, were reproduced for the computational simulations. At the inlet the
pulse was represented by a temporal variation of the pressure, given as the inlet boundary
condition. Pressure far-field conditions were defined at the exit of the exhaust pipe in order
to simulate the anechoical nonreflexive outlet conditions while limiting the length of the
pipe. Walls were considered iso-thermal and at ambient temperature.
With the purpose to record the response of the muffler to the pulse, the solution was
monitored at the points corresponding to the locations of the transducers. A similar proce-
dure to that followed in the experimental characterization of the muffler served to obtain
the response in frequency and time:
• First, a calculation where the muffler was replaced by a straight duct, with the same diam-
eter as the inlet and outlet pipes, and the same length as the muffler, allowed obtaining
the isolated incident wave, i.e. separated from the reflected component due to the presence
of the silencer.
• Secondly, the calculation reproducing the experimental test, i.e. with the muffler included
in the domain, was performed.
• Finally, by means of Fourier analysis, the transmission loss TL and the spectrum of
the temporal matrix — normalized with the total incident pressure wave (incident +
reflected) — were calculated. From these last results, the pressure fields inside the muffler
at given frequencies were obtained.
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(a) (b)
Fig. 4. Mufflers considered: (a) simple expansion chamber, (b) reverse chamber.
the transmission loss. In this method, a constant harmonic pressure is applied at the inlet
duct of the muffler, and an anechoic termination is considered at the outlet. For the case
of the circular expansion chamber, axisymmetric eight-node quadrilateral elements have
been used while for the reverse muffler, the mesh has been generated considering ten-node
tetrahedral elements. Finally, a suitable element size has been chosen so that the results are
accurate for the maximum frequency of interest.
One of the advantages offered by the CFD simulation is the ability to visualize the flow
in the muffler and thus to provide information about the dissipation mechanisms and the
related flow singularities.
Figures 5 and 6 represent the velocity fields in the expansion and in the reverse chambers
respectively, at various instants. In Fig. 5(a) the dissipation of the flow kinetic energy in the
expansion chamber is clearly visible. Note that the scale of the velocity vectors changes from
one figure to the next in order not to lose relevant information. As the jet resulting from
the pressure pulse enters into the expansion chamber, friction and air entrainment generate
a toroidal vortex surrounding the jet core, which advances with the jet and grows in size.
However, it loses energy fast through dissipation and when the jet front reaches the end of
the expansion chamber, the vortex is elongated and occupies most of the space. The shape
of the jet core itself is well conserved. The perturbation wave travelling upstream of the jet
is represented by the quasi-circular shape of the iso-Mach contours ahead in Fig. 5(b).
In the reverse chamber, the jet expands early on and generates a toroidal vortex around
the jet core that is entrained with it. However, the vortex is asymmetric due to the wall
interaction. It slides along the wall and grows in size only towards the center of the chamber.
When it hits the entrance to the second chamber, it perturbs the jet core by deflecting it
towards the wall and seems to draw energy from it. When it penetrates in the second
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Fig. 6. Flow velocity vectors in the reverse chamber with no mean flow.
chamber, the jet is considerably weaker. Part of its remaining energy is dissipated by the
central vortex generated in the confined space by impingement on the wall. As the flow
exits the secondary chamber, it entrains the air of the first chamber, so that the central
vortex created by the inlet jet grows further in size, while losing strength (note different
scaling of upper and lower figures). Finally, the dissipation caused by the strong vortices
developing in both chambers reduces significantly the kinetic energy of the outlet flow. The
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Fig. 7. Flow velocity vectors in the reverse chamber with M = 0.07 mean flow.
vortices are sustained by the incoming flow during the muffler excitation and are probably
the source of energy transfer from the acoustic field to the flow and vice-versa.
The reverse chamber has been chosen to check the effects of a superimposed mean flow
on muffler response, as it is expected that the acoustic mechanisms are more sensitive to
the flow field in this configuration. Figure 7 shows the velocity fields in this layout when
a superimposed mean flow of M = 0.07 is considered, so that the mean flow velocity is of
the same order of magnitude as the average velocity associated with the pressure pulse.
Compared to the case of M = 0 mean flow shown in Fig. 6, the flow structure inside the
chambers is globally very similar: generation of vortices in both chambers. However, there is
a stronger convective effect evidenced now by the shorter characteristic time during which
flow phenomena occur and by the higher levels of the flow velocity inside the muffler. This
is the cause for the higher dissipation levels and the more complex distribution of the flow
that can be observed at the entrance of the second chamber during the first time step. Since
this part of the muffler is a highly dissipative singularity, significant changes in the flow
energy distribution through the chambers are expected. Indeed, the energy level of the flow
in the second chamber is lower than that transported in the M = 0 case. In addition, the
abrupt reduction of the velocity gradient between the flow outgoing this chamber and the
vortex in the main chamber modifies the energy transfer from the acoustic field to the flow,
so that the interferential feature of the muffler is affected.
15
12.5
10
TL (dB)
7.5
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2.5
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0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
frecuency (Hz)
Fig. 8. Transmission loss of expansion chamber: Measured (solid), FEM calculation (dashed) and CFD
approach (dash dotted).
50
45
40
35
30
TL (dB)
25
20
15
10
0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
frecuency (Hz)
Fig. 9. Transmission loss of reverse chamber: Measured (solid), FEM calculation (dashed) and CFD approach
with no mean flow (dash dotted).
frequencies. However, the CFD calculation reproduces quantitatively better the measured
response, particularly in the pass-bands of the chamber, where the nonlinear dissipative
effects — not taken into account in the FEM calculation — are more significant due to the
very low attenuation level of the chamber at those frequencies.
This situation is more evident in Fig. 9, where the results for the reverse chamber
are shown. Here, a good qualitative agreement between calculations and measurement can
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50
45
40
35
30
TL (dB)
25
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20
15
10
5
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0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
frecuency (Hz)
Fig. 10. Transmission loss of reverse chamber calculated with CFD approach: M = 0.07 mean flow (solid)
and no mean flow (dash dotted).
also be observed. The CFD method yields a very good prediction of the response of the
muffler in the low frequency range, up to 1 kHz, whereas for higher frequencies the FEM
calculation seems to be better suited. Regarding dissipation, the differences between the
measurement and the linear calculation in the two first pass-bands of this layout are more
evident here than for the expansion chamber, whereas the CFD approach exhibits a very
good agreement with the measured trend. The higher influence of dissipation on this muffler
response is evidenced in Fig. 10, where the computed transmission loss with M = 0.07 mean
flow is plotted against that with no mean flow. Since the mean flow velocity considered is
low, no significant frequency shift due to the convective effects can be observed in this figure.
However, the results with superimposed mean flow clearly show that the attenuation level
at the two interferential frequencies characteristic of this muffler is reduced, and the first
pass-band hole virtually vanishes. This behavior can probably be associated with the more
complex flow pattern observed in the velocity field sequence of Fig. 7. These two examples
evidence the suitability of the CFD approach to assess realistically the muffler response,
when compared with linear calculations.
Focusing now on the description of the acoustic field inside the muffler, Figs. 11 and
12 show the results obtained for the simple expansion chamber using FEM and CFD cal-
culations, respectively. To allow direct comparison between both calculations, the CFD
results have been normalized with respect to the incident excitation. In each figure, the
normalized acoustic field calculated at four characteristic frequencies, corresponding to the
two first attenuation maxima and pass-bands, are included. In order to save time con-
suming, pressure field in the outlet duct of the chamber has not been calculated with CFD
approach. Considering the transmission loss, both methods yield acoustic fields qualitatively
similar: the spherical wave generated at the inlet of the chamber develops subsequently into
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Fig. 11. Acoustic field inside the expansion chamber calculated by FEM method.
Fig. 12. Acoustic field inside the expansion chamber calculated by CFD method.
a plane wave. Moreover, as expected, most plane wave propagation inside the chamber is
evidenced.
For the reverse chamber, the acoustic field at five characteristic frequencies calculated by
FEM and CFD is shown in Figs. 13 and 14, respectively. To reduce the CFD computation
time, in this layout neither the inlet nor the outlet ducts have been considered. As in the
previous case, both methods give results qualitatively comparable. At some frequencies —
mainly near the pass-bands at high frequencies — FEM yields higher pressure levels than
CFD due to the fact that the former does not take into account dissipation. However these
higher values do not result in substantial differences in the transmission loss expressed in
decibels. In these figures, it can be observed that for the low frequency range below the
first pass-band, the wave propagation in both chambers is substantially longitudinal, while
a transversal propagation pattern seems to appear in the first chamber at 676 Hz. Then, at
1046 Hz, this transversal pattern is also established in the second chamber. In the plots for
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Fig. 13. Acoustic field inside the reverse chamber calculated by FEM method.
87 Hz, the attenuation effect of the two volumes in the muffler is clearly evidenced, as the
acoustic field inside the two chambers is almost uniform.
The acoustic field inside of this chamber calculated for M = 0.07 mean flow is represented
in Fig. 15. In a qualitative sense, the pressure field pattern inside the chamber is quite similar
to that for M = 0 mean flow in Fig. 14. However, for the first pass-band hole at 347 Hz, a
longitudinal propagation pattern in the first chamber is observed with mean flow, whereas
without mean flow a transversal propagation had been evidenced.
5. Conclusions
A CFD methodology has been proposed that allows calculating the response of a muffler
taking into account the nonlinear dissipation associated with the interaction between the
flow and the acoustic field. The suitability of this approach has been demonstrated by
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Fig. 14. Acoustic field inside the reverse chamber calculated by CFD method: No mean flow.
comparison with linear calculations based on the Finite Element Method and with mea-
surements obtained with the modified impulse method. Whereas the linear method, more
traditionally used, works well for simple muffler layouts and in the high frequency range,
the CFD method is more accurate in general for the prediction of more complex muffler
geometries and in the low to medium frequency range, where the dissipative effects are more
important. In addition, since it provides useful information about the flow-field inside the
muffler, it contributes to the knowledge of fluid dynamic processes taking place inside the
silencer.
Its major drawback, however, lies in the considerable computational effort and cost
required to obtain a complete and accurate solution, especially when compared to the
efficient and fast linear methods. In this sense, the methodology proposed in this paper
is particularly useful to help understand the mechanisms of dissipation occurring inside
the muffler. Indeed, current work involves identifying the sources of dissipation inside the
mufflers, with the aim of defining objective acoustic parameters such as local impedances,
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Fig. 15. Acoustic field inside the reverse chamber calculated by CFD method: M = 0.07 mean flow.
resistive terms, etc., that quantify dissipation effects and may then be included in the wave
equation solved with the linear calculation. In this way, the knowledge gathered with the
CFD methodology serves to improve the prediction abilities of the familiar linear numerical
tools generally used for silencer design.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by CICYT through Project No. DPI2000-0743-C02-02.
References
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401–421.
3. A. R. Patil, P. R. Sajanpawar and V. V. Masurekar, SAE Paper 960189 (1996).
4. C. Q. Howard, B. S. Cazzolato and C. H. Hansen, Noise Control Eng. J. 48(4) (2000) 113–120.
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14. G. F. Mucklow and A. J. Wilson, Proc. I. Mech. Eng. 169 (1955) 69–80.
15. Fluent 6 User’s Guide (2001).
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