Edited by Serge CARRETERO on September 29th 2008

Rev 1 : October 6th 2008

THEORY OF POROUS DUCTS

1) Layout of the air induction system :

P1 : input sound pressure

P2 : output sound pressure
Q1 : input “acoustic flow”
Q2 : output “acoustic flow”
Qw : “acoustic flow” going through the wall of the duct

Remark : acoustic flow (eg. m3/s) = particle velocity (eg. m/s) x surface area (eg. m²)

Pi and Qi are linked through the relation below :

P1 Z11 Z12 Q1
= .
(0)
P2 Z21 Z22 Q2

Impedance matrix

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 Edited by Serge CARRETERO on September 29th 2008
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2) Electrical analogy :
(all variables are complex numbers)

with

Z = line impedance ; Y = “leakage admittance”

Analogy : tensionu  pressure P

current i  flow Q

Equations :

u(x) – u(x+dx) = dZ . i(x)

i(x) – i(x+dx) = dy . u(x)

Hence :

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=> u’ + (Z/L) . i = 0 (1)

i’ + (Y/L) . u = 0 (2)

=> u’’ + (Z/L) . i’ = 0 (1’)

i’ = -(Y/L) . u (2’)

=> u’’ = (Z . Y / L²) . u (3)

Assumption : u = U . exp(f(x)) => u’’ = U . exp(f(x) . (f’’ + f’²) (4)

u(x)

(3) and (4) lead to : f’’ + f’² = Z . Y / L² = constant

We suppose that f(x) = A . x with A constant

Hence : f’ = A and f” = 0

So : A= +  (Z . Y / L²) or -  (Z . Y / L²)

Therefore the relation (3) is fulfilled by the following expression of u :

u = Uf . exp( - (Z . Y) . x / L ) + Ub . exp( + (Z . Y) . x / L ) (12)

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forward propagation backward

propagation

So :

u’ = Uf . (- (Z . Y) / L) . exp(- (Z . Y) . x / L) + Ub . ( (Z . Y) / L) . exp(+ (Z . Y) . x / L)

(12’)

The same way we get :

i = If . exp( - (Z . Y) . x / L ) + Ib . exp( + (Z . Y) . x / L ) (13)

We can write :

u1 = Uf + Ub (5)
u2 = Uf . exp( - (Z . Y) ) + Ub . exp( + (Z . Y) ) (6)
i1 = If + Ib (7)
i2 = If . exp( - (Z . Y) ) + Ib . exp( + (Z . Y) ) (8)

Furthermore the relationship between U f and If on one hand, and between U b and Ib on the
other hand, is obtained simply :
a) by inserting the expression (13) giving i(x) into (1)
b) by juxtaposing the equations (1) and (12’)

We get :

Uf = + (Z / Y) . If
Ub = - (Z / Y) . Ib

 (Z / Y) is called the “iterative impedance” of the electric line for forward and
backward directions respectively

 (5) and (6) become :

u1 =  (Z / Y) . ( If - Ib ) (5’)

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u2 =  (Z / Y) . ( If . exp( - (Z . Y) ) - Ib . exp(  (Z .
Y) ) ) (6’)

In addition, by combining (7) and (8) we get :

i1 - i2 . exp( - (Z . Y) )
If = ------------------------------- (9)
1 - exp( -2 .  (Z . Y) )
and
i1 - i2 . exp(  (Z . Y) )
Ib = ------------------------------- (10)
1 - exp( 2 .  (Z . Y) )

Then, by inserting (9) and (10) into (5’) and (6’) we get :

u1 =  (Z / Y) . ( i1 . cth (  (Z . Y) ) - i2 / sh (  (Z . Y) )
and
u2 =  (Z / Y) . ( i1 / sh (  (Z . Y) ) - i2 . cth (  (Z . Y) )

Finally the expression of the impedance matrix is :

cth (  (Z . Y) ) - 1 / sh (  (Z . Y) )
 (Z / Y) .
(11)
1 / sh (  (Z . Y) ) - cth (  (Z . Y) )

3) Back to acoustics :

 Expression of Z :

Z=j...L/S

Where

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= 2 .  . f (rad/s)
f = frequency (Hz)
= specific weight of air (kg/m3)

 Expression of Y :

Y = 1 / z + j .  . S . L / (  . c²)

Where

c = speed of sound (m/s)

z = “leakage” impedance of the overall wall of the duct (Pa . s / m 3)

NB :  . c² =  . Po
where
Po is the mean pressure inside the duct (Pa)
 is the specific heat ratio of air ( = Cp / Cv = 1.4)
where
Cp is the specific heat at constant pressure (J/kg/K)
Cv is the specific heat at constant volume (J/kg/K)

Finally, by means of the electrical analogy (see expression (11)), the acoustic impedance
matrix shown in formula (0) becomes :

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 Edited by Serge CARRETERO on September 29th 2008
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Where

=  . Po / ( S . L . z)

and the unit of  is rad/s like  because “ 1 +  / (j . ) ” has no unit.

As a result we can specify the parameter “Porosity Index” (“PI”) of the duct by dividing 
by 2 .  :

PI =  / (2 . ) =  . Po / (2 .  . S . L . z)  unit s-1 = Hz

Its name (“Porosity Index”) is self-explanatory because PI is inversely proportional to z,

the “leakage” impedance of the overall wall of the duct (see above).

In addition experiments were carried out on porous samples in order to measure z : see
the paper titled “An inverse measurement of acoustic impedance of porous woven hoses in
engine intake systems” (Authors : Mr Ih, Park, Nakayama, Kitahara & Takao – Inter Noise
2002).

In this paper the experimental graphs of figure 3 show that :

 the resistance (real part) doesn’t vary a lot between 50 and 1500Hz
 the reactance (imaginary part) varies by a linear way between 50 and 1500Hz :
it represents about 10% of the resistance at 50Hz and 50% at 1500Hz

In practice we are used to measure only the resistance of the wall of the duct on our
porosity test bench, by applying a constant mean flow rate of 26l/s through the overall
surface area of the wall. Then, with the assumption of a pure resistance which doesn’t vary
according to the frequency, we calculate the acoustic behaviour of the porous duct by
inserting this value of “z” into our software. Generally the predicted curves match the
measured ones rather well. Below an example of comparison.

Remark : the resonances are in accordance with the whole length "duct + bench piping"
Ducts ID 60 x Length 380mm . Output microphone at 8cm from the Ducts ID 60 x Length 380mm . Output microphone at 8cm from the
open end . Measurements open end . Modeling

Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)

1000

1000
160
230
300
370
440
510
580
650
720
790
860
930

160
230
300
370
440
510
580
650
720
790
860
930
20
90

90
20

10 plastic (PI. 0) 10 plastic (PI. 0)

0 PI. 93 0 PI. 93
(dB)

(dB)

-10 PI. 226 -10 PI. 226

20 . log (Poutput / Pinput)

20 . log (Poutput / Pinput)

-20 PI. 324 -20 PI. 324

-30 PI. 406 -30 PI. 406

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PI. 507 PI. 507

-50 -50
PI. 611 PI. 611
-60 -60
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Rev 1 : October 6th 2008

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