Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-021-00233-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Sound‑Absorption Mechanism of Structures with Periodic Cavities

Yingqin Luo1 · Jing‑jun Lou1 · Yan‑bing Zhang1 · Jing‑ru Li2

Received: 24 December 2020 / Accepted: 28 March 2021 / Published online: 13 April 2021
© Australian Acoustical Society 2021

Abstract
A simplified finite element method (FEM) simulation method has been established and validated for analyzing the sound
absorption mechanism of structures with periodic axisymmetric cavities. Combined with genetic algorithm, the simplified
FEM method is used to optimize the sound absorption coefficient of the structure containing periodic cylindrical cavities
and variable cross section cavities. The result of variable section cavities is much better than the case of cylindrical cavities.
The effect of cavity shape on sound absorption mechanism is discussed through energy dissipation, structure deformation
and modal analysis of the absorption structures. It is found that the cavity structure resonances include bending vibration of
the surface layer and radial motion of particles near the cavities. The radial motion also changes along the axial direction.
Adding geometric design parameters of the cavity cross section are conducive to moving the radial mode to low frequency.
The radial vibration has a great influence on absorption performance, which is more conducive to promoting the conversion
of longitudinal waves into transverse waves with more energy dissipation. Finally, a better sound absorption performance is
obtained by introducing the material parameter of Young’s modulus into the optimization model, indicating that comprehen-
sive consideration of geometry and material parameters for optimization is expected to obtain the desired sound absorption
structure in engineering practice.

Keywords  Sound absorption mechanism · Periodic structure · Cylindrical cavity · Variable crosssection cavity · Optimized
design · Simplified model

1 Introduction excitation of sound waves. Hennion et al. [12, 13] combined

Sound-absorbing materials with cavities have been proven
to be very effective. The methods of analyzing and calcu-
lating the sound absorption mechanism and sound absorp-
tion coefficient include theoretical and numerical simula-
tion methods. Common theoretical methods are analytical
method [1–3], transfer matrix method [4–6], equivalent
parameter method [7, 8], multiple scattering method [9–11]
and so on. But the theoretical method is generally suitable
for relatively simple structural forms. Numerical simula-
tion method, which is flexible and universal in dealing
with complex structures, can visually display the deforma-
tion and energy dissipation images of structures under the
* Yan‑bing Zhang
994594118@qq.com
1
College of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Naval
University of Engineering.PLA, Wuhan 430000, China
2
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hainan
University, Haikou 570100, China
FEM theory and Bloch-Floquet theory to study the scatter-
ing of compliant pipes and Alberich silencing coatings for
the first time. Achenbach et al. [14] used the boundary ele-
ment method (BEM) to study the three-dimensional reflec-
tion and transmission of plane acoustic waves by a grating
composed of parallel equidistant rods. Easwaran and Munjal
[15] proposed a finite element scheme based on Galerkin’s
function to analyse the reflection characteristics of the reso-
nant absorber when the plane sound wave passes through
vertically. Since then, numerical simulation has been more
and more commonly used in acoustic simulation [6, 7, 16,
17]. Numerical simulation is essentially the discretization
of structural and acoustic media. In order to ensure the cal-
culation accuracy, the element size takes 1/4 of the mini-
mum wavelength [13]. When dealing with high-frequency
problems, the wavelength is smaller, it makes the number
of elements soar, resulting in a sharp increase of calculation
amount. Especially in the optimization problem of repeated
calculations, this problem of calculation amount is particu-
larly serious. It can be simplified to a 1/4 [15] or 1/8 model

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372
[18] or even a two-dimensional axisymmetric model [19]
according to the symmetry characteristics of the structure.
The corresponding calculation efficiency and accuracy need
to be further verified. This paper has proposed and verified
a simplified method for calculating sound-absorbing struc-
tures with periodic axisymmetric cavities using COMSOL
Multiphysics software.
The sound absorption mechanism of sound-absorbing
structures with cavities has always attracted attention.
Gaunaurd [20] believes that the acoustic properties of this
cavity-containing structure are related to the resonance of
the cylindrical hole in the second layer. Later, Lane [21]
found that its acoustic properties are not only related to
cavity of the second layer but also related to the dynamic
properties of the first layer. Gaunaurd [22] pointed out two
vibration mechanisms in the review of Lane [21], including
the bending vibration of the first layer and the radial move-
ment of the second layer. Cai et al. [17] pointed out that
the sound absorption mechanism includes the resonance of
the “diaphragm” of the first layer and the radial movement
of the hole wall of the second layer. The mechanism that
plays a major role is not only related to the stiffness match-
ing of each layer, but related to thickness of each layer and
the size of the holes. In recent years, Ivansson [23] con-
sidered the multiple scattering characteristics of the cav-
ity when discussing the acoustic performance of periodic
distributed spherical cavities and ellipsoidal cavities. Bai
et al. [24] summarized the above sound absorption mecha-
nism as: cavity-related resonance increases energy loss,
cavity increases wave scattering through increasing wave
propagation path, the radial movement helps the conversion
of wave form using the transverse wave attenuation factor
to improve sound absorption. Ye et al. [6] compared the
absorption performance of anechoic layer embedded three
different types of axial holes, the cylindrical, the conical
and the horn shaped one. Zhong et al. [25] discussed the
effect of Poisson’s loss factor of rubbery material on under-
water sound absorption of anechoic coatings embedded
with cylindrical air cavities. Zhou et al. [26] investigated
the absorption mechanism of Alberich anechoic coating
with a steel plate backing by structural displacement vec-
tors and deformations, pointing out that increasing the cavity
height is beneficial for sound absorption at low-frequency.
Zhao et al. [27] optimized acoustic absorption of Alber-
ich coatings containing cylindrical cavities of mixed sizes
using a differential evolution algorithm combined with a
finite element method. Dong and Tian [28] gave a review
of underwater sound absorption materials and stated that
the existence of cavity provided a monopole resonance, and
the periodic arranged cavities would achieve a good sound
absorption effect by the multiple scattering effects and the
wave mode conversion. Few literatures design the cavity
with variable cross-section shape and the optimization with
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Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383
comprehensive consideration of material parameters and
cavity shape have not been found.
We first optimize the sound-absorbing structure with
cylindrical cavity underwater and analyse the sound energy
loss mechanism. The cavity structure deformations include
the bending vibration of the surface layer and the radial
movement near the cavity which changes along the axis.
It is obvious that radial deformation can promote the wave
mode conversion. If the radius of the cavity changes along
the axial direction, more abundant radial deformation may
occur. Thus the optimization of the variable cross section
cavity structure was conducted, and better sound absorption
performance was obtained. As the material parameters also
have a great influence on the sound absorption performance,
the Young’s modulus has also been introduced in the optimi-
zation model of variable cross section cavity case. Compared
with the previous related research literatures, it provides a
more systematic design idea of sound absorption structures
containing cavities and a theoretical basis for further reveal-
ing the details of the cavity related sound absorption mecha-
nism. This article also introduced the simplification process
of the structural model and the effect of improving calcula-
tion efficiency and accuracy.
2 Model and Method
2.1 Simplified Model
Based on FEM, the acoustic-structure coupling equation is
established as follows [16]
⎡ 𝐌 ⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫
0 ⎤⎪ 𝐮̈ e ⎪ ⎡ 𝐂𝐬 0 ⎤⎪ 𝐮̇ e ⎪ ⎡ 𝐊𝐬 −𝐑 ⎤⎪ 𝐮e ⎪ ⎪ 𝐅𝐬 ⎪
⎢ 𝐬 ⎥⎨ +⎢ ⎥⎨ +⎢ ⎥⎨
⎬ ⎬
⎢ 𝜌 𝐑 𝐌 ⎥⎪ 𝐩̈ ⎪ ⎢ 0 𝐂 ⎥⎪ 𝐩̇ ⎪ ⎢ 0 𝐊 ⎥⎪ 𝐩 ⎪ ⎪ 𝐅 ⎬ ⎬ =⎨
⎣ f 𝐟 ⎦ ⎪
⎩ e⎭ ⎣ 𝐟 ⎦
⎩ e⎭ ⎣ 𝐟 ⎦
⎩ e⎭ ⎩ 𝐟 ⎭
M, C, K, R are the matrices of mass, damping, stiffness
and the coupling matrix of acoustic-structure, respectively.
The subscripts s and f represent structure and fluid, respec-
tively, and ue and pe are the nodal displacement of the struc-
ture and the nodal sound pressure of the fluid, respectively.
Fs and Ff represent the force and sound pressure excitation,
and ρf represents the fluid density. On this basis, a finite
element simulation model was established with COMSOL
Multiphysics, and Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) is applied
to both ends of the fluid medium to form sound-absorbing
end. The reflection coefficient R and the transmission coeffi-
cient T are obtained by the model, and the sound absorption
coefficient is obtained by the following formula.
𝛼 = 1 − R2 − T 2
The two-dimensional periodic structure refers to the
quadrilateral and hexagonal cross-sectional unit arranged
Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383 373

along the xoy plane, as shown in Fig. 1. This article mainly Fig. 2  Simplified process
analyses the sound-absorbing structure of this periodic dis- diagram of periodic structure
analysis model with axisymmet-
tribution. A single unit is taken to be analyzed, periodic ric cavity
boundary conditions are applied to the outer surface of the
unit model. According to the symmetry of the structure,
you can take 1/4 of the quadrilateral cross-section unit or
even 1/8, 1/4 of the hexagonal cross-sectional unit or 1/6 for
simulation, as shown in Fig. 1. The periodic structures with
axisymmetric cavities can be simplified as two-dimensional
axisymmetric models, keeping the size of the cavity constant
and using the same through-hole ratio ϕ to convert units
with quadrilateral or hexagonal cross-sections into circular
cross-section units. Taking the quadrilateral cross-section
unit as an example, the simplified process is shown in Fig. 2.

2.2 Validation

Case 1 takes a multilayer sound-absorbing structure with

steel lined as an example. The material parameters and thick-
ness of each layer are shown in Table 1. The fluid density
ρ = 1.12 kg/m3, and the sound velocity c = 340 m/s.
E is Young’s modulus; ρ is density; v is Poisson’s ratio; η
is loss factor; t is the layer thickness.
Take a square cross section unit for calculating the acous-
tic performance using the primitive cube, the simplified 1/4
cube, cylindrical cube with the same through-hole rate and
the simplified two-dimensional axisymmetric model. The
calculation step is set as 10 Hz, and the calculation results

from 50 to 500 Hz for each model are shown in Fig. 3. The

(a) quadrilateral cross-section
comparison of calculation amount, calculation time and
average error is shown in Table 2. The difference between
the simplified method of the two-dimensional axisymmetric
model and the primitive cube is less than 1%, which can
satisfy the accuracy requirements and greatly improve the
calculation efficiency. It is expected to save a lot of time
in the structural optimization and shorten the design cycle.
Case 2 takes a sound-absorbing structure immersed in
water as an example. The water parameters are ρ = 1000 kg/

Table 1  The geometry and material parameters of the structure con-

taining cavity
First layer Second layer Steel lined

E (MPa) 0.001 400 2.1e + 5

ρ (kg/m3) 29 1800 7800
(b) hexagonal cross-sections
v 0.495 0.495 0.3
η 1.6582 1.991 0.001
Fig. 1  Plane periodic unit form t (mm) 8.8 1 25

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Cube unit 2.3 Optimization Method

1.0 1/4 unit
Sound absorption coefficient 

Cylindrical elements with the same  The genetic algorithm (GA) is popular to be used to optimize
0.8 Two-dimensional axisymmetric unit the design of the sound absorption structure [29].The GA
with the same  uses the fitness function to transform the objective function
0.6 Reference[17] into the fitness of the corresponding variable. Variable cod-
ing as genes is used to form chromosomal individuals. The
0.4 process of "hybridization" and "mutation" is implemented
through the transformation and recombination of chromo-
0.2 somal genes. The chromosomal individuals are evaluated by
fitness functions simulating "survival of the fittest" in nature.
Finally, the process of optimization searching is completed.
0.0 The optimization process is shown in Fig. 6.
0 200 400 600
Frequency(Hz) In Case 3, the optimal design based on Case 2 is con-
ducted to obtain low-frequency sound absorption structure
Fig. 3  Calculation results of sound absorption coefficient in case 1 with finite thickness underwater. In order to analyse the
influence mechanism of cavity shape on sound absorption,
the sound absorption performance of the cylindrical cavity
Table 2  Calculation results of simplified model in Case 1 is optimized by GA at 2000 Hz by connecting GA embedded
Cube unit 1/4 unit Cylindrical Two- in Matlab to COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software.
dimensional The ga function embedded in Matlab is to find the minimum
axisymmetric value of the objective function. The maximum value of the
Degree of free- 326,418 130,311 415,729 12,329
sound absorption coefficient α is the object. The correspond-
dom ing optimization model is as follows.
Time 7860 s 2885 s 8390 s 17 s
⎧ min f = −𝛼
Average error – 1.14% 1.87% 0.88% ⎪ s.t. 2mm ≤ H1 ≤ 10mm
⎨ 2mm ≤ H3 ≤ 10mm
⎪
m3, c = 1500 m/s. The sound absorption structure is com- ⎩ 4mm ≤ d ≤ 36mm
posed of 3 layers which is shown in Fig. 4. Each layer is In Case 4, on the basis of the optimized structure con-
made of polyurethane material, the material parameters are taining the cylindrical cavity, the control points of the cav-
E = 35.17Mpa, v = 0.45, ρ = 950 kg/m3, η = 0.43. The sizes ity cross section are added in the optimization model. The
are set as initial values in Table 4. Take a square cross sec- structure containing variable cross section cavity is shown
tion unit for calculating the acoustic performance using the in Fig. 7. The modified optimization model is as follows.
primitive cube, the simplified 1/4 cube, cylindrical cube
with the same through-hole rate and the simplified two-
dimensional axisymmetric model. The calculation step is
set as 50 Hz, and the calculation results from 1000-3000 Hz
for each model are shown in Fig. 5 and Table 3. The results
show that the simplified method is suitable for underwater
sound-absorbing structure design.

Fig. 4  Structure diagram with surface surface

cylindrical cavity cover layer
The cavity layer layer
d

sound wave

H1 H3
a

l
Water Water
H
a

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Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383 375

0.4 Table 4  Parameters setting and Patameter Initial Result

results of Case 3
Sound absorption coefficient 

H (mm) 70 70
0.3 H1 (mm) 3 2.36
H3 (mm) 3 3.34
d (mm) 20 11.32
0.2 a (mm) 40 40
Cube unit
α 0.27 0.49
1/4 unit
0.1 Cylindrical elements with the same 
Two-dimensional axisymmetric unit
with the same 
1.00
0.0 Case 2

Sound absorption coefficient 

1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Case 3
Frequency(Hz) Case 4
0.75
Case 5
Fig. 5  Calculation results of sound absorption coefficient in case 2
0.50
Table 3  Calculation results of simplified model in Case 2
Cube unit 1/4 unit Cylindrical Two- 0.25
dimensional
axisymmetric
0.00
Degree of free- 297,341 94,758 329,704 10,150 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
dom Frequency(Hz)
Time 895 s 398 s 1037 s 27 s
Average error – 0.23% 0.39% 0.36% Fig. 8  Optimization results of Case 2–5

Build optimization model ⎧ min f = −𝛼

⎪ s.t. 2 ≤ H1 ≤ 10
Encode the parameters
⎪
⎪ 2 ≤ H3 ≤ 10
⎪ 4 ≤ x1 ≤ 36
Initialize the group ⎨
Generate a new ⎪ 4 ≤ x2 ≤ 36
generation of groups ⎪ 4 ≤ x3 ≤ 36
Calculate fitness Evaluate group ⎪ 4 ≤ x4 ≤ 36
⎪
⎩ 4 ≤ x5 ≤ 36
Meet the stopping Yes
End
criterion

No
In Case 5, the Young’s modulus E of the material with
Genetic operations: selection,
the range of 10- 100Mpa is introduced into the optimization
crossover, mutation model of Case 4.

Fig. 6  Flowchart of Genetic algorithm

3 Result
H/2
H3 The optimization results of Case 3 are shown in Table 4 and
H1
sound wave

Fig. 8, and the sound absorption coefficient is improved in

x1

x3
x2

x5
x4

most frequency bands.

The optimization results of Case 4 are shown in Table 5
Water 15mm 15mm Water and Fig. 8. The sound absorption coefficient increases in
H the whole frequency range, and peaks appear at 1100 Hz
and 2050 Hz at which the absorption coefficient are 0.5
Fig. 7  Structure diagram with variable section cavity cover and 0.83, respectively. The peak value 0.83 at 2050 Hz and

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Table 5  Parameters setting and Parameter Initial Result 4 Discussion

results of Case 4
H (mm) 70 70 As is shown in Fig. 8, the sound absorption performance
H1 (mm) 2.36 3.98 gets better and better from Case 2 to Case 5, demonstrating
H3 (mm) 3.34 6.02 that both the elastic modulus and the air cavity are important
x1 (mm) 11.32 35.98 for the problem of underwater sound absorption as they all
x2 (mm) 11.32 36.22 influence the inherent characteristics and surface impedance
x3 (mm) 11.32 3.96 of the structure. But the acquisition of desired elastic modu-
x4 (mm) 11.32 12.02
lus may be limited in engineering practice, it is necessary to
x5 (mm) 11.32 7.94
analyse the influence mechanism of cavity shape on sound
H (mm) 40 40
absorption in detail.
α 0.49 0.82
4.1 Case 3 of Cylindrical Cavity Structure

the value 0.82 at 2000 Hz are considered equal within the
error tolerance range, and 2050 Hz is close to the target
frequency 2000 Hz, it can be considered that the target fre-
quency point 2000 Hz reaches the peak value. The sound
absorption result of the variable cross-section cavity is
significantly better than that of the cylindrical cavity, and
the maximum value of the cylindrical cavity is not at the
frequency of 2000 Hz. The sound absorption coefficient
of the variable cross-section cavity can have a maximum
peak around 2000 Hz, indicating that more cross-section
parameters involved in the optimization is beneficial for
the structure to meet the resonant characteristics and pro-
mote the wave mode conversion.
The results of Case 5 are shown in Table 6 and Fig. 8.
The sound absorption coefficient increases in most fre-
quency range and reaches to the peak value 0.895 just at
2000 Hz, indicating that the Young’s modulus involved in
the optimization is beneficial for the structure to meet the
resonant characteristics.
4.1.1 Energy Dissipation Analysis
The essence of sound absorption is to convert sound
energy into thermal energy and other forms of energy
dissipation. Therefore, the amount of energy dissipation
is directly related to the magnitude of the sound absorp-
tion coefficient. In COMSOL Multiphysics simulation
software, the energy dissipation density can be directly
extracted to analyse the sound absorption mechanism of
the cavity structure. Figure 9 shows the energy dissipation
changes with frequency of the surface layer and cavity
layer before and after the optimization. Figure 10 shows
the energy dissipation density Qh distribution of the sym-
metrical cross section after optimization. Before optimi-
zation, the energy dissipation of the surface layer in the
frequency region below 1400 Hz is higher than that of the
cavity layer, and the energy dissipation of the cavity layer

Surface layer in Case 2

10-10 Cavity layer in Case 2
2.5 Surface layer in Case 3
Cavity layer in Case 3
Average power dissipation (w)

2.0

Table 6  Parameters setting and Parameter Initial Result 1.5

results of Case 5
H (mm) 70 70
1.0
H1 (mm) 2.36 5.62
H3 (mm) 3.34 9.79
x1 (mm) 11.32 16.39 0.5
x2 (mm) 11.32 4.97
x3 (mm) 11.32 2.77 0.0
x4 (mm) 11.32 2.93 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
x5 (mm) 11.32 9.38 Frequency(Hz)
a (mm) 40 40
E (MPa) 35.17 80.86 Fig. 9  Average power dissipation of each layer of Case 2 and Case 3
α 0.49 0.89

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Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383 377
Fig. 10  Energy dissipation distribution of the optimized structure in Case 3
in the frequency region above 1400 Hz is higher than
that of the surface layer. After optimization, the energy
dissipation of the cavity layer is obviously greater than
that of the surface layer in the entire frequency band.
Although Fig. 10 shows that the energy density of the
surface layer is higher than that of the cavity layer, the
cavity layer has a larger volume contributing larger total
energy dissipation. This shows that the sound absorption
of the cavity layer plays a leading role, and the struc-
ture will be optimized in the direction of increasing the
energy dissipation of the cavity layer. Because the sound
absorption coefficient at 2500 Hz is higher than the target
frequency at 2000 Hz, Fig. 10 also shows the energy dis-
sipation density distribution at 2500 Hz. Compared to the
2000 Hz, the energy dissipation density near the cavity
is significantly increased, which can be explained by the
obvious radial deformation shown in Fig. 11a1 and b1.
4.1.2 Deformation Analysis
Figure 11 shows the structural deformation after optimiza-
tion. The black solid line in the figure represents the unde-
formed structure, the arrow in the figure represents the
displacement vector of the mass point, the arrow direction
represents the displacement direction, and the relative mag-
nitude of the arrow represents the relative magnitude of the
displacement. From Fig. 11a and b, it can be seen that the
upper and lower surface layers of the cavity have occurred
obvious bending deformation at 2000 Hz. From Fig. 11b, c
and d, it can be seen that the cavity layer is radially deformed
without torsional deformation, and the upper part expands
outward from the hole wall, the lower part shrinks into the
cavity. From the magnitude of deformation, it can be seen
that the radial displacement is much smaller than the surface
displacement. The sound absorption coefficient at 2500 Hz
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378 Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383

is slightly higher than that of 2000 Hz as is shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 11 shows the structure deformation at 2500 Hz, and
the surface structure on the incident side has also obviously
bent. Compared to Fig. 11a and b, a1 and b1 illustrate the
radial deformation of the cavity layer has occurred more
obviously, and the radial deformation changes axially. It
shows that radial movement has a great influence on sound
absorption performance. Radial deformation promotes the
transformation of longitudinal waves into shear waves with
a larger loss factor, thereby increasing the sound energy loss.

4.1.3 Modal Analysis

Figure 12 shows the first 3 modes of the optimized cylindri-

cal cavity structure. It mainly occurs the surface bending
deformation at first order and second order, and the radial
deformation at the second order is larger than that of the first
order. A more obvious radial deformation mode is occurred
at the third order at which the surface bending occurs at
the same time. The first-order frequency 1861.5 Hz is the
most closest to 2000 Hz, so the first-order mode is mainly
excited at 2000 Hz, the first-order mode corresponds to
the deformation in Fig. 11b as shown in Fig. 12. The third
order frequency 2426.8 Hz is the most closest to 2500 Hz.
The first three-order modes are excited at 2500 Hz, so the
deformation is superimposed by the first three-order modes.
The superposition component of the third-order frequency
is highest, and more radial deformation occurs. The sound
absorption coefficient at 2500 Hz is 0.52, which is slightly
higher than 0.49 at 2000 Hz.
In terms of deformation, there is more obvious radial
deformation at 2500 Hz. From a modal perspective, 2000 Hz
is close to the first order, 2500 Hz is close to the third order,
the latter is more closer, so the vibration at 2500  Hz is
stronger with more energy dissipation.
The energy dissipation, deformation and modal analy-
sis of the optimized structure show that at low-frequency
the sound absorption performance is mainly related to the
surface bending deformation, which mainly stimulates the
surface vibration mode contributing to the movement of the
surface layer medium and energy dissipation. Relatively
speaking, the radial deformation modes of the structure are
excited easily at higher frequency, which can stimulate more
movement of the structure medium and consume energy. So,
the radial deformation has a great effect on improving the
sound absorption coefficient. By adding design parameters,
the radial mode can be moved to low frequency to improving
the sound absorption coefficient.

Fig. 11  Deformation of the optimized structure in Case 3

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Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383 379
Fig. 11  (continued)
4.2 Case 4 of Variable Section Cavity Structure
4.2.1 Energy Dissipation Analysis
Figure 13 shows the energy dissipation changes with fre-
quency of the surface layer and cavity layer in Case 3 and
Case 4, and Fig. 14 shows the energy dissipation density
distribution of the symmetrical cross section in Case 4.
Both of the cavity layer and the surface layer have a higher
energy dissipation density than the cylindrical cavity. The
energy dissipation of the cavity layer reaches a peak near
2000  Hz corresponding to the peak position of sound
absorption coefficient in Fig. 8. Comparing Figs. 14 with
10, the energy dissipation density near the cavity increases
significantly, indicating that the energy dissipation of the
Fig. 12  The first 3 modes of the optimized structure in Case 3
cavity layer has a great influence on the sound absorption
performance. It is indicated that the sound absorption per-
formance is optimized towards more energy dissipation in
the cavity layer, and the energy dissipation of the cavity
layer is closely related to the radial movement near the
cavity.
4.2.2 Deformation Analysis
Figure 15 shows the deformation of the optimized struc-
ture at 2000 Hz. From Fig. 15a and b, it can be seen that
13

380
10-10
Surface layer in Case 3
4 which the surface bending occurs at the same time. The sec-
Cavity layer in Case 3
Surface layer in Case 4
Average power dissipation (w)
Cavity layer in Case 4
3 structure, the variable cross-section cavity structure has a
2 produces surface deformation on the incident side of the
1 2000 Hz.
0 the difference of 138.5 Hz, and the sound absorption coef-
1000 1500 2000 2500
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 13  Average power dissipation of each layer of Case 3 and Case 4
Fig. 14  Energy dissipation distribution of the optimized structure in
Case 4 (The unit refers to Fig. 10a)
the upper and lower layers have occurred obvious bending
deformation at 2000 Hz. From Fig. 15b, c and d, it can be
seen that the cavity layer is radially deformed without tor-
sional deformation, and the upper part expands outward
from the hole wall, the lower part shrinks into the cavity,
which is similar to the case of cylindrical cavity.
4.2.3 Modal Analysis
Figure 17 shows the first 3 modes of the optimized structures
containing variable section cavities. It mainly occurs the sur-
face bending deformation at first order, and the resonance
frequency is 1031.4 Hz, which corresponds to the deforma-
tion at the first peak frequency point of the sound absorption
coefficient in Fig. 8 at 1100 Hz. The deformation is shown
in Fig. 16, which is corresponding to Fig. 17 a. An obvious
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Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383
radial deformation mode is occurred at the second order at
ond order frequency is 1825.4 Hz which is close to the target
frequency 2000 Hz. Compared with the cylindrical cavity
lower radial deformation mode frequency. The deformation
mode corresponds to Fig. 15b. The third-order mode mainly
sound wave. It is found that the third-order modal deforma-
tion also participates in the superposition of deformation at
For the optimized cylindrical cavity structure, the first
order frequency 1861.5 Hz is the closest to 2000 Hz with
3000 ficient at 2000 Hz is 0.49. For the optimized variable section
cavity structure, the second order frequency 1825.4 Hz is
the closest to 2000 Hz with the difference of 174.6 Hz. The
difference is larger than the case of cylindrical cavity struc-
ture but the radial deformation is greater. The result shows
that the sound absorption coefficient value 0.82 reaches peak
at 2000 Hz. It indicates that the level of sound absorption
coefficient has a great relationship with radial deformation.
Modal analysis shows that increasing the design param-
eters of the cavity cross section is conducive to moving
the radial mode to low frequency, and stimulating radial
deformation modes can help improve the sound absorption
coefficient.
5 Conclusion
A simplified method of two-dimensional axisymmetric
model is proposed for the periodic sound absorption struc-
ture of which the unit is axisymmetric. The comparison
calculation validates that the simplified method meets the
accuracy requirements and greatly improves the calculation
efficiency.
In the underwater environment, combined with the sim-
plified method of two-dimensional axisymmetric model, the
GA is used to optimize the sound absorption performance
of the structure containing periodic cylindrical and vari-
able cross-section cavities at 2000 Hz. After optimization,
the sound absorption coefficient reaches 0.49 for cylindri-
cal cavity and 0.82 for variable cross-section cavities, the
result of the variable cross-section cavity is significantly
better than that of the cylindrical cavity structure. Finally,
the better sound absorption ability with the peak value 0.895
is obtained by introducing the Young’s modulus into the
optimization model of variable cross-section cavity Case.
Through the comparison of optimization results and the
analysis of energy dissipation, deformation and mode, the
following conclusions are obtained.
Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383 381

Fig. 15  Deformation of vari-
able section cavity structure at
2000 Hz

13

382 Acoustics Australia (2021) 49:371–383

(1) Radial motion promotes the transformation of longitu-

dinal waves into shear waves with a larger sound energy
loss. The degree of radial vibration has a great influ-
ence on energy dissipation.
(2) Cavity resonance includes the bending vibration of the
surface and the radial motion near the cavity. When the
frequency is relatively high, more obvious radial move-
ment occurs, and the radial movement changes along
the axial direction. When the frequency is relatively
low, the surface bending movement plays a major role,
and when the frequency is relatively high, the radial
Fig. 16  Deformation of variable cross section cavity structure at
movement has a greater impact on the sound absorption
1100 Hz
performance.
(3) Exciting radial motion modes helps to improve the
sound absorption coefficient. The radial motion modes
of the variable cross-section cavity are more abundant,
and it is more helpful for the radial mode to move to
low frequency. The design of the variable cross-section
cavity provides more possibilities for improving the
sound absorption coefficient at low frequency.
(4) In the design of sound absorption structure, it is wise to
put the material parameters into the design parameters
when they could be adjusted or selected as they have a
great influence on acoustic properties.

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