A three-dimensional finite element approach for predicting the transmission loss in mufflers and silencers with no mean flow

A three-dimensional finite element method has been implemented to predict the transmission loss of a packed muffler and a parallel baffle silencer for a given frequency range. Iso-parametric quadratic tetrahedral elements have been chosen due to their flexibility and accuracy in modeling geometries with curved surfaces. For accurate physical representation, perforated plates are modeled with complex acoustic impedance while absorption linings are modeled as a bulk media with a complex speed of sound and mean density. Domain decomposition and parallel processing techniques are applied to address the high computational and memory requirements. The comparison of the computationally predicted and the experimentally measured transmission loss shows a good agreement.