Acoustic Characterization of Turbochargers and Pipe Terminations

Abstract: In search for quieter engines there is a need for a better understanding of the acoustic properties of engine intake and exhaust system components. Besides mufflers which have the purpose of reducing pressure pulses originating from the internal combustion (IC) engine, there are many components in a modern car exhaust and intake system, e.g., air-filters, coolers, catalytic converters, particulate filters - all having an effect on the pressure pulses or sound field in the system. In this work the focus is on the turbocharged IC-engine where both, sound scattering (reflection and transmission) and sound generation from automotive turbochargers are studied. In addition, sound reflection from an open ended pipe, such as the tailpipe of an IC-engine exhaust is investigated.            Accurate and efficient methods to fully characterize turbochargers by measuring the acoustic two-port have been developed.  Compared to earlier work, a number of modifications are suggested for improving the quality of the results. A study on three different automotive turbochargers is also presented, including data for sound scattering for both the compressor and turbine. The results for the transmission of sound, which is of interest for the ability of a turbocharger to reduce noise coming from the engine, is plotted for all tested cases against a dimensionless frequency scale (Helmholtz-number). This makes it possible to generalize the result in order to draw conclusions about the behavior for any turbocharger.             The sound generation was also studied and three different methods to estimate the sound power are suggested. The methods were used to investigate sound generation at different operating points and identify source mechanisms for a turbocharger compressor.            An accurate method for measuring the reflection of plane acoustic waves from a pipe termination in a duct with hot gas flow has been developed and tested. Representing the acoustical conditions at an exhaust tail-pipe, the data obtained is important for effective modeling of exhaust systems. The experimental results of the reflection coefficient were compared with Munt`s theory on flow duct openings. The measurements were carried out for air jet velocities up to Mach 0.4 and for flow temperatures up to 100°C in order to study temperature effects on the reflection properties. It was concluded, that the experimental results agree well with the Munt theory.