Frequency Domain Linearized Navier-Stokes Equations Methods for Low Mach Number Internal Aeroacoustics

Abstract: Traffic is a major source of environmental noise in modern day's society. As a result, the development of new vehicles are subject to heavy governmental legislations. The major noise sources on common road vehicles are engine noise, transmission noise, tire noise and, at high speeds, wind noise. One way to reduce intake and exhaust noise is to attach mufflers to the exhaust pipes. However, to develop prototypes for the evaluation of muffler performance is a costly and time-consuming process. As a consequence, in recent years so called virtual prototyping has emerged as an alternative. Current industrial simulation methodologies are often rather crude, normally only including one-dimensional mean flows and one-dimensional acoustic fields. Also, flow generated noise is rudimentary modeled or not included at all. Hence, improved methods are needed to fully benefit from the possibilities of virtual prototyping.This thesis is aimed at the development of simulation methodologies suitable both as industrial tools for the prediction of the acoustic performance of flow duct systems, as well as for analyzing the governing mechanisms of duct aeroacoustics. Special focus has been at investigating the possibilities to use frequency-domain linearized Navier-Stokes equations solvers, where the equations are solved either directly or as eigenvalue formulations.A frequency-domain linearized Navier-Stokes equations methodology has been developed to simulate sound propagation and acoustic scattering in flow duct systems. The performance of the method has been validated to experimental data and analytical solutions for several cases of in-duct area expansions and orifice plates at different flow speeds. Good agreement has generally been found, suggesting that the proposed methodology is suitable for analyzing internal aeroacoustics.