Active Control of Propagated Noise through Opening of Enclosures Surrounding a Noise Source

Enclosures are widely used to alleviate the contribution of machinery noise. It has been long concerned with the noise transmission through the access openings of the enclosures. In this study, we investigate active noise control technology for reduction of the transmission. A numerical model based on the acoustic boundary element method is first established. Using the numerical model, the acoustic transfer functions of the field points over the opening to the primary source at arbitrary locations are estimated. The feedforward control to minimize the acoustic power through the opening is then numerically implemented. The controller drives the secondary source to destructively interfere the noise transmission through the opening. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the effects of the location and the number of the microphones on the control performance. Furthermore, the effects of the location of the secondary source on the performance of active noise control are investigated. It is followed that the control system implemented in this study leads to a significant reduction of about 31.5 dB in the sound power through the opening using only one secondary source located at the optimized position.