COMPUTER-AIDED OPTIMAL DESIGN OF A SINGLE-CHAMBER MUFFLER WITH SIDE INLET/OUTLET UNDER SPACE CONSTRAINTS

Whilst the muffler dimension is often limited inside a building or machine room, the consideration of maximal sound transmission loss (STL) under space constraints becomes important and essential to the field of acoustics. In this paper, the optimal design of a single-chamber muffler with side inlet/outlet is comprehensively presented. Both the graphic analysis and the computer-aided numerical assessments are also fully described in this study. With the computer graphic analysis on sensitivity, one set of design data is derived primarily, and the numerical searching algorithm of iteration technique and the initial design data are then carried out. These results are then verified with Kuhn-Tucker Condition for accuracy. Furthermore, the simulated results show that the STL of muffler is exactly maximized at the desired frequency. This study demonstrates a quick and economical approach to optimize the design for a single-chamber muffler with side inlet/outlet under space constraints without redundant testing.