Abstract:

The vibration and noise control of mechanical and architectural structures often involves the use of multilayer panels containing sound absorbing materials. For these applications, different types of absorbing materials may be used in different types of multilayer configurations, which will be suitable to reach the manufacturer's goals. Depending upon the type of multilayer configurations and materials to be used in a final product, the engineer has to use proper modeling tools to predict its vibroacoustic response. Commercially available codes offer the possibility of modeling sound absorbing materials in simple or complex configurations using different types of mathematical formulations. In this case, the engineer has to define what type of formulations is the best suited for his analysis. These formulations are often prohibitive whether in terms of computer time, memory requirement, or geometrical configurations. The engineer must be aware of the limitations related to each formulation. This paper presents an overview of the recent numerical models for porous media that are available for the analysis of multilayer panels. A brief description of the models and their limitations will be discussed. Also, comparisons between some of the models and experimental results will be presented.