Non-linear acoustic losses prediction in vented loudspeaker using computational fluid dynamic simulation

Bass-reflex designs can exhibit important non-linear behavior around their resonant frequency with significant acoustic losses and parasite noise emission. These phenomena are mainly due to turbulences and flow separation at the port’s inlet and outlet. This work proposes a method to predict the resulting non-linear acoustic losses for a given loudspeaker, enclosure volume and port geometry. The approach consists of coupling computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation with loudspeaker non-linear motion modelization. Four different ports geometries mounted on one given loudspeaker enclosure are tested. The computed acoustic losses are compared with measurements and show a good agreement. The obtained results prove that the proposed method can predict non-linear losses with an average error less than 1 dB around the Helmholtz frequency.

Authors: Yves Pene (L-Acoustics), Yoachim Horyn (L-Acoustics) and Christophe Combet (L-Acoustics)

http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=20776