Acoustic Black Hole with Functionally Graded Perforated Rings

Abstract

This thesis investigates a novel class of acoustic black hole waveguides (ABH) that harnesses the functionality of an array of optimally designed Functionally Graded Perforated Rings (FGPR). Through this approach, the developed ABH exhibits inherent energy dissipation characteristics derived from the flow through the perforations, which enhances its acoustic absorption behavior, resulting in rapid attenuation of the propagating waves as it traverses the length of the waveguide. Furthermore, the proposed ABH structure facilitates the incorporation of additional porous absorbing layers sandwiching the rings to further enhance its absorption characteristics. Consequently, the operational mechanism of this new class of ABH waveguides diverges significantly from that of the conventional ABH waveguide, which generates the black hole effect by employing sequential solid-flat rings of decreasing inner radius to create the necessary virtual power law taper. Instead, the new class of ABH generates the black hole effect through reactive means rather than the effective dissipative means of the conventional ABH. Therefore, this thesis develops a transfer matrix modeling (TMM) approach and a finite element method (FEM) approach to model the absorption and reflection characteristics of the novel class of ABH, aiming to predict its behavior and, more importantly, demonstrate its merits as effective means for controlling sound propagation. The interior-point method for optimization was employed to select optimal geometric design parameters for the FGPR inside the proposed ABH. Accordingly, the ABH with FGPR is manufacturable, unlike the conventional, and its acoustic properties are tuned to minimize the reflection of incoming acoustic waves across the frequency range 0-5 kHz. This optimization process is then repeated for the ABH with FGPR sandwiched by absorbing layers. From the pool of optimal designs generated, those that offer manufacturing advantages are chosen for further testing and evaluation. Numerical simulations are conducted to showcase the advantages and behavior of the proposed ABH configurations. The predictions of the TMM and FEM are compared and validated against experimental results which are collected with the ACUPRO impedance tube. Furthermore, comparisons between the ABH with FGPR and conventional ABH are made to elucidate and distinguish their respective behaviors and underlying principles of operation.