Acoustic design of ductworks such as fluid machinery intake and exhaust systems usually requires a large number of iterations for concept validation and prototype development. The network approach is ideally suited for this purpose, but systematic search and optimization methods are indispensable for quick and efficient progress. The last chapter, Chapter 13, discusses the acceleration of iterative design calculations and handling uncertainties about model parameters. We also present an approach which brings an inverse perspective to the conventional target based acoustic design calculations.

Chapter 10 describes analytical actuator-disk models for the basic acoustic source mechanisms, namely, non-steady mass and heat injection and force application, applications of which are demonstrated on internal combustion engines, turbomachinery and combustion chambers.

Chambers and resonators are used as noise control devices in almost all industrial duct systems. In Chapter 5, transmission loss is defined and, using the acoustic models and the assembly techniques described in previous chapters, transmission loss characteristics of various chamber and resonator types are demonstrated. Also discussed are the calculation of the shell noise and mean pressure loss (or back pressure), which may impose trade-offs on effective use of these devices in duct-borne noise control.

Chapter 6 introduces the three-dimensional analytic theory of sound propagation in ducts and presents acoustic models of hard-walled and lined uniform ducts. Also discussed are the effects of gradual cross-section non-uniformity, circular curvature of the duct axis, and sheared and vortical mean flows.

Chapter 12 describes the contemporary measurement methods in duct acoustics. Acoustic measurements are necessary in order to validate theoretical models and also to develop acoustic models when theoretical approaches tend to be inadequate or impossible. The multiple wall-mounted microphone method is introduced from first principles and its applications to the measurement of the characteristics of acoustic sources and of passive system elements are described.

This chapter describes a block diagram based network approach for construction of acoustic models of duct systems from the simpler components in one dimension and three dimensions. This topic is considered early in the book, because it describes the format used in later chapters in mathematical representation of acoustic models of ductwork components and their assemblies.

This chapter introduces the general analytic theory of one-dimensional sound propagation in ducts and presents acoustic models for uniform, non-uniform and inhomogeneous ducts with hard or finite impedance walls and parallel sheared mean flow.

Chapter 11 describes calculation of the sound pressure level at a point in the acoustic field of an in-duct source. Insertion loss of a silencer is shown to be represented approximately by source-independent parameters under certain conditions. The discussion encompasses multi-modal sound propagation and radiation and the ASHRAE method of silencer sizing in ventilation and air distribution systems.

This chapter describes the basic analytic concepts and operations which are invoked throughout the book. Mathematical models of sound wave motion in ducts come from the solutions of the linearized forms of the basic fluid dynamic equations of unsteady fluid flow in frequency and wavenumber domains. The process of linearization is discussed in depth and the frequency and wavenumber transformations are defined rigorously. A quantity that is often of interest in duct acoustics is the acoustic power transmitted in a duct. Calculation of time-averaged acoustic power transmitted in ducts is described a unified manner. Finally, we describe the mathematical link with the analyses presented in the book and linear system dynamics. These topics are collected in this preliminary chapter as primer and also to avoid interruption of the continuity of discussions on the principal subjects.

In most duct systems, propagation of duct-borne sound terminates with a duct which opens to an exterior environment. Chapter 9 describes modeling of open ends of ducts and the acoustic field radiated from an open end. This enables acoustic model of a duct system to be extended from the source to the receiver.

In Chapters 3 to 7, the fluid is assumed to be inviscid. Effects of the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the fluid are considered in this chapter. The analysis is based on the low-reduced frequency theory and includes applications to catalytic converter and particulate filters.

Chapter 7 describes modal acoustic models of several coupled duct configurations. The acoustic models described in this chapter extend the one-dimensional area change, junction and perforate elements described in Chapters 3 to three dimensions.