Acoustic Simulation with Actran

Jonathan Jacqmot ([email protected])– Free Field Technologies

11 October 2012
Agenda

• A quick introduction about Free Field Technologies

(FFT)

• The Actran software for acoustic, vibro-acoustic and

aero-acoustic simulations

• Some case studies

• Conclusions

• Questions are more than welcome !

Free Field Technologies

• Free Field Technologies (FFT) is the technical leader in acoustic, vibro-

acoustic and aero-acoustic CAE

• The company has three main activities

– Development of the Actran software suite
– Provision of related services: training, consulting, technology transfer, methodology
development, installation and performance tuning, custom developments, CAE
process automation
– Research in acoustic CAE and related fields

• Free Field Technologies operates from its headquarters in Mont-Saint-

Guibert (near Brussels), Belgium, and from its offices in Toulouse,
France, Tokyo, Japan, and Troy, MI, USA.

• Actran is used by over 300 industrial customers worldwide.

• FFT joined MSC Software Corporation in September 2011 and became a

wholly owned subsidiary of MSC.
Some of our Automotive Customers
Some of our Aerospace Customers
Some Other References
Why acoustics ?
Evolution of allowed pass-by noise levels from 1970 to 2000

• Noise is becoming a dominant

84

82

problematic for different reasons 80

Acceptable levels (dB)

78

76

• Stringent norms 74

72

– The norms defined by States are more 70

68
and more restrictive 66

– It sometimes becomes the dimensioning

64
1970 1977 1984 1992 2000

factor: Airbus A380

• Comfort
– Acoustic comfort (car or aircraft cabin for
instance) is a marketing argument today
• Damages
– In the conception of spatial structures, a
high level of noise can lead to damages
until the break-down of the structure
Actran Acoustics Features

• Acoustics as well as weak vibro-acoustic coupling

– Acoustic finite elements, infinite elements & PML
– Including visco-thermal loss effects
– Convected wave propagation (flow + temperature)
• Excitations imported from MSC Nastran or others
• Results provided (among others)
– Acoustic pressure, intensity and power
– Power distribution and radiation efficiency
• Applications
– Engine: power train and auxiliaries (oilpan,
manifold, exhaust, …)
– Engine compartment insulation
– Any vibrating / radiating component
• Can be further extended using vibro-acoustics and aero-acoustics
features
Few Words about Infinite Elements

• Infinite elements are:

– « finite » elements
P’
P’’
– covering an unbounded domain
– with appropriate high order shape
functions in the radial direction 1 3

• Infinite elements:
– ensure there are no wave reflections
at the FE/IE interface P
S
– provide accurate acoustic results
beyond the FE domain
Structural and Porous Elements Library
• Shells & solids
– Visco-elastic shells & solids
– Piezo-electric elements (electric excitation,
mechanical response)
– Stiffeners, beams and mass-spring systems
• Porous elements: based on Biot model
– Model foam, rock wool, fibers...
– Most complete : Porous UP Model
• Vibrating skeleton surrounded by a fluid
• 3 + 1 = 4 degrees of freedom per node
– Other models : Delaney-Bazley, Miki, Rigid porous,
Lump porous
– Material properties (frequency dependent):
• Foam skeleton properties
• Fluid properties
• Foam properties : tortuosity, resistivity, porosity, …

• Local & global indicators, including energy

balance statements
Actran AeroAcoustics: Lighthill’s Analogy

• A CFD computation (URANS, LES, DNS, …) is used to determine

the flow
• The sound sources are calculated from these results
– Use of Lighthill’s analogy
– Standard simplifying assumptions
Source domain Ws
Solid boundary at Gs (quadrupoles/dipoles)

Ge Gs

NRBC Wa
at Ge CAA domain W
(Actran, FEM)
Actran AeroAcoustics: Process Overview

 Easy to use procedure - CFD

and acoustic computational
chains are decoupled
 Efficient procedure - mapping
strategy (integration
technique). A pure acoustic
meshing criterion is sufficient:
there is no need for a
refinement of the mesh in the
sources zone
 Robust procedure Actran
directly reads native CFD files
Actran VI for Pre-Processing

• Import meshes from Nastran, Patran or

others
• Setup of fluid (and/or solid) domains
• Definition of boundary conditions
– Spherical, cylindrical, plane sources
– Modal ducts
– Import from Nastran or others
– Random (diffuse, turbulent, rain)
– …
• Specification of
– Frequency range
– Microphone locations
– Post processing meshes
• Manage and monitor calculation
Actran VI for Post-Processing

• Visualization of
– Sound pressure
– Displacements
– Density
– Velocity
– Mapping quality

• Multiple visualization modules

Maps Iso lines/surfaces Vectors Deformations

Source: FFT
Actran VI for Post-Processing

• Plots of frequency response functions (FRF) of

– Sound pressure level
– Transmission loss
– …
• Polar/directional plots
• Waterfall diagrams
– FRF (color) per RPM over frequency
Vibro-Acoustic Application Reviews
Powertrain Radiation
Introduction

• This project: a complete truck powertrain, length around 2.5 meters

• The structure vibration levels are computed with an external FEA solver
• The results (velocities or displacements) are used as the excitation of
the acoustic radiation problem solved by Actran
• Several RPM’s of the power train are considered
• The numerical results are compared with measurements

Reference :
Experimental Validation of an Efficient Procedure for Large Acoustic Radiation
Problems, M.Gustafsson, J.Jacqmot, S.Caro - ISMA 2010 conference
Computation Process
• In the following, we only focus on the acoustic computations
1. Vibration modes and participation 2. Acoustic computations (Actran)
factors
Binary
files

3. Post Processing and Analysis

Maps FRF Waterfall
Powertrain: Experimental Validation
• Acoustic measurements have been done to assess the accuracy
of both the structural computation and acoustic radiation.
• For the complete set of frequency, regimes and microphones, a
maximum of 2dB difference has been detected.

(Normalised results)
Magnus Gustafsson et. All. : Experimental Validation of an Efficient Procedure for Large Acoustic Radiation
Problems, ISMA 2010
Maps of the acoustic fields

• 500 Hz

• 1500 Hz
Panel Contribution
Transmission Loss through Windows
Context

• The transmission through windows is of main importance in

automotive industry as it is one of the weakest points of
transmission.

• The number of parameters is very limited :

– glass material properties are difficult to modify
– multi-layered side windows would largely increase the weight
– shape is defined by design studio

• This study is focused on the seals connecting the window to the

car structure
Transmission Index of sealed window

• Baffled Structural 3D model (dynamic analysis)

• Incident space : Rayleigh
• Transmitted space : infinite FEM
• 600×600 mm² plate glass
• 2-material glass run channel (2.2m long)

Vibro-acoustic model

glass run
channel glass incident
power

transmitted
power

air (I-FEM)
Transmitted power evaluation

Wtr

Glass thickness of 3,85 mm

50

45 Puissance transmise à la transmitted

surface du vitrage
TL based absolute power
TL basetransmise
Puissance on transmitted
à 10 cm dupower
vitrage evaluated as in XP set-up
TL Measurements
Mesures
40

35
TL (dB)

30

25

20

15
100 1000 10000
Frequence (Hz)

• Measurement of the transmitted acoustic power at 10cm from

glass gives higher TL and critical frequency.
Product improvement

• Several design proposals simulated

TL Champ Diffus

É paisseur de vitrage de 3,85 mm

50

Coulisse B9 P3 Initiale
Coulisse B9 P3 Géométrie n°1
45 Coulisse B9 P3 Géométrie n°2
Coulisse B9 P3 Géométrie n°3

40
most effective design

35
TL (dB)

30

25

20

15
100 1000 10000
Frequency (Hz)

 Ranking of design proposal by simulation

Automotive Panel Submitted to Various
Excitation
Context

• Automotive panels need to be

– as light as possible to decrease the fuel consumption
– as isolating as possible to increase the passengers’ comfort

• New materials and new designs must be used to fit with both
requirements

• Plastic Omnium produces these kinds of panels

Noise Source

• Road noise transmission at 90 kph on rear floor :

– tyre / road : airborne noise
– road vibration : structure-borne noise

tyre / road road vibration

Actran Excitation

• Structure & airborne transmission : excitation mode

– airborne through diffuse sound field (Wi ~ 1 Pa²)
– structure borne through a dynamic force (F = 1N)
Results

• Actran can rank the two propagation paths

• Actran can define which part of the panel is
the most contributing
• User can then focus the improvement on the
most relevant part of the product !

Frequency [Hz] Frequency [Hz]

Satellite Exposed to Lift-off Pressure
Field
Application Review - ATV Solar Array
Study Objectives

• At lift-off, components like satellites carried on

launchers are exposed to intense acoustic
excitation that can damage their structures

• In the frame of an ESA driven project, Dutch Space

is seeking for improving the prediction of the
response of a folded solar array loaded by an
Acoustic Diffuse Field

• The objective of the study is to compare the vibro-

acoustic response of a folded solar array loaded by
an Acoustic Diffuse Field :
– Measured in a reverberant chamber (Dutch Space)
– Simulated with the Infinite/Finite Element solver Actran
(Free Field Technologies)
 Application Review - ATV Solar Array
Numerical Model

• Structure modeled in modal coordinates

– Existing Dutch Space model
– Modes extracted with NASTRAN (SOL103)
• The air layers and the surrounding air are modeled
together in physical coordinates
– Meshed with the real thickness
– Take visco-thermal effects into account (Beltman model)
• Fluid / Structure coupling taken into account (between
each panel and fluid layer)

Panels

Infinite Elements (NRBC)

FE Air Domain
 Application Review - ATV Solar Array
Results

• Influence of the air layers and Acoustic Diffuse Field models

Full Model = full modal

representation

Second Model = hybrid

modal/physical representation

Hybrid representation closer to

measurements on the complete
frequency range
Aero-Acoustic Application Reviews
Application Review - Rod Airfoil

Experimental setup

• Cylinder: ∅ = 10 mm
• Airfoil: NACA 0012,
c = 100 mm
• Span: 300 mm
• Far field measurements:
R = 1.85 m

Experimental data

• Geometric and hydrodynamic

boundary conditions
• Velocity profiles and spectra
• Wall pressure and far field spectra
Acoustic Model
Infinite elements

• Acoustic mesh should resolve up to 5kHz

• Acoustic wave length @ 5kHz : 0.068m
• 4 quadratic elements / λ: Δx = 0.017m

Mapping
region
Δx = 17mm

• Slight mesh refinement at cylinder

boundary and leading edge to capture
the boundary curvature

• Acoustic model contains 588 000 cells

Modal duct
• 1 232kdof have to be computed with an
IFE interpolation order of 10 Rigid walls
Acoustics Results

PSD pressure in the far field at R = 1.85 m and θ = 90°

• Very good agreement with experimental data

• Characteristic fits extremely well over the
whole spectra
• Far field PSD peak is 4 dB too high
• This might be due to not fully statistical
converged results:
Sim.: 5 avg. of 25Hz // Exp.: 200 avg. of 4Hz
Application Review - Instrument Panel Duct
• Objective: post-process complex, unsteady CFD
results and compute the flow noise of a HVAC duct
system
• Example: Fluent + Actran
ACTRAN TEST

• Real duct with register – CPU stats

– CFD: 15h
– CAA: 6h
– Target: 3kHz
• Our unique strategy ensures excellent results
Application Review - Side-Mirror Noise
• Volskswagen Passat
• Window = visco-elastic shell, seals = visco-elastic solids
• Trim components into the cavity using admittance

Sound pressure Level [dB]

“A comparison between the effects of the Turbulent and the Acoustic wall pressure fluctuations inside a car”, M. Cabrol,
Y. Detandt, M. Hartmann, A. Mutzke, 18th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2012
Actran can also be used for…

• Electronics
• Loudspeakers
• Headsets, telephones, microphones,
• Underwater acoustics
• Shipbuilding
• Compressors
• Construction
– Glass structures
– Multi-layered construction panels
• Etc
• Contact us if you need more information !!
MSC Acoustic Services

• MSC Acoustic Engineering Services are

offered from
– FFT’s offices in Belgium, France, Japan & USA
– Or through any local MSC office
• Several highly skilled staff with thorough
acoustics and structural dynamics background
• Deep experience in numerical acoustics, vibro-
acoustics and aero-acoustics consultancy
projects for the automotive and aerospace
industry such as intake and exhaust noise,
NVH of trimmed body, engine noise radiation,
HVAC noise, Side Mirror Noise, windows
transparency, …
• Also skilled in using other CAE software and
high-performance computing resources
• Please take a look to our dedicated leaflet
Conclusions

• Actran offers a complete numerical solution to perform efficient

acoustic design study for all the industrial applications
• From acoustics to vibro-acoustics to aero-acoustic studies
• All the modules have intensively validated by our customers:
many publications can be downloaded on our website
(www.fft.be)
• Very efficient solvers combined to different types of parallelism
in order to perform fast simulations
• Actran can be directly plugged at the end of your structural or
CFD analysis
• MSC & FFT teams also provide engineering acoustic services,
on-site or off-site