Comparison of various algorithms for improving acoustic attenuation performance and flow characteristic of reactive mufflers

The parametric optimization of the reactive mufflers is researched by numerical analysis, regarding the performance of the acoustic and flow fields synthetically. The finite element method, based on the Helmholtz equation and the Navier-Stokes equation respectively, is utilized in the analysis of the acoustic and flow fields. And the initial and boundary conditions are set up in the physical fields respectively. The weighting multi-objective function about acoustic and flow fields is formulated. In addition, the optimization results of multidisciplinary, obtained by the Nelder Mead algorithm (NMA) based on the sensitivity analysis, the Monte Carlo algorithm (MCA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) based on the random sampling, are analyzed comparatively. The optimization results indicate that the NMA can maximize the transmission loss (TL) and minimize the pressure drop with the given weight factor. Finally, numerical optimization examples confirm the validity and reliability of the proposed optimization method in the acoustic-flow field.