The effect of turbulence damping on acoustic wave propagation in tubes

The attenuation of sound due to the interaction between a low Mach number turbulent boundary layer and acoustic waves can be significant at low frequencies or in narrow tubes. In a recent publication by the present authors the acoustics of charge air coolers for passenger cars has been identified as an interesting application where turbulence attenuation can be of importance. Favourable low-frequency damping has been observed that could be used for control of the in-duct sound that is created by the engine gas exchange process. Analytical frequency-dependent models for the eddy viscosity that controls the momentum and thermal boundary layers are available but are restricted to thin acoustic boundary layers. For cases with cross-sections of a few millimetres a model based on thin acoustic boundary layers will not be applicable in the frequency range of interest.In the present paper a frequency-dependent axis-symmetric numerical model for interaction between turbulence and acoustic waves is proposed. A finite element scheme is used to formulate the time harmonic linearized convective equations for conservation of mass, momentum and energy into one coupled system of equations. The turbulence is introduced with a linear model for the eddy viscosity that is added to the shear viscosity. The proposed model is validated by comparison with experimental data from the literature.