Absorption of sound at a surface exposed to flow and temperature gradients

In noise abatement using porous or fibrous materials, accurate determination of the surface impedance representing the absorber is decisive for simulation quality. The presence of grazing flow and non-homogeneous ambient temperature influence the reaction of the absorber and may suitably be included in a modified “effective” surface impedance. In this paper, this approach is applied to a generic case representative for the engine bay of a heavy truck, where porous shields suppress the radiated noise, e.g. during a pass-by noise test. The change in the absorption is determined numerically by solving the wave propagation through a layer of varying temperature and flow adjacent to the impedance surface for different angles of incidence. The study shows significant impact of both flow and temperature, especially for materials with low absorption. The diffuse field absorption coefficient is also derived and although the effect is less pronounced in this case, it is still important in lower frequencies and in the frequency range typical for IC engine noise. The proposed numerical method is shown to be accurate and efficient for determination of the effective impedance and moreover not limited to thin boundary layers.