Mechanisms of active control of noise transmission through triple-panel system using single control force on the middle plate

•The transfer impedance matrix is calculated by numerical approach.•There exist four equivalent energy transmission paths.•The transmission paths all have the band-pass characteristics.•The sound energy transmission in each pass-band is suppressed after control.

This paper presents an active triple-panel sound insulation structure with an idealized controllable point force acting on the middle plate. A novel analytical approach based on sound energy transmission rule is proposed to achieve the physical mechanism study. The transfer impedance matrix of the incident and middle plate is calculated using numerical approach. And the rule of sound energy transmission through the triple-panel structure is concluded by indirectly analyzing the radiated sound power of the three plates. Finally the physical mechanism of noise insulation is investigated from the point of view of the change in behaviors of energy transmission in controlled and uncontrolled conditions. Results obtained demonstrate that there exist four different energy transmission paths for four panel mode groups. The energy transmission is independent in each path and they are all of band-pass characteristic. The role of the middle plate and two cavities is very similar to the band-pass filter whose pass-band is different for different mode groups. The essence of active noise insulation lies in the fact that the energy transmission in each path is suppressed in its pass-band after control. This greatly improves sound insulation capability of the triple-panel structure and leads to sound propagation being blocked.