Experimental Prediction Method of Free-Field Sound Emissions Using the Boundary Element Method and Laser Scanning Vibrometry

Acoustic emissions play a major role in the usability of many product categories. Therefore, mitigating the emitted sound directly at the source is paramount to improve usability and customer satisfaction. To reliably predict acoustic emissions, numerical methods such as the boundary element method (BEM) are employed, which allow for predicting, e.g., the acoustic emission into the free field. BEM algorithms need appropriate boundary conditions to couple the sound field with the structural motion of the vibrating body. In this contribution, firstly, an interpolation scheme is presented, which allows for appropriate interpolation of arbitrary velocity data to the computational grid of the BEM. Secondly, the free-field Helmholtz problem is solved with the open-source BEM software framework NiHu. The forward coupling between the device of interest and BEM is based on the surface normal velocities (i.e., a Neumann boundary condition). The BEM simulation results are validated using a previously established aeroacoustic benchmark problem. Furthermore, an application to a medical device (knee prosthesis frame) is presented. Furthermore, the radiated sound power is evaluated and contextualized with other low-cost approximations. Regarding the validation example, very good agreements are achieved between the measurements and BEM results, with a mean effective pressure level error of 0.63 dB averaged across three microphone positions. Applying the workflow to a knee prosthesis frame, the simulation is capable of predicting the acoustic radiation to four microphone positions with a mean effective pressure level error of 1.52 dB.