Tuning a Two-Chamber Muffler for Wide-Band Transmission Loss

The design of a muffler with wide-band transmission loss (TL) is a basic requirement for automotive exhaust systems where the exhaust noise is spread over several harmonics of the engine firing frequency. This has led to the concept of a double-tuned expansion chamber. In the present paper, the concept of double-tuning is extended to the two-chamber mufflers. The author’s classical Velocity Ratio Algorithm is used here to analyze and design such a muffler. The relevant two-row array is manipulated and simplified to arrive directly at the single most significant term out of the 81 non-dimensional terms constituting the relevant Velocity Ratio. Examination of this single term reveals acoustics of the raised wide-band domes of the TL spectrum of the double-tuned two-chamber (DT2C) muffler vis-a-vis that of an equivalent longer double-tuned single-chamber muffler. Except for a low-frequency trough, its TL curve covers the entire frequency range of interest for control of automotive exhaust noise. It is also shown that the corresponding side-inlet side-outlet (SISO) DT2C muffler configuration has an identically similar wide-band TL spectrum to that of the co-axial muffler configuration. Finally, some guidelines are laid out for designing a DT2C muffler.