Acoustic Barrier Optimization Using the Topological Derivative and the Boundary Element Method

A. SISAMÓN; S. BECK; A.P. CISILINO

Salta

Congreso; X Congreso Argentino de Mecánica Computacional MECOM 2012; 2012

Asociación Argentina de Mecánica Computacional

Today, reduction of sound emission plays a vital role while designing objects of any kind. Desirable aspects might include decreased radiation in certain directions of such an object. This work shows an approach to iteratively compute the shape of an obstacle which fulfills best to prescribed design variables using the framework provided by the Topological Derivative and the Boundary Element Method (BEM). The devised optimization tool takes advantage of the inherent characteristics of BEM to effectively solve the forward and adjoint acoustic problems arising from the Topological Derivative formulation, to deal with infinite and semi-infinite domains, plane and point waves, and to automatically adapt the model discretization to the evolving model topology. The objective of the optimization is to achieve a prescribed sound pressure over a given region of the design space. The design space can be initially empty or it can contain an initial barrier to optimize. The design of the barrier evolves via the progressive addition of acoustically-rigid scatters into the design space. The potential locations of the scatters are given by a pre-set regular array of points. The optimum positions for the scatters are determined via a Topological Derivative analysis which is computed using the BEM. The capabilities of the proposed tools are demonstrated by solving a number of examples.