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Silencer Application
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Design and Analysis of Silencers for Internal Combustion Engines Whats it good for? Types of Silencer Elements Options Limits and Errors References
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Whats it good for?

Silencer Application is... ...a Windows program, which can be used to design and analyze the acoustic characteristics of silencers (or mufflers, if you prefer) for two and four stroke engines. It has been developed mainly for application to model airplane engines, but should also work for motorcycles, go-carts, boats and similar devices.

About the Program and its Usage Typical, good Silencers usually consist of several silencing elements (boxes), which are designed to reduce the sound pressure level of the engines exhaust port. As there are different possibilities to filter the unwanted frequencies, and as each silencer element has its own, unique characteristics, the combination of the elements and their sizing is important. The program has been built mostly from empirical and semi-empirical formulas, published in [1] Using the program, you can change the geometry of each silencer box to fit the noise spectrum of your engine and see, how the combination of all these boxes works. Additionally, the program contains a simple design program for tuned pipes, which are often used in combination with silencers. If the program can help you with similar tasks, it is fine - but, I cannot take any responsibility for damages caused by application of this program, it may be unfit for any application, waste your precious time and may eventually cause serious ROTFL (rolling laughing on the floor). The default language of the program is English. In the "Info..." dialog box you can switch to # IDH_CONTENTS 1$ Silencer App Help 2> MainWin # IDH_WHATITSGOODFOR 3$ What it is good for

German, if you prefer. If someone wants to volunteer with additional translations, these can be added easily. Silencer is written with Microsoft Visual Basic - which is also responsible for the large distribution files. 1998-2004 Martin Hepperle
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http://www.MH-AeroTools.de/

Silencer Elements
Diffusing Silencer with Holes with Slits Tuned Pipe

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Side Resonant Silencer {bml resonantholes.bmp} {bml resonantslits.bmp} {bml tunedpipe.bmp}

Remark: the tuned pipe is not really a good silencer.

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Diffusing Silencer
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The diffusing Silencer consists of a box with two open pipes. {bmc hlpdiff2.bmp} Typical attenuation characteristics of a diffusing silencer.

Remarks: The pipes can enter the box by L1 respectively L2, but do not touch each other. The length of the exhaust pipe L3 must of course be larger then length L2. The diameter D1 of the inlet tube does not affect the attenuation of the element (at least theoretically), but is needed to plot the geometry of the element. Usually, the diameter D1 should be slightly larger than D2. The most important dependencies are: - increasing the diameter D of the silencer increases the attenuation, - decreasing the exhaust diameter D2 increases the attenuation, - increasing the length L of the silencer and the length L1 of the inlet tube shifts the attenuation towards lower frequencies.

# IDH_SILENCERTYPES
+ bsSilencerType # IDH_DIFFUSING $ Silencer: Diffusing, Diffusing Silencer > SilType

+4#5 $6 >7Side Resonant Silencer with Holes

{bmc hlpholes.bmp} This side resonant silencer consists of a box with one pass-through pipe, into which some few holes are drilled. It has a peaky characteristics, with high attenuation of one frequency and it is best used by combining several of them in series (each tuned to a different frequency). {bmc hlpholes2.bmp} Typical attenuation characteristics of a side resonant silencer.

Remarks: The N holes of diameter D2 are distributed along the length L1. T denotes the wall thickness of the tube. The length L1 should not be larger than the inlet diameter D1. If the perforation is much longer or of high density it is better to consider the silencer as a diffusing silencer with tubes ending at the perforated area. Often only one or two holes are sufficient for a good design. The most important dependencies are: - reducing the number of holes or the hole diameter shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies, - increasing the length of the box shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies, - increasing the diameter of the box shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies.

4+ bsSilencerType 5# IDH_SIDERESONANTHOLES 6$ Silencer: Side resonant with Holes, Side Resonant Silencer with Holes 7> SilType

+8#9 $10 >11Side Resonant Silencer with Slits

{bmc hlpslits.bmp} This side resonant silencer consists of a box with one pass-through pipe, into which some few slits are machined. It has a peaky characteristics, with high attenuation of one frequency. {bmc hlpslits2.bmp} The typical attenuation spectrum of a side resonant silencer.

Remarks: The N slits of diameter width W are distributed along the length L1. T denotes the wall thickness of the tube. The length L1 should not be much larger than the inlet diameter D1. If the perforation is much longer or of high density it is better to consider the silencer as a diffusing silencer with tubes ending at the perforated area. The most important dependencies are: - reducing the number of slits or the area of the slits shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies, - increasing the length of the box shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies, - increasing the diameter of the box shifts the attenuation peak towards lower frequencies.
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Tuned Pipe
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The tuned pipe is not an efficient silencer element, but can increase the performance of a two stroke engine if it is well designed. The silencer characteristics of the pipe are approximated by modeling it as a cylindrical diffusing silencer of the same volume and diameter. Usually, you will have to add some kind of silencer behind the tailpipe of the tuned pipe to reduce the noise level. Remarks: The pipe consists of a cylindrical header followed by a conical diffuser, creating suction waves while the exhaust port opens. The following cylindrical part may be omitted if the pipe is getting very short. The next conical part acts as a reflector to create compression waves while the exhaust port closes and it is followed by the tailpipe. The most important dependencies are: - increasing the length L of the pipe decreases the tuned rpm, - the exhaust port timing and the tuned pipe size must match. 8+ bsSilencerType 9# IDH_SIDERESONANTSLITS 10$ Silencer: Side resonant with Slits, Side Resonant Silencer with Slits 11> SilType + bsSilencerType # IDH_TUNEDPIPE $ Silencer: Tuned Pipe, Tuned Pipe > SilType

The Tuned Pipe Designer The program offers a tool to perform the empirical design of a tuned pipe. In general, tuned pipes will have to be fine tuned together with the engine, as many details, like exhaust gas temperature and flow conditions come into play. {bml ButtonDesign.bmp}To design a pipe, click on the Design button in the tuned pipe dimensioning window. This will open the Tuned Pipe Designer window, shown below. {bmc WindowTPDesign.bmp} Here, you can specify the desired speed of rotation, the area of the exhaust port and the opening angles of the exhaust and transfer ports. The length of the pipe is mainly affected by the RPM setting and the exhaust port timing. The Tuned Pipe Designer offers two design methods, which give slightly different results. The Standard method creates a diffuser with straight conical walls, whereas the Horn method creates a curved diffuser (shaped according to an exponential function with a prescribed coefficient). Theoretically, the Horn type should create stronger suction during the opening period, thus helping the scavenging of the cylinder. As it is difficult to manufacture, this shape is usually approximated by several straight conical elements. The dimensioning window reflects changes if you press the Enter key in one of the edit windows or when you close the Tuned Pipe Designer .
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Options

Gas Temperature The gas temperature affects the speed of sound in the exhaust system, and thus the time a pressure wave needs to travel from the exhaust to the end of the silencer. This is also very important for the design of tuned pipes, as its length depends on the speed of sound. Engine Speed The engine speed is used to plot the green vertical lines at multiples of the engine speed in the frequency spectrum plots. Usually, a two stroke engine creates most of its noise around these specific frequencies. Also, the engine speed is used for the design of a tuned pipe. Type of Gas The exhaust gas of an engine burning Methanol is composed from different chemical molecules than the exhaust of a gasoline engine. The amount of O2, H2, N2, CO, CO2 and, H2O is used to calculate the thermodynamic properties of the exhaust gas. The Spectrum Display The green lines in the spectrum display show multiples of the engine RPM. Additionally the multiples of 1, 2, 4, 8, are highlighted by triangles. These frequencies are usually having the largest contribution to the noise spectrum and are also be connected to propeller RPM (a two bladed prop creates two sound waves per revolution).

# IDH_OPTIONS $ Options

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Limits and Errors

Currently, I am not aware of any serious limitations and errors :-) The decimal sign is the decimal point, not a comma (hint for German users). The program has built-in text resources for English and German, which can be selected in the Info dialog box.
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References

Silencers and Tuned Pipe Design [1] Gordon P. Blair: Design and Simulation of Two-Stroke Engines, SAE books, 1996, ISBN 1-56091-685-0. For most of the book, you should have some engineering knowledge and at least a basic understanding of gas dynamics. Otherwise you might be disappointed. [2] Don D. Davis et al.: Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Mufflers with Comments on Engine-Exhaust Muffer Design, NACA Report 1192, 1954. This report contains additional formulas for the attenuation characteristics of various mufflers and combinations including experimental results.

# IDH_LIMITS $ Limits of the Program # IDH_REFS $ References and further Reading