ON THE USE OF HELMHOLTZ RESONATORS AS SOUND ATTENUATORS

In the present paper a nonlinear acoustic theory is proposed, to accurately describe the properties of a generalized type of Helmholtz resonators. The theory may be used as a layout tool to design sound attenuators for combustion facilities. The present investigation shows that, in addition to the nonlinear effects, the effects due to thermoacoustic boundary layers and the first frequency correction to the ''Helmholtz approximation'' should be taken into account, in order to predict the frequency-dependent attenuation properties of Helmholtz attenuators with the accuracy required by typical technical applications. A series of experiments is presented which is used to validate the theoretical predictions.