2011 ANSYS, Inc.

November 22,
2011
1
Acoustics Analysis of
Speaker
2011 ANSYS, Inc. November 22,
2011
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ANSYS 14.0 offers many enhancements
in the area of acoustics.
In this presentation, an example speaker analysis will
be shown to highlight some of the acoustics
enhancements in 14.0:
Structural-acoustic coupling using the symmetric fluid-
structure interaction (FSI) algorithm
Postprocessing velocities
Far-field postprocessing of acoustic field (output of
pressure and SPL outside of meshed region)

Introduction
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2011
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Acoustics in ANSYS Mechanical involves solving the
acoustic wave equation to determine the
propagation of acoustic waves in a fluid medium:


The above includes non-uniform medium and mass
source terms, new in 14.0.
This is converted in matrix form
to solve with finite elements:
Background on Acoustics
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) x
Q
j p
x c x
p
x
a a

= +
|
|
.
|

\
|
V V
2
2
1
| |{ } | |{ } | |{ } { } q p K p C p M
p p p
= + +
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Vibroacoustic problems can be solved by coupling
the acoustic and structural equations together:




The symmetric form of the harmonic FSI equations
shown above is introduced in 14.0 for faster solution
times. The fluid-structure coupling term is C
fs
. An
unsymmetric form from prior releases is still available.
The sloshing term S
q
exists for free surfaces.
Since the equations are tightly coupled, the structural
motions generate sound, and the acoustic waves can
vibrate the structure.

Background on Acoustics
)
`

=
)
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(
(

+
)
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(
(
(

+
)
`

(
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+

= =
f
f
u
q
K
K
u
q
C C
C C
j
u
q
M
S
g
M
q j q p
q
u
q
o
u fs
fs q
o
u
q q
o
0
0
1 1
0
0
1 1
2
e

e
e
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2011
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Perfectly Matched Layers or PML is a special
formulation to absorb outgoing acoustic waves in
harmonic response analyses to prevent waves from
reflecting back into the system.
Sound Pressure Level or SPL is defined as follows:



P
rms
is the root-mean-square of the pressure, or the
amplitude divided by sqrt(2)
SPL is measured in decibels
The reference pressure in air is typically taken as 20 Pa.


Background on Acoustics
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
ref
rms
p
p
p
L log 20
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2011
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The geometry of the speaker in an enclosure is
shown below. Note that symmetry is used:
Geometry & Mesh of Structure
For the speaker, forces are
exerted on the voicecoil,
causing it to move.
The voicecoil moves the cone
which is what displaces the
air to produce sound.
The surround and spider
connect and stabilize the cone
to the rigid frame.
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The air surrounding the speaker enclosure is shown:
Geometry and Mesh of Air
The air around the speaker is
meshed with acoustic fluid
elements.
To absorb outgoing acoustic
waves, perfectly-matched
layers (PML) is used. This
PML region is shown on the
right.
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A Commands (APDL) object is inserted under the
acoustic bodies
Activating Acoustic Elements
In the example shown on
the right, the et
command changes the
element type to be an
acoustic element using
the new symmetric FSI
algorithm.
Density and speed of
sound are also defined.
New in 14.0!
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2011
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In vibroacoustic problems solved in ANSYS
Mechanical, the term FSI refers to coupling of the
acoustic and structural equations
ANSYS Mechanical can solve modal, transient, or
harmonic response analyses with FSI
The acoustic linear wave equations are solved with
the structural equations of motion in a coupled
manner (in one matrix).

Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI)
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A Named Selection of the truncated boundary is
created for PML
Created Named Selection for PML
The outermost,
truncated boundary
should be specified
through a Named
Selection. This will be
referenced with a
Commands object,
shown later
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A Named Selection of the FSI interface is also created
Create Named Selection for FSI
The surfaces between
the acoustic bodies
and structural bodies
should be selected and
placed in a Named
Selection. This will
also be referenced
later in a Commands
object.
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Another Commands (APDL) object is inserted
under the Harmonic Response branch
Define PML and FSI Regions
The APDL commands
on the right define the
boundary condition on
the PML region as well
as apply the FSI flag to
the Named Selections
indicated previously.
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User-Defined Results allow for postprocessing
acoustic pressure or calculating SPL
User-Defined Results for Pressure
Isosurfaces of sound
pressure level are shown
on the right.
Identifiers and
expressions in User-
Defined Results provide
flexibility to manipulate
results
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Velocities can be plotted with a User-Defined Result
using PGVECTORS
User-Defined Results for Velocity
Standard vector plot
controls such as solid
vectors, uniform vector
distribution, uniform
vector size are available.
Here, line vectors at
each node designating
the velocity is shown.
New in 14.0!
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A Commands (APDL) object under the Solution
branch allows for far-field postprocessing
Perform Far-Field Postprocessing
The lines shown in
the highlighted
section are used
for far-field
postprocessing.
Namely, HFSYM
defines symmetry
planes, and PLFAR
is used to plot
results.
New in 14.0!
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The directivity plot at 1 meter (beyond mesh
domain) is shown below
Perform Far-Field Postprocessing
One can determine how
focused the acoustic signal
is from this plot, which can
help evaluate speaker
performance.
New in 14.0!
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While a frequency sweep can be specified within a
Harmonic Response analysis, one can also use
Workbench Parameters to specify the sweep
Perform Frequency Sweep
Note that Frequency is a
Workbench Parameter.
The frequency for the analysis
is made as a parameter equal
to this value.
The benefit to this approach is
that users can add frequencies
to the solution after solving
without having the re-solve
the entire frequency range
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By using this approach, users can also take
advantage of Remote Solve Manager (RSM) to
submit jobs on a cluster
Instead of solving each frequency sequentially, if a user
has more than one ANSYS Mechanical license, the jobs
can be submitted through RSM
Whether solving locally, on two machines, or on a
cluster, multiple frequencies can then be solved
simultaneously, thus decreasing overall solution time!
Perform Frequency Sweep with RSM
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After the solution is complete, one can plot results
within the Workbench Parameters page
Review Frequency Sweep Results
An output of SPL in front of
the speaker, designated
earlier, is tracked in this
example.
In speaker design, a constant
response is sought within the
frequency range of interest.
This example shows that
structural resonance around
800 Hz is causing undesirable
behavior.
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In the past, ANSYS Mechanical solved these two
physics simultaneously with unsymmetric matrices,
which required double the memory and more CPU
time. In ANSYS 14.0, symmetric option is introduced
to cut memory requirements in half and significantly
decreasing CPU time.

New Symmetric Option in 14.0
Cores Solver Option Speed-up
1 Sparse Unsym 1.00
1 Sparse Sym 1.64
2 Sparse Unsym 1.00
2 Sparse Sym 1.56
4 Sparse Unsym 1.00
4 Sparse Sym 1.50
The table on the right compares
the overall solution time speed-up
for 275k DOF solved on dual quad-
core Intel Xeon E5530.
Note that the symmetric option is
about 1.5 times faster for this
model on this model on this
particular hardware.
New in 14.0!
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The GPU Accelerator can also help decrease solution
time for vibroacoustic problems. GPU Accelerator
performs the solver computation on the graphics
card cores.
Using GPU Accelerator
Cores Solver GPU Speed-up
1 Sparse off 1.00
2 Sparse off 1.52
4 Sparse off 2.12
1 Sparse on 2.24
2 Sparse on 2.68
4 Sparse on 3.00
The table on the right compares
the overall solution time speed-up
for 275k DOF solved on dual quad-
core Intel Xeon E5530.
Note that the GPU Accelerator
provides noticeable speed-up for
this model on this model on this
particular hardware.
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2011
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There are a myriad of other new acoustics features
not covered in this presentation:
Non-uniform acoustic medium, which can be a function
of temperature or static pressure
Acoustic scattering capability and ability to output total
or scattered pressure
Ability to input bulk viscosity to model viscous losses
Mass sources, impedance sheet, normal velocity b.c.
Near-field postprocessing
Ability to define external
planar wave, monopole,
dipole sources


Other New 14.0 Features in Acoustics