Lu Zhenbo, Godaba Hareesh, Cui Yongdong, Foo Choon Chiang, Debiasi Marco, Zhu Jian
Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1, #09-02, Singapore 117411, Singapore.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2015 Sep;138(3):EL236-41. doi: 10.1121/1.4929629.
A duct silencer with tunable acoustic characteristics is presented in this paper. Dielectric elastomer, a smart material with lightweight, high elastic energy density and large deformation under high direct current/alternating current voltages, was used to fabricate this duct silencer. The acoustic performances and tunable mechanisms of this duct silencer were experimentally investigated. It was found that all the resonance peaks of this duct silencer could be adjusted using external control signals without any additional mechanical part. The physics of the tunable mechanism is further discussed based on the electro-mechanical interactions using finite element analysis. The present promising results also provide insight into the appropriateness of the duct silencer for possible use as next generation acoustic treatment device to replace the traditional acoustic treatment.
