Boundary Element Method Simulation for Optimum Design of a Sound-Insulating Wall

Abstract

This paper is concerned with computer simulation for optimum design of a sound-insulating wall using the boundary element method. In the present simulation, the influence of the ground is taken into consideration. We can deal with the ground, which is extended infinitely, by the superposition of the fundamental solution at the imaginary source point. Thus the boundary condition of the ground, which is considered to be complete absorption or complete reflection, is exactly satisfied and no boundary element is needed on the ground. In the present model, it is assumed that a sound is radiated from a point source to the two-dimensional semi-infinite acoustic field, and it should be reduced at some evaluation points by means of an insulating wall with a control board. The acoustic field is computed by the boundary element method for pure sound with a particular frequency and the optimal set of parameters corresponding to the location, length and inclination angle of the control board is determined by the standard optimization technique.