A study on the optimal configuration of absorbing materials of multi-layered silencers for maximizing transmission loss

This study focuses on the optimal configuration of absorbing materials of multi-layered silencers applied to seawater pipelines. Absorbing materials in silencers are made of poroelastic material, and acoustic wave propagation is analyzed using the Biot-Allard Model. Acoustic transmission loss is computed numerically using COMSOL Multiphysics. It is observed that among various standard polyurethane materials, those with lower density exhibit higher acoustic transmission loss. Finally, optimization is carried out with the objective function of maximizing the transmission loss at target frequencies. Low transmission loss values at specific frequencies of one-layer silencers can be meaningfully increased by optimizing the sequence of various standard polyurethane materials.