ANALYTICAL MODELING AND SIMULATION
RH Lyon Corp offers comprehensive consulting services in the analytical modeling of sound and vibration generation and transmission and in the simulation of dynamical processes. Modeling and simulation techniques, both purely analytical as well as numerical, are often used by us to evaluate the role that various mechanisms play in determining the sound and vibration characteristics of a particular device and to establish their relative importance. These techniques complement our own fundamental understanding of mechanics, dynamics, acoustics and wave propagation and our expertise in experimental design, measurements, and signal processing. Some of the numerical methods we employ for predicting sound and/or vibration response include Statistical Energy Analysis, Finite Element Analysis, Boundary Element Methods, block diagram modeling, and motion simulation.
PROJECT EXAMPLES
Industrial Knitting Machine Needles
Industrial knitting machine needles go up and down 1.5 million times daily. With this workload, improperly designed needles can break from fatigue. And every time just one of the, say 200, needles in a machine breaks, the machine is stopped for repair. With proper needle design, through finite element analysis, vibration is reduced, increasing both needle life and productivity.
Piping Stresses in Compressor Systems
The vibration of compressors, due principally to imbalance, may cause stresses in connected systems - the piping in particular. Dynamic modeling of the installations provides guidance for the placement and construction of couplings and piping.
Flow Convection in Interior Spaces
Effective cooling of electronic enclosures requires adequate convective flow around the sources of heat, and subsequent venting to the exterior. With care, finite element models are used to determine flow as a function of enclosure geometry and component placement.
Sound Radiation from Golf Club Heads
Analytical estimations that relate modal vibration amplitudes to a measure of sound radiation, such as total sound power or average sound pressure have been developed for use in modeling golf club heads. Such estimates permit designs to be explored before lengthy prototyping and testing.
Electric Automobile Engine
A Boundary Element Model of the drive unit for an electrically powered automobile has been developed to predict the radiated acoustic power based on measurements of the coherent surface vibration on the motor and gearbox housings. The model can be used along with transfer function measurements to compute radiated power per unit input force for individual paired electromagnetic force components.Related Tech Briefs (Acrobat PDF)
- Technical Brief No. 15: Quiet Electric Motors, Sound and Vibration
- Technical Brief No. 32: Fatigue in Hi Speed Machinery: Vibration dramatically reduces life expectancy
- Technical Brief No. 50: Statistical Energy Analysis: Sound and vibration as "heat"
Related Articles
- 40th Anniversary of SEA: February 15, 2000
- Fluctuation theory and (very) early statistical energy analysis (SEA)
J. Acoust. Soc. Am / 113 (5) May 2003Related Books
Theory and Application of Statistical Energy Analysis, 2nd Edition, by R. H. Lyon and R. G. DeJong, 1995 Machinery Noise and Diagnostics, by R. H. Lyon, 1987