Acoustic Barrier Optimization Using the Topological Derivative and the Boundary Elementh Method

Abstract

Today, reduction of sound emission plays a vital role while designing objects of any kind.
Desirable aspects might include decreased radiation in certain directions of such an object. This work shows an approach to compute the shape of an obstacle which fulfills best to prescribed design variables using the framework provided by the Topological Derivative and the Boundary Element Method (BEM).
The devised optimization tool takes advantage of the inherent characteristics of BEM to effectively solve the forward and adjoint acoustic problems arising from the Topological Derivative formulation, to deal with infinite and semi-infinite domains, plane and point waves, and to automatically adapt the
model discretization to the evolving model topology.
The objective of the optimization is to achieve a prescribed sound pressure over a given region of the design domain. The design domain can be initially empty or it can contain an initial barrier to optimize. The Topological Derivative determines the places where new scatters need to be place in
order to get close to the prescribed pressure. The capabilities of the proposed tools are demonstrated by solving a number of examples.