Active control of glass panels for reduction of sound transmission through windows

This paper explores the development of thin glass panels that can be controlled electronically so as to act as transmission preventers that block the propagation of sound. Small rare earth voice coil actuators are used to control glass panel vibrations. The development of the control system is based...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mechatronics (Oxford) 2004-09, Vol.14 (7), p.805-819
Main Authors: Zhu, H., Yu, X., Rajamani, R., Stelson, K.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic transmission
Active noise control
Feedforward control
Flat panel speaker
Incident wave
Quiet windows
Reflected wave
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Summary:This paper explores the development of thin glass panels that can be controlled electronically so as to act as transmission preventers that block the propagation of sound. Small rare earth voice coil actuators are used to control glass panel vibrations. The development of the control system is based on the use of a wave separation algorithm that separates incident sound from reflected sound. The incident sound serves the important purpose of providing an acoustic reference that is unaffected by the action of the control system speaker. This reference signal is used in an adaptive feedforward control system to drive the transmitted sound to zero. Detailed experimental results are presented showing the efficacy of the algorithms in achieving real-time control of acoustic transmission. The glass panels are able to effectively block transmission of sound, reducing sound transmission by 20 dB in the case of tonal frequencies and by 10–15 dB in the case of broadband noise. The glass panels can potentially be of great value in the development of noise-blocking glass windows for homes close to airports and noisy highways.
ISSN:0957-4158
1873-4006
DOI:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2004.03.001