DESIGN & OPTIMIZATION OF EXHAUST MUFFLER &

DESIGN VALIDATION
1

RAHUL D. NAZIRKAR, 2S.R.MESHRAM, 3AMOL D. NAMDAS, 4SURAJ U. NAVAGIRE,

5
SUMIT S. DEVARSHI
1,2,3,4,5

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sinhgad Institute of Technology, Lonavala-410401, India

Abstract- For an automotive exhaust system the noise level, transmission loss & back pressure are the most important
parameters for the driver & engine performance. In order to improve the design efficiency of muffler, resonating of the
exhaust muffler should be avoided by its natural frequency. Mufflers are most important part of the engine system and it is
commonly used in the exhaust system to minimize the sound transmission level which is caused by exhaust gases. The design
of muffler becomes more and more important for noise reduction. The solid modeling of exhaust muffler is created by
CATIA-V5 and modal analysis is carried out by ANSYS to study the vibration and natural frequency of muffler. So as to
differentiate between the working frequency from natural frequency and avoid resonating..
Keywords- Exhaust muffler; Creating 3-D model in CATIA-V5; Modal analysis; Mode shape

constant source of trouble to the environment.

Significantly, the exhaust noise in terms of
pressure is about 10 times all the other noises
(structural noise) combined. So the problems of
reducing engine noise consist, mainly in attenuating
exhaust noise.

I. INTRODUCTION
Expansion chambers are effective tools for
reducing noise in several applications. The most
familiar example is probably the automotive muffler,
where a single tuned expansion chamber is utilized.
Therefore, automotive exhaust system is a significant
part of exhaust system. There are several parameters
that describe the acoustic performance of a muffler
and/or its associated piping. These include the
noise reduction (NR), the insertion loss(IL), and the
transmission loss (TL). The NR is the sound
pressure level difference across the muffler.
Though the NR can be easily measured, it is
not particularly helpful for muffler design. The IL
is the sound pressure level difference at a point,
usually outside the system, without and with the
muffler present. Though the IL is very useful to
industry, it is not so easy to calculate since it
depends not only on the muffler geometry itself
but
also
on
the source impedance and the
radiation impedance.

The design of mufflers has been a topic of

great interest for many years and hence a great deal of
understanding
has been gained. Most of the
advances in the theory of acoustic filters and exhaust
mufflers have come about in the last four
decades. Hence good design of the muffler
should give the best noise reduction
and
offer
optimum backpressure for the engine. Moreover, for
a given internal configuration mufflers have to work
for a broad range of engine speed.
III. DESIGN
There are numerous variations of the two main types
of muffler designs commonly used, namely absorptive
and reactive. Generally automotive mufflers will have
both reactive and absorptive properties. [3]

The TL is the difference in the sound power

level between the incident wave entering and the
transmitted wave exiting the muffler when the
muffler termination is anechoic; the TL is a property
of the muffler only. The muffler TL may be
calculated from models but is difficult to
measure. This paper will focus on measuring the
muffler TL. [1]

A. Benchmarking
The first step in any design is to set a target by doing
the benchmarking. The same will be applicable for the
silencer here, to set a target in terms of transmission
loss.
B. Target Frequencies
After doing benchmarking exercise, there is needs to
calculate the target frequencies to give more
concentration of higher transmission loss. For
calculating the target frequencies engine max power
rpm is required and calculation follows,

II. BASIC THEORY

Since the invention of the internal combustion
engine in the latter part of the nineteenth
century, the noise created by it has been a

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

Theoretical Computation:
The exhaust tones are calculated using the following
Formulae:
CFR = Engine Speed in RPM/60 . For a two stroke
engine
(1)
= Engine Speed in RPM/120 .For a four-stroke
engine
(2)
EFR = n X (CFR)
(3)
C. Muffler Volume Calculation Volume Of the
muffler (Vm):

D. Internal Configuration And Concept Design

Based on the benchmarking transmission loss and
target frequencies the designer draws the few concept
of the internal configuration.
The diameter of the hole to be drilled on the pipe is
calculated as;

In matlab simulation the value of transmission loss

becomes 6.078 db and by using mathematical equation
transmission loss becomes 6.04 db. So, the MATLAB
simulation model is validated and percentage error in
between this is 0.625 %.
G. Single Expansion Chamber

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 1 is 562.9 Hz.
Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 5 is 1529.2 Hz.
H. Double Expansion Chamber

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 2 is 765.9 Hz.

Fig.7

Modal Analysis

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 3 is 765.21 Hz.

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 1 is 583.62 Hz.

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 4 is 1029.7 Hz.
The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode
shape 2 is 637.7 Hz.

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
33

Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 3 is 650.72 Hz.

In this model the first protrusion i.e., inlet pipe is

included 100mm inside the muffler and then analysis
is carried out.

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 4 is 650.72 Hz.

The TL result for given model is 19.62 db.

The measured natural frequency of muffler of mode

shape 5 is 1001.1 Hz.
Transmission loss should be more than 30 db. In this
muffler, transmission loss becomes 19.62 db. So it is
not satisfying condition.

IV. OPTIMIZATION
(A) Single Expansion Chamber
The different transmission loss of single expansion
chamber is at different protrusion. These different
models are as below;
I. Single Expansion Chamber with First Protrusion

II. Single Expansion Chamber with Front And Back

Protrusion Muffler

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

In this double expansion chamber the inlet protrusion

is increased by 100mm and outlet protrusion is
increased by 50mm and then analysis is done.

Transmission loss should be more than 30 db. In this

muffler, transmission loss becomes 21.24 db. So it is
not satisfying condition.
The transmission loss of single expansion chamber is
6.04 db which is less than requirement i.e., 30 db and
it is not satisfactory. So, it is not satisfying condition.
Therefore, for the better sound quality and
transmission loss we are doing optimization in the
double expansion chamber.
(B) Double expansion chamber
Transmission loss should be more than 30 db. In this
muffler, transmission loss becomes 42.48 db. So, it is
satisfying condition. So, it is optimized condition in
the consideration of transmission loss.
V. RESULTS
The results of modal analysis for the six natural
frequencies of single expansion chamber of muffler is
in Table I
Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

TABLE I. COMPARISON OF MEASURED AND

EXPERIMENTAL NATURAL FREQUENCY

The results of modal analysis for double expansion

chamber of inlet and outlet at different fixing positions
are shown in tabulated form;
TABLE II. FIXED AT FRONT END

TABLE III. FIXED AT FIRST AND LAST END

TABLE IV. FIXED AT MIDDLE PIPE

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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Design & Optimization of Exhaust Muffler & Design Validation

CONCLUSION
Double expansion chamber gives better results as
compared to single expansion chamber. Transmission
loss of double expansion chamber is 42.48 which is
more than requirement and satisfactory. Also Natural
frequency of double expansion chamber is within
range of 583.62 to 1001.1 Hz resulting in no
resonance. By fixing the muffler at first and double
expansion chamber we can increase the frequency and
avoid the resonance. Transmission loss of the muffler
can be increased by adding protrusion pipe at inlet and
outlet. It can be seen that the finite element modal
analysis has certain significance in the study of
vibration characteristics of the muffler. The time
required for optimization of muffler using ANSYS
and MATLAB is very short and can be repeated
simply after changing the input parameters which
provides an easy way to find an optimum solution for
muffler design.
VII. FUTURE WORK
The muffler which we are going to create that is little
big in size. So, in future the size of muffler can be
minimize to a proper size which can be suitable for the
motorcycle. Also there is a scope to calculate back
pressure. Also because of reduction in size of muffler
the manufacturing cost of muffler can also be reduce.
Due to reduction in the muffler the requirement of
space is also less.
REFERENCES
[1]

Z. Tao & A.F.Seybert, A Review Of Current Techniques For

Measuring Muffler Transmission Loss, Society Of
Automotive Engineers (SAE), 2003

[2]

Shital Shah, Saisankaranarayana K, Kalyankumar S. Hatti, &

Prof. D.G.Thombare, A Practical Approach Towards Muffler
Design, Development and Prototype Validation, 2010

[3]

Potente, Daniel, General Design Principles For an Automotive

Muffler, Proceedings of Acoustics, 2005

[4]

Tetsuo Kaneda, Mitsuaki Oda, Prediction of Transmission

Loss for Motorcycle Muffler, Society Of Automotive
Engineers (SAE), 1999

[5]

Sachin Wagh,Development of Exhaust Silencer for Improved

Sound Quality, Society Of Automotive Engineers (SAE),
2010

[6]

I. J. Lee and A. Selamet, Acoustic Characteristics of

Coupled Dissipative and Reactive Silencers, Society Of
Automotive
Engineers
(SAE),
2003.

Proceedings of 10th IRF International Conference, 01st June-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-84209-23-0
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