CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION OF ACTIVE NOISE-CONTROL SYSTEMS IN ENCLOSURES

Abstract

An effective software design tool is proposed for solving active noise control problems associated with constraints in which the complex strength and location of the secondary source of an active noise control system in an enclosed space are simultaneously optimized. The boundary element method is adopted to evaluate the sound field in enclosures. Furthermore, the boundary used could be of pressure, velocity, or impedance; in addition, the primary source may be at an arbitrary position. An optimizer based on sequential quadratic programming is selected for its accuracy, efficiency, and reliability. Bounds for design variables and proper constraints on the sound field and secondary source can be specified as required. The powerfulness of the proposed tool is demonstrated by optimizing an active control system for an enclosure. For a rectangular cavity, the optimal location of the secondary source is confirmed by observed simulations as always forming a dipole with the primary source situated at off-resonance excitations and subsequently approaching a mirror image position of the primary source at resonance excitations. The optimal location of the controller is found to change with varied upper bounds of the strength of the secondary source. These findings show a discrepancy from those reported in previous researches based on an unconstrained formulation. Sensitivity analysis at the optimum is also included to provide information of practical concern for implementing optimized active noise control systems.