Duct Metamaterial Muffler with Composite Acoustic Porous Media: Acoustic Optimization via Periodic Arrangement, Particle Swarm Optimization and Experimental Validation

This study proposes a composite acoustic porous duct metamaterial muffler composed of a perforated tortuous channel and an externally wrapped porous layer, integrating both structural resonance and material damping effects. Theoretical models for the perforated plate, tortuous channel, and porous material were established, and analytical formulas for the total acoustic impedance and transmission loss of the composite structure were derived. Finite element simulations verified the accuracy of the models. A systematic parametric study was then performed on the effects of porous material type, thickness, and width on acoustic performance, showing that polyester fiber achieves the best results at a thickness of 30 mm and a width of 5 mm. Further analysis of periodic distribution modes revealed that axial periodic arrangement significantly enhances the peak noise attenuation, radial periodic arrangement broadens the effective bandwidth, and multi-frequency parallel configurations further expand the operating range. Considering practical duct conditions, a single-layer multi-cell array was constructed, and its modal excitation mechanism was clarified. By employing the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm for multi-parameter optimization, the average transmission loss was improved from 26.493 dB to 29.686 dB, corresponding to an increase of approximately 12.05%. Finally, physical samples were fabricated via 3D printing, and four-sensor impedance tube experiments confirmed good agreement among theoretical, numerical, and experimental results. The composite structure exhibited an average experimental transmission loss of 24.599 dB, outperforming the configuration without porous material. Overall, this work highlights substantial scientific and practical advances in sound energy dissipation mechanisms, structural optimization design, and engineering applicability, providing an effective approach for broadband and high-efficiency duct noise reduction.