Mid- and high-frequency problems in vehicle noise 159
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If each subsystem has n degrees of freedom, the total of n × N dynamic
equations are reduced to the total of N SEA equations, which speeds up
the computation.
In summary, modes of a system become localized to various subsystems
where local modes of the subsystems of a system are statistically described;
local modal properties/wave properties are assumed to be maximally dis-
ordered in a state of maximum entropy. Simple expressions for ensemble
average energy fl ow between coupled subsystems exist, since vibration
energy fl ow between coupled subsystems is proportional to difference in
modal energies, that is, average energy per mode. The SEA power balance
equations which govern response of a system in a given frequency band can
be derived from the principle of energy conservation.
The above SEA modal description is good for a qualitative introduction
to SEA theory since the SEA equations derived from a modal approach
are based on several assumptions, in particular for the extension of the two
oscillator results to multimodal systems. The exact SEA equations as per
Equations 7.66 and 7.67 can also be derived from a wave approach [8]. This
is discussed in the next section.
7.5 Wave approach to statistical energy
analysis (SEA)
In order to illustrate the wave approach, room acoustics are fi rst reviewed.
A typical room of 100 m
3
has 1 × 10
7
acoustic modes at frequencies of
less than 10 kHz. If the connection between two such rooms is a rigid
piston, the component of fi eld associated with the radiation from such a
piston into unbounded space/subsystem is called a direct fi eld. The differ-
ence between the actual fi eld and the direct fi eld is called the reverberant
fi eld. The term ‘diffuse’ is used to describe a special set of statistics that are
obtained when averaging over a large enough ensemble of reverberant
fi elds, where the average can be taken over a set of nominally identical
subsystems (or sometimes across a frequency band) and the statistics rep-
resent a state of maximum disorder or maximum entropy, in other words
to get an equal partition of energy and incoherence of individual modes/
waves.
As shown in Fig. 7.8, the loading on the connecting piston can be repre-
sented by the direct fi eld impedance of the fl uid in the cavity subsystem and
diffuse reverberant loading (incident power or blocked force proportional
to the energy of the reverberant fi eld, αE
i
). Since the two reverberant fi elds
are incoherent, the responses can be considered separately (Fig. 7.8(b) and
(c)) and then superimposed. The power transmission from room cavity 1
to room cavity 2 is given by
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