Vibroacoustic Analysis of a Refrigerator Freezer Cabinet Coupled with an Air Duct

In this study, the vibration and acoustic interactions between the structure and the cavity inside the freezer cabinet were investigated. Thus, a set of numerical and experimental analyses were performed. In the numerical analysis, the acoustic characteristics of the freezer cavity were solved, and the mixed finite element method was then implemented to analyse the coupled behaviour of the cavity with the air duct using the Acoustic Fluid-Structure Interaction (AFSI) technique. In the experimental analyses, an acoustic modal analysis of the freezer cavity and a structural modal analysis of the air duct were performed for the validation process. A good agreement was obtained among the results. Thus, the accuracy of the numerical model was confirmed. The validated models were used for optimizing the design. To solve the noise generation mechanism inside the freezer cabinet, the noise primarily generated by the freezer fan unit was measured under normal working conditions of the refrigerator, and the resonance frequencies were obtained. This information was compared with the normal modes of the air duct, and the overlapping frequencies were identified. To reduce the interaction between the source and the structure, a few design modifications were applied to the air duct. Thus, the structural-borne noise radiating from the air duct into the freezer cavity was reduced.

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