The motivation of this study is twofold: (a) to produce a flow-through silencer with zero pressure loss for pressure-critical applications, and (b) to tackle low frequency noise with limited sideway space using cavities filled with helium. The work represents a further development of our recently conceived device of a drum-like silencer with conventional air cavity [Huang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 2014-2025 (2002); Choy and Huang, ibid. 112, 2026-2035 (2002)]. Theoretical predictions are validated by experimental data. The new silencer consists of two highly tensioned membranes lining part of a duct, and each membrane is backed by a cavity filled with helium. For a typical configuration of a duct with height h, membrane length L = 7h, cavity depth h_c = 0.2h, and tension T = 0.52ρ_0c_0~2h~2, where ρ_0 and c_0 are the ambient density and speed of sound in air, respectively, the transmission loss has a continuous stop band of TL > 6.35 dB for frequency 0.03c_0/h to 0.064c_0/h, which is much better than traditional duct lining. In addition to the mechanisms at work for drum silencers with air cavity, the low density of helium reduces the masslike reactance of the cavity on the second in vacuo mode of membrane vibration. The reduction greatly enhances the membrane response at this mode, which is found to be critical for achieving a broadband performance in the low-frequency regime.
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