The aim of this paper is to present methods of digitally synthesising the sound generated by vibroacoustic systems with distributed parameters. A general algorithm was developed to synthesise the sounds of selected musical instruments with an axisymmetrical shape and impact excitation, i.e., Tibetan bowls and bells. A coupled mechanical-acoustic field described by partial differential equations was discretized by using the Finite Element Method (FEM) implemented in the ANSYS package. The presented synthesis method is original due to the fact that the determination of the system response in the time domain to the pulse (impact) excitation is based on the numerical calculation of the convolution of the forcing function and impulse response of the system. This was calculated as an inverse Fourier transform of the system’s spectral transfer function. The synthesiser allows for obtaining a sound signal with the assumed, expected parameters by tuning the resonance frequencies which exist in the spectrum of the generated sound. This is accomplished, basing on the Design of Experiment (DOE) theory, by creating a meta-model which contains information on its response surfaces regarding the influence of the design parameters. The synthesis resulted in a sound pressure signal in selected points in space surrounding the instrument which is consistent with the signal generated by the actual instruments, and the results obtained can improve them.

There are typically two systems in use for sound reinforcement in open areas: the central, “wall of sound” system with speakers localized at the sides of the stage, and the zone system, in which additional speakers are introduced to obtain a uniform sound pressure level throughout the area of listening. In the past two decades the line array systems gained great popularity. The main purpose of their use is to obtain a uniformly distributed sound level throughout the listening area in order to achieve good speech intelligibility. The present paper aims to present an alternative and original method of sound reinforcement in open areas which is in contrast to the above solutions. This new method allows achieving a uniformly distributed sound pressure and good speech intelligibility in the area of interest, and also allows to gain spatial sound impression that accompanies sound reproduction in concert halls. Another advantage of the proposed system is the reduction of the sound level outside the area of interest, i.e. reduction of the noise level outside the area of listening.

One of the main issues of design process of HVAC systems and ventilation ducts in particular is correct modelling of coupling of the flow field and acoustic field of the air flowing in such systems. Such a coupling can be modelled in many ways, one of them is using linearised Euler equations (LEE). In this paper, the method of solving these equations using finite element method and open source tools is decribed. Equations were transformed into functional and solved using Python language and FEniCS software. The non-reflective boundary condition called buffer layer was also implemented into equations, which allowed modelling of unbounded domains. The issue, influence of flow on wave propagation, could be adressed using LEE equations, as they take non-uniform mean flow into account. The developed tool was verified and results of simulations were compared with analytical solutions, both in one- and two-dimensional cases. The obtained numerical results are very consistent with analytical ones. Furthermore, this paper describes the use of the developed tool for analysing a more complex model. Acoustic wave propagation for the backward-facing step in the presence of flow calculated using Navier-Stokes equations was studied.