An Evolutionary Approach To Acoustic Modeling

A novel evolutionary scheme for the acoustical design of small enclosures is described. We present results for a "proof of concept " 1D application in which the boundary specific impedance values of a room are optimized. The enclosure is modeled using a finite difference solution of the time independent wave equation. The selection of boundary materials to produce a desired distribution within the enclosure is automated using "differential evolution", a variation on the theme of genetic algorithms. By adopting design problems for which the solutions are known in advance, the validity of the technique is explored