Prediction of the Loudspeaker Total Harmonics Distortion Using COMSOL Multiphysics® Software

F. Malbos [1], M. Bogdanski [2], M. Strauss [2],
[1] Harman, Paris, France
[2] Harman Becker Automotive Systems, Straubing, Germany
Published in 2016

For automotive applications, simulation methods are used to get the best audio acoustic performance. Because a loudspeaker is a non linear device, the sound pressure in the vehicle includes harmonics which are mainly created by the force factor, suspension stiffness and voice coil inductance of the loudspeaker. This paper shows how to simulate those non linear components using COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Two different methods were used for validation. First of all, simulation and measurement data were compared. Secondly, Total Harmonics Distortion was predicted based on COMSOL® and measurement system datasets. It is shown that measurement tools can be successfully replaced by non linear COMSOL® speaker simulations and the optimization of a non linear loudspeaker can be realized in the virtual domain.