MadSci Network: Physics |
Though you've got the basic idea right, the business of calculating and using a transfer function is quite difficult. Given a certain input frequency spectrum, the transfer function tells you what the output will be. Generally speaking, for a non-trivial transfer function, you will find that certain frequencies will be amplified, while others depressed. There may also be mode couplings, which basically means that the presence of a certain frequency may enhance other frequencies. As you said, part of the transfer function has to do with what wavelengths fit best within the car. However, the materials that the car is made of also contribute, as they will transmit and reflect sound differently. The presence or absence of people in the car affects things. In addition to just the basic dimensions, the shape of the car modifies the transfer function. In principle, you could take all of this information, plug it into a, and solve the partial differential equations associated with sound propagation. I'd guess that car designers probably do this (I know that it's done for concert hall and theater design), but as you can tell, there's a lot of factors to take into account, and it requires a fair amount of computer power to solve the equations. Software to do this kind of thing may be available commercially, but I'm not familiar with any.
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