Construction and validation of computational techniques as part of a holistic approach to complex engineering design

As a full-service provider of bespoke solutions to environmental noise problems, there is a need to have a precise understanding of the performance of our engineered products and complex assemblies. More specifically, there are risks, as well as limitations, to relying solely on a single scientific method-e.g., empirical, computational, numerical or analytical. In the following paper, we describe the validation process of sophisticated computational software-a suite of Siemens software-to bolster our risk assessment practices. Although computational tools generally require extensive 'calibration,' our interest in pursuing the software is to model diverse constraints and environmental conditions of projects, which cannot be 'simply' assessed using empirical, numerical and analytical tools. Herein are presented examples of projects utilizing our holistic approach to assuring the performance of our engineering solutions. More specifically, we employ aero-vibro-acoustical simulations to model the aero-vibro-acoustical performance (e.g., airflow and pressure drop, dynamic insertion loss) of our industrial acoustic silencers (and similar complex assemblies).