Active control of radiation from a piston set in a rigid sphere

Active control of the sound radiated from a piston set in a rigid sphere with a set of control point sources around is considered in this paper, where the scattering sound field of the control sound from the rigid sphere has been taken into account to minimize the total radiated sound power. Analytic results of the sound power are obtained and numerical simulations show that it is possible to reduce the radiation from a small piston set in a rigid sphere similar to the size of a human head up to a certain frequency. It is found that the introduction of the scattering object makes significant differences from the active control without scattering objects. This being the case, the scattering object makes the active noise control easier. To increase the global reduction of sound-power output, the optimal number and locations of the control sources and the optimal number and locations of error sensors are discussed. Finally, experiments with one control source and one error sensor around a head simulator have been carried out to verify the simulation results. (C) 2004 Acoustical Society of America.