AES Milan 2018
Professional Sound Expo Session PSE01
Thursday, May 24, 10:00 — 10:45 (PSE Stage)
PSE01 - The Importance of Thermal Simulation in Loudspeaker Design: Case Study for a Compression Driver
Presenters:Marco Baratelli, Faital S.p.A. - Milan, Italy
Grazia Spatafora, Faital S.p.A. - Milan, Italy
Faital S.p.A. makes use of FEM simulation in order to predict heating phenomena and minimize the potential permanent damage to the coil for a wide variety of products. All heat transfer mechanisms are important: conduction, convection, and radiation. Compression drivers are high efficiency electroacoustic transducers dedicated to high frequencies. They are designed to produce high SPL levels, usually coupled to a horn or waveguide. Due to their spectrum of operation these devices experience incredibly small membrane excursions, hence they can be considered approximately static. In other words, compression drivers do not take advantage of the cooling effects that usually a woofer coil experiences while moving, as air is strongly pushed and pulled in and out of the air gap. For this reason these devices can be sensitive to severe heating, which in extreme cases can lead to permanent damage of the coil by combustion of the insulating enamel.
The outcomes of the presented case study were compared with an equivalent measurement. Results show a satisfactory match between the model and the measurements, with a worst case error of 5%.