What Is the Purpose of a Car Muffler?
by Jody L. CampbellUpdated July 15, 2023
The car muffler dampens engine noise and reduces vehicle emissions.
Why do we need a car muffler?
The internal combustion engine used by motor vehicles emits extremely loud exhaust. To create a way to control the back pressure of the engine, an exhaust system including a muffler was developed. This in turn preserved important elements of the engine, created more endurance and, most importantly, helped muffle the sound waves from exhaust gases and emissions. That’s how mufflers work.
Function
The purpose of the muffler is quite simple. It is designed to misdirect the back pressure of the internal combustion engine back toward the engine or around an internal chamber. This creates a destructive interference by multiple chambers of controlled noise canceling each other out.
Features
The muffler inlet is a resonator chamber that controls and directs the back pressure of the exhaust into the baffled chamber. There are two or more baffles inside a muffler which are tubes with holes drilled through them. The inlet baffles expel the exhaust and disperse them into the outlet baffles, misdirecting the exhaust back pressure and canceling out the noise through destructive interference.
Types
There are all types of mufflers for cars. Whether they're all legal or not depends on where you live. Many of today's cars use more than one muffler or a series of resonators along the stream of the exhaust pipes in order to help quiet the amount of noise from exhaust valves. Glass packs or Cherry Bombs have little restriction of the back pressure and simply absorb resonance through glass insulation, creating a much louder effect.
History
Hiram Percy Maxim was credited with developing one of the first mufflers. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was hired by the Pope Manufacturing Company exclusively for the motor vehicle division in 1899. He invented the firearms silencer and developed one of the first mufflers for gasoline engines.
Size
Mufflers come in all sizes and shapes. From the manufacturer, exhaust systems are much more intricate then they used to be. Upgrading to performance exhaust is more difficult since the exhaust systems are made specifically for each vehicle and exhaust systems now channel through exhaust canals manufactured into the undercarriage of vehicles.
Tips
If your car muffler is not working or quieting engine noise, its important to go to an auto repair shop right away so as a car owner you don’t contribute to noise pollution
Writer Bio
Jody L. Campbell spent over 15 years as both a manager and an under-car specialist in the automotive repair industry. Prior to that, he managed two different restaurants for over 15 years. Campbell began his professional writing career in 2004 with the publication of his first book.
