A new rule of vibration sampling for predicting acoustical radiation from rectangular plates

Structural surface velocity distribution is often used to predict structural borne sound radiation. However the sampling interval of velocity should be chosen carefully to increase the prediction accuracy and to reduce the system cost. In this paper, several factors affecting the sampling interval are theoretically analyzed and discussed for a vibrating baffled rectangular plate. A new rule for the determination of the sampling interval is formulated. Using this rule, the results from both numerical simulations and experiments may be explained well.     

Sound radiation from rectangular baffled and unbaffled plates

The radiation efficiency of a flat rectangular plate is often used as a basis on which to represent the sound radiation from more complex plate-like structures. The solution for a plate set in a rigid baffle is well known, including the radiation efficiency for multi-modal response of the plate. In this case the assumption is usually made that each mode within a given frequency band has equal modal vibration energy. This paper explores a number of limitations of this simple result. First, the extent to which the radiation efficiency for a particular forcing point deviates from the modal-average result is investigated. Second, the difference is shown between the results for a baffled plate and an unbaffled plate. For a multi-modal response, an empirical formula is also presented which allows the radiation efficiency to be estimated for the unbaffled case. Finally, the effect of different boundary conditions on both baffled and unbaffled results is demonstrated by comparing the results for guided boundaries with those for simply supported boundaries.     

A unified approach for predicting sound radiation from baffled rectangular plates with arbitrary boundary conditions

This paper discusses sound radiation from a baffled rectangular plate with each of its edges arbitrarily supported in the form of elastic restraints. The plate displacement function is universally expressed as a 2-D Fourier cosine series supplemented by several 1-D series. The unknown Fourier expansion coefficients are then determined by using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. Once the vibration field is solved, the displacement function is further simplified to a single standard 2-D Fourier cosine series in the subsequent acoustic analysis. Thus, the sound radiation from a rectangular plate can always be obtained from the radiation resistance matrix for an invariant set of cosine functions, regardless of its actual dimensions and boundary conditions. Further, this radiation resistance matrix, unlike the traditional ones for modal functions, only needs to be calculated once for all plates with the same aspect ratio. In order to determine the radiation resistance matrix effectively, an analytical formula is derived in the form of a power series of the non-dimensional acoustic wavenumber; the formula is mathematically valid and accurate for any wavenumber. Several numerical examples are presented to validate the formulations and show the effect of the boundary conditions on the radiation behavior of planar sources.     

A simple frequency formula for clamped rectangular plates

A simple formula is proposed to predict the vibration frequencies of completely clamped rectangular plates, of arbitrary aspect ratio, vibrating in any mode. The development is based on experimental evidence obtained using the technique of holographic interferometry. Comparisons are made with both published results from the literature and experimental values obtained by the authors, and show excellent agreement in all cases.     

Finite element formulations for acoustical radiation

Finite and infinite element techniques are applied to linear acoustical problems involving infinite anechoic boundaries. Theory is presented for a simple one dimensional model based on Webster's horn equation. Results are then presented both for the one dimensional model and for two axisymmetric test cases. Comparisons with exact solutions indicate that both the infinite element and wave envelope schemes are effective in correctly predicting the near field. The wave envelope scheme is also shown to be capable of resolving the far field radiation pattern.     

The effect of different combinations of boundary conditions on the average radiation efficiency of rectangular plates

The boundary conditions of a vibrating plate are known to have an influence on its sound radiation for frequencies below the critical frequency. To investigate this effect in a systematic way, the average radiation efficiency and radiated power are calculated for a rectangular plate set in an infinite baffle using a modal summation approach. Whereas analytical expressions exist for simply supported boundary conditions, a numerical approach is required for other cases. Nine combinations of boundary conditions are considered, consisting of simply supported, clamped and free edges on different plate edges. The structural vibration is approximated by using independent beam functions in orthogonal directions allowing simple approximate formulae for mode shapes and natural frequencies. This assumption is checked against a finite element model and shown to give reliable results. It is shown that a free plate has the lowest radiation efficiency and a clamped plate the highest for most frequencies between the fundamental panel natural frequency and the critical frequency. Other combinations of boundary condition give intermediate results according to the level of constraint introduced. The differences depend on frequency: excluding the extreme case of a fully free plate all the other boundary conditions give results within a range of 8 dB in the middle part of the short-circuiting region, decreasing towards the critical frequency. At low frequency the differences can be even greater, in some cases up to 20 dB. These conclusions are shown to hold for a range of plate thicknesses and dimensions.