Acoustic reflection of rib-stiffened double plates coated with a viscoelastic layer

To predict sound-absorbing performance of anechoic materials,the acoustic reflection problem of a viscoelastic layer backed with periodically rib-stiffened infinite double plates is studied in this paper.The reason why structural theories of plates are not applicable to viscoelastic plates is explained through comparing dispersion and attenuation curves of flexural waves with those of Lamb waves.As a result,(visco-)elastic theory is adopted to deal with(visco-)elastic plates,and ribs are treated by structural theories of plates.The coupling between ribs and plates are solved by Hull's method,and solution of the reflected field is obtained.The accuracy of present method is validated by comparing with the results by the structural theories of plates.The influence of a backing on the acoustic reflection of the viscoelatic layer is analyzed by computing reflection coefficients.Performances of different viscoelastic materials are evaluated by the average reflection coefficients.The computational results show that,influence of a backing on the acoustic reflection cannot be suppressed by the viscoelastic materials in low frequencies.The resonance is determined by the coupling of the fluid layer and the double plates.And ribs,which are coupled with the double plates,mainly reduce the acoustic reflection.