Experimental snap-through boundaries for acoustically excited,thermally buckled plates

This paper presents some recent experimental results on the dynamic snap-through behavior of a clamped, rectangular plate subject to thermal loading and intense acoustic excitation. The likelihood of snap-through oscillations is characterized in terms of boundaries separating regions of snap-through and no snap-through in the parameter space. Two scenarios are considered. First, using tonal inputs, the regions of snap-through are mapped in the sound pressure level—input frequency domain ((SPL, ) plane). Second, random acoustic inputs are used, and the effect of varying the overall sound pressure level and frequency bandwidth are investigated ((SPL,) plane). Several nonlinear characteristics are evident and discussed.