Acoustic radiation from a thin plate with fluid loading discontinuity

In many underwater acoustic problems, a very compliant coating is applied to the surface of a structure. The presence of this coating will tend to insulate the structural vibrations from fluid loading interaction. The problem of an infinite thin plate, half with fluid loading interaction and half without, represents the discontinuous fluid loading condition that a partially coated structure will experience. The split boundary value problem has been solved by the Wiener—Hopf technique. Radiated intensities and directivity patterns have been calculated and compared to that of a thin plate with homogeneous fluid loading. In a previous paper [M. Pierucci, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 60, S115 (A) (1976)] a similar problem with the structural vibrations assumed to be governed by the membrane equation was presented.