The acoustic response of stiffened plates

For acoustic fatigue and other applications, including sound transmission through panels, one feature is the means in which acoustic excitation produces the subsequent structural response. This study revisits the acoustic excitation of stiffened flat homogeneous plates using an approximate model for evaluating the modal characteristics. Excitation of the modes are considered and compared to the formulation of the Joint Acceptance for plane wave harmonic acoustic excitation. The latter being typically used for single panels or more general aerospace structural configurations. Numerical simulations are then given. These illustrate the effect of the stiffeners on the resulting displacement and stress response, in comparison to both stiffened and separately orthogonally stiffened plate arrangements. In addition, the paper interprets and highlights the effect of the surface area, angle of incidence and contribution of different mode to the behaviour.