Minimizing the radiated sound power from vibrating plates by using in-plane functionally graded materials

This paper presents a method for decreasing sound radiation from vibrating plates. The method uses Functionally Graded Materials (FGM) for building the plates instead of isotropic material. The graded pattern of material composition is characterized within the in-plane directions based on a two-dimensional trigonometric law. In the proposed method, the finite element method (FEM) is utilized for estimating the dynamic response of the plates. Then, the Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) is used for calculating sound radiation power. A genetic algorithm is applied as an optimization tool for determining the best distribution of the FGM. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated by three design problems; minimizing the radiated sound from vibrating FGM plate at a particular excitation frequency, over a frequency band, and at a particular natural frequency. The design problems show that a considerable decrease of sound power can be accomplished with the optimal design of FGM plates in comparison with the isotropic plates.