Homogeneous and sandwich active panels under deterministic and stochastic excitation

In this paper an element-based model is used to predict the structural response and sound radiation of two smart panels excited by (a) an acoustic plane wave, (b) a stochastic acoustic diffuse field, and (c) a turbulent boundary layer. The first panel is made of aluminum, while the second is a composite sandwich panel with equivalent static stiffness but four times lower mass per unit area. The panels are equipped with 16 decentralized velocity feedback control loops using idealized point force actuators. In contrast to previous studies on smart panels, the analysis is extended to the upper end of the audio frequency range. In this frequency region the response and sound radiation of the panels strongly depend on the spatial characteristics of the excitation field and the sound radiation properties with respect to the bending wavelength on the panels. Considerable reduction in structural response and sound radiation is predicted for the low audio frequency range where the panel response is dominated by well separated resonances of low order structural modes. It is also found that some reduction can be achieved around acoustic and convective coincidence regions.