Publications
Acoustoelasticity Testing: Changing Boundary Conditions and Damping
A series of modal tests were performed on an acoustoelastic system to explore how changes to the air and structural components affect the acoustoelastic coupling. This work is a continuation of previous experimental and analytical efforts. Here, the test method and perturbations were much more controlled than in previous tests, resulting in more refined data. Outputs of interest here are the coupled system modes as well as the resulting frequency response for various perturbations of the coupled system. Perturbations explored in this work include mass loading the structure, changing the air damping, and changing the air boundary conditions. Results of these tests indicate that simply adding damping to the air component, using foam or other absorptive material, is not sufficient to fully decouple the system. Rather, it is preferred to employ a change to the air boundary conditions, in the form of volume inclusions or scatterers, to prevent formation of the acoustic coupled mode.