Vibro-acoustic simulation of damped orthotropic plates with the wave based method

The wave based method was developed as an efficient methodology for the steady state simulation of vibro-acoustic systems. So far this method could only be used to predict the behaviour of simple panels made out of isotropic materials. With the current rise in importance of lightweight composite panels, there is increasing interest in the efficient simulation of panels with direction dependent properties and more complex damping behaviour. To address this need, in this paper, the application range of the wave-based method is expanded in two directions. In a first step the isotropic material model is extended towards an orthotropic one. Second, a versatile damping model, based on the Augmented Hooke's Law, is integrated into the methodology. Next, the method is applied to three cases. The first one consists of a rectangular composite panel that is excited by a distributed load. In the second case, a vibro-acoustic model is studied by coupling the panel to an acoustic cavity with a simple geometry. Lastly, a model is made of an existing vibro-acoustic test setup on which the composite panel is mounted. Results are compared to a FEM reference model.