Analysis and experimental validation of the middle-frequency vibro-acoustic coupling property for aircraft structural model based on the wave coupling hybrid FE-SEA method

The finite element (FE) method is suitable for low frequency analysis and the statistical energy analysis (SEA) for high frequency analysis, but the vibro-acoustic coupling analysis at middle frequency, especially with a certain range of uncertainty system, requires some new methods. A hybrid FE-SEA method is proposed in this study and the Monte Carlo method is used to check the hybrid FE-SEA method through the energy response analysis of a beam-plate built-up structure with some uncertainty, and the results show that two kinds of calculation results match well consistently. Taking the advantage of the hybrid FE-SEA method, the structural vibration and the cabin noise field responses under the vibro-acoustic coupling for an aircraft model are numerically analyzed, and, also, the corresponding experiment is carried out to verify the simulated results. Results show that the structural vibration responses at low frequency accord well with the experiment, but the error at high frequency is greater. The error of sound pressure response level in cabin throughout the spectrum is less than 3 dB. The research proves the reliability of the method proposed in this paper. This indicates that the proposed method can overcome the strict limitations of the traditional method for a large complex structure with uncertainty factors, and it can also avoid the disadvantages of solving complex vibro-acoustic system using the finite element method or statistical energy analysis in the middle frequency. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.