CALCULATING RESONANCE FREQUENCIES OF PERFORATED PANELS

Previous analyses of perforated panels have concentrated on the calcul ation of elastic properties. These properties are commonly applied to the stress analysis of tubesheet designs for large boilers. Two theore tical analyses, a finite element analysis (F.E.A.) and an experimental study are compared, where applicable, for 13 perforates to determine the most accurate method for determining the effective resonance frequ ency. Parameters defining the geometry of the holes in a perforation a rray are introduced, as well as the ratio of the modal resonance frequ encies of a perforate to those of a corresponding solid panel, termed the effective resonance frequency. A cubic function is derived to fit the F.E.A. results, and so provide a convenient way of determining the effective resonance frequency of panels with a wide range of perforat ion geometries. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.