SENSITIVITY CALCULATIONS FOR STRUCTURAL-ACOUSTIC EFEM PREDICTIONS

Recent research on the energy finite element method (EFEM) has focused on the development of a prediction capability for coupled structural- acoustic analysis. The resulting approach has been successfully verifi ed previously against experimental results for an enclosure with one f lexible wall by Bitsie. To utilize these models for design purposes, i t is helpful to understand the sensitivity of the structural-acoustic response to various parameters of the model. It is also useful to know which energy absorption mechanisms control the response of the system . Both calculations are reasonably straightforward using the EFEM form ulation. In this paper, the formulations to calculate sensitivity and energy dissipation are developed and illustrated for two case studies of an acoustical enclosure with one flexible wall. (C) 1998 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.