Acoustic radiation from an elastic baffled rectangular plate covered by a decoupling coating and immersed in a heavy acoustic fluid

The vibroacoustic behavior of an elastic, simply supported rectangular plat e covered by a locally reacting decoupling layer supporting thickness defor mation is presented. The model simulates the vibration and acoustic respons e of the system immersed in water and subjected to a point force disturbanc e. A simplified version of the theory is derived in the Limiting case of a large decoupling (low mechanical impedance of the layer/high frequency). An appropriate vibratory indicator, representative of the acoustic attenuatio n provided by the decoupling treatment, and independent of the structure di mensions, is also investigated from the perspective of small-scale laborato ry characterization (C) 2000 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(00) 00305-7].