Fluids & Structural Mechanics > NCH > Structural Acoustics (SA)
Fluids & Structural Mechanics
- Computational Mechanics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Marine & Physical Acoustics
- Noise Control & Hydroacoustics
- Research Facilities
- Flow Acoustics
- Structural Acoustics
As an integral part of Hydroacoustics, Structural Acoustics specializes in vibro-acoustic characterization and noise diagnostics (in air or water) of complex structures using both computational and experimental analysis. Industry standard and cutting edge in-house generated computational tools are used to accurately model how a structure responds to fluid forces influencing it and conversely how the structure generates a response in the surrounding fluid.
Click HERE for information about ARL's reverberant tank facility.
These fluid-structure interactions manifest themselves in measurable quantities such as radiated sound power, surface vibration, surface pressures, loss factors, and modal response. The Structural Acoustics Department, working closely with the Flow Acoustics Department, also has the capability to fabricate, instrument, and measure complex structures and verify the results using computational analysis. Once the predominant structural-acoustic behavior is modeled, verified, and understood, Noise Control Engineering techniques are incorporated to tailor structures to control the responses.
This approach has been successfully utilized by the Structural Acoustics Department on a variety of applications including such items as propellers, plates, hulls, enclosures, and other complex structures to minimize vibro-acoustic response.
ARL Penn State performs experimental and theoretical research in the areas flow acoustics, structural acoustics, noise control, and active noise cancellation. Researchers in this area have access to excellent facilities that provide opportunity to research many areas of the physics of flow-generated acoustic forcing functions and the structural response to these forcing functions.
The research focus is primarily in the design, analysis, and testing of turbomachinery systems. Other typical systems that have been and are being considered are automotive HVAC, computer and electronic systems, vacuum cleaners, and diesel engines. The experimental effort is enhanced with a developing computational effort in the areas of structural response of propulsion systems, radiation efficiency, and flow interaction. The computational effort concurrently incorporates technology developed in other research areas at ARL Penn State, namely, fluid dynamics, computational mechanics, and manufacturing science.