Progresses on the Vibro-Acoustic Design of a Class of Aluminium Sandwich Plates

Sandwich panels are widely used in engineering applications because of the extremely high stiffness-to-mass ratio. The higher specific strength and stiffness of sandwich panel versus metal homogeneous ones are attractive to the manufacturers, as well as other attributes such as the tailoring to the directionality of the load. The same high stiffness-to-mass ratio that allows mechanical efficiency also allows efficient transmission and radiation of acoustic noise, posing a serious problem for some applications, such as aircraft comfort. To address this problem, engineers have attempted to identify optimal designs for sand- wich panels that balance mechanical and acoustical properties.