Characterization of structure-borne sound sources: The source descriptor and the coupling function

Abstract

An introductory, theoretical study for characterization of structural acoustic sources has been carried out. The concept source denotes any active structure with unknown internal elementary source mechanisms and unknown internal transmission paths from generation to the contact points with the receiving structure. An alternative description of the power transmission from the source to the receiver is presented in the case of one component of motion and one contact point. A general source parameter called the source descriptor is introduced. This parameter is a function of source data only. It is proportional to power and involves both the internal vibration of the source and its mobility at the contact point. From experimental measurement series, it can be emphasized that the velocity of the free source is a suitable and manageable quantity for describing the internal vibration of many structure-borne sound sources. The active power transmitted from the source structure to the receiving one is found to be the product of the source descriptor and a dimensionless function called the coupling function. This function illustrates the dynamic properties of the source-receiver interface.