Low-Frequency Broadband Sound Transmission Loss of Infinite Orthogonally Rib-Stiffened Sandwich Structure with Periodic Subwavelength Arrays of Shunted Piezoelectric Patches

Abstract

This paper studies low-frequency sound transmission loss (STL) of an infinite orthogonally rib-stiffened sandwich structure flexibly connected with periodic subwavelength arrays of finite shunted piezoelectric patches. A complete theoretical model is proposed by three steps. First, the panels and piezoelectric patches on both sides are equivalent to two homogeneous facesheets by effective medium method. Second, we take into account all inertia terms of the rib-stiffeners to establish the governing equations by space harmonic method, separating the amplitude coefficients of the equivalent facesheets through virtual work principle. Third, the expression of STL is reduced. Based on the two prerequisites of subwavelength assumption and convergence criterion, the accuracy and validity of the model are verified by finite element simulations, cited experiments, and theoretical values. In the end, parameters affecting the STL performance of the structure are studied. All of these results show that the sandwich structure can improve the low-frequency STL effectively and broaden the sound insulation bandwidth.