Some experiments with stiffened plates under acoustic excitation

Abstract

Plates which will be subjected to intense acoustic excitation are often stiffened with beams. These are added either for reasons of static stability or to “reduce the vibration”. Measurements have been made of the average acoustically induced strains in a series of 1 2 in. mild steel plates to which identical beam stiffeners have been attached in different ways. It has been found that point attachments such as rivets can be preferable to line attachments such as welds. The magnitude of the benefit gained from attaching the stiffener at discrete points is not explained by existing theoretical vibration analysis.