Natural Frequency Analysis of Two Nonlinear Panels Coupled with a Cavity Using the Approximate Elliptic Integral Solution and the Method of Harmonic Residual Minimization

The nonlinear structural acoustic problem considered in this study is the nonlinear natural frequency analysis of flexible double panels using the elliptic integral solution method. There are very limited studies for this nonlinear structural-acoustic problem, although many nonlinear plate or linear double panel problems have been tackled and solved. A multistructural/acoustic modal formulation is derived from two coupled partial differential equations which represent the large amplitude structural vibrations of the flexible panels and acoustic pressure induced within the air gap. One is the von Karman’s plate equation and the other is the homogeneous wave equation. The results obtained from the proposed method approach are verified with those from a numerical method. The effects of vibration amplitude, gap width, aspect ratio, the numbers of acoustic modes and harmonic terms, and so forth on the resonant frequencies of the in-phase and out of phase modes are examined.