Early attempts of inverse vibro-acoustics for airborne structural dynamics from reduced DIC-based full-field receptances

Purpose This study aims to proficiently characterise the direct and inverse vibro-acoustics of radiating plates by means of experiment-based full-field approaches instead of hard-to-tune structural simulations. Dynamic airborne pressure fields, in any vehicle engineering, can severely excite lightweight structures and components, becoming a concern for their structural integrity and reliability. The final aim is to identify, once the airborne pressure field is known in its spectrum, the broad frequency band force that is transmitted to the excitation points used in the direct vibro-acoustic FRF problem. Design/methodology/approach The Rayleigh integral approximation of sound radiation from a vibrating surface is here revisited in early attempts of direct and inverse vibro-acoustics, exploiting complex-valued experiment-based full-field receptances, without the inertia-related distortions of traditional measurement transducers, in a receptance-based approach that does not need the model updating steps. Findings Details and considerations up to the inverse full-field formulation, with special attention to its complex-valued nature and broad excitation dynamic signature, together with examples coming from a real thin plate tested, are thoroughly provided in this work. Originality/value This study demonstrates what is nowadays achievable in experiment-based vibro-acoustics by means of moderate density DIC-based measurements. DIC, within its domain of applicability, can be used successfully to predict the radiated sound and to retrieve the forces induced by sound-pressure fields.