Sound Transmission Through a Double-Wall Structure Coupled with Two Trapezoidal Acoustic Cavities

This paper aims at investigating the sound transmission mechanism of a flexibly-linked finite length double-wall structure. The problem stems from the modeling of sound transmission through corrugated core sandwich panels for predicting its transmission loss. The spatial segmentation of the acoustic gap and fully structure-acoustic coupling effect between the flexural vibration of the inclined mechanical link and the two adjacent trapezoidal acoustic cavities are considered. The theoretical model of the considered vibro-acoustic system is developed by using the modal superposition method in conjunction with envelope rectangular technique. Based on the developed theoretical model, the general vibro-acoustics characteristics of the system is presented. Particularly by using the [Formula: see text] mode of the acoustic cavity and the first structural modal frequency, the ratio between the aerostatic stiffness and the structural stiffness is formulated, and a criterion is proposed to determine whether the sound insulation performance of the vibro-acoustic system is controlled mainly by the structure or the acoustic cavity. Numerical investigations reveal that with different stiffness ratio, the acoustic cavity affects the sound transmission through both the added stiffness and added mass following different mechanisms. Besides, the influence of the inclined angle of the connecting beam on sound insulation performance of the double-wall structure is also studied. The obtained results are believed to be helpful in the optimal design of corrugated core sandwich panels for sound insulation.