Structural acoustics

Structural acoustics is the study of the mechanical waves in structures and how they interact with and radiate into adjacent media. The field of structural acoustics is often referred to as vibroacoustics in Europe and Asia. People that work in the field of structural acoustics are known as structural acousticians. The field of structural acoustics can be closely related to a number of other fields of acoustics including noise, transduction, underwater acoustics, and physical acoustics. Structural acoustics is the study of the mechanical waves in structures and how they interact with and radiate into adjacent media. The field of structural acoustics is often referred to as vibroacoustics in Europe and Asia. People that work in the field of structural acoustics are known as structural acousticians. The field of structural acoustics can be closely related to a number of other fields of acoustics including noise, transduction, underwater acoustics, and physical acoustics. Compressional waves (often referred to as longitudinal waves) expand and contract in the same direction (or opposite) as the wave motion. The wave equation dictates the motion of the wave in the x direction. where u {displaystyle u} is the displacement and c L {displaystyle c_{L}} is the longitudinal wave speed. This has the same form as the acoustic wave equation in one-dimension. c L {displaystyle c_{L}} is determined by properties (bulk modulus B {displaystyle B} and density ρ {displaystyle ho } ) of the structure according to When two dimensions of the structure are small with respect to wavelength (commonly called a beam), the wave speed is dictated by Youngs modulus E {displaystyle E} instead of the B {displaystyle B} and are consequently slower than in infinite media.