Vibroacoustic responses of a heavy fluid loaded cylindrical shell excited by a turbulent boundary layer

Abstract A fully coupled structural–acoustic model of a cylindrical shell under external turbulent boundary layer excitation is herein developed. The numerical process requires computation of the wall pressure cross spectral density function as well as sensitivity functions for the fluid-loaded cylindrical shell. A semi-empirical model from literature is used to describe the wall pressure field induced by the turbulent boundary layer in the wavenumber–frequency domain. An analytical expression of the wall pressure field for a flat surface is adapted to describe the wall pressure field for a cylindrical surface. Circumferential sensitivity functions are derived using a wavenumber-point reciprocity principle. Results for the near-field and far-field acoustic pressure spectra are presented. Contributions of individual circumferential modes to the acoustic pressure spectra are examined, showing distinct trends below and above the ring frequency. The proposed method is computationally efficient and provides an effective approach to investigate vibroacoustic responses for maritime platforms.