J. M. Cuschieri
Ctr. for Acoust. and Vib., Dept. of Ocean Eng., Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton, FL 33431
D. Feit
David Taylor Research Center, Bethesda, MD 20084
The scattering of a plane acoustic wave by a fluid-loaded, thin, elastic plate, of infinite extent, with a distributed inhomogeneity is investigated by solving the equation of motion in the wave-number domain using the hybrid numerical analytical approach [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 1998--2005 (1994)]. The presence of the distributed inhomogeneity in the equation of motion, when expressed in the wave-number domain, results in a Fredholm integral equation of the third kind. By substituting for the product of the response and the plate characteristic equation, the Fredholm integral of the third kind is reduced to a Fredholm integral of the second kind. The plate response in the wave-number domain is obtained from the solution of the Fredholm integral. Inverse Fourier transforming the wave-number domain response function gives the spatial domain solution for the response. The hybrid approach is used to perform the inverse Fourier transform. The scattered pressure is obtained in a similar manner. Response and scattered pressure results for distributed mass inhomogeneities, with different distribution functions, are presented and compared to the results for a line inhomogeneity. [Work sponsored by ONR.]