Rickard C. Loftman
Donald B. Bliss
Mech. Eng. and Mater. Sci., Duke Univ., Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708
Acoustic scattering from an infinitely long, thin elastic cylindrical shell with axially periodic circumferential constraints leads to the excitation of flexural, longitudinal, and shear waves on the shell. Of interest is the interaction of these structural waves with the discontinuous constraints, and the effect of this interaction on the resultant scattered sound field. This three-dimensional, fully coupled, structural acoustic problem is solved with the aid of a new method called analytical/numerical matching (ANM). The method combines high-resolution local analytical solutions and low-resolution global numerical solutions to more efficiently model structural discontinuities. ANM local solutions have been developed to efficiently capture the rapid variation in system response across the discontinuous constraint. The local solutions are combined with a smooth global solution, modeled by modal methods, to form an accurate, uniformly valid composite solution. The ANM composite solution is more accurate and converges more rapidly than the traditional modal approach. An important observation is that this scattering problem exhibits considerable sensitivity to modeling accuracy and convergence of structural response in the region of the discontinuities. Errors in these regions have an overall effect on the structure and the associated scattered field. [Work supported by ONR.]