Setting Up Plane and Thin Panels with Representative Simply Supported Boundary Conditions: Comparative Results and Applications In Three Laboratories

Compared to numerous theoretical studies, the problem of experimentally realizing supported conditions on plane panels has received very little attention. A technique to setup a simply supported rectangular plane panel for laboratory vibroacoustic tests is described. Several application cases are reported, including five panels built in Groupe d'Acoustique de l'Université de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Canada), three panels built at Laboratoire de Mécanique des Structures et des Systèmes Couplés (Paris, France) and one at Laboratoire Vibration Acoustique (Lyon, France). Covered subjects include vibration and sound radiation under deterministic and random excitations (diffuse acoustic field, turbulent boundary layer), source identification and passive control of vibrations using piezoelectric patches or viscoelastic treatments. All obtained results highlight the interest of having access to a laboratory tool that behaves closely to an exact mathematical model, and confirm that such a tool can be reproduced and generalized between laboratories.