STRUCTURE GENERATED NOISE MODELING, USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS (FEA) TECHNIQUES

THERE IS AN INCREASED EMPHASIS ON THE ACOUSTIC SIGNATURES OF GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES DUE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND EFFECTIVE ACOUSTIC TARGET ACQUISITION SYSTEMS. DURING THE DESIGN STAGE OF A GROUND COMBAT VEHICLE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REDUCE THE NOISE, EMITTED FROM STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS. THEREFORE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACOUSTIC PREDICTION SOFTWARE IS ESSENTIAL. WITHIN THIS PROJECT, THEORETICAL TECHNIQUES FOR ACOUSTIC PREDICTION AND ACOUSTIC SENSITIVITIES WILL BE DEVELOPED, AND IMPLEMENTED INTO ACOUSTIC SOFTWARE. THE SOFTWARE WILL BE VERIFIED BY COMPARING RESULTS TO ANALYTICALLY AVAILABLE EXACT SOLUTIONS AND TEST DATA. THE DEVELOPED SOFTWARE WILL BE CAPABLE OF ACCEPTING INFORMATION FROM CURRENT FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS MODELS WITH A KNOWN INPUPT FORCING FUNCTION. IT WILL USE THIS INFORMATION TO ACCURATELY PREDICT THE NOISE RADIATED FROM THE VIBRATING STRUCTURE. THE COMPUTER CODE WILL BE A VALUABLE TOOL IN DESIGNING STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS WITH IMPROVED NOISE CHARACTERISTICS, BECAUSE IT WILL ELIMINATE THE REQUIREMENT TO ACTUALLY TEST THE STRUCTURE, IN ORDER TO FIND THE EFFECT OF THE MODIFICATIONS IN THE EMITTED NOISE. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE ABILITY TO STUDY MANY ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS QUICKLY AND ECONOMICALLY CAN LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT NOISE REDUCTION.