Membrane vibration experiments: An historical review and recent results

Although dozens of theoretical studies have been published on membrane vibrations, very little experimental work exists in the literature. We provide here a concise review of the experimental membrane vibration literature. A membrane by definition has insignificant bending stiffness. From a vibration point of view, this in effect decouples domains of the membrane from one another in transverse displacement. In this article we show both experimentally and theoretically that this unique character allows for a local response to local excitation. Practical applications of these results may find value in the control-structure-interaction community.