Fluid-structure-acoustic coupling for a flat plate

The present work deals with the aeroacoustic sound radiated by a forward-backward facing step in combination with a flexible wall behind the step. A numerical flow computation with coupled aeroacoustic and vibroacoustic simulation was carried out. The structural deformations of the oscillating plate like structure in the wake of the forward-backward facing step were considered to be small and therefore not affecting the flow field. The presented approach enables a separate consideration for the aeroacoustic as well as the structural borne noise. The influence of the interactions of the acoustic medium with the flexible structure on the vibroacoustic sound radiation is investigated. One-sided and two-sided coupling approaches for the vibroacoustic analysis are introduced. The two-sided vibroacoustic computation allows for considering the damping influence of the ambient fluid on the flexible plate vibration and therefore on the sound radiation. Additional to the simulations, aeroacoustic measurements in an acoustic wind tunnel were performed for validation purposes.