A new 3D finite element sandwich plate for predicting the vibroacoustic response of laminated steel panels

A new sandwich finite element has been previously applied successfully to the vibration analysis of damped metal–polymer–metal beams [1]. In this paper, this element is extended to the vibration of unsymmetrical sandwich plates with a viscoelastic core. The rotational influence of the transversal shearing in the core on the skins behaviour, ensures a displacement consistency over the interfaces between the viscoelastic core and the elastic skins resulting in accurate representations of the physics. To enable the analysis of plates with arbitrary orientation in three-dimensional space, a formulation with nine degrees of freedom per node is employed. Moreover, the element is shown to interface easily with classical plate’s elements. Comparisons with both experimental tests and classical solid FE modeling are shown to prove the accuracy and computational efficiency of the presented element for the modeling of the vibro-acoustic response of the studied metal–polymer–metal panels.