Extension of the source scanning technique to curved rectangular panels for the vibroacoustic characterization of structures using wall-pressure plane waves

The Source Scanning Technique (SST) is an experimental method used to synthesize the vibroacoustic response of a given structure under random excitations such as the Diffuse Acoustic Field (DAF) and the Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) using a single monopole source. It was previously developed and validated for simple plane structures such as Flat Rectangular Panels (FRPs). However, in industrial cases, the structures of interest can be more complex. In this paper, the feasibility of the extension of SST to Curved Rectangular Panels (CRPs) is investigated. To numerically evaluate the performances of SST when generating wall-pressure plane waves (WPPWs) on CRPs, analytical developments are proposed to estimate the transfer functions between the monopole source and the CRPs. Two- and three-dimensional cases are considered and validated using the boundary element method. Then, parametric studies are carried out to determine the optimal parameters for implementing the SST process in two- and three-dimensional cases considering a conformal geometry, i.e., the array of monopoles has the same geometry as the structure of interest. The numerical results obtained are then supported by experimental investigations using a robotized system to move the monopole source. The transfer functions obtained using the proposed analytical models are compared to the measured ones, yielding relatively good agreement between the results.