Determining the Power Flow in a Rectangular Plate Using a Generalized Two-Step Regressive Discrete Fourier Series

The evaluation of structural power flow (or structural intensity (SI)) in engineering structures is a field of increasing interest in connection with vibration analysis and noise control. In contrast to classical techniques such as modal analysis, the SI indicates the magnitude and direction of the vibratory energy traveling in the structures, which yields information about the positions of the sources/sinks, along with the energy transmission path. In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed to model operational deflection shapes (ODS). The model is a two-dimensional Fourier domain model that is estimated by using a weighted nonlinear least-squares method. From the wave number-frequency domain data thus obtained, the spatial derivatives that are necessary to determine the structural power flow are easily computed. The proposed method is less sensitive to measurement noise than traditional power flow estimation techniques. A numerical model of a simply supported plate excited by two shakers, phased to act as an energy source and sink, is used as a simulation case. Measurements are executed on a clamped plate excited by an electromagnetic shaker in combination with a damper. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4006756]