A hybrid method for the vibration analysis of complex structural-acoustic systems

A new method is presented for the analysis of complex dynamic systems which is based on partitioning the system degrees of freedom into a "global" set and a "local" set. The global equations of motion are formulated and solved in a standard deterministic manner, although due account is taken of the presence of the local degrees of freedom via an approach which is analogous to fuzzy structure theory. The local equations of motion are formulated and solved by using statistical energy analysis (SEA) with due account being taken of power input from the global degrees of freedom. The method can be considered to encompass a number of existing analysis techniques and to form a flexible framework within which a number of detailed modeling strategies can be devised. A simple rod system provides an initial application, and it is shown that the method yields very good results from low to high frequency excitation. (C) 1999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)00502-0].