Experimental prediction of the vibration response of panels under a turbulent boundary layer excitation from sensitivity functions

This study aims at validating an experimental method for characterizing the vibration behavior of panels excited by a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) excitation as a possible alternative to standard means like wind tunnels or in situ tests. The approach takes advantage of an explicit separation of the excitation contribution from the dynamic behavior of the panel. Based on the measurement of deterministic transfer functions on the panel, called “sensitivity functions,” which are then combined with either measurements or a model of the wall-pressure fluctuations induced by the TBL excitation, the vibration response under such an excitation can be retrieved. For validation purposes, the wall-pressure fluctuations of the turbulent flow generated in an anechoic wind tunnel are measured with a flush-mounted microphone array. The decay rates and the convection velocity, which mainly characterize the excitation, are extracted from these measurements. The plate velocity response to this excitation is estimated following the proposed method using the measured sensitivity functions and the model of Mellen fed with experimentally estimated decay rates and convection velocity. A comparison between a directly measured vibration auto-spectrum under the actual flow and the one predicted following the suggested method shows satisfactory agreement.