Controlling plate radiation with Anderson localization

When a plate is stiffened with a periodic array of ribs, the normal modes of the system are extended and structural vibrations may travel long distances with little scattering. If the rib array is made random, then structural vibrations become localized within a distance inversely related to the degree of randomness. This effect, analogous to a phenomenon in solid state physics, is referred to as Anderson localization. At the present time we are using nearfield acoustic holography to study the possibility of controlling sound radiation from ribbed plates through the effects of Anderson localization. Results from a one‐dimensional system will be reported. [Work supported by ONR and NASA.]