SAMSARA FOR THIN STIFFENED SHELLS: FIRST MODELS

A general procedure for defining exact and distorted similitudes, to build prototype models able to reproduce given structural (and structural-acoustic) responses, is presented. This can be very useful for the engineering modeling and measurements purposes. This procedure is based on the Energy Distribution Approach which allows the exact derivation of input power and energy content in each subsystem. These fundamental parameters are expressed in terms of modal coordinates and allow the analysis versus the simulitudes ratios. The similitude laws are defined by imposing that the dynamic responses in the original and parent models are the same. The procedure has been already developed and applied for thin plates, assemblies of plates and interior noise inside a cylindrical thin shell with structural-acoustic coupling. In the present work, for the first time, it is applied to a stiffened circular cylinder in order to match more realistic configurations. Among all possible similitude parameters only some geometrical ones are used. The material properties are kept in order to not modify the material characteristics and the possibility to build an experimental prototype. The results of an exact and distorted similitude are compared with an analytical model. The proposed simple scheme leads to very promising results.