Sound transmission through baffled multilayered curved shells using a transfer matrix method

The present work describes the use of a transfer matrix method to define the acoustic behavior of multilayered and periodic baffled curved shells consisting of a generic arrangement of homogeneous and heterogeneous periodic layers of various nature (fluid, solid, and poroelastic). The dynamic stiffness matrix of a unit cell is manipulated in order to derive the through-radius transfer matrix of a cylindrical periodic layer. Thus, the acoustic radiation or transmission of multilayered shells can be assessed. The blocked pressure field due to an incident plane wave is defined by taking into account the infinite rigid baffle by means of a two-dimensional boundary element model. Analytical expressions for the cylindrical acoustic impedances are utilized to define the coupling with the bounding fluid media. Furthermore, a one-dimensional windowing technique is adopted to account for the finite length of the shells. The proposed approach is validated by systematic comparison with a full finite-boundary element method.