Perceptual Assessment of the Influence of Structural Parameters for a Radiating Plate

The present work investigates the coupling of vibro-acoustic and perceptual evaluations of sounds radiated from a steel plate when the structural parameters are varied. From the vibro-acoustic point of view, the influence of these parameters is known and many studies have highlighted their effects on acoustic performance. However their influence on sound perception is less known and this knowledge will be useful in the assessment of sound quality for this simple plate component that is widely used in various industries. This investigation also points out the accuracy to be allocated to structural data used in vibro-acoustic prediction software and where the simulation effort needs to be concentrated by considering the influence of the computation parameters on sound perception. The approach consists in computing the sound pressure radiated from the plate at the ears of a listener. The synthesized stimuli are pairwise submitted to subjects for dissimilarity and preference judgements as structural parameters are varied. The paper presents the stimuli synthesis, the perceived accuracy of computation parameters, the methods used for the sound perception test. Finally, the paper presents the results both in terms of vibro-acoustic indicators and in terms of preference and of perceptual attributes for structural parameter variations.