This paper was based on a theoretical framework to determine strong and weak radiation by a guitar top plate, vibrating through deflections hard to analyze: multipolar mode shapes. The air-structure interaction was examined in terms of edge modes or corner modes, and considering even or odd number modes. A numerical model was implemented and experimentally calibrated, exhibiting several advantages exploring the coupling between vibratory and acoustic waves in a top plate. Two analyses were applied detecting high or low radiation efficiency for the structure. First, the addition of volume velocity for odd numbers of poles and cancellation for even numbers were examined. In fact, both behaviors can happen at the same time, as it was shown for a corner radiator case used as an example. Second, the ratio between bending and acoustic wavenumbers was explored. To illustrate the importance of this ratio, some theoretical features of a more efficient radiator than the corner mode were exposed in an edge mode example. Labeling multipolar mode shapes as efficient or inefficient radiators showed to be a useful alternative analyzing the top plate behavior. It can be applied knowing the nodal lines of the vibration pattern and estimating the bending and acoustic wavelengths.
© 2011 Acoustical Society of America