Transient behavior of a plate partially immersed in the fluid subjected to impact loadings: Theoretical analysis and experimental measurements

This study aimed to investigate the transient behavior of a rectangular plate partially in contact with fluid subjected to a dynamic external force. To this purpose, a theoretical model was developed to analyze vibration characteristics and transient wave propagation. Based on superposition method, the dry mode shapes and natural frequencies of the plate under vacuum could be obtained. The dry mode shapes were treated as the fundamental function to construct the wet mode that describes the vibration behavior of the fluid-plate coupled system. The velocity potential and fluid pressure within a finite tank due to the plate deflection were derived using an equation governing the incompressible fluid. Based on the relationship between dry mode shape and wet mode shape, the fluid-plate coupled system's wet mode shape and resonant frequency could be determined from the frequency response function. Applying the normal mode method, the transient displacement of plate and fluid pressure can be obtained by solving a system of non-homogeneous differential equations. The theoretical predictions were verified by finite element method (FEM) and experimental measurements. Experiments were conducted using piezoelectric film sensors (polyvinylidene fluoride, PVDF) to measure the force history induced by a steel ball impact to quantitatively analyze the transient response. The comparison results proved that the theoretical predictions and experiments were in good agreement, including the transient responses of the displacement and in-plane strain of a plate partially submerged in the fluid. The results indicate that changes in water depth can induce resonance frequency shifts and wet mode shape distortions, which also illustrate that the vibrational properties of wet modes affect transient behavior. The proposed transient solution demonstrates an analytical approach that connects the physical significance of the dynamic behavior of the fluid-plate coupled system in time and frequency domains; it provides a connection between the transient behaviors and vibration characteristics.