ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the fundamental concepts that underpin the theoretical analyses of problems involving sound radiation from vibrating structures and the propagation of the generated sound through air. The aim of conducting a vibroacoustic analysis of any system is generally to determine the system response due to excitation by known forces or to find the relative magnitudes of subsystem responses caused by arbitrary exciting forces. The bar symbol above a variable is used to denote an averaged quantity. It usually represents the average of a large number of values. It can also represent the distance from a reference line to the centroid of a body. Acoustic disturbances travel through fluid media in the form of longitudinal waves and are generally regarded as small amplitude perturbations to an ambient state. Sound is conducted to the ear through the surrounding medium, which in general will be air and sometimes water, but sound may be conducted by any fluid or solid.
