High frequency vibration problems are very common in complex structures where they constitute a major cause of interior and exterior noise. Nonetheless, they are extremely difficult to address using classical testing and modeling methods. As a consequence, noise as a structural integrity, an environmental and a comfort problem is still far from being solved, resulting in a strong industrial requirement for methods to optimise the vibro-acoustic design as well as the use of insulation and construction materials. This requirement is most prominent in vehicles such as cars and aeroplanes, but it also appears in space structures and heavy production machines as well.

A new approach called “Statistical Energy Analysis” (SEA) now has the capability to address this problem and to identify how vibrations are distributed in the structure of a system described as a set of subsystems. This approach is under development still in university laboratories.

The objectives of the thematic network are on one hand to bring together the existing but distributed R&D efforts (essentially academic) in the SEA field through active networking, and on the other hand to overcome the barriers which exist today between the academic research on SEA and its application to industrial problems. This includes also the preparation for the transfer of know-how from university to industry. Essential in this action will be the validation of a number of industrial cases, carried out by teams comprising industrial and academic members.