Nonlinear vibrations of loudspeaker-like structures

During high amplitudes of vibration, nonlinearities affect the electroacoustical behavior of electrodynamic transducers and are responsible for audible distortions. We distinguish two types of nonlinearities: electrical and mechanical. In this study, attention is paid to the mechanical and geometrical properties of loudspeaker-like structures. The loudspeaker is viewed as a combination of an annular plate with a circular plate. Nonlinear vibrations of such a structure are investigated, using the dynamic analog of the Von-Kármán equations. Furthermore, the influence of both material properties and geometrical parameters is studied. It is shown that nonlinear effects can be substantially reduced by choosing appropriate material and geometrical parameters.