Interval Perturbation Method applied to Finite Element Modeling of Structural Acoustics

I have recently been reading a number of research papers having to do with advanced numerical methods of modeling vibro-acoustic phenomena.

One paper I found, published in the Journal of Fluids and Structures, was the following:

I find the methods of incorporating uncertainties proposed within this paper to be of potentially significant use. 

At work, one project on which I'm working is a "Comprehensive Vibration Assessment Program" (US NRC Regulatory Guide 1.20) which will be done on our new power plant design.  The nature of the supporting analysis is predictive and as such, accurate accounting of analytical uncertainties is important.

This paper models the fluid and the structure using the finite element method (FEM).  In many of the publications I've found, the acoustic/fluid domain is modeling using the boundary element method (BEM) which offers some computational efficiencies, sometimes at the expense of accuracy.  It appears that in more recent publications, given the improvements in high-performance computing, the fluid domain may be practically modeled using FEM (i.e., elements through the full volume rather than on just the boundary).

From what I can tell, this paper defines an "interval parameter" as an input which is defined over an interval that is associated with its uncertainty.  So, an interval parameter may be sound speed in an acoustic analysis.  The subinterval perturbation method appears to "perturb" this interval parameter within the bounds of the "interval" in such a way that the impact on the results of that perturbation may be quantified.

Going forward, if I use some unique numerical technique to model vibro-acoustic phenomena, I think it will be of importance to have a method in-place for characterization of uncertainties.  I believe this paper is a valuable resource to cite and, in some ways, emulate.