ESDU 72017 provides a means of estimating the r.m.s. stress in the centre of face plates of a sandwich panel subjected to random acoustic loading. The panels considered are initially unstressed@ flat or singly-curved with identical face plates. The data are particularly applicable to honeycomb sandwich panels but may also be used for other sandwich panels provided that the core properties comply with stated assumptions. It is assumed that only the fundamental mode is excited and that the panels are of shallow curvature and simply-supported@ although an approximation is suggested for the case of panels having fixed edges. The stress prediction procedure is given in a graphical form and measured and estimated panel stresses are compared. ESDU 95026 may be used to estimate the effect of a bevelled edge.