This paper presents the vibro-acoustic modeling and analysis of sandwich plateswith metal–ceramicfunctionally graded (FG) core using a simplified first-order shear deformation theory and elemental radiatorapproach. A simply supported rectangular plate having functionally graded core, metal and ceramic facesheetsis considered with aluminum as metal and alumina as ceramic. The material properties of the core are assumedto vary according to a power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The sound radiationdue to point load and uniformly distributed load is computed by numerically solving the Rayleigh integral. Theeffective material properties of the sandwich plate are presented as a function of core thickness. The vibrationparameters in terms of natural frequencies, plate displacement and velocity, and acoustic parameters such asradiated sound power level, radiated sound pressure level and radiation efficiency are computed for variousvalues of the power law index. A comprehensive study of the influence of core thickness on vibro-acousticperformance is presented in terms of mean-squared velocity and overall sound power level. It is found that,for the plate being considered, the sound power level increases with increase in the power law index of thecore at lower frequency segment. Increased vibro-acoustic response is observed in the high-frequency band forceramic-rich FG core and in the low-frequency band for metal-rich FG core, respectively. A sandwich platewith metal-rich FG core configuration has shown improved flexural stiffness, compared to an FG plate withno significant rise in overall radiated sound. It is possible with this analysis to suitably tailor and optimize thesandwich FG plates for multifunctional performance and desired vibro-acoustic interaction. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Wien.