Purpose <p>This study aims to investigate the vibro-acoustic characteristics of a rotating composite laminated stiffened plate-shell coupled with an enclosed cavity. It addresses the insufficient understanding of the vibro-acoustic coupling characteristics of such structures in existing research, as well as the limitations in simulating complex boundary conditions. It also explores the inherent laws of the coupled system and provides theoretical references for the design and optimization of aerospace structural components.</p> Methods <p>An improved Fourier series method (IFSM) is adopted to construct displacement and sound pressure functions. The artificial virtual spring technique simulates complex boundaries and structural coupling interfaces. The Rayleigh-Ritz method solves the energy functional of the coupled system established via variational principles. The validity of the model is verified by comparisons with finite element method (FEM) results and experimental data.</p> Results <p>The maximum errors between the results of the present method and FEM results, as well as experimental data are 7.24% and 6.84%, respectively. The natural frequency of the coupled system in free vibration decreases with increasing rotation angle, length-to-diameter ratio and radius, and increases with spring stiffness. The steady-state acoustic pressure response decreases with plate thickness, while material anisotropy has little effect on noise reduction, only causing lateral shift of the response curve.</p> Conclusion <p>The established theoretical model accurately predicts the medium-low frequency vibro-acoustic characteristics of the coupled system. The results obtained through parametric research can provide theoretical basis for vibration and noise reduction of composite reinforced structures.</p>