Acoustic imaging of geometrically shielded sound sources using tailored Green's functions

Abstract

In light of the growing market of urban air mobility, it is crucial to accurately detect the stationary or moving noise sources within the complex scattering environments caused by aircraft structures such as airframes and engines. This study combines conventional and wavelet-based beamforming techniques with an acoustic scattering prediction method to develop an acoustic imaging approach that considers scattering effects. Tailored Green's function is numerically evaluated and used to compute the steering vectors and the specific delayed time used in those beamforming methods. By examining common scenarios where a scatterer is positioned between the source plane and the array plane, it is observed that beamforming in a scattering environment differs from that in free space, leading to improved resolution alongside scattering-induced side lobes. The effectiveness of the developed method is validated through numerical simulations and experimental studies, confirming its improved ability to localize both stationary and rotating sound sources in a shielded environment. This advancement offers effective techniques for acoustic measurement and fault monitoring in the presence of structural scatterers.