Experimental noise source identification in a fuselage test environment based on nearfield acoustical holography

A major challenge in the subject of noise exposure in airplanes is to achieve a desired transmission loss of lightweight structures in the low-frequency range. To make use of appropriate noise reduction methods, identification of dominant acoustic sources is required. It is possible to determine noise sources by measuring the sound field quantity, sound pressure, as well as its gradient and calculating sound intensity by post-processing. Since such a measurement procedure entails a large amount of resources, alternatives need to be established. With nearfield acoustical holography in the 1980s, a method came into play which enabled engineers to inversely determine sources of sound by just measuring sound pressures at easily accessible locations in the hydrodynamic nearfield of sound-emitting structures. This article presents an application of nearfield acoustical holography in the aircraft fuselage model Acoustic Flight-Lab at the Center of Applied Aeronautical Research in Hamburg, Germany. The necessary sound pressure measurement takes one hour approximately and is carried out by a self-moving microphone frame. In result, one gets a complete picture of active sound intensity at cavity boundaries up to a frequency of 300 Hz. Results are compared to measurement data.

Comparison of roadwheel and roadway noise generated by a mono-pitch tire tread

Tire-pavement interaction noise (TPIN, aka tire-road noise or tyre-road noise) is most efficiently measured in acoustically controlled laboratories with large diameter roadwheels (drums) that have surface treatments which replicate some pavement properties, especially when comparing the acoustic performance of different tires. However, it is not clear how closely the roadwheel replicates the road surface, including differences that include road curvature and mechanical impedance of pavements. On the other hand, measuring on a moving vehicle with a microphone array presents it own set of challenges. In this study, a Nearfield Acoustical Holography (NAH) method is used to measure tire/pavement interaction noise on roadways and roadwheels with similar smooth pavement and rough pavement properties. Sound intensity fields, overall sound power levels, and sound pressure levels are reconstructed very close to the tire surface. An experimental passenger car tire with a mono-pitch tread is used in this study. The experimental tire has three circumferential grooves and 64 equally spaced transverse grooves cut into the tread. Differences in sound fields and levels between roadway and roadwheel test conditions for this tire are shown.

Sound field separation of multiple coherent sound sources with single measurement surface

Sound field separation based on near-field acoustical holography has been developed worldwide, but with the increase in the number of sound sources, traditional measurement methods and calculation methods will generate more workload. To reduce the number of measuring points and save calculation time, the sound field separation of multiple coherent sources with a single measurement surface is proposed. On the basis of separating two coherent sources with this method, the separation formula of more sources based on an equivalent source method is given. Through numerical simulation, the effects of the number of holographic surface measuring points, measuring distance, array shape, and equivalent source number on the calculation accuracy of the sound field separation were compared at different frequencies. The correctness and effectiveness of the sound field separation method with a single surface are verified by actual experiments.