Interferometric Correlator for Acoustic Radiation & Underlying Structural Vibration (ICARUSV)

Current methods for identification of aircraft noise sources, such as near-field acoustical holography and beam forming techniques, involve the use of pressure probes or microphone arrays to measure the radiated sound field. However, those techniques are intrusive, bandwidth limited, time consuming to implement, require extensive data processing and the resulting data may ultimately generate false results in the form of pseudo (noise) sources. Advanced Systems & Technologies Inc. proposes an optical non-contact sensor fusion concept which, for the first time, enables direct capture and observation of full-field non-stationary dynamic structural intensity (DSI) and unsteady radiated sound fields or transient flow fields around the structure of interest. DSI depicts the flow of energy in a structure and provides an unambiguous identification of structural noise sources and sinks. Additionally, the ability to capture and correlate the acoustic/flow field data with the structure borne intensity offers an unprecedented and rapid diagnostic capability for noise source characterization and evaluation of noise abatement systems. In addition to being non-intrusive the measurements are fast, can be made at operationally relevant bandwidths, which extend to the ultrasonic domain, and provide deeper insight into the complex structural dynamics which are the root cause of noise emission.