Phased Array Technique for Low Signal-To-Noise Ratio Wind Tunnels

Noise measurement of aerospace vehicles is difficult and usually requires expensive, specialized facilities. With the proliferation of UAVs there is need for noise data, both for ISR and non-military vehicles. Wind tunnel testing is common and much less expensive. The innovation is a novel in-flow microphone array combined with the start of the art Functional Beamforming algorithm that makes it practical to measure UAV noise in a non-acoustic wind tunnel. The proposal calls for further development of the measurement technique so that it can be commercialized as a service using the Kirsten Wind Tunnel at the University of Washington.