Active structural acoustic control using the remote sensor method

Active structural acoustic control (ASAC) is an effective method of reducing the sound radiation from vibrating structures. In order to implement ASAC systems using only structural actuators and sensors, it is necessary to employ a model of the sound radiation from the structure. Such models have been presented in the literature for simple structures, such as baffled rectangular plates, and methods of determining the radiation modes of more complex practical structures using experimental data have also been explored. A similar problem arises in the context of active noise control, where cancellation of a disturbance is required at positions in space where it is not possible to locate a physical error microphone. In this case the signals at the cancellation points can be estimated from the outputs of remotely located measurement sensors using the "remote microphone method". This remote microphone method is extended here to the ASAC problem, in which the pressures at a number of microphone locations must be estimated from measurements on the structure of the radiating system. The control and estimation strategies are described and the performance is assessed for a typical structural radiation problem.