Assessing the Performance of Microphone Array Methods Using a Virtual Test Environment

Abstract

Modern microphone arrays allow the separation and analysis of complex acoustic sound sources. The technique enjoys a widespread use for both static and moving test configurations. Within the German Aerospace Center, the Engine Acoustics Department uses microphone arrays to measure aircraft acoustic sources in-flight. In addition to the test configuration and the conditions of the measurement, the quality of the results strongly dependents on the used evaluation method and chosen parameters, which can strongly influence the results. For the selection of a suitable method as well as parameters an objective evaluation of the quality of the results is necessary. Up to now, this has often been cumbersome. At the DAGA 2022 a methodology was presented to quickly make an objective statement whether an evaluation method is suitable for localizing sources. However, it was only demonstrated for a simple setup of two monopol sources. The aim of this presentation is to extend the methodology to a virtual test environment. This VTC allows the realistic simulation of flyover microphonarray recordings. Since conditions of the measurement can also be controlled, it is thus possible to estimate how microphone array investigations are affected by various environmental influences.