Further development of rotating beamforming techniques using asynchronous measurements

When rotating noise sources, such as turbomachinery, are investigated using phased microphone array measurements and beamforming, sidelobes appear on the resulting beamforming maps. Sidelobes can be decreased by increasing the number of microphones. However, if the investigated phenomenon is steady, then there is a cost-effective alternative: performing asynchronous measurements using phased arrays having a limited number of microphones. The single beamforming maps can be combined in order to arrive at results that are superior in resolution and sidelobe levels. This technique has been investigated in the literature, but according to the authors’ best knowledge, has not yet been applied to turbomachinery. This article introduces a means for applying the asynchronous measurement technique and the combination methods for rotating noise sources. The combination methods are demonstrated on two rotating point sources (both in simulations and measurements), and then on an axial flow fan test case. In the case of the two rotating point sources, the achievable improvement in resolution, average-, and maximum sidelobe levels are shown as compared to the single results. In the case of the axial flow fan, it is demonstrated that the combination methods provide more reliable noise source locations and reveal further noise sources.