Active structural acoustic control of a smart cylindrical shell using a virtual microphone

Abstract

This paper investigates the active structural acoustic control of sound radiated from a smart cylindrical shell. The cylinder is equipped with piezoelectric sensors and actuators to estimate and control the sound pressure that radiates from the smart shell. This estimated pressure is referred to as a virtual microphone, and it can be used in control systems instead of actual microphones to attenuate noise due to structural vibrations. To this end, the dynamic model for the smart cylinder is derived using the extended Hamilton's principle, the Sanders shell theory and the assumed mode method. The simplified Kirchhoff-Helmholtz integral estimates the farfield sound pressure radiating from the baffled cylindrical shell. A modified higher harmonic controller that can cope with a harmonic disturbance is designed and experimentally evaluated. The experimental tests were carried out on a baffled cylindrical aluminum shell in an anechoic chamber. The frequency response for the theoretical virtual microphone and the experimental actual microphone are in good agreement with each other, and the results show the effectiveness of the designed virtual microphone and controller in attenuating the radiated sound.