Sound Source Localization - Troubleshooting firewall transparency: beamforming

The following example uses the beamforming technique to analyze the acoustic transparency of a firewall of a car. The complete firewall, including foot compartment and dashboard, is integrated into a partition wall, separating an anechoic room from a reverberant room. Measurements are taken while an acoustic excitation is generated in the reverberant room, at a distance of 48 cm and 50 cm 














Figure 16: original transparency (left) and new transparency after modification (right) 
On the left figure 16, the firewall is shown in its original configuration at a frequency range of 1290-1690Hz. It reveals transparent spots at the bottom left of the foot compartment. This caused a clearly audible sound inside the vehicle cabin. Consequently, this part was isolated with foam. The result of this modification was tested at the same frequency range, and results can be seen on the right figure 16. The modification resulted in a reduced local acoustic transparency of about 3-4 dB. 


More information on:

• Sound Source Localization technologies
• Acoustic beamforming technique and near-field focalization
• Acoutics holography technique
• Spherical beamforming technique for interior sound source localization