A numerical method for acoustic hull array noise field calculation that optimizes detection performance

A priori knowledge of noise information in the output end of beam former is necessary when optimizing the passive broadband detection performance of an acoustic hull array. When several noise sources are present and/or an analytical expression of the noise transfer function is not available, the sensor noise needs to be measured before optimization. This is very demanding when an array with a large number of sensors is considered. To avoid the tedious work of noise measurement, a new numerical method was developed. In this method, several noise sources in the near field were assigned and then the noise response of the sensor array was calculated via the boundary element method with the commercial software package SYSNOISE. By using this method, the detection performance of a sensor array can be predicted before it is physically built, and hence it could be tested under practical condition. A conformal array with 11 elements was considered. Computer simulations validated the effectiveness of this method.