Local sensing/control or global error sensing/control in structural acoustics: A comparison of two techniques influence over sound power

The active control of radiation from large structures is a difficult, though important practical problem. The major reason for the difficulty is the ‘system’ size, as a large number of sensors and actuators are required for successful implementation, thus making it hard to design a robust, efficient system that integrates all sensors and actuators. This work examines the active attenuation of the global error, sound power, from the point of view of two sensing/control strategies that seek to be generalised; thus are applicable to a wide range of applications and are independent of knowledge of structural dynamics. In each approach the idea is that the required hardware can simply be attached, turned on, and immediately being to attenuate global noise. The two strategies are compared based on the level of attenuation of the global error sound power, the attenuation per total control force, and attenuation per actuator (in a structural-acoustic situation). The first strategy is the collocated-decentralised approach, which is built on measuring and controlling local vibration in an attempt to influence the global acoustic error. An alternative approach, termed the hybrid approach is firstly developed. The approach is termed ‘hybrid’ because it is a mix between a fully ‘centralised’ and ‘decentralised’ approach; but still measuring and controlling the global acoustic error directly. The attenuation of sound power is compared for both strategies on two structural sources; using 16 identically placed velocity sensors and 16 secondary point sources, in simulation in an attempt to suggest efficient sensing and control approaches for the global control of sound radiation from large structural sources.