A Note on Performance Assessment of Signal Energy-Based Acoustic Source Localization in a Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Plate

Abstract The effectiveness of the signal energy-based acoustic source localization approach in practical applications has yet to be established. This is addressed herein by conducting an experimental study on a 500 mm × 500 mm carbon fiber-reinforced polymer plate and generating artificial acoustic events in the plate. Upon acquiring the propagating wave signals at several well-scattered sensors, the signal energy-based approach is applied, and the accuracy of the source localization results is noted. Seven experiments are performed with varying source locations, sensor-plate bonding, and excitation types. This approach has performed well for five experiments with source localization error below 15 mm. The remaining two experiments where the acoustic sources are relatively close to the plate edges compared to the other experiments have, however, produced large localization errors, indicating a scope of improvement in the approach to encompass all situations.