These collaborative projects study configuration and measurement requirements for a compact sensor that provides information on the location of an acoustic source. The proposed compact acoustic wave sensor would use closely spaced measurements from one or more continuous structures along with spatial force reconstruction methods to determine the characteristics of passing transient acoustic waves. Configuration and structural requirements for such a sensor will first be studied through analytical modeling. Issues associated with boundary conditions, shape, and material properties will be examined. The requirements for using distributed force reconstruction methods to accurately determine the transient acoustic forces caused by a passing sound wave will then be investigated. Once the requirements for the structural configuration and force reconstruction method are understood, the use of conventional sensing techniques to obtain the transient response from a particular prototype will be studied through simulation and then experiments. Conventional measurement approaches, such as accelerometers and/or strain sensors, will initially be evaluated. Then, the use of more advanced non-contract techniques, such as high-rate laser scanning or interferometry, will be examined. Using these advanced techniques, it may be possible to relax the requirements for the continuous structure over which the sound influence is measured
