Design and Evaluation of Microphone Cavity Geometries for Wind-Tunnel Acoustic Measurements

This study investigated how embedding microphones in different cavity geometries reduce the measured turbulent boundary layer pressure fluctuations at the microphones. The cavity geometries were systematically varied using a design of experiments (DOE) methodology. This approach tested different cavity depths, diameters, chamfers, and opening sizes as well as the effect of a fine mesh covering. The resulting wind-tunnel test data was analyzed using a generalized additive statistical model (GAM). This approach quantified the relative effect of these parameters on the response variables of interest while accounting for non-linear frequency dependence. This experimental investigation showed that a mesh reduces the boundary layer noise by 8 dB. It was also shown that reducing the cavity area from the wall to the base of the microphone reduces the measured boundary layer spectral energy. Additionally, the model quantified the complex interactions between the mesh and area as well as the change in area.