Beam pattern improvement by compensating array nonuniformities in a guided wave phased array

摘要

This paper presents a simple data processing algorithm which can improve the performance of a uniform circular array based on guided wave transducers. The algorithm, being intended to be used with the delay-and-sum beamformer, effectively eliminates the effects of nonuniformities that can significantly degrade the beam pattern. Nonuniformities can arise intrinsically from the array geometry when the circular array is transformed to a linear array for beam steering and extrinsically from unequal conditions of transducers such as element-to-element variations of sensitivity and directivity. The effects of nonuniformities are compensated by appropriately imposing weight factors on the elements in the projected linear array. Different cases are simulated, where the improvements of the beam pattern, especially the level of the highest sidelobe, are clearly seen, and related issues are discussed. An experiment is performed which uses A0 mode Lamb waves in a steel plate, to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. The discrepancy between theoretical and experimental beam patterns is explained by accounting for near-field effects.