Source localization using beamforming and double L-shape sensors arrays

Beamforming or phased array is widely used in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems for source localization. This localization is achieved by the constructive interference of signals measured by sensors in different positions. The uniform linear array (ULA) is one of the most commonly used beamforming array layouts due to its low complexity and high reliability. Unfortunately, ULA has the disadvantage of very low resolution when the direction of arrival (DOA) approaches certain directions. In order to overcome this problem, the double L-shape array is employed by adding only one sensor to the ULA. This sensor array uses the time difference of arrival information to estimate the DOA, which has high resolution in all directions except for the direction very close to vertical. Due to the blind area of the ULA beamforming and double L-shape sensors array, we combine the two methods and proposes a novel combined sensor array configuration which has no blind area at all. In addition, this novel combined sensor array layout uses a fewer number of sensors, which can reduce the cost of SHM practice significantly. Several numerical investigations are carried out to demonstrate the performance of the proposed sensor array.