Acoustic source localization in anisotropic plates with “Z” shaped sensor clusters

•Acoustic source localization in anisotropic plates with a new sensor cluster geometry is proposed.•The new Z-shaped cluster geometry requires fewer sensors.•This technique does not require the knowledge of the wave velocity in the plate. A new sensor cluster orientation is proposed to localize an acoustic source in a plate from the time difference of arrival (TDOA) with the help of only four to eight sensors. This technique requires neither a priori knowledge of the plate material properties nor a dense array of sensors to localize the acoustic source in isotropic as well as anisotropic plates. It is achieved by placing four sensors in a cluster in the shape of letter “Z” over a small region of the plate and a second Z-shaped cluster at another location of the plate. Experimental results show that it is possible to accurately localize the acoustic source with this new configuration. It reduces the number of sensors required for acoustic source localization in an anisotropic plate. Although one cluster in principle is capable of localizing the acoustic source in absence of any experimental error for accurate source localization in presence of experimental error two such Z-shaped clusters are needed. In the currently available technique three L-shaped clusters having a total of 9 sensors are needed to achieve the same level of confidence in the acoustic source localization. Thus, the proposed new technique reduces the number of sensors by 1 (from 9 to 8) for confidently and accurately predicting the acoustic source.