Optimising the absorption and transmission properties of aircraft microperforated panels

A method for evaluating the absorption and transmission performances of multi-layer micro-perforated structures whose facings are excited by different noise sources is described here. It is applied to determine if the acoustical performances of a number of Micro-Perforated Panels (MPPs), optimised both in absorption and transmission, exceed those of typical aircraft panels undergoing internal and external acoustic excitations. A fully-coupled modal formulation is presented that accounts for the effects of the sub-structure volumetric resonances on the acoustical properties of the partitions. It is validated against full-scale measurements performed with a pressure–velocity probe and a laser vibrometer to estimate the absorption and transmission coefficients of single- and double-layer micro-perforated partitions. The model is used to optimise the sound power dissipated by three layouts obtained from a typical aircraft partition by micro-perforating the trim panel (MPP–Porous–Panel), removing the fibreglass material (MPP–Cavity–Panel) and adding a second MPP inside the separating cavity (MPP–MPP–Panel). It is concluded that the MPP–Porous–Panel and MPP–MPP–Panel layouts provide excess interior noise reduction above 1.8 kHz and 1.2 kHz respectively, whereas the MPP–Cavity–Panel is not acoustically more efficient than a typical aircraft panel.     

Development of composite plate for compact silencer design

A compact flow-through plate silencer is constructed for low frequency noise control using new reinforced composite plates. The concept comes from the previous theoretical study [L. Huang, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 119 (2006) 2628–2638] which concerns a clamped supported plate enclosed by rigid cavities. When the grazing incident sound wave comes and induces the plate into the vibration, it will radiate sound and reflect sound. Such sound reflection causes a desirable noise reduction from low to medium frequency with wide broadband. The structural property of the very light plate with high bending stiffness is very crucial element in such plate silencer. In this study, an approach to fabricate new reinforced composite panel with light weight and high flexibility to increase the bending stiffness is developed in order to realize the function of this plate silencer practically. The plate silencer can be constructed in more compact size compared with the previous two-plate silencer with two rectangular cavities and the performance with the stopband of the range from 229 to 618 Hz, in which the transmission loss is higher than 10 dB over the whole frequency band without flow or with flow at the speed of 15 m/s, can be achieved. The experimental data also proves that the non-uniform clamped plates with thinner ends perform very well. To implement the use of such silencer practically in controlling noise at different dominant frequency ranges, a design chart has been established for searching the optimal bending stiffness and corresponding stopband at different geometries.     

Measured light vehicle noise reduction by hedges

The acoustical effects of hedges result from a combination of physical noise reduction and their influences on perception. This study investigates the physical noise reduction so as to enable estimation of its relative importance. Different in-situ methods have been used to measure noise shielding by hedges. These include a statistical pass-by experiment where the real insertion loss of a hedge could be measured, three controlled pass-by experiments using a reference microphone at close distance, and transmission loss measurements using a point source. Thick dense hedges are found to provide only a small total A-weighted light vehicle noise reduction at low speeds. Measured insertion losses range from 1.1 dBA to 3.6 dBA. The higher noise reductions are found to be associated with an increased ground effect.     

Re-Active Passive devices for control of noise transmission through a panel

Re-Active Passive devices have been developed to control low-frequency (<1000 Hz) noise transmission through a panel. These devices use a combination of active, re-active, and passive technologies packaged into a single unit to control a broad frequency range utilizing the strength of each technology over its best suited frequency range. The Re-Active Passive device uses passive constrained layer damping to cover relatively high-frequency range (>150 Hz), reactive distributed vibration absorber to cover the medium-frequency range (50–200  Hz), and active control for controlling low frequencies (<150 Hz). The actuator was applied to control noise transmission through a panel mounted in the Transmission Loss Test Facility at Virginia Tech. Experimental results are presented for the bare panel, and combinations of passive treatment, reactive treatment, and active control. Results indicate that three Re-Active Passive devices were able to increase the overall broadband (15–1000 Hz) transmission loss by 9.4 dB. These three devices added a total of 285 g to the panel mass of 6.0 kg, or approximately 5%, not including control electronics.     

Sound insulation property of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels

Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels (1240 mm × 1100 mm) of different thicknesses and different densities were prepared by molten body transitional foaming process in Northeastern University. The experiments were carried out to investigate the sound insulation property of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels of different thicknesses and different densities under different frequencies (100–4000 Hz). Results show that sound reduction index (R) is small under low frequencies, large under high frequencies; thickness affects the sound insulation property of material obviously: when the thicknesses of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels are 12, 22, and 32 mm, the corresponding weighted sound reduction indices (R_W) are 26.3, 32.2, and 34.6 dB, respectively, the rising trend tempered; the increase of density of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam can also increase the sound insulation property: when the densities of aluminum foam are 0.31, 0.51, and 0.67 g/cm³, the corresponding weighted sound reduction indices (R_W) are 28.9, 34.3, and 34.6 dB, the increasing value mitigating.     

Influence of mesoscale urban morphology on the spatial noise attenuation of flyover aircrafts

The influence of urban morphology of low-density built-up areas on spatial noise level attenuation of flyover aircrafts is investigated at a mesoscale. Six urban morphological parameters, including Building Plan Area Fraction, Complete Aspect Ratio, Building Surface Area to Plan Area Ratio, Building Frontal Area Index, Height-to-Width Ratio, and Horizontal Distance of First-row Building to Flight Path, have been selected and developed. Effects of flight altitude and horizontal flight path distance to site, on spatial aircraft noise attenuation, are examined, considering open areas and façades. Twenty sampled sites, each of 250 m * 250 m, are considered. The results show that within 1000 m horizontal distance of flight path to a site, urban morphology plays an important role in open areas, especially for the buildings with high sound absorption façades, where the variance of average noise level attenuation among different sites is about 4.6 dB at 3150 Hz. The effect of flight altitude of 200–400 ft on average noise level attenuation is not significant, within about 2 dB at both 630 Hz and1600 Hz in open areas. Urban morphological parameters influence the noise attenuation more in open areas than that on façades. Spatial noise attenuation of flyover aircrafts is mainly correlated to Building Frontal Area Index and Horizontal Distance of First-row Building to Flight Path.     

Acoustic transmission performance of double-wall active sound packages in a tube: Numerical/experimental validations

A method based on the combination of the (u, p) formulation and the finite element approach is proposed for calculating the transmission loss of double-wall active sound packages with porous-material cores in a rectangular tube. The (u, p) formulation based on the displacement in the solid phase and the pressure in the fluid phase is rewritten to investigate sound propagation in porous materials, and the coupled boundary conditions and related parameters involved are given. The transmission loss of the double-wall active sound packages excited by a plane wave is calculated via the COMSOL environment with passive and active control. Moreover, a two source-location method is developed to measure the transmission loss of these double-wall active sound packages in a rectangular tube. Some results from numerical examples are shown to be in good agreement with the measured data. It is concluded that with active control, the transmission loss of double-wall active sound packages can be improved by more than 10 dB around resonance frequencies.     

Estimating the model-specific uncertainty of aircraft noise calculations

Aircraft noise contours are estimated with model calculations. Due to their impact, e.g., on land use planning, calculations need to be highly accurate, but their uncertainty usually remains unaccounted for. The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the uncertainty of calculated average equivalent continuous sound levels (L_Aeq) of complex scenarios such as yearly air operations, and to establish uncertainty maps. The methodology was developed for the simulation program FLULA2. In a first step, the partial uncertainties of modelling the aircraft as a sound source and of modelling sound propagation were quantified as a function of aircraft type and distance between aircraft and receiver. Then, these uncertainties were combined for individual flights to obtain the uncertainty of the single event level (L_AE) at a specified receiver grid. The average L_Aeq of a scenario results from the combination of the L_AE of many single flights, each of which has its individual uncertainties. In a last step, the uncertainties of all L_AE were therefore combined to the uncertainty of the L_Aeq, accounting also for uncertainties of the number of movements and of prognoses. Uncertainty estimations of FLULA2 calculations for Zurich and Geneva airports revealed that the standard uncertainty of the L_Aeq ranges from 0.5 dB (day) to 1.0 dB (night) for past-time scenarios when using radar data as input, and from 1.0 dB (day) to 1.3 dB (night) for future scenarios, in areas where L_Aeq ⩾ 53 dB (day) and L_Aeq ⩾ 43 dB (night), respectively. Different uncertainty values may result for other models and/or airports, depending on the model sophistication, traffic input data, available sound source data, and airport peculiarities such as the specific aircraft fleet or prevailing departure and arrival procedures. The methodology, while established for FLULA2 on Zurich and Geneva airports, may be applied to other models and/or airports, but the partial uncertainties have to be specifically re-established to account for individual models and underlying sound source data.     

Improved Statistically Optimal Nearfield Acoustical Holography in subsonically moving fluid medium

Statistically Optimal Nearfield Acoustical Holography (SONAH) can be used to reconstruct three-dimensional sound fields by projecting two-dimensional data measured on a “small” aperture that partially covers a composite sound source in a “static” fluid medium. Here, an improved SONAH procedure is proposed that includes the mean flow effects of a moving fluid medium while the sound source and receivers are stationary. The backward projection performance of the proposed procedure is further improved by using a wavenumber filter to suppress subsonic noise components. Through numerical simulations at Mach 0.6, it is shown that the improved procedure can accurately reconstruct sound source locations and radiation patterns: e.g., the spatially averaged reconstruction errors of the conventional and improved SONAH procedures are 15.40 dB and 0.19 dB, respectively, for a monopole simulation and 21.60 dB and 0.19 dB for an infinite-size panel. The wavenumber filter further reduces spatial noise, e.g., decreasing the reconstruction error from 1.73 dB to 0.19 dB for the panel simulation. An existing data measured in a wind tunnel operating at Mach 0.12 is reused for the validation. The locations and radiation patterns of the two loudspeakers are successfully identified from the sound fields reconstructed by using the proposed SONAH procedure.     

Transmission of a spherical sound wave through a single-leaf wall: Mass law for spherical wave incidence

This paper examines the sound insulation of a single-leaf wall driven by a spherical wave. The transmitted sound field of an infinite elastic plate under a spherical wave incidence is theoretically analyzed and insulation mechanisms are considered. The displacement of the plate is formulated using the Hankel transform in wavenumber space and the transmitted sound pressure in the far-field is obtained by Rayleigh’s formula in an explicit closed form. Moreover, a reduction index is also derived in a closed form by introducing an approximation into the vibration characteristics of the plate. Deterioration of the insulation performance under the spherical wave incidence is caused by an apparent decrease of wall impedance that depends on the directivity of the transmitted sound wave. The mass law for a spherical wave incidence is different from that for a normal plane wave incidence: doubling the weight of the wall or the frequency gives an increase of 3 dB (c.f. 6 dB for a normal plane wave incidence), which is also smaller than the field incidence mass law.     

Noise emission assessment of a hybrid electric mid-size truck

In the attempt to improve urban environmental conditions, city or national incentives encourage the use of cleaner vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles. This paper explores the actual noise impact of this alternative drivetrain technology on the noise emission of a mid-size delivery truck powered by a parallel hybrid powertrain, compared with an equivalent internal combustion engine truck on the basis of pass-by noise measurements. It investigates jointly the overall emission, the main noise sources and the vertical directivity of the vehicle. The essential benefit results from the existence of a full-electric mode below 50 km/h, with a significant noise reduction which may exceed 8 dB(A) at low constant speed. Even if smaller, this noise advantage is still valuable when the vehicle is accelerating or braking. Due to weaker noise emitted upwards, the benefit should be even greater for residents living on upper building floors. The rolling noise associated with the drive wheel/road contact is the main noise source in all driving situations in electric mode, and beyond 50 km/h in the configurations with engine.     

Aircraft noise-monitoring according to ISO 20906: Evaluation of uncertainty derived from the human factors affecting event detection

One of the most important issues in aircraft noise monitoring systems is the correct detection and marking of aircraft sound events through their measurement profiles, as this influences the reported results. In the recent ISO 20906 (unattended monitoring of aircraft sound in the vicinity of airports) this marking task is split into: detection from the sound level time history, classification of probable aircraft sound events, and the concluding identification of aircraft sound events through non-acoustic features.An experiment was designed to evaluate the factors that influence the marking tasks and quantify their contribution to the uncertainty of the reported monitoring results for some specific cases. Several noise time histories, recorded in three different locations affected by flyover noise, were analyzed by practitioners selected according to three different expertise levels. The analysis was carried out considering three types of complementary information: noise recordings, list of aircraft events and no information at all.Five European universities and over 60 participants were involved in this experiment.The results showed that there were no significant differences in the results derived from factors such as the participant’s institution or the expertise of the practitioners. Nonetheless, other factors, like the noise event dynamic range or the type of help used for marking, have a statistically significant influence on the marking tasks. They cause an increase of the uncertainty of the reported monitoring and can lead to changes in the overall results.The experiment showed that, even when there are no classification and identification errors, the detection stage causes uncertainty in the results. The standard uncertainty for detection ranges from 0.3 dB for those acoustic environments where aircraft are clearly detectable to almost 2 dB in more difficult environments.     

Noise control challenges for auscultation on medical evacuation helicopters

A stethoscope is the standard clinical tool used for auscultation. It amplifies chest sounds and enables diagnosis of both circulatory and respiratory systems. However, in many emergency transportation environments, ambient noise levels in excess of 90 dB prevent successful auscultation. In this paper, data is collected in a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter to analyze the inherent noise present during routine aeromedical transport. Data is gathered with a commercially available stethoscope retrofitted with an array of accelerometers and microphones. Peak acoustic noise levels are recorded in excess of 125 dB and ambient vibration levels are measured to be near 0.5 g RMS. The signal-to-noise ratio is much below 1 for the entire frequency range of interest in auscultation. It is shown using a combination of simulations and experimental data that existing active noise cancellation techniques using a reference microphone would be ineffective in this scenario. However, similar adaptive noise cancellation techniques using a reference accelerometer within the device would be significantly more effective at enabling auscultation.     

Design parameters of stainless steel plates for maximizing high frequency ultrasound wave transmission

This work validated, in a higher frequency range, the theoretical predictions made by Boyle around 1930, which state that the optimal transmission of sound pressure through a metal plate occurs when the plate thickness equals a multiple of half the wavelength of the sound wave. Several reactor design parameters influencing the transmission of high frequency ultrasonic waves through a stainless steel plate were examined. The transmission properties of steel plates of various thicknesses (1–7 mm) were studied for frequencies ranging from 400 kHz to 2 MHz and at different distances between plates and transducers. It was shown that transmission of sound pressure through a steel plate showed high dependence of the thickness of the plate to the frequency of the sound wave (thickness ratio). Maximum sound pressure transmission of ∼60% of the incident pressure was observed when the ratio of the plate thickness to the applied frequency was a multiple of a half wavelength (2 MHz, 6 mm stainless steel plate). In contrast, minimal sound pressure transmission (∼10–20%) was measured for thickness ratios that were not a multiple of a half wavelength. Furthermore, the attenuation of the sound pressure in the transmission region was also investigated. As expected, it was confirmed that higher frequencies have more pronounced sound pressure attenuation than lower frequencies. The spatial distribution of the sound pressure transmitted through the plate characterized by sonochemiluminescence measurements using luminol emission, supports the validity of the pressure measurements in this study.     

Sound absorption coefficient in situ: An alternative for estimating soil loss factors

The relationship between the sound absorption coefficient and factors of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was determined in a section of the Maringá Stream basin, Paraná State, by using erosion plots. In the field, four erosion plots were built on a reduced scale, with dimensions of 2.0 × 12.5 m. With respect to plot coverage, one was kept with bare soil and the others contained forage grass (Brachiaria), corn and wheat crops, respectively. Planting was performed without any type of conservation practice in an area with a 9% slope. A sedimentation tank was placed at the end of each plot to collect the material transported. For the acoustic system, pink noise was used in the measurement of the proposed monitoring, for collecting information on incident and reflected sound pressure levels. In general, obtained values of soil loss confirmed that 94.3% of material exported to the basin water came from the bare soil plot, 2.8% from the corn plot, 1.8% from the wheat plot, and 1.1% from the forage grass plot. With respect to the acoustic monitoring, results indicated that at 16 kHz erosion plot coverage type had a significant influence on the sound absorption coefficient. High correlation coefficients were found in estimations of the A and C factors of the USLE, confirming that the acoustic technique is feasible for the determination of soil loss directly in the field.     

A new digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) with pixel parallel A/D conversion and reduced quantization noise

This paper represents a novel digital readout for infrared focal plane arrays with 2.33 Ge⁻ charge handling capacity while achieving quantization noise of 161 e⁻. Pixel level A/D conversion has been realized by pulse frequency modulation (PFM) technique supported with a novel method utilizing extended integration that eliminates the requirement for an additional column ADC. Digital pixel operates with two phases; the first phase is as ordinary PFM in charge domain and the second phase is in time domain, allowing the fine quantization and low quantization noise. A 32 × 32 prototype has been manufactured and tested. Measured peak SNR at half well fill is 71 dB with significant SNR improvement for low illuminated pixels due to extremely low quantization noise. 32 × 32 ROIC dissipates only 1.1 mW and the figure of merit for power dissipation is measured to be 465 fJ/LSB, compared to 930 fJ/LSB and 1470 fJ/LSB of the state of the art.     

Reduction of surface transport noise by ground roughness

Measured insertion losses due to the ground effects associated with low configurations of loosely stacked household bricks on a car park are reported. A particularly successful design has the form of a two brick high square lattice which is found to offer a similar insertion loss to regularly-spaced parallel wall arrays of the same height but twice the total width. Part of the insertion loss due to the roughness configurations is the result of transfer of incident sound energy to surface waves which can be reduced by introducing wall absorption or material absorption in the form, for example, of shallow gravel layer. Predicted finite length effects have been explored using a Pseudo-Spectral Time Domain Method, which models the complete 3D roughness profile. It is concluded from measurements and predictions that the lattice design has less dependence on azimuthal source-receiver angle than parallel wall configurations. These predictions are supported by measurements of level difference spectra as a function of azimuthal angle. A 2D Boundary Element Method gives predictions that agree well with data for parallel wall arrays up to 16 m long and it is used to investigate the potential insertion loss of longer configurations up to 0.3 m high. It has been found possible also to make predictions of the insertion loss due to infinitely long 3D lattices using the 2D BEM with the lattice represented by the surface impedance derived from fitting short range data with a slit-pore impedance model. The insertion losses of recessed configurations are predicted to be approximately 3 dB less than those of embossed configurations of the same size. Outdoor experiments also show that pathways can be made through such roughness configurations without significantly affecting their insertion loss. It is concluded that artificial roughness configurations could achieve substantial noise reduction along surface transport corridors without breaking line of sight between source and receiver, thereby proving useful alternatives to noise barriers.     

The acoustic performance of ventilated window with quarter-wave resonators and membrane absorber

Noise and air pollution problems become significantly in a busy city such as Hong Kong since buildings usually located close to the heavy traffic lines. Traditional openable window cannot fulfill all the functions of noise reduction, lighting and natural ventilation. A new ventilated window combines the multiple quarter-wave resonators (silencer) and the new wing wall designs aim to make a balance between acoustic and ventilation performances at the same time. Furthermore, the use of multiple-wave resonators and membrane absorber which made plexi-glass plastic sheet replace absorption material can improve the durability; avoid small particle emission and light transparency.The acoustic and ventilation performance of new ventilated window were examined in this study. Noise attenuation of the new ventilated window design has improved significantly by combine flexible absorber and quarter-wave resonator effects. Transmission loss of 10–22 dB can be achieved in the frequency range of 500 Hz–4 kHz band. Outlet air flow velocity of ventilated window design is higher than that of “an open window”. Thus, both the acoustics and ventilation performance of the new ventilated window is essential. Wind-driven natural ventilation is an effective strategy in maintaining the comfort and health of the indoor environment.