Reducing Aircraft Noise

With the global expansion in air travel, aircraft noise has become a major
public issue. For over 40 years, scientists and engineers at the Institute of
Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton
have been working with the aircraft industry to reduce aircraft noise, by
improving the design of engines. Today, many people are concerned
about the environmental impact of flying, but its easy to forget the
success of technological developments which have resulted in quieter
planes across the world.

The history of ISVR:

ISVR was founded in 1963 with the aim
of increasing our understanding of noise
and vibration across a very wide range of
applications, including studies as diverse
as noise from trains and automobiles, the
effect of vibrations on the human body,
the restoration of the hearing of the
profoundly deaf, the diagnosis of defects
from the sound of the human heart, and
sound propagation through the oceans.
One application which has attracted
particular attention at the ISVR since its
foundation has been the development of
new technology to mitigate the effect of
noise from aircraft engines on humans.
Much of this work has been undertaken in
collaboration with Rolls-Royce plc, and
the ISVR has become a leading
international centre for aircraft noise
research.
Rolls-Royce had supported a readership in noise at the ISVR since 1968,
and, in 1999, took the decision to found a University Technology Centre
(UTC) in Gas Turbine Noise to benefit from the ISVRs capabilities. One of
28 Rolls-Royce UTCs around the world, the Southampton centre now
supports more than 30 staff and postgraduate researchers, and has a
turnover of 1.5m. Contributions from Rolls-Royce are supplemented with
grants from other funding bodies, such as the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Technology Strategy Board (TSB)
and the European Commission.
Andrew Kempton, Chief Noise Specialist at Rolls-Royce noted: "RollsRoyce has a long, proud history of working with universities, creating a
win/win situation where the university is funded to work on important
industrial challenges. The ISVR brings a breadth and depth of knowledge,

an independence of thought and an aptitude for innovation that helps

ensure the best technology is built into Rolls-Royce engines."

Demand for quieter aircraft:

The impact of aircraft noise on communities near airports became
apparent in the 1960s and 1970s as turbojet and turbofan engines
became widespread in civil aviation. A regulatory framework setting noise
levels for new aircraft entering service was agreed internationally at that
time, and these regulations have become progressively more stringent
since then.
Increases in the volume of passenger traffic have, however, tended to
increase noise in spite of significant reductions in the noise caused by
individual aircraft. With the increase in scheduled services and in package
holidays through the 1960s and 1970s, and the advent of low-cost airlines
during the 80s and 90s - Easyjet sold its first online seat in 1998 - air
travel has grown at an unprecedented level. Global passenger and freight
air traffic was growing at 4.25% per annum until the recession in late
2007.
This volume of traffic, coupled with new routes and services from more
airports located close to centres of population, has resulted in the need for
increasingly tough pollution, CO2 and noise reduction targets.
In response to this demand, the work at the University of Southampton
focuses on two key areas: reducing the amount of noise generated at
source and trying to reduce the noise effect before it reaches the ears of
the public.
One of the most
interesting challenges for
those studying aircraft
noise is that the public
have grown less tolerant
to noise over the last 25
years. Aircraft noise has
been measured using
EPNdB (Effective
Perceived Noise in
Decibels), which tends
rely on engineering
principles of
measurement to assess
the average noise levels heard by the listener. However, the annoyance
people experience can be caused by any number of psychological factors,
including the frequency of noises (perhaps caused by the number of
overflights) and the variety of different noises heard.
Dr Ian Flindell, engineer and psychologist at ISVR comments: The
purpose of continuing research in this area is to find better ways of
measuring and assessing aircraft noise so we can achieve a better balance

between noise, the costs of noise control and the effects of noise on
people, so society can continue to enjoy the social and economic benefits
of aviation while minimising the environmental costs as far as possible.

The technology behind noise reduction:

The most dominant sources of engine noise come from two parts of the
engine: the blades of the fan at the front, and the jet exhausting at the
rear. Much of the research undertaken at the UTC has been focused on
acquiring a better understanding of both of these noise sources, and on
developing new technologies to reduce their effect. The fan draws air into
the engine and provides propulsive power, propelling the aircraft forward.
In modern aircraft engines, only a small proportion of air actually goes
through the core of the engine, the rest passes around it down the bypass
duct. This bypass ratio has steadily increased over the last 30 years. On
the most recent large engines in the Rolls-Royce Trent range, some of
which have fans that are over three metres in diameter, the bypass ratio
exceeds 10:1
Professor Jeremy Astley, director of the
Rolls-Royce UTC at the ISVR
comments: While the large bypass
ratio of modern large engines has
come about largely as a way to
increase propulsive efficiency, it has
had a hugely beneficial effect in
reducing engine noise, and, in
particular, jet noise. Further increases
in the bypass ratio are, however,
constrained by practical limitations,
such as the sheer size and weight of
the engine nacelle, and this poses new
challenges for noise reduction.
A successful method of reducing noise
further, even in ultra-high bypass ratio
engines, is to absorb sound created
within the engine. Acoustically
absorbent material or acoustic liners
can be placed on the interior surfaces on, for example, the walls of the
intakes and bypass ducts. Much work
has been done at the ISVR on
optimising such acoustic treatments, so the sound radiated from the
engine is dramatically reduced to a tenth of that of an unlined engine.

What else has been achieved?

The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) goal for
EU research, established in 2000, was to develop the technology to reduce
the EPNdB of new aircraft by 10dB (decibels) over 20 years. ACARE also
sets targets for air quality, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Aircraft today are 20-30dB quieter than first generation of jet aircraft,
such as the Boeing 707 and Comet. They now produce less than 1% of
the sound of these early airliners, with less than a quarter of the
annoyance.
The design of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine - built into the new Airbus
A380 super jumbo airliner) benefited from years of research at UTC
Southampton.
The new Dreamliner (Boeing 787) is built with a light carbon fibre
fuselage and is powered by another new quiet engine from Rolls Royce the Trent 1000. But research will need to continue to drive down aircraft
noise further, and research at the University of Southampton will continue
to play an important part in meeting this goal.