An IUTAM symposium on Computational Aero-Acoustics for aircraft noise, organized by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, will be held at the University of Southampton from the 29 to 31 March 2010.
Objectives
This workshop seeks to bridge the gap between current research in Computational Aero-Acoustics (CAA) and the implementation of CAA in the design of quiet, fuel efficient aircraft. The objectives of the workshop are:
- To review and assess the current status of CAA as a design tool for predicting and reducing aircraft noise.
- To identify across the full spectrum of aircraft noise sources and transmission paths, the current state of the art in advanced CAA methods, focussing on emerging methods which will impact on future prediction capabilities.
- To define the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of existing CAA methods for aircraft noise prediction, and identify unfilled gaps and challenges.
- To review and assess the trustworthiness of current and developing CAA prediction methods, as demonstrated for example by comparisons to known analytic solutions and to measured data.
Outcome
The workshop will result in an agenda for further research and development in CAA which will accelerate the use of CAA in designing the next generation of quiet fuel efficient aircraft. The content and outcomes of the workshop will be communicated through Elsevier’s Procedia electronic publishing system the proceedings will be openly available and free of charge to all those who wish to access them.
Important dates
- Titles of papers should be submitted by October 30, 2009.
- Abstracts are due by December 22, 2009.
- Preview versions of full papers should be provided by February 26, 2010.
- The workshop will take place from 29 to 31 March 2010.
- Revised papers will be accepted until the 14th of May 2010.
Background
The necessity and urgency of reducing the environmental impact of air transport, principally noise and emissions, underpins this IUTAM workshop. This is a major technology challenge in pursuit of environmentally acceptable commercial aviation. It is critical for the continued health of the aviation industry in the UK and elsewhere. The environmental impact of air transport is the most pressing issue facing commercial aviation today. Noise, local air quality, and carbon emissions are all important.
The Advisory Council for Aeronautics in Europe (ACARE) in its ‘Vision for 2020’ statement and associated Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) has suggested that the only way to manage the future growth of civil aviation in an environmentally sustainable way is to adopt a ‘balanced approach’ in which technology is progressively developed which improves air quality, reduces carbon emissions and reduces noise. The SRA has set challenging goals for the first stage of this process in all three areas. In terms of noise it has set a target of 10 EPNdB noise reduction in new aircraft entering service in 2020 compared to a year 2000 ‘datum’ level. Given the logarithmic nature of the EPNL scale, a 10dB reduction implies an order of magnitude decrease in radiated sound power. This is a huge challenge given that many noise mitigation technologies have already been exploited to achieve a remarkable 20 EPNdB reduction since the introduction of turbojet and turbofan engines some 50 years ago. Indeed, it has become clear that despite significant recent progress which has been made in the first decade (2000-2010) of the ‘vision 2020’ period, the ACARE noise target is unlikely to be met unless new noise technologies are developed.
This brings into sharp focus the need for improved methods for noise prediction to reduce current industry dependence on physical testing. Even at rig scale, such tests are hugely expensive. The development of improved and validated CAA noise prediction methods that can be applied with confidence to new configurations within timescales which are acceptable for industry design cycles (simulations that run in hours rather than weeks) would greatly assist the appraisal and down-selection of novel noise treatments. This is especially true as the industry moves towards airframe-engine configurations, such as open-rotor propulsion systems for example, which are driven by the need for improved fuel efficiency rather than noise. The reduction of noise and emissions is however a fully coupled problem. Mitigation of noise can usually be achieved at the expense of weight or drag, an unacceptable option if fuel burn is compromised. By the same token, new propulsion technologies and airframe designs which focus on increased fuel efficiency do not necessarily reduce noise. The tradeoffs between emissions and noise are complex and require robust and reliable prediction tools in both areas.
