Challenge #77

Reducing aircraft noise.

For quieter, environmentally friendlier flights, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is researching noise sources on aircraft and working on extensive noise reduction measures through design and layout.

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Aircraft are particularly noisy during takeoff and landing, as planes’ wings and engines produce much noise. The aviation industry is working hard to reduce the impact of air traffic on the environment and the population in the form of emissions and noise pollution.

Scientists at DLR are researching where the biggest sources of noise are and what measures can be taken to make aircraft quieter in operation. Throughout DLR, tests are carried out in wind tunnels and on test rigs, and in-operando measurements are taken at various locations. This research ranges from measuring noise on the DO 228 turboprop aircraft, retrofitting noise-reduction measures on the ATRA research aircraft, and performing long-term tests at Frankfurt Airport, to locating noise sources on the full-scale model of the Embraer aircraft in the European Transonic Wind Tunnel (ETW).

All of this opens up the possibilities of predicting how enormous propulsion engines and wings can be configured to be quieter and more effective in the future.

(Photo: DLR/ETW)