Novel Approach to assess the link between engine design parameters and noise perception

Abstract

Recently, distributed electrified propulsion systems are being developed to power a new generation of aircraft. Here, the noise emission of the distributed propulsion system results from the noise emissions of the individual propulsors, their number as well as position. Thus, acoustic effects such as interferences, modulations and shadowing might significantly impact the noise characteristic. Therefore, on the listener’s side, the specifics of the human auditory system lead to more complexities to perception of this noise. As a result, acceptance and annoyance due to a sound are not only associated to mere physical metrics (such as the EPNL) but also to psychoacoustic metrics (such as fluctuation strength and sharpness). In order to address this problem, we are developing a mobile app that will allow a large and diverse number of people to, firstly, set the engine parameters; secondly, hear the corresponding auralized sound; and thirdly, rate it using a standardised questionnaire. The goal is to uncover relationships between parameter configurations and psychoacoustic properties, allowing us to infer guidelines for the low-noise and perception-based design of new types of propulsion systems.