A hybrid experimental-numerical approach for the determination of interior panel contributions in an aircraft cabin

Abstract

A hybrid experimental-numerical approach for Panel Contribution Analysis has been implemented in the Airbus Acoustic Flight Lab to identify the dominant noiseradiating panels of an aircraft cabin. The vibration of principal interior components (floor, sidewalls, ceiling, etc.) was experimentally characterized using accelerometers positioned with a spatial resolution necessary to capture the structural response up to 150 Hz. These measurements were used as boundary conditions for a numerical acoustic cavity model of the aircraft, supporting the simulation of the interior sound field. The contribution of every panel to the overall cabin noise was independently computed, and the superposition of all simulated fields was validated against in-situ acoustic measurements. The comparison confirmed the validity of the method to reconstruct the interior sound field from measured accelerations. Finally, the relative ranking of the contributions of interior components was established for two representative load cases.