Active structural acoustic control with a loudness optimized actuator placement

Abstract

One of the main objectives of efficient aircraft design, alongside safety and fuel consumption, is interior comfort. One significant factor in the overall comfort as perceived by the passengers is the noise in the aircraft cabin. This paper presents the results of a psychoacoustical analysis of various inflight recordings during cruise flight. Based on the results of this analysis the psychoacoustic loudness is identified as the most distinctive psychoacoustic metric, result which is consistent with the scientific literature. Using this finding the psychoacoustic loudness resulting from a vibroacoustically excited structure is used as the objective for the placement of the actuators in an active structural acoustic control system. This system is compared to the more conventional method of using the sound power radiated by an excited structure as the objective for the actuator placement. The comparison is conducted using a numerical pre-design tool for optimal active structural acoustic control of a simple plate structure.