A rotorcraft roof composite sandwich panel has been redesigned to optimize sound power transmission loss (TL) and minimize structure-borne sound for frequencies between 1 and 4 kHz where gear meshing noise from the transmission has the most impact on speech intelligibility. The roof section, framed by a grid of ribs, was originally constructed of a single honeycomb core/ composite facesheet sandwich panel. The original panel has acoustic coincidence frequencies near 600 Hz, leading to poor TL across the frequency range of 1 to 4 kHz. To quiet the panel, the cross section was split into two thinner sandwich subpanels separated by an air gap. The air gap was sized to target the fundamental mass-spring-mass resonance of the panel system to less than 500 Hz, well below the frequency range of interest. The panels were designed to withstand structural loading from normal rotorcraft operation, as well as 'man-on-the-roof' static loads experienced during maintenance operations. Thin layers of viscoelastomer were included in the facesheet ply layups, increasing panel damping loss factors from about 0.01 to 0.05. Transmission loss measurements show the optimized panel provides 6-11 dB of acoustic transmission loss improvement, and 6-15 dB of structure-borne sound reduction at critical rotorcraft transmission tonal frequencies. Analytic panel TL theory simulates the measured performance within 3 dB over most frequencies. Detailed finite element (FE)/boundary element (BE) modeling simulates TL slightly more accurately, within 2 dB for frequencies up to 4 kHz, and also simulates structureborne sound well, generally within 3 dB.
The joining of composite materials used in airframe structures has always presented a challenge to the structural engineer. As part of a Survivable Affordable Repairable Airframe Program (SARAP) agreement, research on three advanced joining concepts was conducted to identify and validate designs that would provide improved structural efficiency when compared to conventional joining methods. The first involves using finger joints in thin laminates to produce a joint with high specific strength compared to typical joining methods. The second utilizes a derivative of needling for stabilized dry fabric pre-forms to improve through-the-thickness laminate and joint properties. The third concept focuses on compression preload to improve the performance of a typical lap joint. Within each concept, coupon or element tests were used to validate the performance of these alternative configurations. This paper presents both analytical predictions and test results documenting the effects of these improved joining methods.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.