Technology approach to aero engine noise reduction

Transportation noise is one of the most pressing environmental problems of modern societies. Aircraft noise is second only to road traffic noise in drawing complaints from the public about noise pollution. Therefore intensive research efforts are necessary on the national levels as well as the European level to reduce the noise load around airports. The most effective and economical way to reach this goal is noise reduction at the source. The aero engines of today's transport aircraft are the dominant noise sources for most flight conditions, although airframe noise does play an important role for landing aircraft. In this paper noise reduction studies for aero engines are described in which DLR are involved. The topics discussed are low noise fan design, active noise control using wall-flush loudspeakers as secondary sources, ANC using active stators as secondary sources, ANC using flow induced secondary sources at the rotor tips, reduction of low-pressure turbine noise, and flight tests for validation of add-on noise reduction devices. (C) 2003 Editions scientitiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.