NASA develops technology that can reduce aircraft noise by 70%

The noise generated by an aircraft can be brought down by almost 70 percent according to a NASA report. The US aviation administration had received multiple complaints regarding noise from aircraft.

To address the issue, NASA analysed several experimental designs on various airframe components of a Gulfstream III research aircraft at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

The tests included experiments with landing gear fairings and cavity treatments, which were designed and developed at Langley Research Center in Virginia, while the wing flaps called Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) were previously flight-tested to study aerodynamic efficiency.

NASA's Landing Gear Noise Reduction technology reduced the airframe noise caused by flow of air along the landing gear. The gear test of fairings which are porous, allow the air to flow through and deflects some of the airflow around the landing gear.

In addition, the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge wing flap which was previously flight-tested to study aerodynamic efficiency was added to the aircraft.

The plane was tested at the Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It was flown at an altitude of 350 feet over a 185-sensor microphone array deployed.

Mehdi Khorrami, the Principal investigator for Acoustic Research Measurement and an aerospace scientist at NASA said, “NASA’s goal here was to reduce aircraft noise substantially in order to improve the quality of life for communities near airports”.

He added “We are very confident that with the tested technologies we can substantially reduce total aircraft noise, and that could really make a lot of flights much quieter. This will, in turn, benefit all the communities residing near airports and help in fostering expanded airport operations.”