Tactical Airplane Noise Reduction via Advanced Automated Computational Airframe Aft-End Integration Technologies

ATA Engineering proposes a Phase I SBIR project to demonstrate and validate a tactical aircraft noise reduction capability associated with active shaping of the airplane/engine nozzle interface region during forward flight operations. The current proposal addresses a gap in knowledge between noise reduction device performance in installed, forward flight conditions versus uninstalled, static conditions. ATA will apply advanced CFD and noise prediction models, coupled with experimental noise measurements, to design novel technologies that exploit the external flow environment in the vicinity of the nozzle for at least two community noise relevant operating conditions. In the course of evaluating and maximizing the effectiveness of the capability, the ATA team will develop a series of analytical tools tied together in a common framework that integrate performance and noise predictions from CFD simulations of the flow from the exhaust plume and around the aircraft, and drive a parametric geometry model of noise reduction hardware. The results will be used to intelligently define the geometry parameters to be considered for subsequent design iterations. Beyond Phase I the validation and maturation of the tools may be applied to a more formalized multidisciplinary design optimization framework to arrive at new designs in an automated way.