Improving Weapons Bay Acoustical Environments

The F-22A main weapons bay experiences severe acoustic loading when exposed to the freestream. The severity and attenuation of this loading is exacerbated by the flight envelope of the F-22A aircraft, as well as the requirement to carry and release “smart” weapons throughout this envelope. This extremely harsh environment can also impact components that are mounted within the bay itself, including carriage stores that contain sensitive electronics and control surfaces. CRAFT Tech proposes the development and demonstration of a robust flow control strategy that effectively lowers the tonal and broadband dynamic loading of the F-22A main weapons bay, while minimizing additional aircraft weight. This hybrid strategy, entitled HyFACT, implements flow control techniques applied to both the forward and aft portions of the bay, producing attenuation over the entire flight envelope. Phase II will involve technology maturation through high-resolution Large Eddy Simulation (LES), complemented by comprehensive wind tunnel testing. The noise suppression technology will be scaled-up to flight. A full-scale, flightworthy HyFACT demonstration prototype hardware will be developed and delivered to the Air Force for flight-testing on the F-22A aircraft.