On-Demand Noise Attenuating Curtain for the Flight Deck

The flight deck environment is dynamic, dangerous, and absurdly loud. Flight deck personnel working close to aircraft exhaust, such as final checkers and jet blast deflector (JBD) operators, are routinely exposed to noise levels up to 150 dBA SPL. Even with the best available hearing protection (Creare’s HGU-99/P hearing protection helmet), flight deck personnel are still at risk of exceeding their daily allowable noise dose. Hearing loss is a major quality of life issue for veterans and a prevalent and expensive cost to the Veteran’s Administration. If we can do more to reduce noise exposure, we owe it to our warfighters (and to the taxpayer) to do so. Creare proposes to develop an On-Demand Noise-Attenuating Curtain (ODNAC) for the flight deck. ODNAC is an easy-to-deploy system that reduces the noise level at critical locations on the flight deck. The key feature of ODNAC is a novel fluid curtain with tailorable acoustic characteristics that can be readily turned on and off as the mission demands. Our working fluid is safe and makes use of readily available and inexpensive resources. In Phase I, we will develop an ODNAC design concept, investigate candidate working fluids, and evaluate performance of a select fluid at a small scale. In the Phase I Option, we will repeat the performance evaluation at a mission-relevant scale. In Phase II, we will develop, demonstrate, and validate a full-scale, fully functional ONDAC prototype.