Recent advances in active control of aircraft cabin noise

Active noise control techniques can provide significant reductions in aircraft interior noise levels without the structural modifications or weight penalties usually associated with passive techniques, particularly for low frequency noise. Our main objective in this presentation is to give a review of active control methods and their applications to aircraft cabin noise reduction with an emphasis on recent advances and challenges facing the noise control engineer in the practical application of these techniques. The active noise control method using secondary acoustic sources, e.g., loudspeakers, as control sources for tonal noise reduction is first discussed with results from an active noise control flight test demonstration. An innovative approach of applying control forces directly to the fuselage structure using piezoelectric actuators, known as active structural acoustic control (ASAC), to control cabin noise is then presented. Experimental results from laboratory ASAC tests conducted on a full-scale fuselage and from flight tests on a helicopter will be discussed. Finally, a hybrid active/passive noise control approach for achieving significant broadband noise reduction will be discussed. Experimental results of control of broadband noise transmission through an aircraft structure will be presented.