Reducing Noise in Aircraft with New Membrane

[Guest_Jim_*]

The engines of planes and helicopters can be very loud, but there is little that can be done about it. Modern aircraft bodies use a honeycomb-like structure to stay light, but they do little to block noise and adding insulation would add too much weight to be viable. Researchers at North Carolina State University and MIT may have a solution though, in the form of a membrane.

The membrane is made of rubber and stretched over the honeycomb structure, similar to the skin on a drum. When sound hits it, the waves reflect off instead of passing through, reducing the sound energy by a factor of 100 to 1000 for low frequencies, like those from aircraft engines. At just 0.25 millimeters thick the membrane also only adds about 6% to the weight of a honeycomb panel, keeping things pretty light. On top of that, the membrane can be cheaply produced from a number of materials, so it will not interfere with the panel's structural integrity.

Source: North Carolina State University

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[phil69]

As a former KC-130 and DC-9 pilot this is great news.