Collocated structural control for reduction of aircraft cabin noise

Various approaches to cabin noise reduction within turbo-prop aircraft have been suggested. Since the primary source of internal noise is due to propeller-induced fuselage vibration, the noise can be reduced by minimizing the noise transmission through the fuselage using active structural control. The feasibility of a structural control approach using piezoelectric actuators and structural sensors is investigated. Feedback of collocated strain yields an approach which is simple, modular, and extremely robust. Actuator and sensor selection is based on wave-number arguments. Simulations with a simple vibro-acoustic aircraft model indicate that the desired goal of a 10 dBA reduction in peak internal noise is achievable with relatively few actuators. Various actuator/sensor placement and control architecture configurations are investigated with the eventual goal of minimizing the total weight penalty. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited