MICHAEL PHELAN / LONDON
Boeing's new research and technology centre in Madrid will conduct a noise alleviation study at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in September. It will work with the Netherlands' National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), Madrid Polytechnic University and the Polytechnical University of Catalonia, Barcelona.
Data from the study will be used in the design of commercial aircraft and to optimise air traffic management (ATM) procedures.
Aircraft noise will be measured using a phased array of 300 microphones at Schiphol during a week of normal operations. The array will allow a ground acoustic footprint to be generated for each commercial flight.
NLR will record the data, which will be used to identify the acoustic signature of individual aircraft components and the effect on noise of different aircraft configurations and flightpaths.
Data analysis is expected to take at least 18 months, says director of Boeing's Madrid centre Miguel Hernan. Madrid Polytechnic University will verify the results using physical modelling, and the Polytechnical University of Catalonia will use them to validate a computational model designed to predict acoustic signatures of aircraft and evaluate different aircraft routings.
The results will be used by Boeing in the design of aircraft components that produce aerodynamic noise, such as high-lift devices and landing gear, and by Boeing Air Traffic Management "to optimise trajectories of current aircraft and to refine operational procedures", says Hernan.
The noise study is the second major project launched by the Madrid centre, which is focusing on environmental technologies and ATM. The first project is investigating environmentally friendly fuel cells (Flight International, 4-10 December 2001).
Boeing plans flight tests in 2004 of a modified Diamond Aircraft motor-glider, replacing its piston engine with a fuel cell, batteries and electric motor. United Technologies will supply the fuel cell, and Boeing and Spanish engineering company Sener will develop its control system. Boeing aims to agree a deal soon with a European manufacturer that will assemble and certificate the hybrid aircraft.
Hernan says other projects will start as the Madrid centre's staffing increases from 12 to 24 by the end of the year. An integrated vehicle health monitoring system will be trialled on the Diamond testbed in 2004 to enable real-time monitoring of the fuel cell control system.
Source: Flight International
