Canada is set to carry out detailed research on reducing landing gear slipstream noise - a significant contributor to an aircraft's overall noise footprint on its landing approach.
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has set aside a wind tunnel in Ottawa, Ontario - one of eight operated by NRC Aerospace, and has outfitted it with an acoustic liner and precision noise measurement technology.
NRC's experts disassemble landing gear, then reassemble it part by part, measuring the noise generated by wind flowing around each component, and that caused by components interacting.
The body behind the research, Canada's Green Aviation R&D Network - a federally established, business-led network featuring participants such as Bombardier Aerospace, Bell Helicopter, Pratt & Whitney Canada and CMC Electronics - is also working with nine universities to help manufacturers produce greener aircraft.
In the next ten years, International Civil Aviation Organisation standards will demand reductions in noise generated by commercial aircraft by 32dB, relative to the current standard.
"Turbulent flow around landing gear generates a significant proportion of the total noise output of an aircraft in close proximity to the ground," said the NRC's Stuart McIlwain, group leader of fixed-wing aerodynamics. NRC Aerospace has already tested a full-scale Bombardier Learjet 60's landing gear.
Source: Flight International
