Active Control of Turbulent Boundary Layer Induced Sound Radiation from Multiple Aircraft Panels

The objective of this work is to experimentally investigate active structural acoustic control of turbulent boundary layer (TBL) induced sound radiation from multiple panels on an aircraft sidewall. One possible approach for controlling sound radiation from multiple panels is a multi-input/multi-output scheme which considers dynamic coupling between the panels. Unfortunately, this is difficult for more than a few panels, and is impractical for a typical aircraft which contains several hundred such panels. An alternative is to implement a large number of independent control systems. Results from the current work demonstrate the feasibility of reducing broadband radiation from multiple panels utilizing a single-input/single-output (SISO) controller per bay, and is the first known demonstration of active control of TBL induced sound radiation on more than two bays simultaneously. The paper compares sound reduction for fully coupled control of six panels versus independent control on each panel. An online adaptive control scheme for independent control is also demonstrated. This scheme will adjust for slow time varying dynamic systems such as fuselage response changes due to aircraft pressurization, etc.