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Noise reduction in U.S Navy Fighter Jets: U.S Navy to Test on F-18 Hornets

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Published on: September 24, 2021,

It’s beneficial for fighter planes to make minimum noise as possible in wars. Aerospace engineers at University of Cincinnati and Naval research have come with a nozzle design that can lessen deafening roar on engines at F-18 fighter planes without hindering performance. Professor Ephraim Gutmark, an Ohio Eminent Scholar had his students in UC’s college of engineering have tested new nozzles on 1/28th jet engines in their aeroacoustics lab.

 

The interior of the nozzles features triangular fins that fits like rows of shark teeth which reduces jet engine noises in UC lab tests. It is a collaboration between UC, the U.S naval research lab and Naval Air Station Patuxent River. NAVIR will be testing US designs and performance of F-18 Hornets. F-18 hornets are tactical fighter planes used by U.S Marines and Navy. The new nozzle design can reduce noise by between 5 and 8 decibels. UC’s preliminary lab results hold promise for reducing jet noises in both commercial and military aviation.

 

Jet noise in particular represents a serious health risk in both military and commercial aviation. Navy personnel are exposed to noise in exposed to noise in excess of 150 decibels. Jets are so loud that the noise can vibrations can affect even the aircraft itself- a phenomenon called acoustic loading, Gutmark said. “ By suppressing the noise you will help the crew helping the longevity of the airplane itself,” Gutmark added. UC has been working on the project with NAVAL Research Lab and NAVAIR for two years. Gutmark teaches aerospace engineering principles to pilots in U.S Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, which inspired the movie “Top Gun.” “It was exciting to teach them because they were really interested,” Gutmark said.

 

 

Students in the Gutmark’s lab wear industrial- grade ear protection when working with jet engines. The engines are mounted to the ground inside an anechoic chamber- where reflections of acoustic waves are completely absorbed. An array of sensitive microphones surround the jet in the chamber. Perhaps not surprisingly the noise sounds different depending on one’s relative position to the jet plume.

 

UC engineers test their novel nozzle design on both cold and heated jets with exhaust that burns as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The jet is a scale model of the F-18’s F404 engine made by General Electric Aviation, headquartered in Cincninnati.

 

UC engineers test their novel nozzle designs on both cold and heated jets with exhaust that burns as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The jet is a scale model of the F-18’s F404 engine made by General Electric Aviation, headquartered in Cincinnati.

 

UC doctoral student Mohammasd Saleem said aircraft are quitter today than they were 20 years ago. They can even get quieter in the future. “These noise reduction technologies are extremely beneficial to communities living around the bases and personnel working on aircraft carriers,” Saleem said.

 

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