News Releases

December 2006

Acoustics: latest flight tests in the context of Awiator

Onera and the German DLR undertook to locate the sources of noise on an A340 in flight. In particular, they wished to evaluate the acoustic impact of new concepts for improving the wings.

During test flights near the Tarbes airport at the end of August 2006, in the context of the European Awiator (Aircraft Wing with Advanced Technology OpeRation) program, Onera took measurements on an Airbus A340. Just like in 2003, when test flights were made previously, the idea was to locate the aircraft's acoustic sources and more particularly, to demonstrate that the new concepts being studied for improving the wings did not have harmful consequences on the acoustic radiation. A fifty meter high antenna in the form of a cross equipped with 121 microphones was deployed in order to record the signals exploited in the band between 200 Hz and 4,000 Hz. The Germans from the DLR in Berlin deployed a smaller antenna to record signals in the higher band up to 10 kHz.

A fifty meter high antenna equipped with 121 microphones for locating the noise sources of aircraft

Cartography of acoustic sources in a given flying configuration"Three concepts specified in the context of Awiator for optimizing the take off and landing of aircraft, previously tested in wind tunnels, were the subject of the tests in this campaign. The aim was to observe if their use led to significant acoustic consequences", explained Georges Elias, research director at Onera. The TED (Trailing Edge Devices), small devices whose angles can be altered, placed at the end of the flaps to act on the wing's lift and drag, but also a spoiler, deployed above a wing of the aircraft, and also the deployment, at different angles, of ailerons located at the wing tips, were thus tested in flight. The data collected is being analyzed and should result in the publication of a joint report at the start of 2007.

Last Update: 23 January 2007 - © ONERA 2009 - Terms of use