Experimental/Numerical Acoustic Assessment of Aircraft Seat Headrests Based on Electrospun Mats

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 11; no. 14; p. 6400
• Main Authors: Giannella, Venanzio, Colangeli, Claudio, Cuenca, Jacques, Citarella, Roberto, Barbarino, Mattia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Acceptable noise levels; Acoustic measurement; Acoustics; Aeronautics; Aircraft; Aircraft compartments; Aircraft control; aircraft headrest; Anechoic chambers; Boundary element method; Configuration management; nanofiber textile; Nanomaterials; Noise control; Optimization; Passenger aircraft; passive noise control; Porous materials; Radiation; semi-anechoic chamber; Sound pressure; Sound transmission; Sound waves; Statistical energy analysis; Textiles
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app11146400

The work proposes a methodology for the assessment of the performances of Passive Noise Control (PNC) for passenger aircraft headrests with the aim of enhancing acoustic comfort. Two PNC improvements of headrests were designed to reduce the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at the passengers’ ears in an aircraft cabin during flight; the first was based on the optimization of the headrest shape, whereas the second consisted of partially or fully covering the headrest surface with a new highly sound-absorbing nanofibrous textile. An experimental validation campaign was conducted in a semi-anechoic chamber. A dummy headrest was assembled in different configurations of shape and materials to assess the acoustic performances associated to each set up. In parallel, simulations based on the Boundary Element Method (BEM) were performed for each configuration and an acceptable correlation between experimental and numerical results was obtained. Based on these findings, general guidelines were proposed for the acoustical design of advanced headrests.