Vibration Absorbers: A Review of Applications in Interior Noise Control of Propeller Aircraft

Abstract

Control of interior noise levels in aircraft has been a significant research area over the last two decades. Vibration absorbers have often been researched as more efficacious solutions to this problem than absorbent blankets or fully active systems. In this paper we review the large body of work performed in this field and we offer an indication of the remaining areas for fruitful research. Surprisingly few installations of vibration absorbers for interior noise control have been realized, and we believe this is due to the pervasive belief in industry that vibration absorbers can only be applied to control resonant, not forced behavior in a structure. The potential of adaptive passive control using vibration absorbers has been shown by many researchers, and we believe that this direction may yield several practical solutions to the problem of interior noise in aircraft.