Having a home near a busy airport certainly has its perks. It is close to many establishments and alleviates the problem of wading through endless traffic to catch flights. But it does come at a cost — tolerating the jarring sounds of commercial airplanes during landing and takeoff. Researchers have now conducted a computational study that validates using a shape-memory alloy to reduce the unpleasant plane noise produced during landing.

Researchers at Texas A&M University have conducted a computational study that validates using a shape-memory alloy to reduce the unpleasant plane noise produced during landing. They noted that these materials could be inserted as passive, seamless fillers within airplane wings that automatically deploy themselves into the perfect position during descent.

«When landing, aircraft engines are throttled way back, and so they are very quiet. Any other source of noise, like that from the wings, becomes quite noticeable to the people on the ground,» said Dr. Darren Hartl, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. «We want to create structures that will not change anything about the flight characteristics of the plane and yet dramatically reduce the noise problem.»

The researchers have described their findings in the Journal of Aircraft.

Aircraft noise has been an ongoing public health issue. Airplanes can generate up to 75-80 decibels during landing, which can be damaging to hearing over the long term. For example, studies have shown that people exposed to sustained aircraft noise can experience disturbed sleep and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease compared to those who do not live near airports.

The source of aircraft noise is different during ascent and descent. During takeoff, the engines are the primary source of noise. On the other hand, when airplanes slow down to land, the engines do not need to generate power and are mostly idling. At this time, the wings begin to reconfigure themselves to slow down the airplane and prepare for touchdown. Similar to the opening of Venetian blinds, the front edge of the wing separates from the main body. This change causes air to rush into the space created, circle around quite violently and produce noise.

Story Source: Materials provided by Texas A&M University. Original written by Vandana Suresh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.