The transition to environmentally friendly aviation requires radically new technologies such as innovative propulsion systems and ultra-lightweight materials. However, these lead to new, complex noise and vibration behavior that cannot be reliably predicted using current methods. The core problem is the conflict between efficiency (less weight/CO₂) and passenger comfort. Conventional noise reduction measures cancel out the efficiency gains due to their additional mass. ViPEr provides the decisive, technology-independent solution here: a validated simulation methodology for digitally optimizing cabin comfort for each future generation of aircraft at an early stage. The project is thus an indispensable pioneer in making sustainable aviation innovations feasible in the first place.
The aim of the VIPER (Vibroacoustic Passenger Experience) project is to enable the targeted design of passenger cabins in aircraft with new low-emission open rotor engines. The focus is on customer acceptance of the overall design. Propeller noise from open rotors is often perceived as disturbing by passengers, and the heavy acoustic countermeasures required to reduce noise have a direct negative impact on the efficiency of the aircraft. VIPER therefore aims to validate new noise prediction methods.
The overall goal of VIPER is to make the noise prediction methods that are being developed available at an early stage with a high degree of maturity so that they can be used to immediately influence the design of the cabin and the aircraft based on the input variables available at the time.
Our activities in the VIPER project focus on various aspects of the simulation and evaluation of cabin acoustics using wave-resolving methods and in-house software from the Institute of Acoustics and Dynamics. There is a clear focus on modeling and simulation using the research finite element code elPaSo (https://akustik.gitlab-pages.rz.tu-bs.de/elPaSo-Core/main/intro.html) with efficient solution strategies and model order reduction methods. The in-house tool SQAT (https://github.com/ggrecow/SQAT) from the Institute of Acoustics and Dynamics is also used for the psychoacoustic evaluation of cabin noise. It enables perception-based technology evaluation with objective psychoacoustic metrics.
VIPER is funded as part of the LuFo program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. VIPER is a joint project carried out in close cooperation with AIRBUS and DLR, with AIRBUS also acting as project coordinator.
