The Boeing Company

Gary R Chewning

Herbert Louis Hoffman

Juhn-Shyue Lin

Hugh Poling

Justin C Christenson

Melvin Kosanchick, Iii

Justin David Kearns

Alan Edgar Landmann

Adrian Viisoreanu

Jason Alexander Gordon

Balamurugan R Annamalai

Jason A Gordon

Lin Juhn-Shyue

Vibration-damping blankets are attached to the back surfaces of fairing panels of a flight vehicle (e.g., an aircraft or spacecraft) to reduce vibration, fatigue, structure and airborne transmitted energy, and cabin noise. In one case, the flight vehicle fairing has an exterior comprising exterior surfaces of a multiplicity of removable panels. A method of retrofitting the flight vehicle with vibration-damping blankets comprises: removing a panel from the flight vehicle exterior; attaching a vibration-damping blanket to a back surface of the removed panel; and installing the panel with attached vibration-damping blanket on the flight vehicle with the exterior surface of the panel forming part of the flight vehicle exterior. In one embodiment, the vibration-damping blanket comprises polymeric (e.g., aromatic polyamide) fibers in a nonwoven structure.

Flight vehicle fairing having vibration-damping blankets

Assemblies, methods, and an apparatus for damping vibrational energy induced to a reinforced skin structure are disclosed. The reinforced skin structure includes an outer wall and at least one stringer coupled to the outer wall. The method includes providing a damping apparatus that includes a stiffening member configured to adjust at least one of a bending mode and a torsional twisting mode of the stringer and an energy dissipation member configured to dissipate vibrational energy of the stringer. The stiffening member includes at least two elongated members that are spaced a distance apart and at least one truss member that extends obliquely between the at least two elongated members. The damping apparatus is attached to the at least one stringer. The damping apparatus may be configured to dampen vibration in the range of between about 200-600 Hz.

Methods and apparatus for reducing noise in reinforced skin structures

A wing-to-body fairing for aircraft is formed from a sandwich structure having integrated vibration damping.

Vibration damping for wing-to-body aircraft fairing

A wing-to-body fairing for reducing noise due to wing-to-body fairing vibrations in an aircraft, spacecraft, or vehicle may include a honeycomb center having a cavity which is at least partially filled with particle material.

Particle-filled wing-to-body fairing and method for reducing fairing vibrations

Growing community of inventors

Woodinville, WA, United States of America

Gary R Chewning