Adaptive synchrophaser for reducing aircraft cabin noise and vibration

Abstract

An 'adaptive synchrophaser' is disclosed for modifying the phase angle relationship between aircraft propellers to reduce cabin noise and/or vibration. Rather than use a constant pre-selected angle for a specific passenger cabin configuration during a particular flight mode (e.g., during liftoff or cruise), the synchrophaser periodically monitors actual operating conditions and modifies the phase angle accordingly. In the preferred embodiment, a plurality of transducers (microphones) are installed at several cabin locations to sample noise periodically. The signals are then transmitted via a signal conditioner, a multiplexer and an analog-to-digital converter to a signal processor. The processor calculates the maximum acoustic noise at each microphone location for all possible phase angles. It then identifies the optimum phase angle that resulted in the lowest maximum noise anywhere in the cabin, and signals a synchrophaser to set that angle. This process not only reduces noise based on actual on-going conditions, but also balances the cabin noise so that there are not any 'hot' seats with high noise levels.