Research Projects

India’s civil aviation sector is witnessing rapid growth, supported by national initiatives such as Make in India and UDAN. However, this expansion has led to increased aircraft noise, particularly during take-off and landing phases, raising significant environmental and public health concerns for communities near airports. To reduce reliance on foreign aircraft and enhance indigenous technological capabilities, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) is advancing civil aircraft development through programs like NAL-Hansa, SARAS, and the RTA. Among the key technical challenges in this domain is the mitigation of noise generated by aircraft components such as wings, landing gear, and turboprop engines. These elements are widely recognized as dominant sources of airframe along with propulsion noise, and addressing their acoustic impact is essential to achieving quieter and more sustainable aircraft designs. This project aims to conduct experimental studies to identify noise sources of airframe components using beamforming-based acoustic imaging techniques, leveraging CSIR-NAL’s Low-speed wind tunnel facility. A custom phased microphone array will be developed and optimized for the tunnel’s test section. The experimental investigation will focus on characterisation of noise from scaled down component models of CSIR-NAL aircraft programs like SARAS and RTA aircraft. The research will involve the collection of high-fidelity acoustic data, application of advanced beamforming algorithms with background noise suppression, and visualization of aeroacoustic source maps. Both passive mitigation approaches and active noise control strategies will be examined. Studies on application of the the realized acoustic imaging technique for propeller noise characterization, and wing propeller interaction noise diagnostics will also be explored. The anticipated outcomes include precise noise source localization, validated acoustic imaging methods, improved low-noise component designs, and actionable design guidelines. These results will support India’s vision for sustainable aviation by enabling the development of quieter, more efficient indigenous aircraft.