Active Sandwich Trim Panels for Quieter Aircraft Interior

Recent research in the area of structural acoustic control for aircraft interior noise suppression has been focused on developing active trim panels. Active trim panels being part of non-critical structures offer many advantages over active controls applied to load critical structures such as aircraft frames and skins. This paper presents a study of active sandwich composite trim panels. The paper first investigates the effect of curvature on the dynamics of the trim panel, and the power transfer between the actuator and the host panel. Experimental data of interior noise control are then presented to demonstrate the application of the active trim panels.