Interior noise estimation of new aircraft concepts in the early design phase

The development of a new aircraft does sometimes require an overall estimation of the expected interior noise level at a very early stage of the design. It is particularly true for future aircraft platforms or novel concepts, for which severe loudness issues may ultimately hinder the project viability. The question of achieving approximate but reliable estimations despite the lack of information arises and may puzzle both the acoustic team and the project manager. Airbus Group Innovations reports in this paper how these technical and organizational issues have been handled in two different projects. The first one concerns the promising "carry-through wing box" and "blended wing body" aircraft designs investigated in the ACFA European initiative (Active Control for Flexible 2020 Aircraft). The second one focuses on the breakthrough plane concept designed in the Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transportation (ZEHST) project. After a discussion regarding the choice of a pertinent methodology and software strategy, intermediate noise estimations are presented, leading to general design recommendations to improve the acoustic performance.