Aeroacoustics

Aeroacoustics is a branch of fluid dynamics dealing with the theory of noise generation in unsteady flows and its reproduction using laboratory experiments and/or numerical simulations. Aeroacoustic phenomena are responsible for noise generation from aircraft landing gears and wings, aircraft engines, hair-drivers and vacuum cleaners, car side mirrors and air-conditioning systems, flutes and organ pipes, jet flows, drone propellers, etc. The main current research areas in the aeroacoustic field are:

1. improving the knowledge of the underlying physical mechanisms, with a strong connection with the physics of turbulent flows and fluid-structure interaction at various levels of complexity,
2. developing noise reduction devices, for instance the B787 chevron nozzle for engine jet noise reduction,
3. improving the accuracy and reliability of numerical simulation software based on the solution of flow governing equations through comparisons with space/time resolved flow measurements.

Aeroacoustics offers a privileged access to the fields of fluid dynamics and wave theory and constitutes a very versatile component of an aerospace engineering curriculum.