DOUBLE-ENCLOSURE ACOUSTIC ELEMENT OF SMALL SIZE, IN PARTICULAR FOR AN AIRCRAFT ACOUSTIC PANEL
20210049993 ยท 2021-02-18
Inventors
Cpc classification
B32B3/266
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B64D2033/0206
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Y02T50/60
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
F02C7/045
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F05D2250/283
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
B64D33/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B32B3/08
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
F02K1/827
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
B64C1/40
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
A double-enclosure acoustic element of small size, in particular for an aircraft acoustic panel. The acoustic element has a first enclosure with a mouth and a second enclosure with, at a front longitudinal end, a mouth and arranged inside the first enclosure, these first and second enclosures being joined together at the front. The acoustic element includes a slotting assembly system, the assembly system including at least one protruding element on the first edge of one of the first and second enclosures and at least one recess in the first edge of the other of the first and second enclosures, the protruding element and the recess having complementary shapes such that the protruding element can be slotted into the recess. Thus, the two enclosures can be assembled by quick and easy slotting.
Claims
1. An acoustic element comprising: a first enclosure provided with a first enclosure first mouth surrounded by a first enclosure first edge at a first enclosure front longitudinal end; and a second enclosure at a second enclosure front longitudinal end, with a second enclosure first mouth surrounded by a second enclosure first edge, the second enclosure being arranged inside the first enclosure, the first and second enclosures being joined together at their respective first edges; a slotting assembly system comprising at least one protruding element arranged on one of the first and second enclosures first edges and at least one recess in another of the first edges of the first and second enclosures, the protruding element and the recess having complementary shapes such that the protruding element can be slotted into the recess.
2. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the assembly system comprises a plurality of protruding element and cooperating recess pairs, and in that, for each of the pairs, the protruding element and the recess have complementary shapes.
3. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the protruding element is a ring and the recess is an annular groove.
4. The acoustic element according to claim 1, wherein the second enclosure comprises, at the first edge, an external lip with a contact face that comes into contact with a front face of the first enclosure first edge when the first and second enclosures are assembled.
5. An acoustic panel for an aircraft, the acoustic panel comprising a plate made of a sound absorbing material and a resistive skin and a rear skin, which are arranged, respectively, on either side of this plate, wherein the plate comprises a plurality of through-housings in the sound absorbing material of the plate, and the acoustic panel comprises a plurality of acoustic elements according to claim 1, each of the acoustic elements being fixed in one of the housings.
6. A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, comprising at least one acoustic panel according to claim 5.
7. An aircraft comprising at least one acoustic panel according to claim 5.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0024] The appended figures will make it easy to understand how the disclosure herein can be implemented. In these figures, identical references denote similar elements.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0044] The acoustic element 1 shown schematically in one particular embodiment in
[0045] In one preferred application set out below with reference to
[0046] The acoustic element 1 comprises, as shown in particular in
[0049] The enclosure 7 is arranged inside the enclosure 3, as shown in
[0050] In
[0051] Furthermore, adjectives internal and external are also defined with reference to the longitudinal axis X-X (or to the longitudinal axes X1-X1 and X2-X2 as the case may be), and with respect to the direction of an arrow F (
[0052] According to the disclosure herein, the enclosure 7 comprises, at the rear longitudinal end 10B away from the front end 10A provided with the mouth 9, an elongate part 12 provided with at least one opening 13 which, as shown in
[0053] A space referred to as intermediate space 14 having a volume V is created between the enclosures 3 and 7, and the opening(s) in the elongate part 12, which pass right through the latter, make it possible to create a path of communication (in particular for sound) between an internal space 15 of the enclosure 7 and the intermediate space 14, in order to absorb sound in the intermediate space 14.
[0054] The elongate part 12 has an at least partially cylindrical external shape. The elongate part 12 is arranged in the continuation of the enclosure 7 towards the rear, along the axis X2-X2. As shown in
[0055] The elongate part 12 is provided with a free end away from the front longitudinal end 10A. In one particular embodiment, the elongate part 12 has a cylindrical shape at this free end. In another embodiment, the elongate part 12 has an entirely cylindrical shape.
[0056] This elongate part 12 having at least one cylindrical opening 13 creates an acoustic effect of the Helmholtz resonator type for filtering low frequencies, More specifically, this elongate part 12 opening onto the intermediate space 14 forms a Helmholtz resonator, in which the elongate part 12 represents the neck and the intermediate volume 14 represents the volume of the resonator. High frequencies are attenuated by the quarter-wave resonator formed by a resistive skin 40 and the second enclosure 7.
[0057] The acoustic performance P of the acoustic element 1 depends in particular on the product of the volume V of the intermediate space 14 and the length L of the elongate part 12 (P=L.Math.V).
[0058] For a conventional acoustic element that does not have such an elongate part 12, the length L is defined by the thickness of the rear wall of the enclosure 7, which has a small thickness, for example around 1 mm.
[0059] The product L.Math.V defines a given performance level, Consequently, in order to maintain a given acoustic performance, by increasing the length L (by virtue of the elongate part 12), it is possible to reduce the volume V of the intermediate space 14 and thus provide a smaller volume and thus a small size of the acoustic element 1.
[0060] By way of illustration: [0061] the length L may be between 2 mm and 15 mm; and [0062] the diameter D may be between 0.8 mm and 5 mm.
[0063] In such an example, with the length being multiplied by a factor of between 2 and 15 (on changing from a conventional acoustic element with a thickness of 1 mm to the acoustic element 1 provided with an elongate part 12 with a length of between 2 mm and 15 mm), a reduction in the volume V of the intermediate space 14 between the enclosures 3 and 7 by a similar factor can be envisaged for the acoustic element 1 compared with the conventional acoustic element, with a similar acoustic performance being maintained. This reduction in the intermediate space 14 makes it possible to use an external enclosure 3 having a smaller size, the size of this enclosure 3 defining the size of the acoustic element 1 as a whole.
[0064] The length L is chosen depending on the sound frequency intended to be absorbed and on integration constraints. A large volume V of the intermediate space 14 makes it possible to absorb sounds exhibiting low frequencies.
[0065] From another point of view, since the acoustic performance depends on the abovementioned product L.Math.V, with a constant volume V and thus a constant size, the provision of the elongate part 12 (and thus the increase in length L) brings about an improvement in the acoustic performance.
[0066] In a first embodiment, shown in
[0067] Moreover, in a second embodiment shown in
[0068] For one and the same length of the elongate part 12, a similar acoustic performance (for absorption of identical sound frequencies) is obtained between the first and second embodiments, if the sum of the areas of the cross sections of the openings is more or less the same, that is to say if the sum of the areas of the circular cross sections of all of the openings 16 (in the second embodiment) is more or less the same as the area of the circular cross section of the single opening 13 (in the first embodiment).
[0069] Furthermore, in this second embodiment, the enclosure 7 has cylindrical perforations 17 (that is to say perforations with a longitudinally constant cross section) that are made from a front face 18 (at the front end 10A) and pass through the conical wall of the enclosure 7, as can be seen in
[0070] Although shown only in this second embodiment, perforations such as these perforations 17 can also be provided in the other embodiments described.
[0071] In addition to allowing normal operation of the double-enclosure acoustic element 1 the openings 16 and the perforations 17 also make it possible to generate an acoustic effect of the Helmholtz resonator type and, if necessary, to effect drainage of liquid (and the evacuation thereof from the internal space 16 to the intermediate space 14).
[0072] In one particular embodiment, the openings 16 and the perforations 17 have more or less one and the same length and one and the same diameter.
[0073] In the scope of the disclosure herein, the enclosures 3 and 7 can have various shapes.
[0074] In the first and second embodiments mentioned above, the enclosures 3 and 7 each have a frustoconical shape S1, S2, as shown in
[0075] In a third embodiment (shown in
[0076] The elongate part 12 of length L is also provided at the rear end 10B of the enclosure 7. This elongate part 12 is provided with a single, central cylindrical opening 13. This central cylindrical opening 13 is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the hyperbolic funnel shape S4.
[0077] This hyperbolic funnel shape S4 is less radially extensive (with respect to the longitudinal axis) than a frustoconical shape, as shown in
[0078] A main advantage of this third embodiment is that, in order to maintain one and the same volume of the intermediate space 14, it is possible to provide a smaller enclosure 3. In particular, the diameter of the enclosure 3 can be smaller. Thus, this third embodiment makes it possible to reduce the size of the acoustic element 1 compared with the first and second embodiments described above.
[0079] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, the acoustic element 1 has a slotting assembly system 22, which is configured to join the enclosures 3 and 7 together at their edges 6 and 11 as shown in
[0080] This slotting assembly system 22 can be applied to each of the embodiments described above. The assembly system 22 comprises at least one protruding element 23 arranged on the front edge of one of the enclosures 3 and 7 and at least one recess 24 made in the front edge of the other of the enclosures 3 and 7. The protruding element 23 and the recess 24 have complementary shapes such that the protruding element 23 can be slotted into the recess 24, in an assembled position (of the enclosures 3 and 7) as shown in
[0081] In a preferred embodiment, the assembly system 22 comprises a protruding element 23 arranged on an external face of the edge 11 of the enclosure 7 and a recess 24 made in an internal face of the edge 6 of the enclosure 3.
[0082] In a variant (not shown), the assembly system 22 may also comprise at least one protruding element arranged on the edge 6 of the enclosure 3 and at least one recess made in the edge 11 of the enclosure 7.
[0083] Thus, the two enclosures 3 and 7 of the acoustic element 1 (of the capsule type and cone type, respectively) can be assembled together by simple slotting with the aid of the assembly system 22. This slotting assembly can be effected easily and especially quickly, as set out below.
[0084] In one variant (not shown), the assembly system may comprise a plurality of pairs (each of which is formed by a protruding element and a cooperating recess), and, for each of the pairs, the protruding element and the recess have complementary shapes. In this case, preferably, the assembly system has protruding elements on only a part of the circumference of the enclosure in question, and in particular of the internal enclosure 7.
[0085] In the preferred embodiment shown in
[0086] In a first realization of this preferred embodiment, shown in
[0087] Moreover, in a second realization of this preferred embodiment, shown in
[0088] Of course, in the scope of the disclosure herein, other cross sections are possible for the complementary shapes of the protruding element 23 and of the recess 24.
[0089] Furthermore, as shown in
[0090] Moreover, the enclosure 3 is provided with a closed end wall 33, at the rear longitudinal end 5B, as shown in
[0091] Moreover, in an embodiment variant (not shown), the enclosure 3 can be open at the rear longitudinal end 5B (that is to say not have an end wall). In this case, provision can be made for this opening to be closed by an end wall formed by a part of the structure in which the acoustic element 1 is arranged, for example a part of the acoustic panel 2 in
[0092] Furthermore, in one particular embodiment, the acoustic element 1 has a drainage system 34 (
[0093] The drainage system 34 may also have perforations such as the perforations 17 in
[0094] In the scope of the disclosure herein, the enclosures 3 and 7 (and thus the acoustic element 1) can be made from different materials.
[0095] Preferably, the enclosures 3 and 7 are made: [0096] from a thermoplastic material (injection-moulded or moulded); or [0097] from a metal, such as stainless steel, aluminum or titanium, or from a metal alloy such as Inconel.
[0098] The acoustic element 1, as described above, has numerous advantages; and in particular: [0099] it can be produced so as to have a small size for a similar performance compared with a conventional acoustic element (which does not have an elongate part) or so as to have a better performance with a capacity to absorb lower sound frequencies for a similar size compared with a conventional acoustic element. It is also possible to combine both advantages, admittedly with lower proportions, namely produce the acoustic element such that it exhibits both an improvement in acoustic performance and a reduction in size compared with a conventional acoustic element; [0100] it can be produced with any type of material; [0101] it can be produced with various geometric shapes of the enclosures (capsule and cone); [0102] it can have all the conventional drainage systems; and [0103] it makes it possible to add indexing means between the enclosures.
[0104] In addition, for the embodiment (in
[0108] A method P for manufacturing an acoustic element 1 provided with a slotting assembly system 22, as shown in
[0109] This manufacturing method P includes a plurality of steps comprising at least the following steps, as illustrated in
[0113] The manufacturing steps E1 and E2 can be implemented successively (in any order) or at the same time (that is to say in parallel).
[0114] The manufacturing steps E1 and E2 can be implemented in different ways, in particular depending on the material used to manufacture the enclosures 3 and 7.
[0115] When the enclosures 3 and 7 are made of thermoplastic material, the manufacturing steps E1 and E2 can use a method involving injection-moulding thermoplastic resin (loaded or not loaded with fibers). The manufacturing steps E1 and E2 can also make use of a moulded thermoplastic.
[0116] For the injection-moulding method, in order to simplify and retain a mould identical to the one used for existing enclosures (capsule and cone), it is possible to take into account the flexibility of the element or to change the temperature of the mould at the time of ejection (malleability of the material).
[0117] When the enclosures 3 and 7 are made of metal, the manufacturing steps E1 and E2 can use a stamping method or a rolling method. For metal enclosures 3 and 7, novel methods can also be envisaged, such as the use of electromagnetic pulses.
[0118] The acoustic element 1, as described above, can be used in numerous applications.
[0119] In a preferred application, a plurality of such acoustic elements 1 are arranged in an acoustic panel 2 (or acoustic attenuation panel), as shown schematically in
[0120] This acoustic panel 2 is intended to make it possible to reduce (or attenuate) noise by absorbing it, on an aircraft 45 (
[0121] In a conventional manner, this acoustic panel 2 comprises, as shown in
[0125] Generally, the acoustic panel 2 is disposed such that the resistive skin 40 is positioned in the vicinity of and preferably close to (or next to) the source of noise to be attenuated. The noise penetrates through the perforations 41, through the resistive skin 40, into the interior of the plate 38, where it is attenuated.
[0126] The plate 38 of the acoustic panel 2 is provided with a plurality of housings 43 that are made in the sound absorbing material 39 of the plate 38.
[0127] In addition, the acoustic panel 2 has a plurality of acoustic elements 1 like those described above, which are able to absorb sound. Each of the acoustic elements 1 is arranged in one of the housings 43 made in the plate 38, with the mouths 4 and 9 next to the resistive skin 40.
[0128] Thus, the acoustic elements 1 are integrated in the plate 38 made of sound absorbing material 39 of the acoustic panel 2, thereby making it possible to absorb noise with different frequencies, and in particular lower frequencies, than those of the noise absorbed by the material 39 of the plate 38. The combination of the acoustic plate 38 and the acoustic elements 1 thus makes it possible to increase the range of frequencies of noise able to be attenuated by the acoustic panel 2.
[0129] In the scope of the disclosure herein, the plate 38 and the acoustic elements 1 can be made from the same material or from different materials. The material of the plate 38 and/or of the acoustic elements 1 can be, for example, a polymer material reinforced with carbon fibers of the CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) type, aramid fibers, glass fibers, or metal such as aluminum or titanium.
[0130] Various possible examples of the integration of acoustic elements 1 in an acoustic panel 2 will be presented below.
[0131] By way of illustration, on an aircraft propulsion assembly: [0132] if the acoustic elements 1 are made of a thermoplastic composite material, they can be integrated in a foam or honeycomb structure, for application to acoustic panels of the external structure; [0133] if the acoustic elements 1 are made of aluminum, they can be integrated in an aluminum honeycomb, for application to acoustic panels of the IFS (internal fixed structure) fairing surrounding the motor of a jet engine; and [0134] if the acoustic elements 1 are made of a metal alloy (such as Inconel) or of titanium, for application to exhaust elements such as nozzles or plug-type parts, they can be integrated directly in the skins of these exhaust elements or integrated in a honeycomb.
[0135] A preferred application also relates to a propulsion assembly 48 of an aircraft 45.
[0136] In one configuration, the internal structure 53 comprises an acoustic panel 2, positioned on a skin 55, which delimits the primary exhaust duct 51. Of course, the acoustic panel can be positioned on any skin that has an outer surface in contact with a medium in which sound waves propagate, for example a lip and an air inlet duct of the nacelle 49, a fan casing of the nacelle 49 or any other surface of the propulsion assembly 48.
[0137] While at least one example embodiment of the invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the example embodiment(s), In addition, in this disclosure, the terms comprise or comprising do not exclude other elements or steps, the term an or one do not exclude a plural number, and the term or means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.