Advanced Composite Blankets for Vibration and Sound Radiation Reduction

High sound levels transmitted inside payload fairings at launch account for 40 of the satellite damage in the initial phases of the launch. Numerous experiments conducted on the advanced composite acoustic heterogeneous blankets HG blankets have shown their great potential in reducing the vibration and sound levels inside payload fairings. This work presents the development and validation of the finite element FE models of HG composite blankets in order to understand the physics behind the functionality of the new acoustic material. The development of the FE model can be broadly classified in to three stages iFE models of the individual component were developed and validated, ii the fully coupled 3D-FE model of the HG blankets were developed and validated, and iii. Fully coupled 3D-FE models of the HG blanket coupled to the structural and acoustics domains were validated. Parametric studies were then performed on these fully coupled 3D-FE models in order to understand the effect of the variation in the material properties and geometrical configuration of the HG blanket on their behavior and acoustic attenuation capabilities. The knowledge base built from the parametric studies was later used for the development of optimized designs of the HG blanket material.