Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, LLC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration STTR Phase I: T15

Description

At the conclusion of Phase II, the proposed research will produce research-quality acoustic measurements and validated component models of a full-scale, multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft. Acoustic measurements and validated models will allow our team, NASA, and the advanced air mobility industry to expand our understanding of eVTOL noise. The proposed innovations will enable the industry to optimize eVTOL designs and operations to minimize community noise impacts in alignment with NASArsquo;s vision that eVTOL noise be non-intrusive when operating near people and property.Currently, no validated tools exist to model unsteady loading noise for multi-rotor eVTOL vehicles or to scale sub-scale data to full-scale vehicles. The proposed innovation will advance the current state of the art by developing validated component noise models for unsteady loading noise sources, including rotor-rotor and rotor-structure interactions.The Phase I objectives are to develop component models for multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft, compare the models with acoustic measurements of a 1-passenger eVTOL aircraft, and design a Phase II flight test to reduce model uncertainty. To accomplish these objectives, our team will identify existing component modeling tools and datasets and link them in a framework to assess community noise from multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft. We will compare the component model results with acoustic measurements of a 1-passenger eVTOL aircraft to validate the component models and prioritize operating conditions for Phase II flight tests. Finally, we will develop a flight test plan for acoustic measurements of a full-scale, multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft.At the conclusion of Phase I, we will deliver acoustic measurements and component noise models of a 1-passenger eVTOL vehicle, a Phase II flight test plan with acoustic predictions, and a final report documenting the Phase I outcomes. The outcomes will help NASA and the industry accelerate the design cycle of full-scale eVTOL aircraft.