Experimental study on a compact lined circular duct for small-scale propeller noise reduction

Abstract In a recent work by the authors, an optimal sound absorber with a compact scale consisting of multiple inhomogeneous Helmholtz resonators with extended necks (HRENs) was designed and demonstrated for effective sound absorption in a prescribed frequency range. The development of HREN-based absorber provides a promising potential for sound absorption in a compact dimension. The present study aims to line the compact optimal absorber in a circular duct for noise attenuation. A rigid duct with the same configuration is fabricated for comparison. The acoustic performances of the lined duct and the rigid duct are experimentally evaluated by using two linear microphone arrays in an anechoic chamber. Two types of noise sources are considered: a point sound source and a rotating propeller. The experimental results reveal that a significant noise reduction is achieved by the lined duct for both the point source and the propeller noise source in the target frequency range when comparing to the rigid duct.