Noise Prediction for Mach 8 Waverider vehicle during Take-Off and Landing

This paper explores the possibility of extending a simplified Landing and Take-Off (LTO) noise prediction methodology for unconventional high-speed aircraft designs, considering a Mach 8 waverider cruiser as case-study. While several studies have examined the potential for future high-speed aircraft to offer civil passenger transport services worldwide, the significant noise impact near airport areas remains a primary issue for the regulatory framework of such aircraft. However, there are limited models available to assess the environmental effects of such innovative designs. Therefore, it is crucial to develop models and methods specifically tailored to novel high-speed aircraft configurations. This paper constitutes an initial endeavor towards this direction by attempting to apply methods found in the literature and identifying gaps or potentialities therein. Firstly, the setup for take-off and landing flight path simulation is presented, specifying the aircraft and engine operating conditions data needed as input for noise prediction, which have been derived by post-processing the simulations performed with the Analysis, Simulation and Trajectory Optimization Software for Space Applications (ASTOS) tool. Then, the noise prediction methodology proposed is applied, considering both airframe and jet noise relying respectively on Fink and Stone methods for noise prediction. The Maximum Tone Corrected Perceived Noise Levels (PNLTM) and Effective Perceived Noise Levels (EPNL) measured at the locations defined by the ICAO regulations are reported and compared with literature results for similar designs. An alternative takeoff procedure is described and tested. This paper seeks to enrich the existing understanding of the acoustic characteristics of hypersonic aircraft during LTO operations by summarizing some potential areas of improvement that may be worth exploring in order to mitigate noise.