Perceptual assessment of simulated aircraft cabin noise in early design stages

Abstract

This study explores the potential of simulation methodologies in the early stages of the acoustic design of advanced air mobility cabins. With perceptual assessment as a priority, the approach includes conducting listening experiments based on the auralization of simulation results. For this, a cabin was simulated under the stochastic load of a turbulent boundary layer and auralized as representative cabin noise. The listening experiments investigated the impact of cabin parameter variations—specifically Young's modulus, skin thickness, and fluid bulk modulus—on the participants' perception and preferences. The findings show that utilizing the presented methodology within an early design scope produced audible differences for these parameter variations. With significant changes to the signals' preference probabilities, the proposed method is able to provide a better understanding and statistical depth to the cabin acoustic design process. Loudness and A-weighted sound pressure levels reliably predicted preferences, whereas other psychoacoustic metrics were of little significance, mainly due to the stochastic, stationary, and low-frequency characteristics of the noise samples. Furthermore, the position of the passenger within the cabin model significantly affected the preferences. Adding authentic cabin sounds to the auralizations did not significantly alter the parameter variations' preference distributions.