Subjective response to propeller airplane interior sounds modified by hypothetical active noise control systems

摘要

Active noise control technology offers the potential for weight-efficient aircraft interior noise reduction, particularly for propeller aircraft. However, there is little Information on how passengers respond to interior sounds resulting from this type of noise control. This paper presents results of two experiments that use sound quality engineering practices to determine the subjective effectiveness of hypothetical active noise control (ANC) systems in a range of propeller aircraft. The two experiments differed in the type of juudgments made by the subjects: pair comparisons based on preference in the first and numerical category scaling of noisiness in the second. Although the results of the two experiments were in general agreement that the hypothetical active control measures improved the interior noise environments, the pair comparison method appears to be more sensitive to subtle changes in the characteristics of the sounds which are related to passenger preference. The reductions in subjective response due to the ANC conditions were predicted with reasonable accuracy by reductions in measured loudness level. Inclusion of corrections for the sound quality characteristics of tonality and fluctuation strength in multiple regression models slightly improved the prediction of the ANC effects.