Acoustic improvements of aircraft headrests based on electrospun mats evaluated through boundary element method

This work illustrates the development of passive noise control (PNC) improvements of aircraft headrests to enhance the acoustic comfort for passengers. Two PNC improvements were studied with the aim of reducing the noise perceived by passengers during flight. Two headrest configurations, with and without the lateral caps, and two different materials, a traditional foam and an innovative Silica/Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) woven non-woven mat, were considered, and compared in terms of sound pressure level (SPL) perceived by passengers. Boundary element method (BEM) models were built up to evaluate the acoustic performances of different headrest configurations, varying in terms of shape and textile. A spherical distribution of monopole sources surrounding the headrests was considered as acoustic load, in such a way as to recreate a diffuse acoustic field simulating the cabin noise perceived by passengers during cruise conditions. The impact of the two PNC improvements was analyzed to envisage some general guidelines useful to design advanced headrests from the acoustic viewpoint.