The aircraft industry is an extremely critical part of the aviation sector as it consists of manufacturing aircraft parts and their maintenance. It is necessary for this manufacturing industry to be constantly developed through research and development due to various economic and environmental factors.
Recently, a research group has successfully invented a new material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and also improve passenger comfort. The new innovation would probably bring a positive impact in the Aircraft Manufacturing Market, to which passenger satisfaction is a very important factor. The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel only weighs about 2.1 kg per cubic meter, thus making it the lightest sound insulation to be manufactured ever. The aerogel could have the potential use of being insulation in the aircraft engines and would reduce noise by about 16 decibels. This would lead to the 107-decibel roar of a jet being reduced to that of just a hairdryer.
The team stated that their aerogel has a meringue-like structure which makes it very light. This denotes that it could easily act as an insulator in the aircraft engine nacelles without increasing the overall weight. At present, the material needs to be further optimized by the researchers so that there would be an improved version in terms of heat dissipation. This would, in turn, make the fuel more safe and efficient.
Researchers feel that the new material is not only exciting but has several forms of applications not being limited to aerospace but also potentially marine and automotive transport, building, and construction. Further, the team stated that they were able to produce an extremely low density because they made use of a liquid combination of a polymer and graphene oxide which is formed due to freeze-casted and whipped air bubbles. At the outset, the technique can be understood in respect to whipping egg whites to obtain meringues. The material is solid but consists of a lot of air, so there is no weight or efficiency penalty to have success regarding comfort and noise.
The team’s focus primarily was towards collaborating with its partners in aerospace to explore the material as a sound insulator within aircraft engines. Their research shows that the aerogel made would need to be used within 18 months. According to them, it’ll be useful for creating panels in helicopters or car engines.