Over the past decades, our investment in technology has helped us

to make our engines significantly quieter, by understanding and

reducing the various components of engine noise.
Jet noise

The pure turbojets and early turbofans of the 1960s were dominated by high
jet exhaust noise. Contrast this with the modern very-high-bypass-ratio
turbofans, such as recent members of our Trent family of engines. These have
significantly reduced jet velocities for the same thrust and consequently
make much less noise. Advances in materials and manufacturing technology
have allowed these engines to deliver impressive reductions in aircraft noise,
whilst simultaneously reducing fuel burn.

However, increasing the bypass ratio even further would not deliver such
significant reductions in aircraft noise. We have therefore explored methods
for reducing jet noise without increasing bypass ratio, through promoting
faster mixing of the jet exhaust with the atmosphere whilst minimising the
turbulence created in the mixing process. For example new nozzle lip
treatments (such as the serrations featured in the flight testing of the RollsRoyce/Boeing Quiet Technology Demonstrator and the Rolls-Royce/Airbus
'Low Interior Noise Fan Nozzle' research programme) are now entering service
on various aircraft, including the Boeing 787 powered by our Trent 1000.

Fan noise reduction

We continue to improve design features of the fan system to deliver minimum

noise. Factors we take into account include the number of rotating blades and
static vanes, their detailed geometries, the distance between these two rows
of blades/vanes, and the fan's rotational speed. Key issues are the fan's
aerodynamic and mechanical performance, and the manufacturing
complexity and cost. Similar techniques are employed to reduce turbine and
compressor noise sources.

The overall system is optimised by harnessing the power of modern

computers to model the detailed aerodynamic flow over the blades and their
mechanical vibration.

Acoustic liners

Acoustic liners in the nacelle (engine housing) play an important role in

reducing turbomachinery noise before it escapes from the engine, converting
acoustic energy into very small amounts of heat.

We have used key manufacturing, materials and design technologies to

increase the effective acoustic areas in the nacelle without increasing the
overall nacelle length, and to enable acoustic liners to be employed reliably
in areas where the engine conditions are more extreme. Attention to detail is
important, and the zero-splice intake liner (which first entered service on the
Airbus A380 with our Trent 900 engine) has been very effective in reducing
fan noise at aircraft departure, far greater than might be expected for a
relatively small increase in acoustic liner area.
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