Taxibot´S Contribution to Ground Noise Abatement
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ACOUSTICAL COMPARISO N OF CONVENTIONAL TAXIING AND DISPATCH TOWING – TAXIBOT´S CONTRIBUTION TO GROU ND NOISE ABATEMENT Katja Hein*, Sebastian Baumann* *Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany Keywords : ground noise, dispatch towing, conventional taxiing, pass - by, TaxiBot Abstract Fig. 1 ) . It is a towbarless, s emi - robotic tractor Beside noise of airborne aircraft as a primary for aircraft, which is powered by two diesel - noise source at airports, ground operations, electric hybrid engines. The TaxiBot enables such as taxiing, have contributing and non - similar velocities compared to conventional negligible impacts on airpor t noise levels. To taxiing procedures and the pilot is able to address this issue amid growing environmental control the combination of aircraft and TaxiBot awareness, the deployment of electromobility at by using t he ti ller and brakes in the cockpit. The airports is planned to be extended. One such TaxiBot holds currently a certification for electrical mobility device is a dispatch towing aircraft of type Boeing 737 - 500 and is deployed vehicle called TaxiBot, which was first tested at in daily operation at Fran k furt International Frankfurt International Airport in 2014 . This Airport . [9 ] paper aims to quantify noise reductions of dispatch - towed aircraft in comparison with conventional taxiing operations. It derives a new measurement method from existing and comparable standards, describes the m easurement procedure, and presents the results . Finally, a conclusion and outlook is given. Fig. 1 . TaxiBot towing a B737 - 500 . [Source: Lufthansa LEOS ] 1 Introduction The objective of this paper is to present an Aircraft taxiing is a highly inefficient process, evaluation of the TaxiBot’s potential to reduce because engines are not optimized for an noise emitted during aircraft taxiing. For this operating point at idle thrust setting. This in turn purpose, acoustic measurements were conducted leads to relatively high fuel consumption and applying precedingly developed methods and noise and pollutant emissions. One approach t he recorded data was analyzed . that addresses this issue are dispatch towing operations , which means that an aircraft is 2 Relevant Standards for Acoustic towed by a vehicle from an initial parking position to a de - cou pling position close to the Measurements head of a runway. Merely the towing vehicle At present , no standards exist for the acoustical accomplishes the ground propulsion of the comparison of conventional taxiing and dispatch aircraft, therefore reducing engine runtime to a towing operations. To address this issue, warm - up phase. During the dispatch towing applicable standards, e.g. for overfligh t and road process, the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) is traffic pass - by noise measurements, were operatin g and provides electrical and pneumatic identified and relevant measurement energy. An example for a dispatch towing requirements were compiled in a previous ly vehicle is the newly developed TaxiBot ( see published work [7 ] . The determined standards 1 KATJA HEIN, SEBASTIAN BAUMANN [ 2 ] – [ 6 ] specify requirements with regard to 3.1 Measurement Conditions at Frankfurt measurement instruments and equipment, test Airpor t environment, meteorological conditions, Due to prevailing frame conditions and sa fety background noise level, as well as test method. requirements at Frankfurt A irport, specifications Table 1 summarizes the most important made in t he standards are partially modified. requirements and the ir co rresponding standards , Furthermore , it has to be ensured that airport which have to be co mplied with in order to operations are taken into account and are not perform comparative acoustic measurements. A disturbed. more detailed explanation is given in [ 7 ]. The measurement environment is located at the southern end of runway 18 ( see Fig. 2 ). The 3 Measurement Method s end of the runway is three to four kilometers apart from the airport’s terminals and hangars Two measurement methods yield results for the and is thereby far enough away from all relevant acoustic evaluation of dispatch towi ng reflective surfaces. The measurement operations using the TaxiBot . One method enviro nment can be considered as an open area allows a comparison of a n aircraft ( for instance with essentially free field conditions above an type B737 - 500) taxiing under own engine acoustically hard and reflective surface , which power with the same aircraft towed by the consists of concrete. TaxiBot (TaxiBotting) . The other method The m easurements were conducted on May enables a comparison of the TaxiBot with a 15, 2014 during Frankfurt A irport’s night flight conventional towing tractor (Goldhofer AST - 2 ban in order to keep the background noise level [13 ] ) while standing with engines idling. The as low as possible and to preclude noise from subsequent sections give a brief overview of the departing and arriving aircraft. This ensured a measurement conditions and methods (for sufficient difference of measured signal s and further explanation s see [7 ] ). Table 1 . R equirements specified in standards for acoustic measurements . Class 1 e.g. DIN EN 61672-1 [6] Measurement instruments Time weighting F DIN ISO 362-1 [5] and equipment Frequency weighting A Hard, flat surface e.g. DIN ISO 362-1 [5] Dry surface DIN ISO 362-1 [5] Measurement environment No sound reflecting objects near by DIN EN ISO 3744 [2] No person between microphone and acoustic source DIN ISO 362-1 [5] DIN ISO 362-1 (5 °C) [5] Ambient temperature between 5 °C and 25 °C DIN 45643 (25 °C) [4] Meteorological conditions Relative humidity between 30 % and 80 % DIN 45643 [4] No wind speeds higher than 5 m/s e.g. DIN 45643 [4] No precipitation e.g. DIN 45643 [4] Measurement before and after each test series for 10 s DIN ISO 362-1 [5] Background noise At least 10 dB, preferably 15 dB lower than source e.g. DIN EN ISO 3744 [2] Reproducible and representative conditions DIN EN ISO 3744 [2] Microphone position: horizontal distance to test track e.g. DIN 45642 [3] 7.5 m, height 1.2 m Test method Microphone reference axis horizontal and perpendicular e.g. DIN 45642 [3] to test track Measurement duration at least as long as the sound DIN 45642 [3] pressure level undercuts L max less than 10 dB (5 dB) 2 ACOUSTICAL COMPARISO N OF CONVENTIONAL TA XIING AND DISPATCH T OWING – TAXIBOT´S CONTRIBUTION TO GROUND NOISE ABAT EMENT background noise level of at least 15 dB(A) A cuboid reference boundary s urroun ds the during all measurements . entire moving sound source. It creat es an A weather tracker monitored the enveloping surface with the dimensions of the meteorological conditions during the aircraft or the combination of aircraft and tractor measurements. All weather parameter met the (TaxiBot) , respectively . The microphone is limitations according to DIN 45643 [ 4 ] and DIN centered lengthwise in the measurement are a IS O 362 - 1 [ 5 ] . Measured wind speeds were in and its reference axis is oriented perpendicular the range of 2 m/s to 5 m/s. The ambient to the runway center line. It is mounted at a temperature amounted to 10 °C to 11. 5 °C and height of 1.2 m above the ground. The data the relative humidity to 73 % to 80 %. acquisition system record s automatically by using triggers (infrared light gates ) located at the beg inning and the e nd of the measurement area . Adequate maneuvering space is available in front of and after the measurement area to turn the aircraft or aircraft tractor combination around and to provide enough space for acceleration and deceleration. T herefore , it is possible to measure pass - by noise from different directions ( left to right and vice versa ) . T he taxiing pilot was briefed to maintain a constant speed and to pass through the measurement area straight on the runway center line. The pass - by speed s represent typical speeds for taxiing aircraft at Frankfurt A irport, which are in the range of 17 kts to 22 kts [ 10 ] . Fig. 2 . Layout of Frankfurt International Airport and location of the measurement environment . [ M ap source: www. openstreetmap.org ] 3.2 Measurement Method for Pass - By Configurations Fig. 3 depicts t h e setup for comparative pas s - by noise measurements . The measurement area ha s a length of 100 m , which correspond s with three times the length of a TaxiBotted B737 - 500. The Fig. 3 . Setup for pass - by sound pressure level measurements . width of the measur ement area is 45 m. This result s from safety requirements for the microphone position. The m aximum lateral 3.3 Measurement Method for Tractors distance of 7.5 m between the microphone Standing with Engines Idling position and the test track of the sound source, The other measurement method enables a direct which is demanded by the standards DIN 45642 comparison of the TaxiBot, on the one hand, [3] and DIN ISO 362 - 1 [5], was not realize d due and a Goldhofer AST - 2, on the other hand. to safety regulations at airports . The compulsory The Goldhofer AST - 2 tractor is a tractor lateral safety margin between the aircraft and for narrow - body aircraft, which is able to any foreign object or person is specified by perform pushbacks, repositioning procedu res, a ircraft and engine manufacturers [1] . This is and maintenance tows for B737 - 500 aircraft considered by positioning the microphone 7.5 m [14 ] . Although i t is not designed and certified away from the aircraft’s wingtip instead of the for dispatch towing operations, it has an test track center lin e. equivalent performance spectrum and similar dimensions compared to the TaxiBot . 3 KATJA HEIN, SEBASTIAN BAUMANN Measurement methods for the 4.1 Pass - By Measurement Results determi nation of sound power levels (according Two different configurations ( solo aircraft and to DIN ISO 3744 [2 ]) , which require an combination of aircraft and TaxiBot ) , with four en veloping surface around the sound source runs for each case, were measured within the could not be realized at the airport.