8–12 Sept 2026
Europe/Vienna timezone

Experimental investigation of the noise radiation of an electric motor for urban air mobility vehicles

FA2026/632
11 Sept 2026, 08:40
20m
Galerie B (Messe Congress Graz)

Galerie B

Messe Congress Graz

A05 Environmental Acoustics A05.06 Advanced air mobility noise

Speaker

Philipp Schulze (DLR Institute of Electr. Aero-Engines)

Description

The electrification of the aviation sector requires new propulsion technologies for future aircraft concepts. A key component of these systems is the electric motor, which converts electrical energy into mechanical power for the propulsor (e.g., open rotors or ducted fans). Within the DLR project VIRLWINT, the psychoacoustic effects of two urban air mobility (UAM)vehicles equipped with electric propulsion systems are investigated.To improve understanding of the electric propulsion system’s contribution to overall aircraft noise, acoustic measurements were conducted on a representative electric motor. These measurements were performed under poor acoustic conditions, with significant background noise and sound-reflecting boundaries. The analysis focuses on the noise characteristics of the electric machine under varying operating conditions, such as rotational speed and load. A local regression algorithm was used to obtain the broadband noise from the dominant tonal features of the spectra. The results indicate that rotational speed influences the amplitude of both tonal and broadband noise components, whereas changes in torque affect only the tonal components, leaving the broadband noise largely unchanged.

Authors

Philipp Schulze (DLR Institute of Electr. Aero-Engines) Erik W. Schneehagen (DLR Institute of Electr. Aero-Engines) Thomas F. Geyer (DLR Institute of Electr. Aero-Engines)

Presentation materials