NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Scientists at NASA Langley Research Center have developed two tools for turbofan engine acoustic liner design and analysis. The first is a statistical approach for broadband liner design and assessment. The second is graphical software to design and analyze resonant channels in acoustic liners. The technologies address the reduction of fan noise in aircraft engines through two avenues: The first invention is a statistical approach to liner design when detailed fan source noise information is not available. This invention uses a statistical representation of the fan source with a duct acoustic propagation and radiation code to determine the optimum impedance spectra for acoustic liners embedded in the walls of the engine nacelle. This optimization may be based on predicted in-duct or far-field acoustic levels. Acoustic liner models are then used to identify geometric liner parameters needed to produce impedance spectra that most closely match these optimum spectra, and therefore provide maximum fan noise reduction. The simulated statistical fan source model accounts for the variation of the fans sound spectrum as the flight conditions change and provides the added benefit of generating confidence intervals for the predicted liner performance. Increased weighting may be applied to specific frequencies and/or operating conditions within the liner design. Thus, the entire broadband frequency spectrum may be targeted simultaneously. This can offer a major advantage over current liner design approaches that focus on narrow-band attenuation spectra (i.e., target individual fan tones) and are generally not broadband in character. The second invention is a graphical tool that allows real-time design and analysis of acoustic liners to achieve optimized broadband acoustic liners. Thus, it takes advantage of recently improved manufacturing techniques to allow implementation of liners in unconventional locations. One example is liners mounted in the body of fan exit guide vanes to reduce engine fan noise. Referred to as ILIAD, the software uses a point-and-click interface to graphically create acoustic chambers within a 2-D representation of the liner design space while predicting the resulting acoustic parameters. Variable-depth chambers are accommodated to maximize the number and length of chambers that can be put in the available space. At the same time, the software computes all of the modeling predictions of the acoustic characteristics to maintain performance levels. Designers will see the acoustic effects of geometry changes instantly. Although the prediction capability is relatively well known, the ability to perform this calculation in an interactive design environment is new. ILIAD enables the exploration of numerous liner design possibilities quickly and efficiently. NASA is seeking to license this technology commercially. US Patents pending. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to
[email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langley’s Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development “OSACB” for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.