Aircraft Skin Damping

Problem: Minimizing noise in aircraft interiors is critical to the comfort of passengers. A helicopter manufacturer contacted Roush to develop and manufacture the optimal damping treatment for the fuselage skin of a new airframe.

Solution: Roush used its proprietary damping prediction software and proprietary database of material properties to simulate the dynamic behavior of the helicopter skin. Damping materials and treatment designs were evaluated on the computer to optimize the damping performance. A constrained-layer damping treatment, which could be easily applied to the interior of the helicopter skin, proved to be extremely effective.

Result: After testing prototype treatments to validate the design, and comparing the Roush treatment to other competing solutions, the manufacturer determined that the Roush solution provided optimal damping. The constrained-layer system that was put into production is composed of RA218 viscoelastic damping material with 0.010” aluminum.