HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® Sound Attenuating Honeycomb
Noise-reducing honeycomb for aircraft engines
JEC Innovation Award winning HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® sound attenuating honeycomb enables aircraft engine designers to achieve superior acoustical performance, including dramatic noise reduction during takeoff and landing without a structural weight penalty. This marks an improvement on current technology which requires tradeoffs between weight and noise reduction.
HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® non-metallic honeycomb consists of permeable cap material embedded into a honeycomb core to create an acoustic septum. Customers specify the flow resistance characteristics, overall core thickness, and number of caps in a cell and insertion depth. The result is a product tuned to their acoustic requirements.
HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® honeycomb is used by GE and Rolls-Royce to save weight and reduce engine noise by up to 30%. The GENX-2B engine, with HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® honeycomb, powered the first flight of the new Boeing 747-8 and is also used in the LEAP engine on the latest Boeing 737MAX.
HexWeb® Acousti-Cap® honeycomb provides marked noise reduction in aircraft engines which means:
- Lower landing fees at airports – a recurring cost saving
- Increased fleet flexibility
- Improved cabin comfort
- Reduction in other acoustic treatments, resulting in lower weight and costs
“The use of Hexcel’s AcoustiCap® and HexPly® carbon fiber prepreg in combination with the AleniaAermacchi patented process has resulted in the design and manufacture of a state-of-the-art acoustic panel.” -- AleniaAermacchi Senior Design Engineer.
The aluminum version of Acousti-Cap® honeycomb provides comparable broadband noise reducing performance to its non-metallic counterpart. It was developed in 2010 for use in applications where thermal conductivity is important.
Aluminum Acousti-Cap® honeycomb can withstand temperatures of up to 350°F/175°C during fabrication of the nacelle core blanket and is able to be manufactured using industry-standard techniques for forming, joining, cutting and machining.
