Computing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Noise
Prof. Anastasios S. Lyrintzis
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Abstract: New electric airplanes being developed are part of a new mode of transportation called Urban Air Mobility (UAM). Noise is an important barrier for community acceptance of UAM vehicles. We will review the basic mechanisms for UAM noise generation, i.e. impulsive (due to the rotor’s rotation and aerodynamic interactions) and broadband noise (interactions due to turbulence). Compared to conventional helicopters, the lower tip Mach numbers associated with UAM vehicles change the relative importance of these sources. In addition, UAM vehicles are equipped with multi-rotors, which add aerodynamic interactions that complicate the physical mechanisms. Furthermore, there is a large variety of UAM vehicle configurations, which suggests further problems as well as offers new possibilities. Finally, we will discuss the effect of the urban environment which is the focus of our current NASA ULI project. In particular, the objective of this project is to characterize the urban flow, understand the response to disturbances, and develop optimization and control algorithms. In the talk we will classify computational approaches and show results computed by our group.
Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Associate Professor Lyrintzis has been a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Aerospace
Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University since January 2012. Previously, he was a
Professor and Associate Head of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. His
primary research interests are in the area of aeroacoustics. His research endeavors have been supported
by several federal agencies and industry [total funding ~12.5 million]. He has co-authored 72 journal
papers and 152 conference papers and is listed in the top 2% of scientists for career scholarly impact in a
several Elsevier lists. He has advised or co-advised 23 Ph.D. and 23 M.S. students. Professor Lyrintzis
has been a member of the AIAA Aeroacoustics Technical Committee (vice-chair 05-07, chair 07-09), the
AHS/VFS Acoustics Committee, the AIAA Higher Education Committee, the ASME Coordinating
Group for CFD and ADCA (Aerospace Department Chair Association (Chair 2015-17). He has co-
organized the 10 th (2004) and the 23 rd (2017) AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conferences, and he has been an
Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal and the International Journal of Aeroacoustics. Finally, Professor
Lyrintzis has participated in the development of award-winning (American Helicopter Society, Howard
Hughes Award, NASA Group Achievement Award) TRAC (TiltRotor Aeroacoustic Codes) system of
codes from NASA Langley, and is a recipient of the 2024 AIAA Sustained Service Award, and the 2025
AIAA Aeroacoustics Award. Professor Lyrintzis is a registered Professional Engineer, an AIAA Fellow,
ASME Fellow, RAeS Fellow and Boeing Welliver Fellow.