Quadcopter drones swarm aeroacoustics
Talib Dbouk, Dimitris Drikakis
Abstract
Swarms of drones is an emerging field of research and technology. Multicopter drones are noisy machines, and the noise effects would increase for a swarm. It is, therefore, essential to understand what flight formation conditions would reduce noise emissions. This study concerns the noise induced by drone swarms. We developed a high-resolution computational methodology for predicting aeroacoustic footprints emitted from a swarm of multi-copter drones. We show that a V-flight formation emits less sound pressure level noise than a U-shape (or rectangular) formation. We also demonstrate that the V-shape flight formation induces reduced drag, thus saving energy. This research's impact is broad, including defence and security, public health, transportation, and surveillance, among others.