Dr Chaitanya Paruchuri - University of Southampton

Research Fellowships 2019

Dr Chaitanya Paruchuri is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton. His primary research interests include aerofoil noise, propeller noise, and duct acoustics. He has published extensively and has eight patents in the field. He is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) of EPSRC-funded projects valued at over £2M.

His current work for the Academy Fellowship focuses on tip leakage noise, which arises from unsteady flow between the fan and duct wall in ducted rotor systems. Dr Paruchuri and his team identified the noise-generating mechanism responsible for this source, which is considered one of the least understood in turbofan engines. They have developed a new, simple method to significantly suppress this noise source by introducing small amounts of porosity at the wing tip.

Another research area he has initiated at the University of Southampton is urban air mobility noise research. The urban air mobility (UAM) and advanced air mobility (AAM) sectors have grown rapidly, from $2.9 billion worldwide in 2020 to a projected $28 billion by 2030. However, community noise is a significant barrier to the acceptance of this technology. Low-noise designs are urgently needed for the success of this technology and to realise its societal benefits.

With his research team they are identifying new propeller configurations for the next generation of urban mobility transport systems. These new designs aim to be significantly quieter than current ones. By taking a fundamental approach to this problem – identifying and characterising the dominant noise sources on these propeller configurations – they are gaining critical insights that will lead to innovative low-noise propeller design concepts.