Process for producing through-holes in sheet members

1. A process of producing multiple through-holes in an acoustic skin of an acoustic panel, the process comprising:

deforming a sheet member to have an arcuate shape with an arcuate surface;

mounting, orienting, translating and rotating the arcuate-shaped sheet member on a mandrel relative to an electron beam gun;

operating a multiple-axis positioning drive system to determine orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member relative to the electron beam gun; and then

while rotating the arcuate-shaped sheet member, operating the electron beam gun to direct an electron beam at the arcuate surface of the rotating arcuate-shaped sheet member and deflecting the electron beam toward multiple locations on the arcuate surface to produce the multiple through-holes through the arcuate-shaped sheet member in a defined hole pattern and thereby yield a perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin having an arcuate flow path surface defined by the arcuate surface of the arcuate-shaped sheet member, the orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member being controlled so that each of the holes has an axis substantially normal to the arcuate flow path surface of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin sheet and along a radial of a curvature of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin, and the orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member being further controlled so that the size, shape and spacing of the holes are intentionally altered within the hole pattern to tune at least one specific area of the arcuate flow path surface to attenuate specific frequency bands of noise with the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet member is formed of an aluminum alloy.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the holes are not subjected to elongation in a nonuniform manner after the holes are produced, and the holes have the same cross-sectional shape transverse to the axes thereof.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein each hole has a longitudinal cross-section shape chosen from the group consisting of rectilinear, tapered, bell, and hourglass shapes.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the holes have diameters of about 0.5 to about 1.1 millimeters.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the transverse and longitudinal cross-sectional shapes of the holes are substantially the same throughout the perforated arcuate-shaped arcuate sheet.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the holes are selectively located in first regions of the arcuate-shaped sheet member and selectively omitted in second regions of the arcuate-shaped sheet member to promote the structural integrity of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin.

8. The process according to claim 1 , the process further comprising bonding the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin to a first surface of a core and bonding a backing sheet to an oppositely-disposed second surface of the core to produce the acoustic panel.

9. The process according to claim 8 , further comprising installing the acoustic panel on an aircraft engine.

10. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the acoustic panel is installed as part of an engine nacelle of the aircraft engine.

11. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the acoustic panel is installed on a duct sidewall of the aircraft engine.

12. A process of producing an acoustic panel of an aircraft engine, the process comprising:

deforming a metallic sheet member to have an arcuate shape with an arcuate surface;

mounting, orientation, translating and rotating the arcuate-shaped sheet member on a mandrel within an evacuated chamber and relative to an electron beam gun;

operating a five-axis positioning drive system to determine orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member relative to the electron beam gun; and then

while rotating the arcuate-shaped sheet member, operating the electron beam gun to direct an electron beam at the arcuate surface of the rotating arcuate-shaped sheet member and deflecting the electron beam toward multiple locations on the arcuate surface to produce multiple through-holes through the arcuate-shaped sheet member in a defined hole pattern and thereby yield a perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin having an arcuate flow path surface defined by the arcuate surface of the arcuate-shaped sheet member, the orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member being controlled so that each of the holes has an axis substantially normal to the arcuate flow path surface of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin and along a radial of a curvature of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin, and the orientation, translation and rotation of the arcuate-shaped sheet member being further controlled so that the size, shape and spacing of the holes are intentionally altered within the hole pattern to tune at least one specific area of the arcuate flow path surface to attenuate specific frequency bands of noise with the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin; and then

bonding the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic sheet to a first surface of a core and bonding a backing sheet to an oppositely-disposed second surface of the core to produce the acoustic panel.

13. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the sheet member is formed of an aluminum alloy.

14. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the holes are not subjected to elongation in a nonuniform manner after the holes are produced, and the holes have the same cross-sectional shape transverse to the axes thereof.

15. The process according to claim 12 , wherein each hole has a longitudinal cross-section shape chosen from the group consisting of rectilinear, tapered, bell, and hourglass shapes.

16. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the holes have diameters of about 0.5 to about 1.1 millimeters.

17. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the transverse and longitudinal cross-sectional shapes of the holes are substantially the same throughout the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin.

18. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the holes are selectively located in first regions of the arcuate-shaped sheet member and selectively omitted in second regions of the arcuate-shaped sheet member to promote the structural integrity of the perforated arcuate-shaped acoustic skin.

19. The process according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of installing the acoustic panel on the aircraft engine.