Acoustic and aerodynamic design and characterization of a small-scale aeroacoustic wind tunnel

The aeroacoustic wind tunnel at Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus is a newly commissioned research facility for the experimental study of sound generation from bodies immersed in a fluid flow. The paper discusses the design criteria for the open jet wind tunnel that provides a maximum wind speed of 72 m/s at continuous operation and may be operated with nozzles of different dimension between 35 cm diameter (circular nozzle) and 12 cm by 14.7 cm (rectangular nozzle). Experiments may be performed either in a reverberant or in an anechoic environment. Both the aerodynamic and the acoustic design of the wind tunnel components are discussed in detail. Background noise measurements in the completed facility revealed very low levels comparable to other wind tunnels. The results of aerodynamic wind tunnel calibration confirmed a uniform flow quality in the jet and a very low axial turbulence intensity which is less than 0.2% for the 35 cm nozzle and less than 0.1% for the other nozzles. A final benchmark is provided by results of successful trailing edge noise measurements on an SD7003 airfoil that are presented and compared to results from the literature.     

A frequency domain numerical method for airfoil broadband self-noise prediction

This paper describes a numerical approach, based in the frequency domain, for predicting the broadband self-noise radiation due to an airfoil situated in a smooth mean flow. Noise is generated by the interaction between the boundary layer turbulence on the airfoil surface and the airfoil trailing edge. Thin airfoil theory is used to deduce the unsteady blade loading. In this paper, the important difference with much of the previous work dealing with trailing edge noise is that the integration of the surface sources for computation of the radiated sound field is evaluated on the actual airfoil surface rather than in the mean-chord plane. The assumption of flat plate geometry in the calculation of radiation is therefore avoided. Moreover, the solution is valid in both near and far fields and reduces to the analytic solution due to Amiet when the airfoil collapses to a flat plate with large span, and the measurement point is taken to the far field.Predictions of the airfoil broadband self-noise radiation presented here are shown to be in reasonable agreement with the predictions obtained using the Brooks approach, which are based on a comprehensive database of experimental data. Also investigated in this paper is the effect on the broadband noise prediction of relaxing the ‘frozen-gust’ assumption, whereby the turbulence at each frequency comprises a continuous spectrum of streamwise wavenumber components. It is shown that making the frozen gust assumption yields an under-prediction of the noise spectrum by approximately 2dB compared with that obtained when this assumption is relaxed, with the largest occurring at high frequencies.This paper concludes with a comparison of the broadband noise directivity for a flat-plat, a NACA 0012 and a NACA 0024 airfoil at non-zero angle of attack. Differences of up to 20 dB are predicted, with the largest difference occurring at a radiation angle of zero degrees relative to the airfoil mean centre line.     

Design and performance of a small-scale aeroacoustic wind tunnel

The D5 aeroacoustic wind tunnel at Beihang University is a newly commissioned small-scale closed-circuit wind tunnel with low turbulence intensity and low background noise. The wind tunnel is built to study both aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of aircraft components or scaled models. The wind tunnel has two types of test sections, the closed type test section is used for aerodynamic tests while the open type test section is mainly used for aeroacoustic experiments. Both types of test section are 1 m in height and 1 m in width, and the maximum wind velocity in the test section can be up to 80 m/s. An anechoic chamber is built surrounding the test section to provide the non-reflecting condition. This paper provides an overview of design criteria and performance of the small-scale wind tunnel. The layout of the wind tunnel and some critical design treatments to improve aerodynamic and acoustic performance are discussed in detail. Some experiments are conducted to verify the performance of D5 wind tunnel, results confirm that the turbulence intensity is less than 0.08% in the core of test section and the background noise is comparable with other aeroacoustic wind tunnels. A scaled simplified nose landing gear model is also measured as a benchmark test, results reveal that noise radiated from the model is adequately higher than the background noise for a wide frequency range and remarkably consistent with other results from literatures.     

A case study of localization and identification of noise sources from a pitch and a stall regulated wind turbine

We have experimentally identified the noise-generation mechanisms of large modern upwind wind turbines (WTs). First, the sound measurement procedures of IEC 61400-11 were used in the field test, and noise emissions from two WTs were evaluated: a stall-controlled WT with powers of 1.5 MW and a pitch-regulated WT with powers of 660 kW. One-third octave band levels were normalized using the scale law for the velocity dependence of the inflow broadband noise and airfoil self-noise. The results showed that for the 1.5 MW WT, inflow turbulence noise was dominant over the whole frequency range. For the 660 kW WT, the inflow broadband noise did not contribute across the whole audible frequency range. The distribution of noise sources in the rotor plane was visualized using a beam-forming measurement system (B&K 7768, 7752, and WA0890) consisting of 48 microphones. The array results for the 660 kW WT indicated that all noise was produced during the downward movement of the blades. This finding was in good agreement with theoretical results obtained using an empirical formula that includes the effects of the convective amplification, directivity, and flow-speed dependence of the turbulence boundary-layer trailing edge noise. This agreement implies that this trailing edge noise is dominant over the whole frequency range in the case of the 660 kW WT.     

Numerical analysis of tonal airfoil self-noise and acoustic feedback-loops

In this study the role of acoustic feedback instabilities in the tonal airfoil self-noise phenomenon is investigated. First, direct numerical simulations are conducted of the flow around a NACA-0012 airfoil at Re=1×10⁵ and four angles of attack. At the two lowest angles of attack considered the airfoil self-noise exhibits a clear tonal contribution, whereas at the two higher angles of attack the tonal contribution becomes less significant in comparison to the broadband noise. Classical linear stability analysis of time-averaged boundary layer profiles shows that the tonal noise occurs at a frequency significantly lower than that of the most convectively amplified instability wave. Two-dimensional linear stability analysis of the time-averaged flowfield is then performed, illustrating the presence of an acoustic feedback loop involving the airfoil trailing edge. The feedback loop is found to be unstable only for the cases where tonal self-noise is prominent, and is found to self-select a frequency almost identical to that of the tonal self-noise. The constituent mechanisms of the acoustic feedback loop are considered, which appear to explain why the preferred frequency is lower than that of the most convectively amplified instability wave.     

Noise due to turbulent flow past a trailing edge

A theoretical method [I] for calculating far field noise from an airfoil in an incident turbulent flow is extended to apply to the case of noise produced by turbulent flow past a trailing edge, and some minor points of the theory in reference [1] are clarified. For the trailing edge noise, the convecting surface pressure spectrum upstream of the trailing edge is taken to be the appropriate input. The noise is regarded as generated almost totally by the induced surface dipoles near the trailing edge and thus equal, but anticorrelated, noise is radiated into the regions above and below the airfoil wake, respectively. The basic assumption of the analysis, from which these concepts of appropriate input and dominance of dipole sources follow, is that the turbulence remains stationary in the statistical sense as it moves past the trailing edge. The results show that such trailing edge noise often is quite small, compared say to that produced by typical oncoming turbulence levels of one percent, but that it might be appreciable for an airfoil with a flow separation, or for a blown flap.     

锯齿尾缘降噪翼型优化设计研究

大量研究工作表明旋转风电叶片的主要气动噪声来自叶尖尾缘区域,一直以来都是严重影响居民生活和叶片气动性能发挥的重要因素之一.为此,针对决定叶片重要气动特性单元——二维翼型,采用有别于传统的仿猫头鹰翅膀锯齿尾缘流动控制方法,将锯齿关键尺寸参数融入到风力机翼型设计之中,从而开发仿生锯齿翼型的优化设计方法,获得低噪声与高气动性...     

NOISE GENERATED BY A COANDA WALL JET CIRCULATION CONTROL DEVICE

An analysis is made of the production of sound by a hydrofoil with a Coanda wall jet circulation control (CC-) device. Three principal sources are identified in the vicinity of the trailing edge of the hydrofoil. The radiation at very low frequencies is dominated by “curvature noise” generated by the interaction of boundary layer turbulence with the rounded trailing edge of the CC-hydrofoil; this is similar in character and magnitude to the low-frequency component of the conventional trailing edge noise produced by a hydrofoil of the same chord, but with a sharp trailing edge. Higher frequency sound is produced principally at the Coanda jet slot. “Passive slot noise” is caused by the “scattering” by the slot lip of nearfield pressure fluctuations in the turbulent boundary layer of the exterior mean flow past the slot. This is of comparable intensity to high frequency, sharp-edged trailing edge noise. However, the acoustic spectrum is greatly extended to much higher frequencies if the Coanda jet is turbulent; the sound produced by the interaction of this turbulence with the lip tends to dominate the spectrum at frequencies f (Hz) greater than about U_j/h, where h is the slot width and U_jthe Coanda jet speed. Sample numerical results are presented for a typical underwater application that indicate that at this and higher frequencies the slot noise can be 20 dB or more greater than conventional trailing edge noise, although the differences become smaller as the thickness of the slot lip increases.     

Effects of mean flow convection,quadrupole sources and vortex shedding on airfoil overall sound pressure level

This paper presents a further analysis of results of airfoil self-noise prediction obtained in the previous work using large eddy simulation and acoustic analogy. The physical mechanisms responsible for airfoil noise generation in the aerodynamic flows analyzed are a combination of turbulent and laminar boundary layers, as well as vortex shedding (VS) originated due to trailing edge bluntness. The primary interest here consists of evaluating the effects of mean flow convection, quadrupole sources and vortex shedding tonal noise on the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of a NACA0012 airfoil at low and moderate freestream Mach numbers. The overall sound pressure level is the measured quantity which eventually would be the main concern in terms of noise generation for aircraft and wind energy companies, and regulating agencies. The Reynolds number based on the airfoil chord is fixed at _Rec=408,000${\mathit{Re}}_c=408,000$ for all flow configurations studied. The results demonstrate that, for moderate Mach numbers, mean flow effects and quadrupole sources considerably increase OASPL and, therefore, should be taken into account in the acoustic prediction. For a low Mach number flow with vortex shedding, it is observed that OASPL is higher when laminar boundary layer separation is the VS driving mechanism compared to trailing edge bluntness.     

Measurement of aerodynamic noise and unsteady flow field around a symmetrical airfoil

The purpose of this paper is to study the physics of aerodynamic noise generation from the symmetrical airfoil of NACA 0018 in a uniform flow. The relationship between the noise spectrum and the unsteady flow field around the airfoil is studied in an acoustic wind tunnel using flow visualization and PIV analysis. The discrete frequency noise was generated from the airfoil inclined at small angle of attack to the free stream. The flow visualization result indicates the presence of attached boundary layer over the suction side and the separated shear layer over the rear pressure side of the airfoil, when the discrete frequency noise is observed. It is found from the PIV analysis that a large magnitude of vorticity is generated periodically from the pressure side of the trailing edge and it develops into an asymmetrical vortex street in the wake of the airfoil. The periodicity of the shedding vortices was found to agree with that of the frequency of the generated noise.     

Symbolic regression modeling of noise generation at porous airfoils

Based on data sets from previous experimental studies, the tool of symbolic regression is applied to find empirical models that describe the noise generation at porous airfoils. Both the self noise from the interaction of a turbulent boundary layer with the trailing edge of an porous airfoil and the noise generated at the leading edge due to turbulent inflow are considered. Following a dimensional analysis, models are built for trailing edge noise and leading edge noise in terms of four and six dimensionless quantities, respectively. Models of different accuracy and complexity are proposed and discussed. For the trailing edge noise case, a general dependency of the sound power on the fifth power of the flow velocity was found and the frequency spectrum is controlled by the flow resistivity of the porous material. Leading edge noise power is proportional to the square of the turbulence intensity and shows a dependency on the fifth to sixth power of the flow velocity, while the spectrum is governed by the flow resistivity and the integral length scale of the incoming turbulence.     

机翼后缘噪声预测研究

机翼后缘噪声是飞机重要的机体噪声源之一。本文基于CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamic)数值模拟和Ffcows Williams-Hall理论,研究应用了一种预测干净机翼后缘气动噪声的方法。采用Menter’s SSTκ-ω湍流模型对翼型和机翼进行N-S方程数值模拟得到后缘附近的湍流特征速度和特征长度,再利用Serhat Hosder的预估方法计算后缘噪声强度级。本文首先计算了NACA0012翼型在7种不同状态的后缘噪声,计算结果与实验值比较,符合很好,从而证明了本文采用的方法的可行性和正确性;然后研究了两个亚音速翼型(NACA 0009,NACA 0012),两个超临界翼型(SC(2)- 0710,SC(2)-0714),EET机翼的不同参数对后缘噪声强度级的影响,得出了对降低后缘噪声有参考意义的结论。     

Tuning of turbulent boundary layer anisotropy for improved surface pressure and trailing-edge noise modeling

The modeling of the surface pressure spectrum beneath a turbulent boundary layer is investigated, focusing on the case of airfoil flows and associated trailing edge noise prediction using the so-called TNO model. This type of flow is characterized by the presence of an adverse pressure gradient along the airfoil chord. It is shown that discrepancies between measurements and results from the TNO model increase as the pressure gradient increases. The original model is modified by introducing anisotropy in the definition of the turbulent vertical velocity spectrum across the boundary layer and by considering a frequency-dependent vertical correlation length. The degree of anisotropy is directly related to the strength of the pressure gradient. It is shown that by appropriately normalizing the pressure gradient and by tuning the degree of anisotropy, experimental results can be closely reproduced by the modified model. The model is validated against Large Eddy Simulation results and additional wind tunnel measurements. It is further validated in the context of trailing edge noise for which the model formulation makes use of the above surface pressure spectrum.     

An experimental investigation of unsteady surface pressure on an airfoil in turbulence—Part 1: Effects of mean loading

An experimental investigation into the response of an airfoil in turbulence is undertaken and the results are presented in a two part series of papers. The effects of mean loading on the airfoil response are investigated in this paper (Part 1) with the likely sources discussed in Part 2. Unsteady surface pressure measurements were made on a NACA 0015 immersed in grid turbulence (λ/c=13%) for angles of attack, α=0-20°, with a dense array of pressure transducers. These measurements reveal a reduction of up to 5 dB in pressure spectral level as the angle of attack is increased for reduced frequencies less than 5. This observed mean-loading effect has never before been measured or shown to occur theoretically. Lift spectra computed from pressure measurements show a similar result. Furthermore, the reduction in lift spectral level appears to have an α² dependence. Also, for small angles of attack (α<8°) Amiet's zero-mean-loading theory may be useful for predicting the airfoil response since the reduction in spectral level is less than 1 dB here. Based on comparisons at α=0°, Amiet's theory predicts with reasonable accuracy (within 4 dB at low frequency) pressure and lift spectral levels. This theory successfully predicts the shape of both pressure and lift spectra and the decrease in pressure spectral level moving away from the airfoil leading edge. Additionally, Reba and Kerschen's theory, which accounts for non-zero-mean loading using Rapid Distortion Theory, predicts large increases in pressure and lift spectral levels not shown to occur in the measurement. The predicted rise in spectral level appears to result from the flat-plate model with leading-edge singularity which does not fully account for the distortion of the inflow.     

An experimental study of airfoil instability tonal noise with trailing edge serrations

This paper presents an experimental study of the effect of trailing edge serrations on airfoil instability noise. Detailed aeroacoustic measurements are presented of the noise radiated by an NACA-0012 airfoil with trailing edge serrations in a low to moderate speed flow under acoustical free field conditions. The existence of a separated boundary layer near the trailing edge of the airfoil at an angle of attack of 4.2 degree has been experimentally identified by a surface mounted hot-film arrays technique. Hot-wire results have shown that the saw-tooth surface can trigger a bypass transition and prevent the boundary layer from becoming separated. Without the separated boundary layer to act as an amplifier for the incoming Tollmien–Schlichting waves, the intensity and spectral characteristic of the radiated tonal noise can be affected depending upon the serration geometry. Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the airfoil wakes for a straight and serrated trailing edge are also reported in this paper. These measurements show that localized normal-component velocity fluctuations that are present in a small region of the wake from the laminar airfoil become weakened once serrations are introduced. Owing to the above unique characteristics of the serrated trailing edges, we are able to further investigate the mechanisms of airfoil instability tonal noise with special emphasis on the assessment of the wake and non-wake based aeroacoustic feedback models. It has been shown that the instability tonal noise generated at an angle of attack below approximately one degree could involve several complex mechanisms. On the other hand, the non-wake based aeroacoustic feedback mechanism alone is sufficient to predict all discrete tone frequencies accurately when the airfoil is at a moderate angle of attack.     

YLSG 107高升力翼型主动流动控制的数值模拟

数值模拟零质量射流与YLSG 107翼型绕流的干扰流场,探讨零质量射流在高升力翼型失速控制中的控制效果、控制特性及控制机理.数值模拟以积分形式雷诺平均Navier-Stokes(N-S)方程为控制方程,采用格心有限体积法进行求解.通过在喷口上施加非定常边界吹/吸边界条件模拟射流对翼型绕流的干扰.采用与风洞实验相同的来流状态和控制参数进行数值模拟,得到与实验相吻合的结果.为进一步研究控制特性和控制规律、提出改进的实验方案,研究不同动量系数、不同射流偏角对控制效果的影响,并对法向射流和近切向射流进行较深入的比较.研究表明,先前的风洞实验对应的射流动量系数(0.000 014)偏小是控制效果不显著的重要原因之一,必须达到0.001以上才有明显控制效果(射流动量系数为0.005时可使该翼型失速迎角增大2°,最大升力提高8.7%);近切向射流在失速控制方面明显优于法向射流.     

Numerical and experimental study of high-lift configurations

Flow of two high-lift devices is studied on the basis of the solution to two-dimensional Reynolds equations with the Spalart — Allmaras one-equation turbulence model. Computation results are compared with the experiment under the conditions of airfoil flow in the low-speed wind tunnel with open test section. It is shown that such approach is the most correct for this comparison.     

基于正交设计的风力机翼型尾缘襟翼参数分析

引入试验中正交设计的思想,通过数值模拟研究了风力机翼型尾缘襟翼不同参数的影响。采用带有转捩模型的SST k-ω湍流模型模拟了基于S809的尾缘襟翼的尺寸、偏斜角度和形状的影响。结果表明:尾缘襟翼尺寸、偏斜角度对于翼型相关气动参数影响较大,在考查参数范围内折中采用10%弦长、偏斜10°的尾缘襟翼综合性能较好;尾缘襟翼形状函数影响相对较小,采用变化较平缓的尾缘襟翼有利于保持流动稳定性。     

Wind turbine noise measurement using a compact microphone array with advanced deconvolution algorithms

This paper experimentally investigates the noise from a large wind turbine (GE 1.5 MW) with a compact microphone array (OptiNav 24) using advanced deconvolution based beamforming methods, such as DAMAS and CLEAN-SC beamforming algorithms, for data reduction. Our study focuses on the ability of a compact microphone array to successfully locate both mechanical and aerodynamic noise sources on the wind turbine. Several interesting results have emerged from this study: (i) A compact microphone array is sufficient to perform a detailed study on wind turbine noise if advanced deconvolution methods are applied. (ii) Noise sources on the blade and on the nacelle can clearly be separated. (iii) Noise of the blades is dominated by trailing edge noise which is frequency dependent and is distributed along the length of the blade with the dominant noise source closer to the tip of the blade. (iv) The LP and DAMAS algorithms represent the distributed trailing edge noise source better than CLEAN-SC and classical beamforming. (v) Additional tonal noise produced during yawing operation is believed to be radiating from the tower of the wind turbine that acts like a resonator. (vi) Ground reflection is not believed to have a significant effect on noise source location estimates in this study.     

后掠叶片锯齿尾缘宽频噪声实验研究

本文采用线性传声器阵列分别对具有常规尾缘及锯齿形尾缘的后掠叶片的尾缘噪声进行了实验测量;运用CLEAN-SC数据处理方法精确地识别出叶片尾缘噪声的声学参数.并且基于多组实验结果的对比,深入研究了不同的尾缘锯齿长度、周期、几何比例对后掠叶片尾缘噪声降噪效果的影响.实验结果表明:在低湍流度、自由来流情况下,在总声压级降噪方...