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.     

"Ladder" structure in tonal noise generated by laminar flow around an airfoil

The presence of a "ladder" structure in the airfoil tonal noise was discovered in the 1970s, but its mechanism hitherto remains a subject of continual investigation in the research community. Based on the measured noise results and some numerical analysis presented in this letter, the variations of four types of airfoil tonal noise frequencies with the flow velocity were analyzed individually. The ladder structure is proposed to be caused by the acoustic/hydrodynamic frequency lag between the scattering of the boundary layer instability noise and the discrete noise produced by an aeroacoustic feedback loop.     

Investigation of the benefits of unsteady blowing actuation on a 2D wind turbine blade

This paper investigates the benefit of unsteady blowing actuation over a two-dimensional (2D) airfoil specially designed for wind turbine applications. The experiments were carried out in Syracuse University’s anechoic wind tunnel, both with and without large-scale unsteadiness in the free stream generated by a 2D cylinder upstream of the airfoil. By analyzing both surface pressure through wavelet analysis and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) velocity field measurements, we found a drastic change in the flow physics and the aerodynamic loading on the airfoil between steady and unsteady free-stream conditions. When there was no large-scale unsteadiness introduced in the flow, under open-loop flow control conditions with unsteady blowing, the leading-edge separation was delayed and the maximum lift coefficient was increased. For the cases where large-scale unsteadiness was introduced into the flow, the experiments showed that both open-loop and closed-loop control cases were capable of reducing load fluctuations by a measurable amount. However, only the closed-loop control case that utilized dynamic surface pressure information from the airfoil suction side near the leading edge was capable of consistently mitigating the fluctuating load.     

Direct simulations of trailing-edge noise generation from two-dimensional airfoils at low Reynolds numbers

The aeroacoustic sound generated from the flow around two NACA four-digit airfoils is investigated numerically, at relatively low Reynolds numbers that do not prompt boundary-layer transition. By using high-order finite-difference schemes to discretize compressible Navier–Stokes equations, the sound scattered on airfoil surface is directly resolved as an unsteady pressure fluctuation. As the wavelength of an emitted noise is shortened compared to the airfoil chord, the diffraction effect on non-compact chord length appears more noticeable, developing multiple lobes in directivity. The instability mechanism that produces sound sources, or unsteady vortical motions, is quantitatively examined, also by using a linear stability theory. While the evidence of boundary-layer instability waves is captured in the present result, the most amplified frequency in the boundary shear layer does not necessarily agree with the primary frequency of a trailing-edge noise, when wake instability is dominant in laminar flow. This contradicts the observation of other trailing-edge noise studies at higher Reynolds numbers. However, via acoustic disturbances, the boundary-layer instability may become more significant, through the resonance with the wake instability, excited by increasing a base-flow Mach number. Evidence suggests that this would correspond to the onset of an acoustic feedback loop. The wake-flow frequencies derived by an absolute-instability analysis are compared with the frequencies realized in flow simulations, to clarify the effect of an acoustic feedback mechanism, at a low Reynolds number.     

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.     

Acoustic diffraction by a half-plane with discontinuous boundary conditions

A theoretical investigation of the wake pattern downstream of airfoils under predominantly laminar flow conditions and the resultant noise generation is presented. Under these conditions the wake is dominated by a Karman vortex street. A method is developed to theoretically predict the vortex shedding frequency by relating the wake pattern to the airfoil boundary layer parameters through the momentum equation. The generated noise is found to be dominated by a pure tone at the vortex shedding frequency. The results obtained with the present approach were found to agree quite well with experimental results obtained by other investigators.     

Measurements of aerodynamic noise and wake flow field in a cooling fan with winglets

The aerodynamic noise and the wake flow field in a cooling fan under actual operating conditions are studied with and without winglets on the fan blades. In order to understand the influence of the winglet, the aerodynamic noise and the wake velocity distribution are measured. The results indicated that overall noise level decreased and the noise spectrum was changed in a low frequency range when the winglet was installed. It was found from the flow visualization and PIV measurement that the influence of the winglet appeared in the traces of the tip vortices and the magnitude of vorticity was reduced in the near wake region, which suggest the observed reduction in aerodynamic noise     

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.     

The effect of a cavity on airfoil tones

The presence of a cavity in the pressure surface of an airfoil has been found via experiment to play a role in the production of airfoil tones, which was attributed to the presence of an acoustic feedback loop. The cavity length was sufficiently small that cavity oscillation modes did not occur for most of the investigated chord-based Reynolds number range of 70,000–320,000. The airfoil tonal noise frequencies varied as the position of the cavity was moved along a parallel section at the airfoil's maximum thickness: specifically, for a given velocity, the frequency spacing of the tones was inversely proportional to the geometric distance between the cavity and the trailing edge. The boundary layer instability waves considered responsible for the airfoil tones were only detected downstream of the cavity. This may be the first experimental verification of these aspects of the feedback loop model for airfoil tonal noise.     

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.     

Whole field spatial frequency analysis of double-or multiple-exposed PIV images

Speckle Velocimetry or high-image density PIV gives a velocity vector map of a twodimensional flow field by point-by-point spatial frequency analysis of local pattern at an interrogation spot in a double- or a multiple-exposed image of laser speckle or pseudo-speckle pattern generated by pulsed laser-light-sheet illuminations of a plane in the flow densely seeded with fine particles. The whole field spatial frequency analysis of the double- or multiple-exposed PIV image gives more useful information of the flow field. Optical Fourier transform is a conventional technique not only for the local spatial frequency analysis but for the whole field analysis. Filtering of spatial frequency is one of the typical techniques for the latter which can reconstruct a velocity contour or a component velocity contour map of the flow. Fundamentally this technique is a simple and efficient analogue method to get more information in the velocity field analysis of the flow than a digital image processing, but in practical applications the measurement is restricted to simple flows because of optical noise and low spatial resolution. In order to improve the technique, the fundamental characteristics of the filtering and the noise yielded in the filtering process must be investigated. Meanwhile, wavelet analysis can also be applied to the whole field spatial frequency analysis of PIV image. In this paper the filtering technique is examined by numerical convolution integral, and the results obtained are compared with ones obtained by the wavelet analysis.     

On the generation of side-edge flap noise

A theory is proposed for estimating the noise generated at the side edges of part span trailing edge flaps in terms of pressure fluctuations measured just in-board of the side edge on the upper surface of the flap. Asymptotic formulae are developed in the opposite extremes of Lorentz contracted acoustic wavelength large/small compared with the chord of the flap. Interpolation between these limiting results enables the field shape and its dependence on subsonic forward flight speed to be predicted over the whole frequency range. It is shown that the mean width of the side edge gap between the flap and the undeflected portion of the airfoil has a significant influence on the intensity of the radiated sound. The results indicate that the noise generated at a single side edge of a full scale part span flap can exceed that produced along the whole of the trailing edge of the flap by 3 dB or more.     

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.     

应用GAO-YONG可压缩湍流模式数值模拟RAE2822翼型绕流

应用Gao-Yong可压缩湍流模式,数值模拟RAE2822二维翼型在两种不同来流情况下的跨音速粘性绕流问题.湍流模式的对流项用ROE格式离散,扩散项用中心差分格式离散,空间离散后的控制方程用多步Runge-Kutta显式时间推进格式求解.计算结果预测了翼型表面的压力系数的分布、平均速度剖面、激波的位置、马赫数等值线等情况.同时,对翼型表面激波与边界层相互干扰以及转捩问题进行分析计算,结果表明,Gao-Yong可压缩湍流模式结合适当的数值方法能够成功地模拟翼型跨音速粘性流动.最后,基于Gao-Yong可压缩湍流模式各项异性湍流粘性的机理,初步提出一种预测转捩起始位置的方法.     

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.     

Investigation of cavitation noise using Eulerian-Lagrangian multiscale modeling

We have employed the large eddy simulation (LES) approach to investigate the cavitation noise characteristics of an unsteady cavitating flow around a NACA66 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) hydrofoil by employing an Eulerian-Lagrangian based multiscale cavitation model. A volume of fluid (VOF) method simulates the large cavity, whereas a Lagrangian discrete bubble model (DBM) tracks the small bubbles. Meanwhile, noise is determined using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation (FW-H). Eulerian-Lagrangian analysis has shown that, in comparison to VOF, it is more effective in revealing microscopic characteristics of unsteady cavitating flows, including microscale bubbles, that are unresolvable around the cloud cavity, and their impact on the flow field. It is also evident that its evolution of cavitation features on the hydrofoil is more consistent with the experimental observations. The frequency of the maximum sound pressure level corresponds to the frequency of the main cavity shedding for the noise characteristics. Using the Eulerian-Lagrangian method to predict the noise signal, results show that the cavitation noise, generated by discrete bubbles due to their collapse, is mainly composed of high-frequency signals. In addition, the frequency of cavitation noise induced by discrete microbubbles is around 10 kHz. A typical characteristic of cavitation noise, including two intense pulses during the collapsing of the cloud cavity, is described, as well as the mechanisms that underlie these phenomena. The findings of this work provide for a fundamental understanding of cavitation and serve as a valuable reference for the design and intensification of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors.     

Numerical analysis and passive control of a car side window buffeting noise based on Scale-Adaptive Simulation

Flow over an open side window in a car exhibits similar characteristics as the flow over an open cavity. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation over a cavity was done as a benchmark. The unsteady flow simulation was carried out using Scale Adaptive Simulation (SAS) turbulence model. The benchmark results, frequency and sound pressure levels of feedback and resonance modes, all well matched with the experimental data. Then, with the right rear window, for example, the mechanism of the side window buffeting was investigated. The simulation results show that side window buffeting noise is generated by large scale vortices and in low frequency. Furthermore, buffeting noise characteristics under several patterns of side windows opening were also numerically investigated. As a result, rear window buffeting noise is more severe than that of front window when one window open, and combination pattern of side windows open can reduce buffeting noise. To decrease the interior noise and improve car ride comfort, four suppression measures through adding a side window weather deflector at the A-pillars, constructing a cavity at the B-pillars, combination of the front and rear windows and installing a row of square cylinder deflector at the B-pillars were also studied, respectively. In conclusion, certain noise reduction can be achieved through four passive control methods.     

高超声速条件下7°直圆锥边界层转捩实验研究

在Ma=6低噪声风洞中开展了半锥角7?的直圆锥边界层转捩相关实验研究.利用响应频率达到MHz量级的高频压力传感器对圆锥壁面脉动压力进行了测量,研究了高超声速圆锥边界层中扰动波的发展过程.结果表明:高超声速圆锥边界层中第二模态扰动波产生的位置以及扰动波特征频率和波长等参数受雷诺数影响较大,当单位雷诺数从2×106m~(-1)增加到8×106m~(-1)时,第二模态波的特征频率从55 k Hz增加到226 k Hz;随着单位雷诺数增加,边界层中扰动增长速度加快,第二模态波出现在圆锥表面更靠近上游的位置;相同单位雷诺数条件下,随着第二模态波的向下游传播,其特征频率逐渐减小.通过对比发现自由来流湍流度对边界层中扰动波的发展同样有较大影响,自由来流湍流度降低,边界层中的第二模态波的特征频率明显减小.利用互相关分析得出第二模态扰动波在边界层中的传播速度大约为当地主流速度的0.8—0.9倍.在1?小攻角条件下,圆锥迎风面和背风面边界层发展呈现出明显的差异,背风面边界层中扰动发展提前,第二模态波出现在更靠近上游的位置,而迎风面中扰动发展受到抑制,第二模态波特征频率更大.     

A study on drag reduction of a rotationally oscillating circular cylinder at low Reynolds number

The flow field around a rotationally oscillating circular cylinder in a uniform flow is studied by using a particle image velocimetry to understand the mechanism of drag reduction and the corresponding suppression of vortex shedding in the cylinder wake at low Reynolds number. Experiments are conducted on the flow around the circular cylinder under rotational oscillation at forcing Strouhal number 1, rotational amplitude 2 and Reynolds number 2,000. It is found from the flow measurement by PIV that the width of the wake is narrowed and the velocity fluctuations are reduced by the rotational oscillation of the cylinder, which results in the drag reduction rate of 30%. The mechanism of drag reduction is studied by phase-averaged PIV measurement, which indicates the formation of periodic small-scale vortices from both sides of the cylinder. It is found from the cross-correlation measurement between the velocity fluctuations that the large-scale structure of vortex shedding is almost removed in the cylinder wake, when the small-scale vortices are generated at the unstable frequency of shear layer by the influence of rotational oscillation.     

Flow visualization and scanning PIV measurement of three-dimensional structure in near field of strongly buoyant jet

Abstract  

The near-field structure of strongly buoyant jet issuing from a square nozzle at low Froude and Reynolds numbers is studied by using LIF flow visualization and time-resolved scanning PIV. These experimental techniques allow the visualization of unsteady three-dimensional flow phenomenon occurring in the near-field of strongly buoyant jet. It is found that the buoyant jet is unstable to the positive buoyancy forces, which promote the inflow motion near the nozzle exit. The surrounding low temperature fluid moves into the nozzle inside along the nozzle corner and mixes with the high temperature fluid deep into the nozzle. Then, the flow pattern inside the nozzle becomes highly complex to promote the laminar to turbulent transition of the jet. The statistical flow characteristics of the strongly buoyant jet are evaluated from the scanning PIV measurement, and the result indicates the presence of axisymmetric distributions of mean flow and velocity fluctuations in the circle of diameter equal to the square side of the nozzle.