Influence of Surrounding Structures upon the Aerodynamic and Acoustic Performance of the Outdoor Unit of a Split Air-Conditioner

DC-inverter split air-conditioner is widely used in Chinese homes as a result of its high-efficiency and energy-saving. Recently, the researches on its outdoor unit have focused on the influence of surrounding structures upon the aerodynamic and acoustic performance, however they are only limited to the influence of a few parameters on the performance, and practical design of the unit requires more detailed parametric analysis. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics（CFD） and computational aerodynamic acoustics（CAA） simulation based on FLUENT solver is used to study the influence of surrounding structures upon the aforementioned properties of the unit. The flow rate and sound pressure level are predicted for different rotating speed, and agree well with the experimental results. The parametric influence of three main surrounding structures（i.e. the heat sink, the bell-mouth type shroud and the outlet grille） upon the aerodynamic performance of the unit is analyzed thoroughly. The results demonstrate that the tip vortex plays a major role in the flow fields near the blade tip and has a great effect on the flow field of the unit. The inlet ring＇s size and throat＇s depth of the bell-mouth type shroud, and the through-flow area and configuration of upwind and downwind sections of the outlet grille are the most important factors that affect the aerodynamic performance of the unit. Furthermore, two improved schemes against the existing prototype of the unit are developed, which both can significantly increase the flow rate more than 6 %（i.e. 100 m3·h～（-1）） at given rotating speeds. The inevitable increase of flow noise level when flow rate is increased and the advantage of keeping a lower rotating speed are also discussed. The presented work could be a useful guideline in designing the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of the split air-conditioner in engineering practice.

On aerodynamic noises radiated by the pantograph system of high-speed trains

Pantograph system of high-speed trains become significant source of aerodynamic noise when travelling speed exceeds 300 km/h. In this paper, a hybrid method of non-linear acoustic solver （NLAS） and Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings （FW-H） acoustic analogy is used to predict the aerodynamic noise of pantograph system in this speed range. When the simulation method is validated by a benchmark problem of flows around a cylinder of finite span, we calculate the near flow field and far acoustic field surrounding the pantograph system. And then, the frequency spectra and acoustic attenuation with distance are analyzed, showing that the pantograph system noise is a typical broadband one with most acoustic power restricted in the medium-high frequency range from 200 Hz to 5 kHz. The aerodynamic noise of pantograph systems radiates outwards in the form of spherical waves in the far field. Analysis of the overall sound pressure level （OASPL） at different speeds exhibits that the acoustic power grows approximately as the 4th power of train speed. The comparison of noise reduction effects for four types of pantograph covers demonstrates that only case 1 can lessen the total noise by about 3 dB as baffles on both sides can shield sound wave in the spanwise direction. The covers produce additional aerodynamic noise themselves in the other three cases and lead to the rise of OASPLs.

Flow-Induced Acoustic Resonances in Exhaust Gas Economizer Tube Banks

To investigate the conditions under which acoustic resonances occur, staggered arrays of closely spaced rigid tubes were tested in a wind tunnel under various flow velocities. The author investigated the Strouhal numbers at which flow periodicities occur, the relation between these Strouhal numbers and those at which acoustic resonances occur, and the effects of Reynolds number and longitudinal tube spacings on the occurrence of acoustic resonance. This investigation showed the following： （1） Acoustic resonance can be produced at a frequency well removed from that of vortex shedding. The results also show evidence of vortex shedding and acoustic resonance existing simultaneously but at different frequencies. （2） Acoustic resonance behavior is consistent with that of a self-excited system. （3） A new model of this phenomenon provides an improved procedure for avoiding acoustic resonances in closely spaced tube banks.

Acoustic Resonance in Exhaust Gas Economizer Tube Bundles Prediction and Suppression of Resonance

The tendency for air column resonance generation in structures with a constant volume behind a tube array like that of an exhaust gas economizer has been reported, but many points remain unclear with respect to the mechanism and conditions that generate acoustical resonance. When acoustical resonance is generated, in reality, prevention and suppression measures are implemented by inserting a baffle plate into the ducts through a process of trial and error. The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanism of generation of acoustical resonance, and to establish an appropriate measure to prevent such resonance. Noise generated in an exhaust gas economizer was correlated with the flow inside the tube array and experimentally analyzed, and the mechanism for resonance generation was considered. In addition, the effectiveness of a baffle plate positioned in order to prevent resonance was investigated. We have successfully employed a single baffle plate to suppress resonance.

Landing gear noise control using perforated fairings

Landing gears of commercial aircraft make an important contribution to total aircraft noise in the approach configuration. Using fairings to shield components from high speed impingement reduces noise. Furthermore, perforating these fairings has been confirmed by flight tests to further enable noise reduction. Following an earlier fundamental study of the application of perforated fairings, a study has been performed to investigate and optimize the benefits of bleeding air through landing gear fairings. By means of wind tunnel tests, an aerodynamic and acoustic survey has been performed on a simplified generic main landing gear to explore the influence of （perforated） fairings on the lower part of the gear. The results show that for this specific case, the application of impermeable fairings reduces noise in the mid- and high frequency range by shielding sharp edged components from high velocity impingement. However, below 1 kHz the noise is shown to increase significantly. Application of the perforations is shown to diminish this low frequency increase whilst maintaining the reduction in the mid- and high frequency range. The aerodynamic and acoustic measurements point in the direction of the separated flow of the fairings interacting with the downstream gear components responsible for the low frequency noise increase. Bleeding of the air through the fairings reduces the large scale turbulence in the proximity of these components and hence diminishes the low frequency noise increase.

Analysis of Aerodynamic Noise Generated from Inclined Circular Cylinder

Making clear the generation mechanism of fluid dynamic noise is essential to reduce noise deriving from turbomachinery. The analysis of the aerodynamic noise generated from circular cylinder is carried out numerically and experimentally in a low noise wind tunnel. In this study,aerodynamic sound radiated from a circular cylinder in uniform flow is predicted numerically by the following two step method. First, the three-dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is solved using the high order accurate upwind scheme. Next, the sound pressure level at the observed point is calculated from the fluctuating surface pressure on the cylinder, based on modified Lighthill-Curl’s equation. It is worth to note that the noise generated from the model is reduced rapidly when it is inclined against the mean flow. In other words, the peak level of the radiated noise decreases rapidly with inclination of the circular cylinder The simulated SPL for the inclined circular cylinder is compared with the measured value, and good agreement is obtained for the peak spectrum frequency of the sound pressure level and tendency of noise reduction. So we expect that the change of flow structures makes reduction of the aerodynamic noise from the inclined models.

Influence of the Karman Vortex Street on the Broadband Noise Generated from a Multiblade Fan

In the prediction theory for the broadband noise generated from a multiblade fan, the vortices in the Karman vortex street was divided into n pieces. The frequency distribution of the noise was estimated so that the Strouhal number could become constant even if the wake is spread by the diffusion. From the results of the measurement of the internal flow of the fan, it was found that the noise was related to the wake characteristics of the specific location in the scroll casing where the relative flow velocity was high. The noise operating in the vicinity of the maximum efficiency point of the fan was distributed over the domain from 500 Hz to 1250 Hz. It was experimentally proved that the influence of the Karman vortex street on the noise in the domains of high and low frequencies did not exist when the distribution of the estimated sound pressure level corresponded to the measured broadband noise.