Experimental and Numerical Study of Wind Noise Caused by Cowl Area on Volvo XC60

This paper presents a detailed experimental and numerical study of aerodynamically produced noise which occurs due to turbulent structures created by the cowl cavity and side mirror. Measurements were carried out at Volvo aerodynamical wind tunnel on a Volvo XC60 production model. The configurations considered here are： side mirror On/Off with the cowl cavity open/closed. The results of exterior sound source mapping （with the intensity probe placed in the flow stream） have been compared with the results of the measurements inside the car. The contribution of the cowl area to overall wind noise level is measured in terms of AI% （Articulation Index） inside the compartment. It was shown that increase in AI by 2% could be attributed to the cowl generated wind noise. Transient numerical simulations of the turbulent flow around the car have been performed for all configurations. The results of the simulations show similarity to experimental results and give insight to the flow structures around the car.

Comparison of the Sound Power Levels of an Aerodynamically Designed EGV and a State-of-the-Art EGV

Within previous EU projects, possible modifications to the engine components have been investigated, that would allow for an optimised aerodynamic or acoustic design of the EGV （exit guide vanes） of the TEC （turbine exit casing）. However, the engine weight should not be increased and the aerodynamic performance must be at least the same. This paper compares the sound power level of a state-of-the-art TEC （reference TEC） with typical EGVs with an aerodynamically optimised TEC configuration for the engine operating point approach. It is shown that a significant weight reduction （only bladings considered） and reduction in engine length can be achieved but the sound power level for the fundamental tone （lst blade passing frequency） for this acoustically important operating point is increased. It is also shown that the losses of the aerodynamical optimised EGVs are higher for this off design point but significantly lower at the aero design point. Measurements were conducted in the STTF （subsonic test turbine facility） at the Institute for Thermal Turbo machinery and Machine Dynamics, Graz University of Technology. The inlet guide vanes, the LPT （low pressure turbine） stage, and the EGVs have been designed by MTU Aero Engines.

Aero-Acoustics of Modern Transonic Fans—— Fan Noise Reduction from Its Sources

The noise of aerodynamics nature from modern transonic fan is examined from its sources with the perspective of noise reduction through aero-acoustics design using advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools. In particular the problems associated with the forward propagating noise in the front is addressed. It is identified that the shock wave spillage from the leading edge near the fan tip is the main source of the tone noise. Two different approaches have been studied to reduce the forward arc tone noise and two state-of-art transonic fans are designed using the strategies developed. The following rig tests show that while the fans exhibit other noise problems, the primary goals of noise reduction have been achieved through both fans and the novel noise reduction concept vindicated.

Counter Rotating Fans- An Aircraft Propulsion for the Future?

In the mid seventies a new propulsor for aircraft was designed and investigated - the so-called PROPFAN. With regard to the total pressure increase, it ranges between a conventional propeller and a turbofan with very high bypass ratio. This new propulsion system promised a reduction in fuel consumption of 15 to 25% compared to engines at that time.A lot of propfans (Hamilton Standard, USA) with different numbers of blades and blade shapes have been designed and tested in wind tunnels in order to find an optimum in efficiency, Fig.1. Parallel to this development GE, USA, made a design of a counter rotating unducted propfan, the so-called UDF, Fig.2. A prototype engine was manufactured and investigated on an in-flight test bed mounted at the MD82 and the B727. Since that time there has not been any further development of propfans (except AN 70 with NK 90-engine, Ukraine, which is more or less a propeller design) due to relatively low fuel prices and technical obstacles. Only technical programs in different countries are still going on in order to prepare a data base for designing counter rotating fans in terms of aeroacoustics, aerodynamics and aeroelasticities. In DLR, Germany, a lot of experimental and numerical work has been undertaken to understand the physical behaviour of the unsteady flow in a counter rotating fan.

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 Separated Vortex on Aerodynamic Noise of an Airfoil Blade

In order to clarify the mechanism by which aerodynamic noise is generated from separated flow around an airfoil blade,the relation between the attack angle and the aerodynamic noise of the blade was analyzed using a wind tunnel experiment and a CFD code.In the case of rear surface separation,the separated vortex which has a large-scale structure in the direction of the blade chord is transformed into a structure that concentrates at the trailing edge with an increase in the attack angle.The aerodynamic noise level then becomes small according to the vortex scale in the blade chord.When the flow is separated at the leading edge,a separated vortex of low pressure is formed at the vicinity of the trailing edge.The pressure fluctuations on the blade surface at the vicinity of the trailing edge become large due to the vortex in the wake.It is considered that the aerodynamic noise level increases when the flow is separated at the leading edge because the separated vortex is causing the fluctuations due to wake vortex shedding.

Prediction of Aerodynamic Noise in a Ring Fan Based on Wake Characteristics

A ring fan is a propeller fan that applies an axial-flow impeller with a ring-shaped shroud on the blade tip side. In this study, the entire flow field of the ring fan is simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD); the accuracy of the CFD is verified through a comparison with the aerodynamic characteristics of a propeller fan of current model. Moreover, the aerodynamic noise generated by the fan is predicted on the basis of the wake characteristics. The aerodynamic characteristic of the ring fan based on CFD can represent qualitatively the variation in the measured value. The main flow domain of the ring fan is formed at the tip side of the blade because blade tip vortex is not formed at that location. Therefore, the relative velocity of the ring fan is increased by the circumferential velocity. The sound pressure levels of the ring fan within the frequency band of less than 200 Hz are larger than that of the propeller fan. In the analysis of the wake characteristics, it revealed that Karman vortex shedding occurred in the main flow domain in the frequency domain lower than 200 Hz ; the aerodynamic noise of the ring fan in the vortex shedding frequency enlarges due to increase in the relative velocity and the velocity fluctuation.

Numerical Simulation of the Tip Aerodynamics and Acoustics Test

The application of an efficient flow control system on helicopter rotor blades may lead to improved aerodynamic performance. Recently, our invention of Rod Vortex Generators(RVGs) has been analyzed for helicopter rotor blades in hover with success. As a step forward, the study has been extended to forward flight conditions. For this reason, a validation of the numerical modelling for a reference helicopter rotor(without flow control) is needed. The article presents a study of the flow-field of the AH-1G helicopter rotor in low-, medium- and high-speed forward flight. The CFD code FLOWer from DLR has proven to be a suitable tool for the aerodynamic analysis of the two-bladed rotor without any artificial wake modelling. It solves the URANS equations with LEA(Linear Explicit Algebraic stress) k-ω model using the chimera overlapping grids technique. Validation of the numerical model uses comparison with the detailed flight test data gathered by Cross J. L. and Watts M. E. during the Tip Aerodynamics and Acoustics Test(TAAT) conducted at NASA in 1981. Satisfactory agreements for all speed regimes and a presence of significant flow separation in high-speed forward flight suggest a possible benefit from the future implementation of RVGs. The numerical results based on the URANS approach are presented not only for a popular, low-speed case commonly used in rotorcraft community for CFD codes validation but preferably for medium- and high-speed test conditions that have not been published to date.