ALBERT

Description: A theoretical model is developed for the sound generated when a convected vortical or entropic gust encounters an airfoil at non-zero angle of attack. The theory is based on a linearization of the Euler equations about the steady subsonic flow past the airfoil. High-frequency gusts, whose wavelengths are short compared to the airfoil chord, but long compared to the displacement of the mean-flow stagnation point from the leading edge, are considered. The analysis utilizes singular-perturbation techniques and involves four asymptotic regions. Local regions, which scale on the gust wavelength, are present at the airfoil leading and trailing edges. Behind the airfoil a ‘transition’ region, which is similar to the transition zone between illuminated and shadow zones in optical problems, is present. In the outer region, far away from the airfoil edges and wake, the solution has a geometric-acoustics form. The primary sound generation is found to be concentrated in the local leading-edge region. The trailing edge plays a secondary role as a scatterer of the sound generated in the leading-edge region. Parametric calculations are presented which illustrate that moderate levels of airfoil steady loading can significantly affect the sound field produced by airfoil-gust interactions. Copyright © 1995, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

Description: In Hammerton & Kerschen (1996), the effect of the nose radius of a body on boundary-layer receptivity was analysed for the case of a symmetric mean flow past a two-dimensional body with a parabolic leading edge. A low-Mach-number two-dimensional flow was considered. The radius of curvature of the leading edge, rn, enters the theory through a Strouhal number, S ωrn/U, where ω is the frequency of the unsteady free-stream disturbance and U is the mean flow speed. Numerical results revealed that the variation of receptivity for small S was very different for free-stream acoustic waves propagating parallel to the mean flow and those free-stream waves propagating at an angle to the mean flow. In this paper the small-S asymptotic theory is presented. For free-stream acoustic waves propagating parallel to the symmetric mean flow, the receptivity is found to vary linearly with S, giving a small increase in the amplitude of the receptivity coefficient for small S compared to the flat-plate value. In contrast, for oblique free-stream acoustic waves, the receptivity varies with S1/2, leading to a sharp decrease in the amplitude of the receptivity coefficient relative to the flat-plate value. Comparison of the asymptotic theory with numerical results obtained in the earlier paper confirms the asymptotic results but reveals that the numerical results diverge from the asymptotic result for unexpectedly small values of S.

Description: We consider the effects of blade mean loading on the noise generated by the interaction between convected vorticity and a blade row. The blades are treated as flat plates aligned at a non-zero incidence angle, δ, to the oncoming stream, and we take harmonic components of the incident vorticity field with reduced frequency k, and use asymptotic analysis in the realistic limit k ≫ 1, δ ≪ 1 with kδ = 0 (1). In a previous paper (Peake & Kerschen, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 347 (1997), pp. 315-346) we have analysed the sound radiated back upstream, but the field in the blade passages and the sound radiated downstream are also of considerable practical interest, and are considered in this paper. The flow is seen to consist of inner regions around each leading edge, in which sound is generated by the local gust-airfoil and gust-flow interactions, and an outer region in which the incident gust and the acoustic radiation interact with the non-uniform mean flow and the other blades. It is shown that the complicated multiple interactions between the blades can be represented by images in potential-streamfunction space, yielding closed-form expressions for the phase distortion experienced by sound waves propagating down the blade passages. The acoustic radiation downstream of the cascade at O(1) distances is dominated by the duct-mode beams that emanate from the passages, while the far downstream field is generated by the diffraction of the duct modes by the trailing edges. The modal amplitudes of the radiation field far downstream tend to be largest when the mode direction is close to the propagation direction of the duct mode which generated it, corresponding to the way (in uniform flow) in which the radiation from a single blade passage tends to be beamed in the duct-mode directions. Although the diffraction coefficient for the scattering from a single trailing edge is singular in these directions, we show how uniformly valid expressions can be derived by combining the trailing-edge fields in an appropriate way, thereby describing the larger amplitude in the beam directions. The steady non-uniform flow downstream has the effect of tilting the directions of the beams by O(δ) angles away from the duct-mode directions, which are explicitly determined. Throughout this analysis it will be seen that the interaction with the non-uniform mean flow introduces phase corrections of size O(kδ), which, given the way in which interference effects between the multiple blades dominate unsteady cascade flow, proves to be highly significant. © 2004 Cambridge University Press.

Description: The sound generated by the interaction between convected vortical and entropic disturbances and a blade row is a significant component of the total noise emitted by a modern aeroengine, and the blade geometry has an important effect on this process. As a first step in the development of a general prediction scheme, we model in this paper just the action of the blade mean loading by treating the blades as flat plates aligned at a non-zero incidence angle, δ, to the oncoming stream, and consider harmonic components of the incident field with reduced frequency k. We then use asymptotic analysis in the realistic limit k ≫ 1, δ 1 with kδ = O(1) to make a consistent asymptotic expansion of the compressible Euler equations. The flow is seen to consist of inner regions around each leading edge, in which sound is generated by the local gust-airfoil and gust-flow interactions, and an outer region in which both the incident gust is distorted according to rapid distortion theory and the out-going sound is refracted by the non-uniform mean flow. The complicated multiple interactions between the sound and the cascade are included to the appropriate asymptotic order, and analytical expressions for the forward radiation are derived. It is seen that even a relatively small value of δ can have a significant effect, thanks to both the O(δk1/2) change in the amplitudes and the O(kδ) change in the phases of the various radiation components, corresponding to the additional source mechanisms associated with the flow distortion around each leading edge and the effects of propagation through the non-uniform flow, respectively. Further work will extend this analysis to include the effects of camber and thickness.

Description: The effect of the nose radius of a body on boundary-layer receptivity is analysed for the case of a symmetric mean flow past a body with a parabolic leading edge. Asymptotic methods based on large Reynolds number are used, supplemented by numerical results. The Mach number is assumed small, and acoustic free-stream disturbances are considered. The case of free-stream acoustic waves, propagating obliquely to the symmetric mean flow is considered. The body nose radius, rn, enters the theory through a Strouhal number, S = ωrn/U, where ω is the frequency of the acoustic wave and U is the mean flow speed. The finite nose radius dramatically reduces the receptivity level compared to that for a flat plate, the amplitude of the instability waves in the boundary layer being decreased by an order of magnitude when S = 0.3. Oblique acoustic waves produce much higher receptivity levels than acoustic waves propagating parallel to the body chord.

Description: A theoretical model is developed for the sound generated when a convected disturbance encounters a cambered airfoil at non-zero angle of attack. The model is a generalization of a previous theory for a flat-plate airfoil, and is based on a linearization of the Euler equations about the steady, subsonic flow past the airfoil. High-frequency gusts, whose wavelengths are short compared to the airfoil chord, are considered. The airfoil camber and incidence angle are restricted so that the mean flow past the airfoil is a small perturbation to a uniform flow. The singular perturbation analysis retains the asymptotic regions present in the case of a flat-plate airfoil: local regions, which scale on the gust wavelength, at the airfoil leading and trailing edges; a 'transition' region behind the airfoil which is similar to the transition zone between illuminated and shadow regions in optical problems; and an outer region, far away from the airfoil edges and wake, in which the solution has a geometric-acoustics form. For the cambered airfoil, an additional asymptotic region in the form of an acoustic boundary layer adjacent to the airfoil surface is required in order to account for surface curvature effects. Parametric calculations are presented which illustrate that, like incidence angle, moderate amounts of airfoil camber can significantly affect the sound field produced by airfoil-gust interactions. Most importantly, the amount of radiated sound power is found to correlate very well with a single aerodynamic loading parameter, αeff, which is an effective mean-flow incidence angle for the airfoil leading edge.

Description: Boundary-layer receptivity in the leading-edge region of a cambered thin airfoil is analysed for the case of a low-Mach-number flow. Acoustic free-stream disturbances are considered. Asymptotic results based on large Reynolds number (U2/ων ≫ 1) are presented, supplemented by numerical solutions. The influence of mean aerodynamic loading enters the theory through a parameter μ, which provides a measure of the flow speed variations in the leading-edge region, due to flow around the leading edge from the lower surface to the upper. A Strouhal number based on airfoil nose radius, S = ωrn/U, also enters the theory. The variation of the receptivity level as a function of μ and S is analysed. Modest levels of aerodynamic loading are found to decrease the receptivity level for the upper surface of the airfoil, while the receptivity is increased for the lower surface. For larger angles of attack close to the critical angle for boundary layer separation, a local rise in the receptivity occurs for the upper surface, while on the lower surface the receptivity decreases. These effects are more pronounced at larger values of S. While the Tollmien-Schlichting wave does not emerge until a downstream distance of O((U2/ων)1/3U/ω), the amplitude of the Tollmien-Schlichting wave is influenced by the acoustic free-stream disturbances only in a relatively small region near the leading edge, of length approximately 4U/ω). The numerical receptivity coefficients calculated, together with the asymptotic eigenfunctions presented, provide all the necessary information for transition analysis from the interaction of acoustic disturbances with leading-edge geometry. © 2005 Cambridge University Press.

Description: A theoretical model is developed for the noise generated when a convected vortical or entropic gust encounters an airfoil at nonzero angle of attack. The analysis is based on Rapid Distortion Theory. High frequency gusts, whose wavelengths are short compared to the airfoil chord, are considered. The noise generation is shown to be concentrated near the airfoil leading edge. The level of the generated noise is increased by airfoil mean loading, with the appropriate scaling parameter being the local leading edge incidence angle. The trailing edge simply scatters the leading edge sound field, and here the mean loading effects scale on the airfoil total lift. Calculations are presented which illustrate that, at high frequencies, moderate levels of airfoil steady loading can dramatically increase the noise produced by airfoil convected gust interactions.

Description: This paper investigates the effect of airfoil steady loading on the sound generated by the interaction of an airfoil with a convected disturbance. A previous theory, which included only the incidence angle contribution to the mean loading, is extended to include camber. The theory is based on a linearization of the Euler equations about a nonuniform, 0(1) Mach number subsonic mean flow. The discussion concentrates on the case of a slightly cambered airfoil at small incidence angle, interacting with a gust whose wavelength is short compared to the airfoil chord. The small parameter representing the amount of camber and incidence, and the large parameter representing the ratio of airfoil chord to disturbance wavelength, are utilized in a singular perturbation solution to the governing equations. Acoustic power calculations reveal that the amount of sound generated increases significantly with increased loading. More importantly, it is shown that the radiated acoustic power correlates very well with the strength of the mean flow around the leading edge.

Description: An analysis is developed for the noise generated by the interaction of a rotor viscous wake with a cascade of swept stator vanes. The stator vanes span a channel formed by infinite parallel walls and containing a subsonic mean flow. High frequency interactions, for which the noise generation is concentrated at the vane leading edge, are considered. The analysis utilizes a superposition of the solution to the isolated stator vane problem, presented in an earlier paper, to develop an approximate solution to the cascade problem. The rotor wake model includes the features of wake circumferential lean and a linear spanwise variation of the magnitude of the wake deficit velocity. Calculations are presented which show that, for rotor wakes with moderate circumferential lean, stator sweep produces substantial reductions in noise level. The vane sweep must be oriented to enhance the phase lags along the vane leading edge produced by wake lean. The noise levels are found to be fairly insensitive to spanwise variations in the wake deficit.