Regimes of tonal noise on an airfoil at moderate Reynolds number

2015 ◽  
Vol 780 ◽  
pp. 407-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Pröbsting ◽  
F. Scarano ◽  
S. C. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Noise Generation ◽  
Tonal Noise ◽  
Flow Topology ◽  
Trailing Edge ◽  
Moderate Reynolds Number ◽  
Two Sides

Tonal noise generated by airfoils at low to moderate Reynolds number is relevant for applications in, for example, small-scale wind turbines, fans and unmanned aerial vehicles. Coherent and convected vortical structures scattering at the trailing edge from the pressure or suction sides of the airfoil have been identified to be responsible for such tonal noise generation. Controversy remains on the respective significance of pressure- and suction-side events, along with their interaction for tonal noise generation. The present study surveys the regimes of tonal noise generation for low to moderate chord-based Reynolds number between $\mathit{Re}_{c}=0.3\times 10^{5}$ and $2.3\times 10^{5}$ and effective angle of attack between $0^{\circ }$ and $6.3^{\circ }$ for the NACA 0012 airfoil profile. Extensive acoustic measurements with smooth surface and with transition to turbulence forced by boundary layer tripping are presented. Results show that, at non-zero angle of attack, tonal noise generation is dominated by suction-side events at low Reynolds number and by pressure-side events at high Reynolds number. At smaller angle of attack, interaction between events on the two sides becomes increasingly important. Particle image velocimetry measurements complete the information on the flow field structure in the source region around the trailing edge. The influences of both angle of attack and Reynolds number on tonal noise generation are explained by changes in the mean flow topology, namely the presence and location of reverse flow regions on the two sides. Data gathered from experimental and numerical studies in the literature are reviewed and interpreted in view of the different regimes.

Aerofoil tones at moderate Reynolds number

2011 ◽  
Vol 690 ◽  
pp. 536-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher K. W. Tam ◽  
Hongbin Ju
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Flow Instability ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Near Wake ◽  
Trailing Edge ◽  
Number Range ◽  
Moderate Reynolds Number ◽  
Wake Instability ◽  
Tone Generation

AbstractIt is known experimentally that an aerofoil immersed in a uniform stream at a moderate Reynolds number emits tones. However, there have been major differences in the experimental observations in the past. Some experiments reported the observation of multiple tones, with strong evidence that these tones are most probably generated by a feedback loop. There is also an experiment reporting the observation of a single tone with no tonal jump or other features associated with feedback. In spite of the obvious differences in the experimental observations published in the literature, it is noted that all the dominant tone frequencies measured in all the investigations are in agreement with an empirically derived Paterson formula. The objective of the present study is to perform a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the flow and acoustic phenomenon to investigate the tone generation mechanism. When comparing with experimental studies, numerical simulations appear to have two important advantages. The first is that there is no background wind tunnel noise in numerical simulation. This avoids the signal-to-noise ratio problem inherent in wind tunnel experiments. In other words, it is possible to study tones emitted by a truly isolated aerofoil computationally. The second advantage is that DNS produces a full set of space–time data, which can be very useful in determining the tone generation processes. The present effort concentrates on the tones emitted by three NACA0012 aerofoils with a slightly rounded trailing edge but with different trailing edge thickness at zero degree angle of attack. At zero degree angle of attack, in the Reynolds number range of$2\ensuremath{\times} 1{0}^{5} $to$5\ensuremath{\times} 1{0}^{5} $, the boundary layer flow is attached nearly all the way to the trailing edge of the aerofoil. Unlike an aerofoil at an angle of attack, there is no separation bubble, no open flow separation. All the flow separation features tend to increase the complexity of the tone generation processes. The present goal is limited to finding the basic tone generation mechanism in the simplest flow configuration. Our DNS results show that, for the flow configuration under study, the aerofoil emits only a single tone. This is true for all three aerofoils over the entire Reynolds number range of the present study. In the literature, it is known that Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities of free shear layers generally have a much higher spatial growth rate than that of the Tollmien–Schlichting boundary layer instabilities. A near-wake non-parallel flow instability analysis is performed. It is found that the tone frequencies are the same as the most amplified Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at the location where the wake has a minimum half-width. This suggests that near-wake instability is the energy source of aerofoil tones. However, flow instabilities at low subsonic Mach numbers generally do not cause strong tones. An investigation of how near-wake instability generates tones is carried out using the space–time data provided by numerical simulations. Our observations indicate that the dominant tone generation process is the interaction of the oscillatory motion of the near wake, driven by flow instability, with the trailing edge of the aerofoil. Secondary mechanisms involving unsteady near-wake motion and the formation of discrete vortices in regions further downstream are also observed.

The Effect of Pulsed Blowing on the Boundary Layer of a Highly Loaded Low Pressure Turbine Blade

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Mack ◽  
Roland Brachmanski ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Trailing Edge ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Highly Loaded

The performance of the low pressure turbine (LPT) can vary appreciably, because this component operates under a wide range of Reynolds numbers. At higher Reynolds numbers, mid and aft loaded profiles have the advantage that transition of suction side boundary layer happens further downstream than at front loaded profiles, resulting in lower profile loss. At lower Reynolds numbers, aft loading of the blade can mean that if a suction side separation exists, it may remain open up to the trailing edge. This is especially the case when blade lift is increased via increased pitch to chord ratio. There is a trend in research towards exploring the effect of coupling boundary layer control with highly loaded turbine blades, in order to maximize performance over the full relevant Reynolds number range. In an earlier work, pulsed blowing with fluidic oscillators was shown to be effective in reducing the extent of the separated flow region and to significantly decrease the profile losses caused by separation over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. These experiments were carried out in the High-Speed Cascade Wind Tunnel of the German Federal Armed Forces University Munich, Germany, which allows to capture the effects of pulsed blowing at engine relevant conditions. The assumed control mechanism was the triggering of boundary layer transition by excitation of the Tollmien-Schlichting waves. The current work aims to gain further insight into the effects of pulsed blowing. It investigates the effect of a highly efficient configuration of pulsed blowing at a frequency of 9.5 kHz on the boundary layer at a Reynolds number of 70000 and exit Mach number of 0.6. The boundary layer profiles were measured at five positions between peak Mach number and the trailing edge with hot wire anemometry and pneumatic probes. Experiments were conducted with and without actuation under steady as well as periodically unsteady inflow conditions. The results show the development of the boundary layer and its interaction with incoming wakes. It is shown that pulsed blowing accelerates transition over the separation bubble and drastically reduces the boundary layer thickness.

scholarly journals Flow topologies in primary atomization of liquid jets: a direct numerical simulation analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 859 ◽  
pp. 819-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Hasslberger ◽  
Sebastian Ketterl ◽  
Markus Klein ◽  
Nilanjan Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Direct Numerical Simulation ◽  
Incompressible Flows ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Liquid Jets ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Flow Topology ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Turbulent Length Scale

The local flow topology analysis of the primary atomization of liquid jets has been conducted using the invariants of the velocity-gradient tensor. All possible small-scale flow structures are categorized into two focal and two nodal topologies for incompressible flows in both liquid and gaseous phases. The underlying direct numerical simulation database was generated by the one-fluid formulation of the two-phase flow governing equations including a high-fidelity volume-of-fluid method for accurate interface propagation. The ratio of liquid-to-gas fluid properties corresponds to a diesel jet exhausting into air. Variation of the inflow-based Reynolds number as well as Weber number showed that both these non-dimensional numbers play a pivotal role in determining the nature of the jet break-up, but the flow topology behaviour appears to be dominated by the Reynolds number. Furthermore, the flow dynamics in the gaseous phase is generally less homogeneous than in the liquid phase because some flow regions resemble a laminar-to-turbulent transition state rather than fully developed turbulence. Two theoretical models are proposed to estimate the topology volume fractions and to describe the size distribution of the flow structures, respectively. In the latter case, a simple power law seems to be a reasonable approximation of the measured topology spectrum. According to that observation, only the integral turbulent length scale would be required as an input for the a priori prediction of the topology size spectrum.

Boundary-layer instability noise on aerofoils

1999 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 27-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMMA C. NASH ◽  
MARTIN V. LOWSON ◽  
ALAN McALPINE
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layer Separation ◽  
Noise Generation ◽  
Tonal Noise ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
S Waves ◽  
Pressure Surface ◽  
Boundary Layer Instability ◽  
Moderate Reynolds Number ◽  
Tollmien Schlichting

An experimental and theoretical investigation has been carried out to understand the tonal noise generation mechanism on aerofoils at moderate Reynolds number. Experiments were conducted on a NACA0012 aerofoil section in a low-turbulence closed working section wind tunnel. Narrow band acoustic tones were observed up to 40 dB above background noise. The ladder structure of these tones was eliminated by modifying the tunnel to approximate to anechoic conditions. High-resolution flow velocity measurements have been made with a three-component laser-Doppler anemometer (LDA) which have revealed the presence of strongly amplified boundary-layer instabilities in a region of separated shear flow just upstream of the pressure surface trailing edge, which match the frequency of the acoustic tones. Flow visualization experiments have shown these instabilities to roll up to form a regular Kármán-type vortex street.A new mechanism for tonal noise generation has been proposed, based on the growth of Tollmien–Schlichting (T–S) instability waves strongly amplified by inflectional profiles in the separating laminar shear layer on the pressure surface of the aerofoil. The growth of fixed frequency, spatially growing boundary-layer instability waves propagating over the aerofoil pressure surface has been calculated using experimentally obtained boundary-layer characteristics. The effect of boundary-layer separation has been incorporated into the model. Frequency selection and prediction of T–S waves are in remarkably good agreement with experimental data.

Experiments on the flow and acoustic properties of a moderate-Reynolds-number supersonic jet

1982 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 123-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Troutt ◽  
D. K. Mclaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Generation Model ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Noise Generation ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Potential Core ◽  
Moderate Reynolds Number

An experimental investigation of the flow and acoustic properties of a moderate-Reynolds-number (Re = 70000), Mach number M = 2·1, axisymmetric jet has been performed. These measurements extended the experimental studies conducted previously in this laboratory to a higher-Reynolds-number regime where the flow and acoustic processes are considerably more complex. In fact, mean-flow and acoustic properties of this jet were determined to be closely comparable to published properties of high-Reynolds-number jets.The major results of the flow-field measurements demonstrate that the jet shear annulus is unstable over a broad frequency range. The initial growth rates and wavelengths of these instabilities as measured by a hot wire were found to be in reasonable agreement with linear stability theory predictions. Also, in agreement with subsonic-jet results, the potential core of the jet was found to be most responsive to excitation at frequencies near a Strouhal number of S = 0·3. The overall development of organized disturbances around S = 0·2 seems to agree in general with calculations performed using the instability theory originally developed by Morris and Tam.The acoustic near field was characterized in terms of sound-pressure level and directivity for both natural and excited (pure-tone) jets. In addition, propagation direction and azimuthal character of dominant spectral components were also measured. It was determined that the large-scale flow disturbances radiate noise in a directional pattern centred about 30° from the jet axis. The noise from these disturbances appears from simple ray tracing to be generated primarily near the region of the jet where the coherent fluctuations saturate in amplitude and begin to decay. It was also determined that the large-scale components of the near-field sound are made up predominately of axisymmetric (n = 0) and helical (n = ±1) modes. The dominant noise-generation mechanism appears to be a combination of Mach-wave generation and a process associated with the saturation and disintegration of the large-scale instability. Finally, the further development of a noise-generation model of the instability type appears to hold considerable promise.

scholarly journals Tonal noise of a controlled-diffusion airfoil at low angle of attack and Reynolds number

2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. EL113-EL118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Padois ◽  
Paul Laffay ◽  
Alexandre Idier ◽  
Stéphane Moreau
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Angle Of Attack ◽  
Tonal Noise ◽  
Controlled Diffusion

The generation of tonal noise from sawtooth trailing-edge serrations at low Reynolds numbers

2016 ◽  
Vol 120 (1228) ◽  
pp. 971-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Moreau ◽  
C. J. Doolan
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Low Reynolds Number ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tonal Noise ◽  
Trailing Edge ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Low Reynolds ◽  
Trailing Edge Serrations

ABSTRACTThe flow and noise created by sawtooth trailing-edge serrations has been studied experimentally at a low Reynolds number. Experiments have been performed on a flat-plate model with an elliptical leading edge and an asymmetrically bevelled trailing edge at Reynolds numbers of Rec = 1 × 105–1.3 × 105, based on chord. Wide serrations with a wavelength (λs) to amplitude (2h) ratio of λs/h = 0.6 were found to reduce the overall sound pressure level by up to 11dB. In contrast, narrower serrations with λs/h = 0.2 produce tonal noise and increase the overall noise level by up to 4dB. Intense vortices across the span of the trailing edge with narrow serrations are shown to be the source of tonal noise. Wide serrations reduce turbulent velocity fluctuations at low frequencies which explains the lower radiated noise. The narrow serrations that produce low Reynolds number tonal noise were shown previously to be effective at higher Reynolds numbers (Rec > 2 × 105), demonstrating that care is needed to fully understand the flow field over serrations for all intended operating conditions.

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