A Computational Study on the Aeroacoustics of a Multi-Rotor Unmanned Aerial System

Abstract

The noise generated by a quadrotor biplane unmanned aerial system (UAS) is studied computationally for various conditions in terms of the UAS pitch angle, propellers rotating velocity (RPM), and the UAS speed to understand the physics involved in its aeroacoustics and structure-borne noise. The k-ω SST turbulence model and Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equations are used to solve the flow and acoustics fields, respectively. The sound pressure level is measured using a circular array of microphones positioned around the UAS, as well as at specific locations on its structure. The local flow is studied to detect the noise sources and evaluate the pressure fluctuation on the UAS surface. This study found that the UAS noise increases with pitch angle and the propellers’ rotating velocity, but it shows an irregular trend with the vehicle speed. The major source of the UAS noise is from its propellers and their interactions with each other at small pitch angle. The propeller and CRC-3 structure interaction contributes to the noise at large pitch angle. The results also showed that the propellers and structure of the UAS impose unsteadiness on each other through a two-way mechanism, resulting in structure-born noises which depend on the propeller RPM, velocity and pitch angle.