Active control of airfoil turbulent boundary layer noise with trailing-edge blowing

Abstract

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings acoustic analogy are performed to study the effect of trailing-edge blowing on airfoil self-noise. Simulations were conducted using a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 0012 airfoil at zero angle of attack and a chord-based Reynolds number of 4 × 10 5. The aerodynamic and aeroacoustic characteristics of the baseline airfoil were thoroughly verified by comparison with previous numerical and experimental data. The noise reduction effects of continuous and local blowing with different blowing ratios and blowing momentum coefficients were compared. A maximum noise reduction of 20 dB was achieved via trailing-edge blowing and the noise reduction mechanisms of the two blowing methods were discussed. The LES results show a pair of recirculation bubbles in the airfoil wake which are suppressed by trailing-edge blowing. As the blowing vortices convect into the wake, they stretch and stabilize the shear flows from airfoil surfaces. Instantaneous vorticity and root mean square velocity fluctuations are also weakened. There is a decrease in the spanwise coherence and an increase in the phase difference, which contribute to noise reduction. It is concluded that the suppression of turbulence fluctuations in the near wake is the main mechanism of noise reduction for airfoil trailing-edge blowing.