Measurement of the Noise Resulting from the Interaction of Turbulence with a Lifting Surface

Abstract

An experimental study of the noise resulting from the interaction of an airfoil with incident turbulence is presented. The test models include NACA0015 airfoils of different chord lengths, a flat plate with a sharp leading edge, and an airfoil of same section as a reference Fowler flap. The airfoils are immersed in nearly isotropic turbulence. Two approaches for performing the noise measurements are used and compared. The effects that turbulence intensity and integral length scales, airfoil geometry, velocity and angle of attack have on the incident turbulence interaction noise are examined. Detailed directivity measurements are presented. It is found that noise spectral levels beyond the peak frequency decrease at a slower rate for the sharper airfoil leading edges, and that spectral peak level (at 0° angle of attack) appears to be mostly controlled by the airfoil's thickness and chord. Increase in turbulence integral scale and intensity are observed to lead to a uniform increase of the noise spectral levels with an LI2 dependence (where L is the turbulence longitudinal integral scale and I is the turbulence intensity). Noise levels are found to scale with the 6th power of velocity and the 2nd power of the airfoil chord. Sensitivity to changes in angle of attack appears to have a turbulence longitudinal integral scale to chord (C) ratio dependence, with large effects on noise for L/C ≥ 1 and decreased effects as L/C becomes smaller than 1. For all L/C values, the directivity pattern of the noise resulting from the incident turbulence is seen to remain symmetric with respect to the direction of the mean flow until stall, at which point, the directivity becomes symmetric with respect to the airfoil chord. It is also observed that sensitivity to angle of attack changes is more pronounced on the model suction side than on the model pressure side, and in the higher frequency range of the spectra for the largest airfoils tested (L/C < 0.24).