Acoustic scattering effect prediction of helicopter fuselage based on BEM and convective FW–H equation

Abstract

The main acoustic noise source of helicopters is supposed to be the rotor blades, but the scattering effect of the helicopter fuselage sometimes cannot be ignored. For the accuracy of acoustic noise prediction and the research on the scattering affections of the helicopter fuselage, an FWH–BEM Method (FBM) based on convective FW–H equation and boundary element method (BEM) is presented for the prediction of the noise scattering effects of helicopter fuselage and the approach to the calculation of a helicopter’s acoustic noise field. In this paper, different fuselage models are adopted for the comparisons of the acoustic noise scattered by different types of fuselages. According to the discovery that helicopter fuselages with sharp edges can bring more significant acoustic scattering effects, a research on the influence of radius of curvature (RC), which reflects the sharpness of fuselage sharp edges, is also carried out. In addition, the acoustic scattering effects of the same type of fuselage but with different length, width and height ratios are also compared for discovering the influences of the fuselage size. The presented FBM is efficient to analyze the acoustic scattering effects of the helicopter fuselage and predict the acoustic noise field, taking both the rotor and the fuselage into account. Besides, the research in this paper leads to the discovery of the influence factors of the acoustic scattering effects and helps the proper selection of the fuselage in a helicopter stealth design.