Aeroacoustics of Three-Stream High-Speed Jets from Coaxial and Asymmetric Nozzles

Abstract

The development of three-stream variable-cycle turbofan engines for tactical aircraft provides an opportunity for noise reduction by shaping the exhaust of the secondary and tertiary streams. The paper reviews an experimental study of subscale three-stream jets operating at high specific thrust and issuing from rapid-prototyped nozzles. Exhaust conditions at four set points, with variable tertiary pressure ratio and bypass ratio, were determined using thermodynamic cycle analysis. Nozzles were fabricated for each set point and featured coaxial and non-coaxial exit geometries. The operating conditions were simulated using precisely metered helium–air mixtures, and far-field noise surveys were collected using a 24-microphone array. For a low-bypass ratio, a coaxial configuration offers no significant noise benefit compared to the single-stream primary jet. Configurations with offset secondary or tertiary streams offer significant noise reduction in the direction of the thicker flow. For an overall bypass ratio around 0.5, reductions of 5.1 dB in overall sound pressure level and 4.2 dB in effective perceived noise level were attained.