PROPELLER INFLUENCE ON SURFACE PRESSURE FLUCTUATION UNDER BOUNDARY LAYER INGESTION CONDITION

Abstract

Research on propeller noise under boundary layer ingestion condition is essential for designing new aircraft concepts. Measurements of pressure spectra on a flat plate below a propeller give important information about the noise coming from the blades. These also are important for designing surface noise mitigation structures, such as acoustic black holes, meta-materials, and liners. This paper investigates the effects of a propeller on the flat plate surface pressure under boundary layer ingestion, using bottom of the wind tunnel channel as flat plate. Tripping devices on the wind tunnel bottom wall control the boundary layer thicknesses. The surface pressure is measured using an instrumented plate positioned underneath the propeller. The plate has 87 pressure taps to measure the unsteady and steady pressure using the remote microphone probe (RMP) technique. The results show the influence of the propeller inflow, the advance ratio, and the number of blades on the different regions underneath the propeller, and on coherent turbulent structures of the incoming flow. The boundary layer thicknesses affects the static pressure upstream of the propeller - creating high pressure regions. The propeller affects the turbulent structures downstream of the blades, increasing its correlation length.