The Effect of Airfoil Shape on Trailing Edge Noise

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of airfoil shape on trailing edge noise. The boundary layer profiles are obtained by XFOIL and the trailing edge noise is predicted by a TNO semi-empirical model. In order to investigate the noise source characteristics, the wall pressure spectrum is decomposed into three components. This decomposition helps in finding the dominant source region and the peak noise frequency for each airfoil. The method is validated for a NACA0012 airfoil, and then five additional wind turbine airfoils are examined: NACA0018, DU96-w-180, S809, S822 and S831. It is found that the dominant source region is around 40% of the boundary layer thickness for both the suction and pressure sides for a NACA0012 airfoil. As airfoil thickness and camber increase, the maximum source region moves slightly upward on the suction side. However, the effect of the airfoil shape on the maximum source region on the pressure side is negligible, except for the S831 airfoil, which exhibits an extension of the noise source region near the wall at high frequencies. As airfoil thickness and camber increase, low frequency noise is increased. However, a higher camber reduces low frequency noise on the pressure side. The maximum camber position is also found to be important and its rear position increases noise levels on the suction side.