The influence of vortex shedding on the generation of sound by convected turbulence

Abstract

This paper discusses the theory of the generation of sound which occurs when a frozen turbulent eddy is convected in a mean flow past an airfoil or a semi-infinite plate, with and without the application of a Kutta condition and with and without the presence of a mean vortex sheet in the wake. A sequence of two-dimensional mathematical problems involving a prototype eddy in the form of a line vortex is examined, it being argued that this constitutes the simplest realistic model. Important effects of convection are deduced which hitherto have not been revealed by analyses which assume quadrupole sources to be at rest relative to the plate or airfoil. It is concluded that, to the order of approximation to which the sound from convected turbulence near a scattering body is usually estimated, the imposition of a Kutta condition at the trailing edge leads to a complete cancellation of the sound generated when frozen turbulence convects past a semi-infinite plate, and to the cancellation of the diffraction field produced by the trailing edge in the case of an airfoil of compact chord.