Flow-induced Noise Generation Research Articles

Unsteady flow behaviors and flow-induced noise characteristics in a closed branch T-junction

In the present study, dynamic delayed detached eddy simulation is utilized to explore turbulent flow in T-junctions at a Reynolds number of ReD = 2.0 × 104. Three systems with varying corner cavity depth-to-diameter ratios (Ld/D = 1, 2, and 4) are examined to elucidate the interplay between unsteady flow and flow-induced noise. The analysis employs Lighthill's acoustic analogy to scrutinize surface dipole acoustic sources and their noise propagation characteristics. Coherent flow structures, characterized as wavepackets, are identified through spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, demonstrating consistent dominance in modes and dipole distributions across the systems. In the system with Ld/D = 1, wavepackets originating from the downstream region of the junction exhibit a pronounced flapping behavior attributed to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Most dissipate with the mainstream flow, whereas a portion interacts with the wall, forming dipole acoustic sources. For systems with Ld/D = 2 and 4, the dominant mode transitions to the junction adjacent to the corner cavity, expanding continuously after separation until obliquely colliding with the wall, resulting in expanded dipole distributions. Mechanisms underlying flow-induced noise generation are unveiled by extracting transient vorticity fields within oscillation cycles. For shallow corner cavity depths (Ld/D = 1), periodic oscillatory vorticity shedding from the junction's sidewall significantly contributes to far-field sound pressure. As the cavity is deep enough to support one or more full recirculations of the fluid (Ld/D = 2 and 4), periodic vorticity shedding from the trailing edge directly impacts the wall above the junction, simultaneously suppressing flapping behavior at the leading edge and weakening overall dipole acoustic source intensity.

Numerical simulation of flow-induced noise generation and propagation of a floating offshore wind turbine with prescribed pitch motion

It is important to evaluate flow-induced noise emitted due to operations of floating offshore wind turbines since noise pollution can damage the environments of seabirds and aquatic species. This paper studies the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of a laboratory three-blade wind turbine model with an airfoil profile of NREL S826. The wind turbine blade rotation motion is coupled with the prescribed pitch motion of the floating offshore wind power platform. The influence of prescribed pitch motions on the noise generated by wind turbine blades and noise propagation was discussed. Adopting the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, the aerodynamic noise field on a blade is simulated by the improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) model and Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy. The overset grid technique is adopted to simulate the six degrees of freedom (DoFs) motions of the floating offshore wind turbine model. The sound source distributions on blades for noise generation are obtained, and the flow-induced noise propagation characteristics are analyzed. It is found that the influence of the pitch amplitude and frequency on the flow-induced noise field as well as the wake vortex characteristics should not be neglected.

Numerical flow noise simulation of an axial fan with a Lattice-Boltzmann solver

In this paper, a transient and compressible solver based on the Lattice-Boltzmann Method/Very Large Eddy Simulation (LBM/VLES) approach is employed to predict unsteady flow physics and flow-induced noise generation of a low-pressure axial fan. Aerodynamic and aeroacoustic measurements provided by the European Acoustics Association (EAA) benchmark platform are used for validation purposes. Boundary and design operating conditions are applied to the numerical model to replicate the experimental setup. Simulation and experimental data are compared, showing an excellent agreement in terms of fan efficiency with less than 1% deviation, as well as broadband and tonal noise within 0.7 dBA in terms of overall sound pressure level. An advanced post-processing analysis is performed to shed light on the noise generation mechanism in tip clearance. It is observed that both fine random turbulent structures and large coherent vortices are generated in the tip gap. The continuous impingement of the fine turbulence with the following blades and the blade itself is responsible for the radiation of broadband noise, while the interaction between the large coherent tip vortices, spinning at a lower angular velocity with respect to the fan shaft, and the following blades leads to the generation of narraowband peaks at sub-harmonics of the blade-passing frequencies. Finally, a beamforming analysis further confirms that the main noise sources are located in the blade tip clearance and tip regions.

Numerical Study on Flow-Induced Noise of Deflector Jet Servo Valve Based on LES/Lighthill Hybrid Method

The flow-induced noise occurring in the prestage of the deflector jet servo valve (DJV) significantly affects the performance of DJV, which is a critical issue for electrohydraulic servo valves. To capture the root causes of flow-induced noise, DJV is numerically studied using computational aeroacoustics (CAA) methods in this paper. The acoustic field is investigated with Lighthill’s acoustic analogy based on the pulsation data from a large eddy simulation (LES). The flow-induced noise generation mechanism in DJV is revealed by analyzing the sound pressure level and vorticity distribution at different moments. Moreover, a kind of oscillation cavity model based on the Helmholtz oscillator is built, which reveals that the flow-induced noise is caused by self-excited oscillation and vortex. In addition, the result shows that continuous broadband dipole noise with medium- and high-frequency components of 1100 Hz and 2501 Hz dominates the DJV flow field. In order to avoid unexpected resonance, the natural frequency of the prestage should not coincide with the frequency of the flow oscillation frequency. Thus, this work can benefit the design and optimization of the prestage structure.

Development of a didactic demonstrator for flow-induced noise mechanisms and mitigation technologies.

A small didactic wind tunnel demonstrator has been designed and manufactured at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics to illustrate the physical principles at stake in flow-induced noise generation, offer an audible perception of the effectiveness of noise-mitigation strategies, and serve as a practical test bench for aeroacoustic education and research. Seven mitigation technologies are embedded in a single facility, which addresses the noise generation by an airfoil, noise propagation in a duct, and noise transmission through a flexible panel. A challenging objective of this facility was to offer a perceptible impression of various aeroacoustic noise mechanisms at low flow speeds and a live assessment of the effectiveness of noise-reduction technologies. Different approaches combining multiple microphones, advanced signal-processing techniques, and real-time audio feedback have been implemented to this end. A digital twin has been developed to assist the design of the facility and test the concepts implemented in it. The results establish that the demonstrator enables a clear perception of the effectiveness of the noise-mitigation technologies. The facility is also suitable for fast and inexpensive preliminary investigations of future noise-reduction concepts, taking advantage of rapid prototyping techniques.

Flow-induced noise generation at the outlet of a capillary tube

The aim of this work is the identification of noise generation mechanisms at the outlet of an adiabatic capillary tube used as throttling device in a cooling cycle. For this purpose, experiments are carried out on a R-600a test bench designed for systematic investigations on flow-induced capillary noise. The experiments are performed using a copper capillary tube with an inner diameter of 0.6 mm. The test bench enables process control with a continuous change of the capillary outlet pressure, while the inlet pressure and temperature remain constant. A similar process takes place in a refrigerator at the beginning of the on-cycle, when the compressor starts to pull down the evaporation pressure. Correlations between various operating conditions and the emitted airborne noise can thus be established. The evaluation of the sound pressure level profiles provides a method to indicate the change of flow regimes at the capillary tube outlet, using flow pattern maps from literature. We identify two different noise generation mechanisms: In case of intermittent flow regimes, pressure pulses evoked by the fluid lead to fluctuating unsteady noise excitations. During non-intermittent flow regimes, on the other hand, uniform noise excitations strongly correlate with the vapor velocity of the two-phase flow.

The boundary data immersion method for compressible flows with application to aeroacoustics

This paper introduces a virtual boundary method for compressible viscous fluid flow that is capable of accurately representing moving bodies in flow and aeroacoustic simulations. The method is the compressible extension of the boundary data immersion method (BDIM, Maertens & Weymouth (2015), [18]). The BDIM equations for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations are derived and the accuracy of the method for the hydrodynamic representation of solid bodies is demonstrated with challenging test cases, including a fully turbulent boundary layer flow and a supersonic instability wave. In addition we show that the compressible BDIM is able to accurately represent noise radiation from moving bodies and flow induced noise generation without any penalty in allowable time step.

An experimental application of aeroacoustic time-reversal to the Aeolian tone.

This paper presents an experimental application of the aeroacoustic time-reversal (TR) source localization technique for studying flow-induced noise problems and compares the TR results with those obtained using conventional beamforming (CB). Experiments were conducted in an anechoic wind tunnel for the benchmark test-case of a full-span circular cylinder located in subsonic cross-flow wherein the far-field acoustic pressure was sampled using two line arrays (LAs) of microphones located above and below the cylinder. The source map obtained using the signals recorded at the two LAs without modeling the reflective surfaces of the contraction-outlet and cylinder during TR simulations revealed the lift-dipole nature of aeroacoustic source generated at the Aeolian tone; however, it indicates an error of 3/20 of Aeolian tone wavelength in the predicted location. Modeling the reflective contraction-outlet during TR was shown to improve the focal-resolution of the source and reduce side-lobe levels, especially in the low-frequency range. The experimental TR results were shown to be comparable to (a) the simulation results of an idealized dipole at the cylinder location in wind-tunnel flow and (b) that obtained by monopole and dipole CB, thereby demonstrating the suitability of TR method as a diagnostic tool to analyze flow-induced noise generation mechanism.

Study on the Influence of Volute to Flow-Induced Noise in Centrifugal Pump

More and more attention has been attached on flow-induced noise of centrifugal pump in recent years because of strict environmental noise restrictions and demands of clients.. In this paper, the role of volute impacted on flow-induced noise generation and propagation in centrifugal pump were summarized. The process of internal wave propagation was analyzed, and the transmission coefficient and loss of volute were calculated; In order to compare the effect of volute vibration on the sound field in a centrifugal pump, a hybrid algorithm based on CFD + BEM was adopted. The results reveals that: full reflection of sound wave occurs on the fluid-steel volute wall when the incidence angle is more than or equal to 13.8 °; otherwise a sound transmission appears; For onshore pumps, For onshore pumps the A-weighted sound transmission loss is more than 55dB under the condition that thickness volute is not less than 8mm; For submersible pumps, all-bottom sound below 3000Hz almost transmits to the outside field entirely; structure acoustic coupling between volute and the internal sound field influence little on directivity of sound field and the change of law, but structure vibration would average the sound pressure level in frequency.

Flow-induced noise generation in a simple fluid valve model

Flow-induced noise generation in a simple fluid valve model