Lighthill's Analogy Research Articles

Airfoil Tonal Noise Prediction Using Urans

Abstract To examine the feasibility of the laminar boundary layer (LBL), vortex shedding (VS) tonal noise modelling using unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) was investigated for the non-symmetric S834 airfoil. A transition SST turbulence model was used to model the laminar-turbulent transition and its vital influence on the laminar bubble and hydrodynamic instabilities generation. The influence of turbulence on the unsteady vortex patterns was investigated. Hence, the hybrid aeroacoustic analysis with Lighthill analogy was conducted to obtain the acoustic pressure field. The approach allowed us to model hydrodynamic instabilities and the resulting VS tonal noise. The frequency of VS matched the experimental data, giving the same 1/3 octave tonal peak only for a limited freestream turbulence regime. The simplification of the present method did not allow us to model the aeroacoustic feedback loop, and resulted in lack of instabilities for higher freestream turbulence.

Validation of the Computational Aeroacoustic Simulation of a Subsonic Jet tailpipe Flow Noise

A case study in the application of computational aeroacoustics in the prediction of flow noise from a subsonic jet generated at the tailpipe of a straight pipe. The simulation is completed using a hybrid approach. The results from a Large Eddy Simulation completed using are used to formulate acoustic sources. These acoustic sources are formulated using Lighthill's analogy and then mapped onto an acoustic finite element mesh using the tools built into the acoustic FEM software Actran. The total predicted sound power of the sources inside the pipe and the turbulent jet region are then validated to completed acoustic measurement using the University of Kentucky's muffler flow test rig.

Numerical simulation of the flow field and radiation noise from a pump-jet propulsor under various stator pre-whirl angles

The effects of different stator pre-whirl angles on the hydrodynamic and noise performance of a pump-jet propulsor (PJP) are studied; these angles are the inlet, outlet, and stagger angles. The stress-blended eddy simulation (SBES) approach, used to describe flow details around a PJP, is combined with the variational Lighthill's analogy to perform the acoustic calculation. The discrete peaks of the unsteady thrust of a single rotor blade and of all of the rotor blades are located at the harmonics of the blade passage frequency for stator (BPFs) and the blade passage frequency for rotor (BPFr), respectively. The trend in the amplitude with the pre-whirl angle at various harmonics follows no systematic rule, but the excessive pre-whirl angle increases the amplitude in the whole spectrum. With increases in pre-whirl angle, the stator sheet vortex and root vortex are weakened and enhanced, respectively, leading to a reduction of the high turbulent kinetic energy (Tk) regime at the root. Further study of the PJP sound indicates that the discrete tonal noise is located at the BPFs, BPFr, and their harmonics; the pre-whirl angle does not affect these locations, except in the largest inlet angle case. The cases with the least pre-whirl angle have an extremely low noise level, particularly at the outlet angle, which has an obvious downstream directivity.

Prediction of Installed Jet Noise from Wave-Packet Models Tuned with Freejet Data

In this work, a kinematic wave-packet model is used to predict installed-jet noise. Large-eddy simulation results of freejets, for Mach numbers 0.4 and 0.9, are used to obtain parameters of wave packets representing large-scale turbulent structures, which were used to provide a model source for the Lighthill analogy used to predict far-field noise spectra. The source amplitude in the model is calibrated using noise measurements for a freejet, and such a wave-packet source is used to predict noise of the same jet in an installed configuration using a tailored Green’s function. Results from the prediction model are compared to installed-jet experimental data for four different observer positions and a large range of frequencies. Overall, the model predicts both directivities and amplitudes similar to the experimental data, with a hump in the generated noise for lower Strouhal numbers and a clear peak near a Strouhal number of 0.2. This low-order model is fast and flexible, and it is expected to be helpful in preliminary aircraft design.

Outdoor unit split fan noise prediction using a hybrid lighthill analogy method

Requirements of outdoor units and split HVAC systems have been increasing with system performance over the years. Since fans are the primary source of noise in these systems, selecting a fan that can meet the thermal requirements and at the same time produce lower level of noise is the most effective way of designing a quieter system. Fan suppliers normally provide fan sound characteristics at a certain distance from the fan at a rated RPM. This information is not sufficient to paint a holistic picture of the aero-acoustic phenomena that can produce unwanted tones during operation. Thus, a Model-Based Design (MBD) approach is applied in the design process during which different concepts are tried in modeling before being tested. This paper discusses a new approach in implementing Lighthill analogy method to capture the tonal and broadband noise characteristics of an outdoor split unit. This method allows for more accurate results compared to FW-H and faster results compared to a direct aero-acoustic CFD simulation. This paper shows a novel signal processing method for fan noise. Tonal and broadband results are separated and processed separately. This allows to capture accurately the tones while smoothing out unrealistic fluctuations in Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at high frequencies occurring because of the limited sampling time.

Numerical and Experimental Research on Single-Valve and Multi-Valve Resonant Systems

Multiple valves in the pipeline system belong to obvious periodic structure distribution types. When a high-speed airstream flows through the pipeline valve, it produces obvious aero-acoustic and acoustic resonance. Acoustic resonant systems with single and six-pipe valves were investigated to understand the flow and acoustic characteristics using a numerical simulation method and testing method. The strongest acoustic resonance occurred at a specific flow velocity with a corresponding Strouhal number of 0.47 corresponding to the geometric parameters in the paper. Moreover, acoustic resonance occurred in a certain velocity range, rather than increasing with the increase of the velocity of the pipeline. This regular increase provided an important theoretical basis for the prediction of the acoustic resonant and ultimate acoustic load of a single-valve system. When the pipeline was attached with multiple valves and the physical dimension was large, the conventional aero-acoustics calculation results were seriously attenuated at high frequency; the calculation method involving a cut-off frequency in this paper was presented and could be used to explain the excellent agreement of the sound pressure level (SPL) below the cut-off frequency and the poor agreement above the cut-off frequency. A new method involving steady flow and stochastic noise generation and radiation (SNGR) was proposed to obtain better results for the SPL at the middle and high frequencies. The comparison results indicated that the traditional method of Lighthill analogy and unsteady flow could accurately acquire aerodynamic noise below the cut-off frequency, while the new method involving steady flow and SNGR could quickly acquire aerodynamic noise above the cut-off frequency.

Lighthill's analogy applied to a automotive turbocharger compressor

Computing transient CFD simulations of turbocharger compressors is computationally very demanding. It is of fundamental importance to resolve turbulent structures at the location of their generation and to establish a fine enough grid to allow propagation of the resolved structures. This results in high-resolution grids, existing of more than 20 million cells. Applying Lighthill's analogy, it is possible to only resolve turbulent structures at their location of generation and compute the pressure propagation by using an additional, not that demanding, acoustic grid. This allows using coarser CFD grids in the inlet and outlet section. For transferring Lighthill's source terms from the CFD to the acoustic grid, advanced interpolation algorithms are used. The simulation results are validated by measurements of a cold gas test rig are considered.

Noise Reduction Effect of Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Streamwise Strip of Channel Flow

Superhydrophobic surface is a promising technology, but the effect of superhydrophobic surface on flow noise is still unclear. Therefore, we used alternating free-slip and no-slip boundary conditions to study the flow noise of superhydrophobic channel flows with streamwise strips. The numerical calculations of the flow and the sound field have been carried out by the methods of large eddy simulation (LES) and Lighthill analogy, respectively. Under a constant pressure gradient (CPG) condition, the average Reynolds number and the friction Reynolds number are approximately set to 4200 and 180, respectively. The influence on noise of different gas fractions (GF) and strip number in a spanwise period on channel flow have been studied. Our results show that the superhydrophobic surface has noise reduction effect in some cases. Under CPG conditions, the increase in GF increases the bulk velocity and weakens the noise reduction effect. Otherwise, the increase in strip number enhances the lateral energy exchange of the superhydrophobic surface, and results in more transverse vortices and attenuates the noise reduction effect. In our results, the best noise reduction effect is obtained as 10.7 dB under the scenario of the strip number is 4 and GF is 0.5. The best drag reduction effect is 32%, and the result is obtained under the scenario of GF is 0.8 and strip number is 1. In summary, the choice of GF and the number of strips is comprehensively considered to guarantee the performance of drag reduction and noise reduction in this work.

Large eddy simulation on combustion noise in a non-premixed turbulent free flame: Effect of oxygen enhancement

Present work examines the effect of a low-level oxygen concentration enhancement in the oxidizer stream, on the generation of direct combustion noise in a non-premixed turbulent free flame. A hybrid approach utilizing a large eddy simulation, partially stirred reactor combustion model, and Lighthill analogy was employed to predict the sound pressure level in the farfield of the flame. Contributions of different noise sources, including heat release rate and, mole consumption and production rate fluctuations are calculated to predict the sound pressure level in the farfield. Results show that, in comparison to the flame burning with air, the higher temperature in oxygen enhanced flame leads to an increase in the heat release rate and an increase in the rate of consumption and production of the species. The total sound pressure level found to increase by adding oxygen to the oxidizer stream, especially in low frequency ranges. Enhancement of molar oxygen by 10%, increases the noise contribution of the heat release rate fluctuations about 20 dB in low frequency range, and about 10 dB in high frequencies. Additionally, the noise contribution from the mole consumption and production rate decreases about 5 dB in low frequency range and 10 dB in high frequencies.

Investigation of turbulence-induced quadrupole source acoustic characteristics of a three-dimensional hydrofoil

In order to investigate the turbulence-induced acoustic characteristics of hydrofoils, the flow and sound field for a model NH-15-18-1 asymmetric hydrofoil were calculated based on the mixed method of large eddy simulation (LES) with Lighthill analogy theory. Unsteady fluid turbulent stress source around the hydrofoil were selected as the inducements of quadrupole sound. The average velocity along the mainstream direction was calculated for different Reynolds numbers [Formula: see text]. Compared to experimental measurements, good agreement was seen over a range of [Formula: see text]. The results showed that the larger the [Formula: see text], the larger the vortex intensity, the shorter the vortex initial shedding position to the leading edge of the hydrofoil, and the higher the vortex shedding frequency [Formula: see text]. The maximum sound pressure level (SPL) of the hydrofoil was located at the trailing edge and wake of the hydrofoil, which coincided with the velocity curl [Formula: see text] distribution of the flow field. The maximum SPL of the sound field was consistent with the location of the vortex shedding. There were quadratic positive correlations between the total sound pressure level (TSPL) and the maximum value of the vortex intensity [Formula: see text] and velocity curl, which verified that shedding and diffusion of vortices are the fundamental cause of the generation of the quadrupole source noise.

The reduction of noise induced by flow over an open cavity

Large eddy simulations were performed and Lighthill's analogy applied in order to predict the noise induced by the flow of a turbulent boundary layer (ReD = 12,000 or Reθ = 300) over an open cavity (length/depth = 1). The effects of three simple geometrical changes, namely lids at the upstream edge (C10 and C20) and a chamfered edge (C23) on the downstream side of the cavity, on the internal circulation flows and shear-layer flow oscillations were determined and their effectiveness in reducing flow-induced noise was assessed. These small modifications were found to weaken the circulating flows inside the cavity and to suppress the pressure fluctuations near its downstream edge. As the lid length increases, the turbulence intensity inside the cavity is suppressed. The acoustic sources are concentrated at the downstream edge. The wall pressure fluctuations at the fundamental frequency are slightly higher for C23. The energy densities at the fundamental frequency are lower by 87.5% (C10), 30% (C20), and 18.7% (C23) than that of C00. The contributions to the acoustic directivity patterns of the dipole and quadrupole sources are oriented toward 135 and 45° respectively. The ratios of decrease of the dipole and quadrupole sources are 93% (C10), 39% (C20), and 23% (C23) with respect to C00.

Design of the centrifugal fan of a belt-driven starter generator with reduced flow noise

Large eddy simulations based on the explicit algebraic subgrid-scale stress model were carried out to predict the flow-induced noise generated on the centrifugal fan of a belt-driven starter generator using Lighthill's analogy and the method of Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings. The surrounding air was approximated by an ideal gas at fixed room temperature (Tin = 300 K), and the rotating velocity of the fan was considered to be 6000 rpm. The blade array angles were designed using the modulation method, and a large blade curvature was adopted. We identified several centrifugal fan design parameters that could minimize the flow-induced noise while also minimizing fan efficiency losses. Three design parameters: the top serrated edge (θt), the step leading edge (0.52 Hb) and the tail edge (db and rb), played a critical role in preventing vortex generation and collision, significantly weakening the surface pressure fluctuations on the blade. The maximum sound pressure level at 800 Hz at a specific location was reduced by 5.5 dB (at the top serrated edge) and 6.8 dB (at the step leading edge) relative to the baseline case. The sound power, calculated over a hemisphere surface of 950 mm, was reduced by 77.3% (at the top serrated edge) and 61.0% (at the step leading edge) relative to the baseline whereas the mass flow rates were reduced by 5.2% and 10.6%, respectively. Experiments were performed using the optimally designed fan in a semi-anechoic chamber. The predicted sound pressure level and frequency were in good agreement with the experimentally measured values.

Aeroacoustic computation of fluid-structure interaction problems with low Mach numbers

This contribution deals with the acoustic simulation of aerodynamical noise generated by a flow over an airfoil or by flow in a flexible channel. Since the considered flow has low Mach number the hybrid approach of acoustic analogies can be applied here with benefits. The fluid-structure-acoustic interaction problem is generally described as a quite complicated problem comprising of three different physical fields - the vibration of the elastic body, the unsteady fluid flow and the acoustics together with mutual couplings. The fluid flow in time dependent domain is governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in arbitrary Langrangian-Eulerian formulation and the elastic structure is modelled by the means of linear elasticity theory. The Lighthill analogy and acoustic perturbation equation (APE) is considered to describe the sound propagation. The simulation of fluid-structure (FSI) interaction and acoustic field is implemented using the FEM in an in-house solver. The sound sources computed from FSI results are analyzed and within sound propagation simulation the perfectly matched layer technique is used. In the end the results of Lighthill and APE analogy are compared.

Study of Flow Induced Noise in Vertical Inline Pump Using Lighthill Analogy

The pump user demands for specification along with noise and vibration magnitude for extreme operating conditions apart from best efficiency flow. In order to predict the noise level in pumps, the entire unit of pump has to be considered for acoustic evaluation. Hence, the full three dimensional model of vertical inline pump which consists of inlet pipe, impeller, and volute casing is considered for detailing the flow induced noise using Lighthill analogy. The performance characteristics of pump are well matched between experimental and computational results and the overall sound power level at best efficiency flow using computation was compared with empirical relations and found to be agreed well. The streamline patterns along the inlet pipe shows the effects of recirculation and return flow at partload condition and confirm that the utilization of flow passage is not well streamlined even for nominal flow rate. Further, the detailed study of inlet pipe cross sections reveals the nature of different noise sources such as dipole and quadrupole sound levels along with Proudman source power level. The intensity of turbulence and vortices in flow passage is predicted well using quadrupole source and Proudman sound power levels.

LES-based numerical prediction of the trailing edge noise in a small wind turbine airfoil at different angles of attack

Abstract In this paper, the aerodynamic field around a FX 63–137 airfoil for four angles of attack and low Reynolds numbers was simulated with a Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Following, an acoustic analogy method was employed to calculate the airfoil trailing edge (TE) noise. In this second scheme step, the far-field acoustic pressure was predicted from the LES source terms using two different methods based on Lighthill's analogy: Curle's surface approach and Ffowcs-Williams and Hall's volumetric analogy (FW-Hall). Numerical results have been validated with hot-wire anemometry for the aerodynamic fields, thus verifying the accuracy of the CFD simulation for the prediction of noise propagation to the far field. Additionally, aeroacoustic results were validated with experimental measurements carried out in an anechoic wind tunnel using a frequency analyzer. The FW-Hall formulation shows a better agreement with the experiments, especially in the range of frequencies corresponding to the trailing edge, whereas Curle's analogy overpredicts airfoil sound. An exhaustive analysis of the aerodynamic flow field has been performed in order to better understand the generation mechanisms of the TE noise. The aeroacoustic calculations presented in this work contribute to develop a more reliable and efficient prediction methodology based on the Computational Aeroacoustics Approach (CAA).

Numerical Prediction of Aerodynamic Noise Generated from an Aircraft in Low Mach Number Flight

AbstractThe paper describes numerical prediction of aerodynamic noise generated from an Aircraft. Simulation of turbulent flow is done solving the incompressible Navier‐Stokes equation, where turbulence is modeled applying the orthogonal subgrid scale (OSGS) method with dynamical subscales. Because of comparison, the same simulation is done using the LES (Large Eddy simulation). It is shown how simulation of turbulent flow affects the prediction of acoustic sources calculated using Lighthill's analogy. Translation from the time to frequency domain is done through DFT (Direct Fourier Transform), which gives smaller usage of memory. Acoustic sources are used in the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation to simulate pressure wave propagation in the domain. It is shown that OSGS with dynamical subscales gives better representation of the spectrum. Overall, better prediction of energy transfer across large and small eddies will give better allocation and presentation of acoustics sources. These sources will change wave propagation of the pressure in the acoustic field. (© 2017 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

A hybrid approach to the computational aeroacoustics of human voice production.

The aeroacoustic mechanisms in human voice production are complex coupled processes that are still not fully understood. In this article, a hybrid numerical approach to analyzing sound generation in human voice production is presented. First, the fluid flow problem is solved using a parallel finite-volume computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver on a fine computational mesh covering the larynx. The CFD simulations are run for four geometrical configurations: both with and without false vocal folds, and with fixed convergent or convergent-divergent motion of the medial vocal fold surface. Then the aeroacoustic sources and propagation of sound waves are calculated using Lighthill's analogy or acoustic perturbation equations on a coarse mesh covering the larynx, vocal tract, and radiation region near the mouth. Aeroacoustic sound sources are investigated in the time and frequency domains to determine their precise origin and correlation with the flow field. The problem of acoustic wave propagation from the larynx and vocal tract into the free field is solved using the finite-element method. Two different vocal-tract shapes are considered and modeled according to MRI vocal-tract data of the vowels /i/ and /u/. The spectra of the radiated sound evaluated from acoustic simulations show good agreement with formant frequencies known from human subjects.

Numerical Analysis of the Surface Aerodynamic Noise of the CRH3 High Speed Train

For high speed trains running at 300km/h or more, the aerodynamic noise becomes the primary noise source. A good knowledge of the location, spectral characteristics and propagation behavior of the noise source and the corresponding methods to reduce the effect of the aerodynamic noise are of crucial necessity during the design process of the high speed train. Based on the Lighthill Analogy, the pressure fluctuation of air at the surface of the train is acquired by simulating the flow field of a CRH3 high speed train running at 200 km/h, 300 km/h, 400 km/h and 500km/h by means of large eddy simulation method. By Fourier transformation, the distribution and the spectral characteristics of the surface acoustic dipole sources are obtained. The analysis of the results shows that the aerodynamic noise of the high speed train is a broadband noise with a strong radiation power band from 50Hz to 1000Hz. The dipole acoustic power calculated by statistically averaged on train surface is found to be proportional to the sixth power of running speed of the high speed train. The first and second bogie, the inter-car gap, the air deflector of the power train and the train nose of the last wagon are the main noise sources that contain high radiation energy.

Numerical Simulation of Flow-induced Sound in Human Voice Production

The aeroacoustic mechanisms in human voice production are complex coupled processes, which are not fully understood until now. The paper presents a hybrid numerical approach to the solution of the acoustic field in human vocal tract, when the fluid flow is first solved by a dedicated CFD solver on a fine computational mesh covering the larynx. Subsequently, the acoustic sources and propagation of the sound waves are calculated by Lighthill's analogy or acoustic perturbation equations on a coarse mesh covering the whole vocal tract including radiation region. The CFD simulation was run in parallel on a SGI Altix UV shared-memory supercomputer; strong and weak parallel performance was tested for up to 50 computational cores. The spectra of the radiated sound for two vowels/i/and/u/evaluated from the acoustic simulation show good agreement with the formant frequencies known from human subjects.

Semiempirical method for estimating the noise of a propeller

A semiempirical method for estimating the noise of a propeller on the basis of the Lighthill analogy is proposed. The main relations of the computational model for the acoustic-radiation power have been obtained from a dimensional analysis of the general solution of the inhomogeneous wave equation for the pulsed acoustic radiation from a propeller. A comparison of the calculation and experimental data on the acousticradiation power and the one-third octave spectra of the sound pressure of four- and eight-blade AV-72 and SV-24 propellers is presented.