Slow sound laser in lined flow ducts

We consider the propagation of sound in a waveguide with an impedance wall. In the low frequency regime, the first effect of the impedance is to decrease the propagation speed of acoustic waves. Therefore, a flow in the duct can exceed the wave propagation speed at low Mach numbers, making it effectively supersonic. We analyze a setup where the impedance along the wall varies such that the duct is supersonic then subsonic in a finite region and supersonic again. In this specific configuration, the subsonic region act as a resonant cavity, and triggers a laser-like instability. We show that the instability is highly subwavelength. Besides, if the subsonic region is small enough, the instability is static. We also analyze the effect of a shear flow layer near the impedance wall. Although its presence significantly alter the instability, its main properties are maintained.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. V2: several clarifications added and Fig. 4 adde

Time-domain implementation of an impedance boundary condition with boundary layer correction

A time-domain boundary condition is derived that accounts for the acoustic impedance of a thin boundary layer over an impedance boundary, based on the asymptotic frequency-domain boundary condition of Brambley [2011, AIAA J. 49(6), pp. 1272–1282]. A finite-difference reference implementation of this condition is presented and carefully validated against both an analytic solution and a discrete dispersion analysis for a simple test case. The discrete dispersion analysis enables the distinction between real physical instabilities and artificial numerical instabilities. The cause of the latter is suggested to be a combination of the real physical instabilities present and the aliasing and artificial zero group velocity of finite-difference schemes. It is suggested that these are general properties of any numerical discretization of an unstable system. Existing numerical filters are found to be inadequate to remove these artificial instabilities as they have a too wide pass band. The properties of numerical filters required to address this issue are discussed and a number of selective filters are presented that may prove useful in general. These filters are capable of removing only the artificial numerical instabilities, allowing the reference implementation to correctly reproduce the stability properties of the analytic solution.E.J. Brambley gratefully acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through a University Research Fellowship, and Fellowship of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.05.06

Effect of clocking on compressor noise generation

The effect of stator clocking on the acoustic noise generation characteristics in an axial high-pressure compressor is analysed. A realistic geometry with one-and-a-half stages is assessed using high fidelity and low-order numerical methods for different clocking positions at approach operating conditions. The compressor efficiency and the acoustic noise emission is found to vary insignificantly between the simulated clocking configurations. Nonetheless, the pressure distribution is altered significantly right upstream of the inlet guide vanes. Although the cut-on modes exhibit at least 10 dB higher amplitudes, the cut-off modes contribute decisively to the wave pattern in the near field. Optimal acoustic liner design can expand on the differently evolving interference pattern of acoustic waves at discrete frequencies. The low-order model is found to predict the directionality of the acoustic waves and the cut-on criteria for the individual modes in excellent agreement with the high fidelity simulations. However, the phase cannot be estimated due to the simplicity of the low-order formulation.The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to Rolls-Royce plc for the permission to publish this paper, which partly developed through the Rolls-Royce plc and Innovate UK Aerospace Technology Institute funded research programme, ACAPELLA

Experimental Validation of Numerical Simulations for an Acoustic Liner in Grazing Flow

A coordinated experimental and numerical simulation effort is carried out to improve our understanding of the physics of acoustic liners in a grazing flow as well our computational aeroacoustics (CAA) method prediction capability. A numerical simulation code based on advanced CAA methods is developed. In a parallel effort, experiments are performed using the Grazing Flow Impedance Tube at the NASA Langley Research Center. In the experiment, a liner is installed in the upper wall of a rectangular flow duct with a 2 inch by 2.5 inch cross section. Spatial distribution of sound pressure levels and relative phases are measured on the wall opposite the liner in the presence of a Mach 0.3 grazing flow. The computer code is validated by comparing computed results with experimental measurements. Good agreements are found. The numerical simulation code is then used to investigate the physical properties of the acoustic liner. It is shown that an acoustic liner can produce self-noise in the presence of a grazing flow and that a feedback acoustic resonance mechanism is responsible for the generation of this liner self-noise. In addition, the same mechanism also creates additional liner drag. An estimate, based on numerical simulation data, indicates that for a resonant liner with a 10% open area ratio, the drag increase would be about 4% of the turbulent boundary layer drag over a flat wall

Application and assessment of time-domain DGM for intake acoustics using 3D linearized Euler equations

Fan noise is one of the major sources of aircraft noise. This can be modelled by means of frequency and time domain CAA methods. Frequency domain methods based on the convected Helmholtz equation are widely used for noise propagation and radiation from turbofan intakes. However, these methods are unsuited to deal easily with turbofan exhaust noise and presently unable to solve large 3D (three-dimensional) problems at high frequencies. In this thesis the application of time-domain Discontinuous Galerkin Methods (DGM) for solving linearized Euler equations is investigated. The research is focused on large 3D problems with arbitrary mean flows. A commercially available DGM code, Actran DGM, is used.An automatic procedure has been developed to perform the DGM simulations for axisymmetric and 3D intake problems by providing simple control of all the parameters (flow, geometry, liners). Moreover, a new method for integrating source predictions obtained from CFD calculations for the fan stage of a turbofan engine with the DGM code to predict tonal noise radiation in the far field has been proposed, implemented and validated.The DGM is validated and benchmarked for intake and exhaust problems against analytical solutions and other numerical methods. The principal properties of the DGM are assessed, best practice is defined, and important issues which relate to the accuracy and stability of the liner model are identified. The accuracy and efficiency of the CFD/CAA coupling are investigated and results obtained are compared to rig test data.The influence of the 3D intake shapes and the mean flow distortion on the sound field is investigated for static rig and flight conditions by using the DGM approach. Moreover, it is shown that the mean flow distortion can have a significant effect on the sound attenuation by a liner