Numerical Study of Wall Pressure Fluctuations for Zero and Non-Zero Pressure Gradient Turbulent Boundary Layers

Turbulent boundary layers on a flat plate configuration are simulated using synthetic turbulence generated by the Fast Random Particle-Mesh Method. The averaged turbulence statistics needed for the stochastic realization is provided by a Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes calculation. Wall pressure fluctuations are obtained by calculating a Poisson equation including both the mean-shear turbulence interaction source term and the turbulence-turbulence interaction source term. The Poisson equation is solved by means of Hockney’s method. Wall pressure fluctuations for zero and adverse pressure gradient boundary layers are calculated. The adverse pressure gradient is realized by placing an airfoil above the flat plate. Simulated one-point spectra and two-point statistics are analyzed. The results are compared to the experimental results, which were measured in the Acoustic Windtunnel Braunschweig for the same configurations. Good agreement with the experimental results is obtained

Noise simulations of flap devices for wind turbine rotors

The rotor of a large diameter wind turbine experiences more substantial and more dynamic loads due to the fluctuating and heterogeneous wind field. The project SmartBlades 2.0 investigated rotor blade design concepts that alleviate aerodynamic loading using active and passive mechanisms. The present work evaluates the acoustics of the two load alleviating concepts separately, an inboard slat and an outboard flap, using the Fast Random Particle Mesh/Fast Multipole Code for Acoustic Shielding (FRPM/FMCAS) numerical prediction toolchain developed at DLR with input from the averaged flow field from RANS. The numerical tools produce a comparable flap side-edge noise spectrum with that of the measurement conducted in the Acoustic Wind Tunnel Braunschweig (AWB). The validated FRPM/FMCAS was then used to analyze the self-noise from a slat at the inboard section of a rotor blade with a 44.45m radius and compared with that from the outboard trailing edge. Furthermore, the rotational effect of the rotor was included in the post-processing to emulate the noise observed at ground level. The findings show an increase in the slat's overall sound pressure level and a maximum radiation upwind of the wind turbine for the case with the largest wind speed that represents the off-design condition. In operational conditions, the slat adds at most 2dB to the overall sound pressure level. The toolchain evaluates wind turbine noise with conventional or unconventional blade design, and the problem can be scaled up for a full-scale analysis. As such, the tools presented can be used to design low-noise wind turbines efficiently

Readout for intersatellite laser interferometry: Measuring low frequency phase fluctuations of HF signals with microradian precision

Precision phase readout of optical beat note signals is one of the core techniques required for intersatellite laser interferometry. Future space based gravitational wave detectors like eLISA require such a readout over a wide range of MHz frequencies, due to orbit induced Doppler shifts, with a precision in the order of $\mu \textrm{rad}/\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$ at frequencies between $0.1\,\textrm{mHz}$ and $1\,\textrm{Hz}$. In this paper, we present phase readout systems, so-called phasemeters, that are able to achieve such precisions and we discuss various means that have been employed to reduce noise in the analogue circuit domain and during digitisation. We also discuss the influence of some non-linear noise sources in the analogue domain of such phasemeters. And finally, we present the performance that was achieved during testing of the elegant breadboard model of the LISA phasemeter, that was developed in the scope of an ESA technology development activity.Comment: submitted to Review of Scientific Instruments on April 30th 201

Aeroacoustics research in Europe: The CEAS-ASC report on 2015 highlights

The Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) Aeroacoustics Specialists Committee (ASC) supports and promotes the interests of the scientific and industrial aeroacoustics community on the European scale, and European aeronautics activities internationally. Each year, the committee highlights several of the research and development projects in Europe. This paper is the 2015 issue of this collection of Aeroacoustic Highlights, compiled from contributions submitted to the CEAS-ASC. The contributions are classified in different topics; the first categories being related to specific aeroacoustic challenges (airframenoise, fanandjetnoise, helicopternoise, aircraft interior noise), while the two last sections are devoted respectively to recent improvements and emerging techniques and to general advances in aeroacoustics. Furthermore, a concise summary of the CEAS-ASC workshop “Broadband noise of rotors and air frames” held in La Rochelle, France, in September 2015 is included in this report

Simulation of Turbulent Boundary Layer Wall Pressure Fluctuations via Poisson Equation and Synthetic Turbulence

Flat plate turbulent boundary layers under zero pressure gradient are simulated using synthetic turbulence generated by the fast random particle–mesh method. The stochastic realisation is based on time-averaged turbulence statistics derived from Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulation of flat plate turbulent boundary layers at Reynolds numbers \mathit{Re}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=2513 and \mathit{Re}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=4357. To determine fluctuating pressure, a Poisson equation is solved with an unsteady right-hand side source term derived from the synthetic turbulence realisation. The Poisson equation is solved via fast Fourier transform using Hockney’s method. Due to its efficiency, the applied procedure enables us to study, for high Reynolds number flow, the effect of variations of the modelled turbulence characteristics on the resulting wall pressure spectrum. The contributions to wall pressure fluctuations from the mean-shear turbulence interaction term and the turbulence–turbulence interaction term are studied separately. The results show that both contributions have the same order of magnitude. Simulated one-point spectra and two-point cross-correlations of wall pressure fluctuations are analysed in detail. Convective features of the fluctuating pressure field are well determined. Good agreement for the characteristics of the wall pressure fluctuations is found between the present results and databases from other investigators.</jats:p