Far-Field Noise From a Rotor in a Wind Tunnel

This project is intended to demonstrate the current state of knowledge in the prediction of the tonal and broadband noise radiation from a Sevik rotor. The rotor measurements were made at the Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel. Details of the rotor noise and flow measurements were presented by Wisda et al(2014) and Murray et al(2015) respectively. This study presents predictions based on an approach detailed by Glegg et al(2015) for the broadband noise generated by a rotor in an inhomogeneous flow, and compares them to measured noise radiated from the rotor at prescribed observer locations. Discrepancies between the measurements and predictions led to comprehensive study of the flow in the wind tunnel and the discovery of a vortex upstream of the rotor at low advance ratios. The study presents results of RANS simulations. The static pressure and velocity profile in the domain near the rotor's tip gap region were compared to measurements obtained from a pressure port array and a PIV visualization of the rotor in the wind tunnel.