Response of a cascade of blades to an incoming turbulent flow

The purpose of this research is to study the modification of a turbulent flow as it passes through a cascade of flat plates. The results will then be compared with experimental results obtained in a companion experimental study being conducted at Virginia Tech. In a typical marine propulsor turbulent flow passes through a set of inlet guide vanes (IGVs) and then interacts with the propeller blades: this process creates unwanted vibration and sound. The purpose of this research is to determine if the arrangement of the IGVs can be used to reduce the propulsor noise generation. In this study the incoming flow to the propeller is modeled as homogeneous turbulence and the IGVs are represented by a cascade of flat plates. We will consider the equations, which describe the blade response to an incoming harmonic gust, and we will represent the turbulent flow using a modal description.