Numerical Predictions of Low-Reynolds-Number Propeller Aeroacoustics: Comparison of Methods at Different Fidelity Levels

Guangyuan Huang; Ankit Sharma; Xin Chen; Atif Riaz; Richard Jefferson-Loveday

doi:10.3390/aerospace12020154

Numerical Predictions of Low-Reynolds-Number Propeller Aeroacoustics: Comparison of Methods at Different Fidelity Levels

Guangyuan Huang, Ankit Sharma, Xin Chen, Atif Riaz^*, Richard Jefferson-Loveday

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Low-Reynolds-number propeller systems have been widely used in aeronautical applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and electric propulsion systems. However, the aerodynamic sound of the propeller systems is often significant and can lead to aircraft noise problems. Therefore, effective predictions of propeller noise are important for designing aircraft, and the different phases in aircraft design require specific prediction approaches. This paper aimed to perform a comparison study on numerical methods at different fidelity levels for predicting the aerodynamic noise of low-Reynolds-number propellers. The Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH), Hanson, and Gutin methods were assessed as, respectively, high-, medium-, and low-fidelity noise models. And a coarse-grid large eddy simulation was performed to model the propeller aerodynamics and to inform the three noise models. A popular propeller configuration, which has been used in previous experimental and numerical studies on propeller noise, was employed. This configuration consisted of a two-bladed propeller mounted on a cylindrical nacelle. The propeller had a diameter of 𝐷=9″D=9″ and a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 𝑃/𝐷=1P/D=1, and was operated in a forward-flight condition with a chord-based Reynolds number of 𝑅𝑒=4.8×104Re=4.8×104, a tip Mach number of 𝑀=0.231M=0.231, and an advance ratio of 𝐽=0.485J=0.485. The results were validated against existing experimental measurements. The propeller flow was characterized by significant tip vortices, weak separation over the leading edges of the blade suction sides, and small-scale vortical structures from the blade trailing edges. The far-field noise was characterized by tonal noise, as well as broadband noise. The mechanism of the noise generation and propagation were clarified. The capacities of the three noise modeling methods for predicting such propeller noise were evaluated and compared.

Original language	English
Article number	154
Pages (from-to)	279-281
Journal	Aerospace
Volume	12
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020154
Publication status	Published - 18 Feb 2025

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aerospace-12-00154Final published version, 7.18 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Numerical Predictions of Low-Reynolds-Number Propeller Aeroacoustics: Comparison of Methods at Different Fidelity Levels",

abstract = "Low-Reynolds-number propeller systems have been widely used in aeronautical applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and electric propulsion systems. However, the aerodynamic sound of the propeller systems is often significant and can lead to aircraft noise problems. Therefore, effective predictions of propeller noise are important for designing aircraft, and the different phases in aircraft design require specific prediction approaches. This paper aimed to perform a comparison study on numerical methods at different fidelity levels for predicting the aerodynamic noise of low-Reynolds-number propellers. The Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH), Hanson, and Gutin methods were assessed as, respectively, high-, medium-, and low-fidelity noise models. And a coarse-grid large eddy simulation was performed to model the propeller aerodynamics and to inform the three noise models. A popular propeller configuration, which has been used in previous experimental and numerical studies on propeller noise, was employed. This configuration consisted of a two-bladed propeller mounted on a cylindrical nacelle. The propeller had a diameter of 𝐷=9″D=9″ and a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 𝑃/𝐷=1P/D=1, and was operated in a forward-flight condition with a chord-based Reynolds number of 𝑅𝑒=4.8×104Re=4.8×104, a tip Mach number of 𝑀=0.231M=0.231, and an advance ratio of 𝐽=0.485J=0.485. The results were validated against existing experimental measurements. The propeller flow was characterized by significant tip vortices, weak separation over the leading edges of the blade suction sides, and small-scale vortical structures from the blade trailing edges. The far-field noise was characterized by tonal noise, as well as broadband noise. The mechanism of the noise generation and propagation were clarified. The capacities of the three noise modeling methods for predicting such propeller noise were evaluated and compared.",

author = "Guangyuan Huang and Ankit Sharma and Xin Chen and Atif Riaz and Richard Jefferson-Loveday",

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AU - Jefferson-Loveday, Richard

PY - 2025/2/18

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AB - Low-Reynolds-number propeller systems have been widely used in aeronautical applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and electric propulsion systems. However, the aerodynamic sound of the propeller systems is often significant and can lead to aircraft noise problems. Therefore, effective predictions of propeller noise are important for designing aircraft, and the different phases in aircraft design require specific prediction approaches. This paper aimed to perform a comparison study on numerical methods at different fidelity levels for predicting the aerodynamic noise of low-Reynolds-number propellers. The Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FWH), Hanson, and Gutin methods were assessed as, respectively, high-, medium-, and low-fidelity noise models. And a coarse-grid large eddy simulation was performed to model the propeller aerodynamics and to inform the three noise models. A popular propeller configuration, which has been used in previous experimental and numerical studies on propeller noise, was employed. This configuration consisted of a two-bladed propeller mounted on a cylindrical nacelle. The propeller had a diameter of 𝐷=9″D=9″ and a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 𝑃/𝐷=1P/D=1, and was operated in a forward-flight condition with a chord-based Reynolds number of 𝑅𝑒=4.8×104Re=4.8×104, a tip Mach number of 𝑀=0.231M=0.231, and an advance ratio of 𝐽=0.485J=0.485. The results were validated against existing experimental measurements. The propeller flow was characterized by significant tip vortices, weak separation over the leading edges of the blade suction sides, and small-scale vortical structures from the blade trailing edges. The far-field noise was characterized by tonal noise, as well as broadband noise. The mechanism of the noise generation and propagation were clarified. The capacities of the three noise modeling methods for predicting such propeller noise were evaluated and compared.

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Numerical Predictions of Low-Reynolds-Number Propeller Aeroacoustics: Comparison of Methods at Different Fidelity Levels

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