Computation of Aerodynamic Noise Radiated from Ducted Tail Rotor Using Boundary Element Method

A detailed aerodynamic performance of a ducted tail rotor in hover has been numerically studied using CFD technique. The general governing equations of turbulent flow around ducted tail rotor are given and directly solved by using finite volume discretization and Runge-Kutta time integration. The calculations of the lift characteristics of the ducted tail rotor can be obtained. In order to predict the aerodynamic noise, a hybrid method combining computational aeroacoustic with boundary element method (BEM) has been proposed. The computational steps include the following: firstly, the unsteady flow around rotor is calculated using the CFD method to get the noise source information; secondly, the radiate sound pressure is calculated using the acoustic analogy Curle equation in the frequency domain; lastly, the scattering effect of the duct wall on the propagation of the sound wave is presented using an acoustic thin-body BEM. The aerodynamic results and the calculated sound pressure levels are compared with the known technique for validation. The sound pressure directivity and scattering effect are shown to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the method.