AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE SOURCES OF PROPELLER NOISE DUE TO THE INGESTION OF TURBULENCE AT LOW-SPEEDS

Noise radiation from a four bladed, to in. diameter propeller operating in air at a rotational speed of 3000 RPM and a freestream velocity of 33 ft/s was experimentally analyzed using hot-wire and microphone measurements in an anechoic wind tunnel. Turbulence levels from 0.2 to 5.5% at the propeller location were generated by square-mesh grids upstream of the propeller. Autobicoherence measurements behind the blade trailing edges near the hub and tip showed regions of high phase-coherence between the blade-passage harmonics and the broadband frequencies. Inflow turbulence reduced this coherence. By relating the fluctuation velocities in the propeller wake to the unsteady blade forces, the primary regions of tonal noise generation have been identified as the hub and tip regions, while the midspan has been identified as a region responsible for broadband noise generation. These measurements were complimented by cross-spectra between the propeller wake-flow and the measured sound. The effect of turbulence on the radiated noise level showed an overall increase of 2 dB in the broadband levels for every 1% increase in turbulence. This effect varied for different frequency bands in the acoustic spectrum.