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This paper considers potential sources of error when using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation to make predictions of airframe noise, which entails a relatively low-speed, uniform incoming flow encountering geometry of varying complexity. Numerical simulations are used to investigate several model problems where Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings integration surfaces are placed on solid surfaces as well as in the flow. Comparisons with the pressure obtained directly from the simulations reveal that when solid surfaces are used, the acoustic calculations can produce erroneous results in upstream directions and when scattering bodies block the line of sight from observers to the source. Using solid surface input data implies ignoring all volumetric source effects, which include noise generation as well as flow effects. Nonuniform flow alone, such as is found in a steady boundary layer, was not found to be a significant source of error, so the amplitude and phase changes induced by turbulent eddies in massively separated flow regions is speculated to be the primary cause of the error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 18% scale semispan model is used as a platform for examining the efficacy of microphone array processing using synthetic data from numerical simulations. Two hybrid Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes/Large-Eddy-Simulation (RANS/LES) codes coupled with Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings solvers are used to calculate 97 microphone signals at the locations of an array employed in the NASA Langley Research Center 14×22 tunnel. Conventional, DAMAS, and CLEAN-SC array processing is applied in an identical fashion to the experimental and computational results for three different configurations involving deploying and retracting the main landing gear and a part-span flap. Despite the short time records of the numerical signals, the beamform maps are able to isolate the noise sources, and the appearance of the DAMAS synthetic array maps is generally better than those from the experimental data. The experimental CLEAN-SC maps are similar in quality to those from the simulations indicating that CLEAN-SC may have less sensitivity to background noise. The spectrum obtained from DAMAS processing of synthetic array data is nearly identical to the spectrum of the center microphone of the array, indicating that for this problem array processing of synthetic data does not improve spectral comparisons with experiment. However, the beamform maps do provide an additional means of comparison that can reveal differences that cannot be ascertained from spectra alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current effort characterizes the details of flow interactions and wake interference effects between two cylinders in a tandem configuration. This setup is representative of several component-level flow interactions that occur when air flows over the main landing gear of aircraft. Such interactions are likely to have a significant impact on the noise radiation associated with the undercarriage. This paper focuses on two-dimensional, time-accurate flow simulations of two distinct tandem cylinder flowregimes, associated with short and intermediate separation distances between the two cylinders. Unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulations using a two-equation turbulence model run at a Reynolds number of 1.66 x 1055 and a Mach number of 0.166 are presented. Emphasis is placed on understanding both the time-averaged and unsteady flow features between the two cylinders and in the wake of the rear cylinder. Predicted mean-flow quantities and vortex shedding frequencies show reasonable agreement with measured data for both cylinder spacings. Computations for the short separation distance exhibit a nonphysical decay of flow unsteadiness with time; however, the predicted sensitivity of the mean lift coefficient to small variations in the upstream flow angularity explains the asymmetric flowfield observed in the present and previous measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]