Numerical Prediction of Laminar Instability Noise for NACA 0012 Aerofoil.

Aerofoil self-generated noise is recognized to be of fundamental importance in the frame of applied aeroacoustics and the use of computational methods to assess the acoustic behaviour of airframe components challenges an even larger community of engineers and scientists. Several noise generation mechanisms can be found which are mainly related to the physical development of turbulence over the boundary layer. They can be classified in 3 main categories: the Turbulent Boundary Layer - Trailing Edge noise (TBL-TE), the Laminar Boundary Layer - Vortex Shedding (LBL-VS) noise and the Separation Stall (S-S) noise. The TBL-TE is mainly related to the noise generated by turbulent eddies which develop into the boundary layer and usually exhibits a broadband spectrum. The LBL-VS is related to laminar instabilities that can occur within the boundary layer which are responsible for a very late transition and generate a typical peaked tonal noise, while the S-S noise mainly results from the development of large vortices after the separation point. In this paper we propose a numerical analysis targeted to the simulation the LBL-VS noise mechanisms on a NACA 0012 aerofoil, tested at a Reynolds number of 1.1 M and Mach number of 0.2. The aerodynamic simulation is performed with a 2D transient RANS approach using the k-m transitional turbulence model, while the acoustic computations are performed with the FfowcsWilliams-Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy and with a Finite Element (FE) approach solving Lighthill's wave equation. Computed noise spectra are compared with experimental data published by NASA showing a good agreement both for peak location as well as for the predicted noise level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]