Assessment of propfan propulsion systems for reduced environmental impact

[摘要] (cont.) Guided by data available in the literature, a detailed aerodynamic design of a pusher CRP was carried out using vortex-lattice methods and 3-D steady RANS computations of the counter-rotating stage. Full-wheel unsteady 3-D RANS simulations were then used to determine the time varying blade surface pressures and unsteady flow features necessary to define the acoustic source terms. A frequency domain approach based on Goldstein;;s formulation of the acoustic analogy for moving media and Hanson;;s single rotor noise method was extended to counter-rotating configurations. The far field noise predictions were compared to experimental data and demonstrated good agreement between the computed and measured interaction tones. The underlying noise source mechanisms due to front-rotor wake interaction, aft-rotor upstream influence, hub-endwall secondary flows and front-rotor tip vortices were dissected and quantified. Based on this investigation, the CRP was re-designed for reduced noise incorporating a clipped rear-rotor and an increased rotor-rotor spacing to reduce upstream influence, tip vortex, and wake interaction effects. Maintaining the thrust and propulsive efficiency at takeoff conditions, the noise was calculated for both designs. At the interaction tone frequencies, the re-designed CRP exhibited an average reduction of 7.25 dB in mean SPL computed over the forward and aft polar angle arcs. On the engine/aircraft system level, the re-designed CRP demonstrated a reduction of 9.2 EPNdB and 8.6 EPNdB at the FAR 36 flyover and sideline observer locations, respectively. The results suggest that advanced open rotor designs can possibly meet Stage 4 noise requirements.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology