MPT Prediction of Aircraft-Engine Fan Noise

NASA Tech Briefs, Jun 2004 by Connell, Stuart D

A collection of computer programs has been developed that implements a procedure for predicting multiple-pure-tone (MPT) noise generated by fan blades of an aircraft engine (e.g., a turbofan engine). MPT noise arises when the fan is operating with supersonic relative tip Mach No. Under this flow condition, there is a strong upstream running shock. The strength and position of this shock are very sensitive to blade geometry variations. For a fan where all the blades are identical, the primary tone observed upstream of the fan will be the blade passing frequency. If there are small variations in geometry between blades, then tones below the blade passing frequency arise - MPTs. Stagger angle differences as small as 0.1° can give rise to significant MPT. It is also noted that MPT noise is more pronounced when the fan is operating in an "unstarted" mode. Computational results using a three-dimensional flow solver to compute the complete annulus flow with non-uniform fans indicate that MPT noise can be estimated in a relatively simple way. Hence, once the effect of a typical geometry variation of one blade in an otherwise uniform blade row is known, the effect of all the blades being different can be quickly computed via superposition. Two computer programs that were developed as part of this work are used in conjunction with a user's computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code to predict MPT spectra for a fan with a specified set of geometric variations:

* The first program ROTBLD reads the users CFD solution files for a single blade passage via an API (Application Program Interface). There are options to replicate and perturb the geometry with typical variations stagger, camber, thickness, and pitch. The multi-passage CFD solution files are then written in the user's file format using the API.

* The second program SUPERPOSE requires two input files: the first is the circumferential upstream pressure distribution extracted from the CFD solution on the multi-passage mesh, the second file defines the geometry variations of each blade in a complete fan. Superposition is used to predict the spectra resulting from the geometric variations.

The user would typically generate a multi-passage mesh (ROTBLD) with the geometry of one blade perturbed - typically, four or five passages are required. A CFD solution would then be generated for this mesh. Using this solution and specified geometry variations for a complete fan, the MPT spectra can be estimated usine SUPERPOSE.

These programs were written by Stuart D. Connell of General Electric Corp. for Glenn Research Center. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free on-line at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Software category.

Inquiries concerning rights for the commercial use of this invention should be addressed to NASA Glenn Research Center, Commercial Technology Office, Attn: SteveFedor, Mail Stop 4-8, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135. Refer to LEW-17386.