Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Propeller noise”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10

The prediction of the noise of supersonic propellers in time domain - New theoretical results

In this paper, a new formula for the prediction of the noise of supersonic propellers is derived in the time domain which is superior to the previous formulations in several respects. The governing equation is based on the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) equation with the thickness source term replaced by an equivalent loading source term derived by Isom (1975). Using some results of generalized function theory and simple four-dimensional space-time geometry, the formal solution of the governing equation is manipulated to a form requiring only the knowledge of blade surface pressure data and geometry. The final form of the main result of this paper consists of some surface and line integrals. The surface integrals depend on the surface pressure, time rate of change of surface pressure, and surface pressure gradient. These integrals also involve blade surface curvatures. The line integrals which depend on local surface pressure are along the trailing edge, the shock traces on the blade, and the perimeter of the airfoil section at the inner radius of the blade. The new formulation is for the full blade surface and does not involve any numerical observer time differentiation. The method of implementation on a computer for numerical work is also discussed.

Farassat, F.↗

Comparison of advanced turboprop and conventional jet and propeller aircraft flyover noise annoyance: Preliminary results

A laboratory experiment was conducted to compare the flyover noise annoyance of proposed advanced turboprop aircraft with that of conventional turboprop and jet aircraft. The effects of fundamental frequency and tone-to-broadband noise ratio on advanced turboprop annoyance were also examined. A computer synthesis system is used to generate 18 realistic, time varying simulations of propeller aircraft takeoff noise in which the harmonic content is systematically varied to represent the factorial combinations of six fundamental frequencies ranging from 67.5 Hz to 292.5 Hz and three tone-to-broadband noise ratios of 0, 15, and 30 dB. These advanced turboprop simulations along with recordings of five conventional turboprop takeoffs and five conventional jet takeoffs are presented at D-weighted sound pressure levels of 70, 80, and 90 dB to 32 subjects in an anechoic chamber. Analyses of the subjects' annoyance judgments compare the three categories of aircraft and examine the effects of the differences in harmonic content among the advanced turboprop noises. The annoyance prediction ability of various noise measurement procedures and corrections is also examined.

Mccurdy, D. A.↗

Comparison of advanced turboprop and conventional jet and propeller aircraft flyover noise annoyance - Preliminary results

A laboratory experiment was conducted to compare the flyover noise annoyance of proposed advanced turboprop aircraft with that of conventional turboprop and jet aircraft. The effects of fundamental frequency and tone-to-broadband noise ratio on advanced turboprop annoyance were also examined. A computer synthesis system was used to generate 18 realistic, time varyring simulations of propeller aircraft takeoff noise in which the harmonic content was systematically varied to represent the factorial combinations of six fundamental frequencies ranging from 67.5 Hz to 292.5 Hz and three tone-to-broadband noise ratios of 0, 15, and 30 dB. These advanced turboprop simulations along with recordings of five conventional turboprop takeoffs and five conventional jet takeoffs were presented at D-weighted sound pressure levels of 70, 80, and 90 dB to 32 subjects in an anechoic chamber. Analyses of the subjects' annoyance judgments compare the three categories of aircraft and examine the effects of the differences in harmonic content among the advanced turboprop noises. The annoyance prediction ability of various noise measurement procedures and corrections is also examined.

Mccurdy, D. A.↗

Separation of airborne and structureborne noise radiated by plates constructed of conventional and composite materials with applications for prediction of interior noise paths in propeller driven aircraft

The anticipated application of advanced turboprop propulsion systems and use of composite materials in primary structure is expected to increase the interior noise of future aircraft to unacceptability high levels. The absence of technically and economically feasible noise source-path diagnostic tools has been a primer obstacle in the development of efficient noise control treatments for propeller driven aircraft. A new diagnostic method which permits the separation and prediction of the fully coherent airborne and structureborne components of the sound radiated by plates or thin shells has been developed. Analytical and experimental studies of the proposed method were performed on plates constructed of both conventional and composite materials. The results of the study indicate that the proposed method can be applied to a variety of aircraft materials, could be used in flight, and has fewer encumbrances than the other diagnostic tools currently available. The study has also revealed that the noise radiation of vibrating plates in the low frequency regime due to combined airborne and structureborne inputs possesses a strong synergistic nature. The large influence of the interaction between the airborne and structureborne terms has been hitherto ignored by researchers of aircraft interior noise problems.

Mcgary, M. C.↗

The effect of front-to-rear propeller spacing on the interaction noise at cruise conditions of a model counterrotation propeller having a reduced diameter aft propeller

The effect of forward-to-aft propeller spacing on the interaction noise of a counterrotation propeller with reduced aft diameter was measured at cruise conditions. In general, the tones at 100 percent speed decreased from close to nominal spacing as expected from a wake decay model. However, when the spacing was further increased to the far position, the noise did not decrease as expected and in some cases increased. The behavior at the far spacing was attributed to changing forward propeller performance, which produced larger wakes. The results of this experiment indicate that simple wake decay model is sufficient to describe the behavior of the interaction noise only if the aerodynamic coupling of the two propellers does not change with spacing. If significant coupling occurs such that the loading of the forward propeller is altered, the interaction noise does not necessarily decrease with larger forward-to-aft propeller spacing.

Dittmar, James H.↗

Noise Control in Propeller-Driven Aircraft

Analytical model predicts noise levels inside propeller-driven aircraft during cruise at mach 0.8. Double wall sidewalls minimize interior noise and weight. Model applied to three aircraft with fuselages of different size (wide-body, narrow-body, and small-diameter) to determine noise reductions required to achieve A-weighted sound level not to exceed 80 dB.

Rennison, D. C.↗

Propeller aircraft interior noise model. II - Scale-model and flight-test comparisons

A program for predicting the sound levels inside propeller driven aircraft arising from sidewall transmission of airborne exterior noise is validated through comparisons of predictions with both scale-model test results and measurements obtained in flight tests on a turboprop aircraft. The program produced unbiased predictions for the case of the scale-model tests, with a standard deviation of errors of about 4 dB. For the case of the flight tests, the predictions revealed a bias of 2.62-4.28 dB (depending upon whether or not the data for the fourth harmonic were included) and the standard deviation of the errors ranged between 2.43 and 4.12 dB. The analytical model is shown to be capable of taking changes in the flight environment into account.

Willis, C. M.↗

Anticipated Effectiveness of Active Noise Control in Propeller Aircraft Interiors as Determined by Sound Quality Tests

Two experiments were conducted, using sound quality engineering practices, to determine the subjective effectiveness of hypothetical active noise control systems in a range of propeller aircraft. The two tests differed by the type of judgments made by the subjects: pair comparisons in the first test and numerical category scaling in the second. Although the results of the two tests were in general agreement that the hypothetical active control measures improved the interior noise environments, the pair comparison method appears to be more sensitive to subtle changes in the characteristics of the sounds which are related to passenger preference.

Powell, Clemans A.↗

Noise from a vibrating propeller

This paper is concerned with an analytical study of the noise from a vibrating propeller. The influence of airfoil thickness and of steady loading are also included to provide a basis for comparison. The analysis was based on the concept of distributing sources and doublets on the surface of the blade, which were multiplied by their appropriate strength factors. The noise in the plane of the propeller was dominated by the thickness noise. Moving the observer's position to the propeller axis, the thickness noise and loading noise were zero, and a pure sinusoidal noise was found, caused by the vibrations of the propeller.

Runyan, H. L.↗

The effect of swirl recovery vanes on the cruise noise of an advanced propeller

The SR-7A propeller was acoustically tested with and without downstream swirl recovery vanes to determine if any extra noise was caused by the interaction of the propeller wakes and vortices with these vanes. No additional noise was observed at the cruise condition over the angular range tested. The presence of the swirl recovery vanes did unload the propeller and some small peak noise reductions were observed from lower propeller loading noise. The propeller was also tested alone to investigate the behavior of the peak propeller noise with helical tip Mach number. As observed before on other propellers, the peak noise first rose with helical tip Mach number and then leveled off or decreased at higher helical tip Mach numbers. Detailed pressure-time histories indicate that a portion of the primary pressure pulse is progressively cancelled by a secondary pulse as the helical tip Mach number is increased. This cancellation appears to be responsible for the peak noise behavior at high helical tip Mach numbers.

Dittmar, James H.↗

The effect of swirl recovery vanes on the cruise noise of an advanced propeller

The SR-7A propeller was acoustically tested with and without downstream swirl recovery vanes to determine if any extra noise was caused by the interaction of the propeller wakes and vortices with these vanes. No additional noise was observed at the cruise condition over the angular range tested. The presence of the swirl recovery vanes did unload the propeller and some small peak noise reductions were observed from lower propeller loading noise. The propeller was also tested alone to investigate the behavior of the peak propeller noise with helical tip Mach number. As observed before on other propellers, the peak noise first rose with helical tip Mach number and then leveled off or decreased at higher helical tip Mach numbers. Detailed pressure-time histories indicate that a portion of the primary pressure pulse is progressively cancelled by a secondary pulse as the helical tip Mach number is increased. This cancellation appears to be responsible for the peak noise behavior at high helical tip Mach numbers.

Dittmar, James H.↗

Noise of the SR-6 propeller model at 2 deg and 4 deg angles of attack

The noise generated by supersonic-tip-speed propellers creates a cabin noise problem for future airplanes powered by these propellers. Noise of a number of propeller models were measured in the NASA Lewis 8- by 6-Foot Wind Tunnel with flow parallel to the propeller axis. In flight, as a result of the induced upwash from the airplane wing, the propeller is at an angle of attack with respect to the incoming flow. Therefore, the 10-blade SR-6 propeller was operated at angle of attack to determine its noise behavior. Higher blade passage tones were observed for the propeller operating at angle of attack in a 0.6 axial Mach number flow. The noise increase was not symmetrical, with one wall of the wind tunnel showing a larger noise increase than the other wall. No noise increase was observed at angle of attack in a 0.8 axial Mach number flow. For this propeller the dominance of thickness noise, which does not increase with angle of attack, explains the lack of noise increase at the higher 0.8 Mach number.

Dittmar, J. H.↗

Noise of the 10-bladed 60 deg swept SR-5 propeller in a wind tunnel

Noise generated by supersonic helical tip speed propellers is a possible cabin environment problem for future airplanes powered by these propellers. Noise characteristics of one of these propellers, designated SR-5, are presented. A matrix of tests was conducted to provide as much acoustic information as possible. During aerodynamic testing it was discovered that the propeller had an aeroelastic instability which prevented testing the propeller at its design advance ratio of 4.08 at axial Mach numbers over 0.7. Plots of the variation of the maximum blade passage tone with helical tip Mach number indicate that, at higher helical tip Mach numbers, the propeller operated on sharply increasing portion of the noise curve; therefore, extrapolations to the design condition would not be accurate. A possible extrapolation indicated that SR-5 at its design point should be quieter than SR-3 at its design point. Directivity plots at the higher helical tip Mach numbers indicate a lobed directivity pattern as was observed previously on the SR-3 propeller.

Dittmar, J. H.↗

Analytical model for investigation of interior noise characteristics in aircraft with multiple propellers including synchrophasing

A simplified analytical model of transmission of noise into the interior of propeller-driven aircraft has been developed. The analysis includes directivity and relative phase effects of the propeller noise sources, and leads to a closed form solution for the coupled motion between the interior and exterior fields via the shell (fuselage) vibrational response. Various situations commonly encountered in considering sound transmission into aircraft fuselages are investigated analytically and the results obtained are compared to measurements in real aircraft. In general the model has proved successful in identifying basic mechanisms behind noise transmission phenomena.

Fuller, C. R.↗

Annoyance caused by advanced turboprop aircraft flyover noise: Comparison of different propeller configurations

A laboratory experiment was conducted to compare the annoyance of flyover noise from advanced turboprop aircraft having different propeller configurations with the annoyance of conventional turboprop and turbofan aircraft flyover noise. A computer synthesis system was used to generate 40 realistic, time varying simulations of advanced turboprop takeoff noise. Of the 40 noises, single-rotating propeller configurations (8) and counter-rotating propeller configurations with an equal (12) and unequal (20) number of blades on each rotor were represented. Analyses found that advanced turboprops with single-rotating propellers were, on average, slightly less annoying than the other aircraft. Fundamental frequency and tone-to-broadband noise ratio affected annoyance response to advanced turboprops, but the effects varied with propeller configuration and noise metric. The addition of duration corrections and corrections for tones above 500 Hz to the noise measurement procedures improved annoyance prediction ability.

Mccurdy, David A.↗

Advanced turboprop technology development

The efficiency of high-speed turboprop propulsion systems is considered with emphasis on fuel savings. Specific topics discussed include: (1) high efficiency and low noise of propeller design; (2) fuselage noise attenuation; (3) propeller and gear box maintenance; and (4) engine-airframe integration.

Dugan, J. F.↗