Advanced turboprop wing installation effects measured by unsteady blade pressure and noise

A single rotation model propeller (SR-7A) was tested at simulated takeoff/approach conditions (Mach 0.2), in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-Ft Anechoic Wind Tunnel. Both unsteady blade surface pressures and noise measurements were made for a tractor configuration with propeller/straight wing and propeller alone configurations. The angle between the wing chord and propeller axis (droop angle) was varied along with the wing angle of attack to determine the effects on noise and unsteady loading. A method was developed that uses unsteady blade pressure measurements to provide a quantitative indication of propeller inflow conditions, at least for a uniform (across the propeller disk) inflow angle. The wing installation caused a nearly uniform upwash at the propeller inlet as evidenced by the domination of the pressure spectra by the first shaft order. This inflow angle increased at a rate of almost 150 percent of that of the wing angle-of-attack for a propeller-wing spacing of 0.54 wing chords at a constant droop angle. The flyover noise, as measured by the maximum blade passing frequency level, correlates closely with the propeller inflow angle (approx. 0.6 dB per degree of inflow angle) for all droop angles and wing angles of attack tested, including the propeller alone data. Large changes in the unsteady pressure responses on the suction surface of the blade were observed as the advance ratio was varied. The presence of a leading edge vortex may explain this behavior since changes in the location of this vortex would change with loading (advance ratio).