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High-Lift Propeller Noise Prediction for a Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight DemonstratorOver the past several years, the use of electric propulsion technologies within aircraft design has received increased attention. The characteristics of electric propulsion systems open up new areas of the aircraft design space, such as the use of distributed electric propulsion (DEP). In this approach, electric motors are placed in many different locations to achieve increased efficiency through integration of the propulsion system with the airframe. Under a project called Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology Operations Research (SCEPTOR), NASA is designing a flight demonstrator aircraft that employs many "high-lift propellers" distributed upstream of the wing leading edge and two cruise propellers (one at each wingtip). As the high-lift propellers are operational at low flight speeds (take-off/approach flight conditions), the impact of the DEP configuration on the aircraft noise signature is also an important design consideration. This paper describes efforts toward the development of a mulit-fidelity aerodynamic and acoustic methodology for DEP high-lift propeller aeroacoustic modeling. Specifically, the PAS, OVERFLOW 2, and FUN3D codes are used to predict the aerodynamic performance of a baseline high-lift propeller blade set. Blade surface pressure results from the aerodynamic predictions are then used with PSU-WOPWOP and the F1A module of the NASA second generation Aircraft NOise Prediction Program to predict the isolated high-lift propeller noise source. Comparisons of predictions indicate that general trends related to angle of attack effects at the blade passage frequency are captured well with the various codes. Results for higher harmonics of the blade passage frequency appear consistent for the CFD based methods. Conversely, evidence of the need for a study of the effects of increased azimuthal grid resolution on the PAS based results is indicated and will be pursued in future work. Overall, the results indicate that the computational approach is acceptable for fundamental assessment of low-noise high-lift propeller designs. The extent to which the various approaches may be used in a complementary manner will be further established as measured data becomes available for validation. Ultimately, it is anticipated that this combined approach may be used to provide realistic incident source fields for acoustic shielding/scattering studies on various aircraft configurations.
Document ID
20170006070
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Nark, Douglas M.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Buning, Pieter G.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Jones, William T.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Derlaga, Joseph M.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
July 3, 2017
Publication Date
June 5, 2017
Subject Category
Acoustics
Report/Patent Number
NF1676L-25808
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2017 AIAA AVIATION Forum
Location: Denver, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: June 5, 2017
End Date: June 9, 2017
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 081876.02.07.50.03.05
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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