A 20 Year Retrospective of The Advanced Noise Control Fan - Contributions to Turbofan Noise Research

The Advanced Noise Control Fan (neé Active Noise Control Fan - ANCF) was utilized in the design, test, and evaluation for technical risk mitigation of most of the innovative fan noise reduction technologies developed by NASA over the past 20 years. The ANCF is a low-speed, ducted fan, testbed for measuring and understanding fan-generated aeroacoustics, duct propagation, and radiation to the farfield. It is considered a low Technology Readiness Level testbed. The international aeroacoustics research community employed the ANCF to facilitate advancement of multiple noise reduction and measurement technologies, and for code validation. From 1994 to 2016, it was located in the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory. In 2016 the ANCF was transferred to the University of Notre Dame where it is expected to continue to positively impact ducted fan aeroacoustic research and provide STEM support. This paper summarizes the capabilities and contributions of the ANCF to the field by documenting its history. Limited data is presented, focusing on a description of the configurations, goals, and objectives of representative ANCF tests. This provides an overview of the progress of aeroacosustic research as implemented on the ANCF, as well as a background for its continued usage.