ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

2aNS1. Turbofan noise research at NASA.

John F. Groeneweg

NASA Lewis Res. Ctr., M.S. 77-6, 21000 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, OH 44135

Results of recent NASA research to reduce aircraft turbofan noise are described. For very high bypass ratio turbofan engines, the dominant source of engine noise is the fan. A primary mechanism of tone noise generation is the rotor blade wakes interacting with downstream stator vanes. Methods of analyzing rotor--stator tone noise generation are described and sample results are given. The analysis includes the unsteady aerodynamic response of the stators to gusts, coupling to duct modes, and finite element calculation of the far-field radiation accounting of for flow in the fan ducts. Wind tunnel tests of model fans and nacelles are described including comparisons between measured and predicted tone directivities. A novel rotating microphone technique is used to measure the acoustic modes in the fan inlet, and the results indicate that a mechanism associated with unsteady fan tip loading can be important in addition to rotor--stator interaction. Finally, concepts for active fan noise control which emphasize control at the source are addressed by an unsteady aerodynamic analysis of compliant stator vanes.