Propeller noise generally exhibits a rich mixture of tonal and broadband components related to different physical mechanisms. Specifically, the tones are characterized by having deterministic and persistent characteristics, while the broadband counterpart has random behaviour. The separation is essential for the experimenters as they provide information on the different noise sources. In this framework, the study presents a novel wavelet-based method able to separate the noise emitted by a low Reynolds number propeller into its tonal and broadband components. The technique is applied to an isolated rotor operating under different loading configurations, including hover and cruise conditions. The acoustic pressure data are obtained in the anechoic tunnel (A-tunnel) of the TU Delft low-speed laboratory with a near-field polar and azimuthal distribution of microphones. The method is based upon a threshold varying procedure that separates the tonal and broadband components through the computation of two-point statistics. Advantages and drawbacks with respect to other methodologies already known from the literature are discussed. The application of the method provides the spectral content of the tonal and broadband components as well as the different polar and azimuthal directivity. Specifically, the observed dipole-like shape directivity for the tonal part and flatter broadband OASPL, confirm that the method can provide quite a good separation. Furthermore, the overall flow behaviour is inferred from the decomposition and validated through benchmarked flow visualizations.

This paper presents a computational study of flow incidence effects on the aeroacoustics of a propeller operating at low blade-tip Mach numbers. The numerical flow solution is obtained by using the Lattice-Boltzmann/Very Large Eddy Simulation method, while far-field noise is computed through the Ffowcs-Williams & Hawkings' acoustic analogy applied on the propeller surface. The presence of an angular inflow leads to: (i) the radiation of tonal loading noise along the propeller axis; (ii) the increment/reduction of the sound pressure level in the region from/to which the propeller is tilted away/towards. However, contrarily to propellers operating at high blade-tip Mach numbers, the noise directivity change is found to be governed only by the rise of periodic unsteady loadings, with the modulation of the strength of the noise sources on the blade, associated to the periodic variation of the observer-source relative Mach number (in the blade reference frame), being negligible. Finally, thickness noise and turbulent boundary-layer trailing-edge noise did not show a significant directivity variation due to the propeller yaw angle change.

This paper explains the presence and relevance of noise caused by a laminar separation bubble (LSB) on a propeller operating at low-Reynolds number. Microphone measurements of a propeller with both clean and forced boundary layer transition blades are carried out in an anechoic wind tunnel by varying the propeller advance ratio J from 0 to 0.6, corresponding to a tip Reynolds number ranging from 4.3 · 10 ⁴ to 10 ⁵ . The flow behaviour on the blade surface and around the propeller is investigated with oil-flow visualizations and particle image velocimetry. At J = 0.4 and 0.6, vortex shedding from the LSB causes high-frequency noise which appears as a hump in the far-field noise spectra. Forcing the location of the boundary layer transition suppresses the LSB and, consequently, the hump, reducing the noise emission of about 5 and 10 dB at J = 0.4 and 0.6, respectively. The fact that the hump is caused by LSB vortex shedding noise is further assessed by using a semi-empirical noise model; it shows that the hump is constituted by tones of different amplitudes and frequencies, emitted at different spanwise sections along the blade.

This paper presents an experimental investigation of a propeller operating at low Reynolds numbers and provides insights into the role of aerodynamic flow features on both propeller performances and noise generation. A propeller operating at a tip Reynolds number regime of 4.3 × 10⁴ − 4.38 × 10⁴ is tested in an anechoic wind tunnel at an advance ratio ranging from 0 to 0.6. Noise is measured by means of a microphone array, while aerodynamic forces are measured with load and torque cells. Oil-flow visualizations are used to show the flow patterns on the blade surface, whereas phase-locked stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are carried out to analyze the flow at 60% of the blade radius. The pressure field around the blade section has been computed from the PIV velocity data. Results reveal a complex flowfield with the appearance of a laminar separation bubble at the suction side of the blade. The separation bubble moves toward the leading edge and reduces in size as the advance ratio decreases. At an advance ratio equal to 0.6, the flowfield is characterized by a laminar separation without reattachment. This causes vortex shedding responsible for a high-frequency hump in the far-field noise spectra.

A noise footprint prediction framework for propeller-driven aircraft which couples an aerodynamic model and several aeroacoustic models is presented in this study. The aerodynamic model is based on the blade element momentum theory, while the aeroacoustic models are based on a time-domain compact dipole/monopole Ffowcs-Williams and Hawking's acoustic analogy, a trailing edge noise model, and a noise hemisphere database approach including a straight-ray propagation model, respectively. In order to reduce the runtime, the frequency-domain acoustic formulation, derived by Hanson (1980), is implemented and validated against the compact dipole/monopole Ffowcs-Williams and Hawking's acoustic analogy. The framework evaluates the acoustic effects of variations in the design and operating conditions of a propeller in forward flight. Noise footprints, obtained with different propeller configurations having varying advance ratio and number of blades are compared. It is found that, for a given thrust, a drop in advance ratio alters the source directivity dramatically, which resulting in a variation of up to 30 dBA on the acoustic footprint. When the advance ratio is kept the same and the number of blades increases from 5 to 7, the variation becomes 16 dBA due to the change in the source directivity, but the maximum noise level remains the same. The latter condition reduces the loading for each blade, and consequently the associated noise. However, the total noise remains unchanged as a consequence of increasing thickness noise due to the lower advance ratio, high blade tip Mach number, and addition of extra blades.

This paper proposes a CFD/CAA-based approach to predict the aerodynamic performances and tonal/broadband noise radiation of low-Reynolds number propellers at engineering level. Broadband self-noise prediction of low-Reynolds number propellers is particularly challenging, due to the requirement for the employed computational method to emulate the complexity of the laminar/turbulent boundary-layer behavior on the blade. In this study, the numerical flow solution is obtained by using the Lattice-Boltzmann/Very Large Eddy Simulation method, whereas far-field noise is computed through the Ffowcs-Williams & Hawkings' acoustic analogy applied on the propeller surface. A zig-zag transition trip on the propeller blades is used in the numerical setup to reproduce resolved turbulent pressure fluctuations in boundary-layer for broadband noise computation at a relatively low computational cost. The effect of using a transition trip to simulate low-Reynolds number propellers, as well as the impact of its chordwise position on the calculation of performances and radiated noise, is outlined. The trip position marginally affects the thrust and to a slightly larger extent the torque prediction. Tonal noise at the blade-passing frequencies does not show a relevant sensitivity to it, whereas broadband noise is found to be slightly more influenced by the chordwise position of the trip, especially at high advance ratios. The low sensitivity of the numerical results to the trip location, as well as their good agreement with loads and noise measurements carried out in the A-Tunnel of TU-Delft, demonstrates the robustness of the proposed approach for industrial applications.

Experimental and numerical results of a propeller of 0.3 m diameter operated at 5000 RPM and axial velocity ranging from 0 to 20 m/s and advance ratio ranging from 0 to 0.8 are presented as a preliminary step towards the definition of a benchmark configuration for low Reynolds number propeller aeroacoustics. The corresponding rotational tip Mach number is 0.23 and the Reynolds number based on the blade sectional chord and flow velocity varies from about 46000 to 106000 in the operational domain and in the 30% to 100% blade radial range. Force and noise measurements carried out in a low-speed semi-anechoic wind-tunnel are compared to scale-resolved CFD and low-fidelity numerical predictions. Results identify the experimental and numerical challenges of the benchmark and the relevance of fundamental research questions related to transition and other low Reynolds number effects.

Experimental and numerical results of a propeller of 0.3 m diameter operated in quiescent standard ambient conditions at 5000 RPM and axial velocity ranging from 0 to 20 m/s and advance ratio ranging from 0 to 0.8 are presented as a preliminary step towards the definition of a benchmark configuration for low Reynolds number propeller aeroacoustics. The corresponding rotational tip Mach number is 0.231 and the Reynolds number based on the blade sectional chord and flow velocity in the whole radial and operational domain ranges from about 54000 to 106000. Force and noise measurements carried out in a low-speed semi-anechoic wind-tunnel are compared with scale-resolved CFD and low-fidelity numerical results. Results identify the experimental and numerical challenges of the benchmark and the relevance of fundamental research questions related to transition and other low Reynolds number effects.

The present study reports an experimental investigation regarding one of the most effective and most studied passive control technique in literature to mitigate the noise pollution radiating by a small drone: the Serrated Trailing Edge (STE). 23 quiet propellers have been designed and manufactured in order to identify the most silent configuration. An aeroacoustic pre-qualification of the designed propellers has been performed by means of microphone measurements within the anechoic chamber of Niccolo Cusano University. Then, an aeroacoustic and fluid dynamic characterization of the most performing configuration has been carried out by means of load cell, microphone and PIV measurements in the anechoic wind tunnel facility of TUDelft University of Technology in order to investigate the mechanism that stands behind the noise mitigation. With this purpose, the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance and even the velocity and vorticity field along the blade of STE propellers have been characterized. Particular attention is devoted to the fluid-dynamic aspects related to the low Reynolds number flow regime. Results show that serrations seems to modify the wake velocity and the tip voretx intensity resulting in a lower acoustic emission.