Simon BOULEY: MAnalytical modelings of the rotor-stator interaction tonal noise by the mode-matching technique

Abstract:

The rotor-stator wake-interaction tonal noise, generated by the impingement of rotor wakes onoutlet guide vanes, plays a crucial role in the aerodynamic noise of axial-flow ducted fan stages. Thelatter are widely used in most aeronautic propulsion and air-conditioning systems. The noise predictionby means of numerical simulations remains expensive, especially at the preliminary design stage whennumerous configurations must be tested. In this respect, the analytical approach chosen in this thesisprovides a well suited alternative. The analytical modeling based on an isolated-airfoil response functioncan not reproduce the cascade effect introduced by the large number of stator vanes. Conversely, drasticapproximations are required to extend the current cascade response functions to three-dimensionalconfigurations. The proposed modeling based on the mode-matching technique simply introduces thecascade effect in an annular rotor-stator stage. A rectilinear cascade response function is firstly presentedto account for the acoustic transmission through the stator along with the wake-interaction noise.In this context, a linearized and non-viscous analysis is carried out, in which the acoustic and vorticalmodes of a gas are coupled at rigid physical boundaries. The velocity perturbations issued from thewakes are written as a sum of convected gusts. Their impingement on the cascade of vanes generatesacoustic waves propagating upstream, downstream of the cascade, as well as inside the inter-vane channelsof the stator, seen as a periodic array of bifurcated waveguides. The duct cross sections at theleading-edge and the trailing-edge of the vanes are seen as interfaces on which the continuity of thefluctuating pressure, axial velocity and vorticity is fulfilled. A system of linear equations is obtained,then solved by means of modal projections and matrix inversions. The acoustic field is then uniformlycalculated in the whole domain. Comparisons with rectilinear cascade response functions show a verygood agreement with predictions based on the Wiener-Hopf technique. The configuration of an annularcascade is addressed by introducing the Bessel functions as radial shape functions, expressing threedimensionaleffects. Finally, a procedure is presented to account for the heterogeneity of the statorvanes, typical of modern fan architectures. This approach is based on the combinaison of the leadingedgedipole principle and the cascade response function derived from the mode-matching technique.The edge-dipole principle identifies Amiet’s solution for the unsteady loading and the radiation of adipole approached very close to the edge of a half plane. The predictions provided by this modeling,applied in a two-dimensional configuration, are finaly compared to measurements performed in the testcampaign of the SEMAFOR project.