Predicting the desired aeroacoustic performance and the desired aerodynamic performance of a propeller are  
challenging problems individually. Coupling these two disciplines, as it is necessary to solve this multiobjective  
problem in the same framework, becomes even more complex. Hence, it is a current intense  
research area with only limited success thus far. Consequently, the objective of the present project is to  
develop a tool to tackle this coupled problem and make it available to the design engineer.  
The starting computational tool chosen for this development is the open-source, multi-physics simulation tool  
SU2. First, SU2 is configured to predict the aerodynamics of a small-scale model of a C-130 wing-mounted  
propeller provided by the Workshop for Integrated Propeller Prediction (WIPP, 2017). WIPP has several  
configurations and rich experimental data sets to investigate the flow regime and aerodynamic performance of  
isolated propellers and wing-mounted propellers. The present results obtained from the analyses display very  
good agreement with the WIPP data. The code verification includes comparisons of the following: (a) the  
pressure coefficient distributions over several stations in the spanwise direction; (b) the velocity profiles in the  
wake regions; (c) the propulsion and the thrust coefficients.  
For the noise abatement investigation, the widely trusted computational aeroacoustics (CAA) formulation,  
called Farassat 1A, is coded into the SU2 code for moving sources and multiple observers. The output are the  
pressure fluctuations and the sound pressure level at the user-defined observer locations. However,  
experimental aeroacoustic data are not available from the WIPP workshop. Instead, the verification of the  
present modified SU2-CAA code is done by comparing the results obtained from ANOPP2, a high-fidelity CAA  
code. The results are obtained for the observer locations varying from near-the-source to the far-field at  
different polar positions. They present favorable comparisons. The developed code provides the acoustic  
pressure distribution on the retarded surface and its variation according to the observer locations. The  
modified SU2-CAA code can also compute the sensitivities over the surfaces for future optimization studies.  
The details of the CFD and CAA methodologies are provided in the presentation version of this paper. Also  
presented there is an analysis of the aeroacoustic interaction between the wing and the propeller. Particularly  
of interest to the design engineer are the varying interference effects by changing the propeller location on the  
wing. Finally, for the particular interest of a code developer, details are given for the present multizone  
discretization of the computational domain with sliding interfaces and the conserved interpolations.  
 


Extending a Multi-Physics Tool for Simultaneous CFD-CAA Simulations and Comparisons for a Mounted Propeller

Division / Sponsors: 
Aerospace, Bioengineering, Applied Mechanics, Design Engineering Division, Advanced Energy Systems, Manufacturing Engineering Division, Noise Control and Acoustics, Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (NDPD), Nuclear Engineering Division, Process Industries Division, Fluids Engineering, Heat Transfer, Materials, Microelectromechanical Systems, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Computers & Information in Engineering


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2020/volume/84478

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