Airframe noise predictions using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation

Abstract

This paper considers potential sources of error when using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation to make predictions of airframe noise, which entails a relatively low-speed, uniform incoming flow encountering geometry of varying complexity. Numerical simulations are used to investigate several model problems where Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings integration surfaces are placed on solid surfaces as well as in the flow. Comparisons with the pressure obtained directly from the simulations reveal that when solid surfaces are used, the acoustic calculations can produce erroneous results in upstream directions and when scattering bodies block the line of sight from observers to the source. Using solid surface input data implies ignoring all volumetric source effects, which include noise generation as well as flow effects. Nonuniform flow alone, such as is found in a steady boundary layer, was not found to be a significant source of error, so the amplitude and phase changes induced by turbulent eddies in massively separated flow regions is speculated to be the primary cause of the error.