Numerical investigation on aerodynamic noise of rigid coaxial rotor in forward flight with lift-offset

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and high-efficiency trim model is used to simulate the unsteady aerodynamics of coaxial rotor. Farassat 1 A equations are adopted for predicting rotor far-field aerodynamic noise. Forward flight cases of a two-bladed rigid coaxial rotor in different advance ratios and lift-offsets (LOS) are conducted. Sound pressure histories of different observation points and noise radiation maps are analyzed. Results indicate that, the intensity of rotor thickness noise moves towards the advancing side in the rotor disk plane, with the increase of advance ratio. Due to the superposition effect, the thickness noise of coaxial rotor is symmetrical, which is different with the single rotor. At low advance ratio, loading noise of the rigid coaxial rotor is enhanced near the blade-crossing azimuths caused by the unsteady interaction of the twin rotors. The enhancement turns weak with the increase of advance ratio. At high advance ratio, increasing LOS tends to enhance the rotor-self BVI noise, while weakening the inter-rotor interaction noise. At certain flight states, appropriate LOS can reduce the overall noise radiation intensity of rigid coaxial rotor.