Aeroacoustic measurements for a semi-span, 18% scale, high-fidelity Gulfstream aircraft model are presented. The model was used as a test bed to conduct detailed studies of flap and main landing gear noise sources and to determine the effectiveness of numerous noise mitigation concepts. Using a traversing microphone array in the flyover direction, an extensive set of acoustic data was obtained in the NASA Langley Research Center 14-by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel with the facility in the acoustically treated openwall (jet) mode. Most of the information was acquired with the model in a landing configuration with the flap deflected 39º and the main landing gear alternately installed and removed. Data were obtained at Mach numbers of 0.16, 0.20, and 0.24 over directivity angles between 56º and 116º, with 90º representing the overhead direction. Measured acoustic spectra showed that several of the tested flap noise reduction concepts decrease the sound pressure levels by 2 -4 dB over the entire frequency range at all directivity angles. Slightly lower levels of noise reduction from the main landing gear were obtained through the simultaneous application of various gear devices. Measured aerodynamic forces indicated that the tested gear/flap noise abatement technologies have a negligible impact on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft model.
A series of flight tests targeting airframe noise reduction was planned and executed under the NASA Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities project. The objectives of the tests were two-fold: to evaluate the aeroacoustic performance of several noise reduction technologies in a relevant environment and to generate a comprehensive database for advancing the state of the art in simulation-based airframe noise prediction methodologies. These technologiesan Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge flap, main landing gear fairings, and gear cavity treatmentswere integrated on a NASA Gulfstream G-III aircraft to determine their effectiveness, both on a component-level (individually) and a system-level (combined) basis.With the aircraft flying an approach pattern and the engines set at ground idle, extensive acoustic measurements were acquired using a phased microphone array system. Detailed analyses of the gathered acoustic data clearly demonstrate that significant noise reduction was achieved for the flap and main landing gear components.
A new approach to the deconvolution of acoustic sources has been developed and is presented in this work. The goal of this postprocessing is to simplify the beamforming output by suppressing the side lobes and reducing the sources' main lobes to single (or a small number of) points that accurately identify the noise sources' positions and their actual levels. In this work, a new modeling technique for the beamforming output is proposed. The idea is to use an image-processing-like approach to identify the noise sources from the beamforming maps: that is, recognizing lobe patterns in the beamformed output and relating them to the noise sources that would produce that map. For incoherent sources, the beamforming output is modeled as a superposition of point-spread functions and a linear system is posted. For coherent sources, the beamforming output is modeled as a superposition of complex pointspread functions and a nonlinear system of equations in terms of the sources' amplitudes is posted. As a first approach to solving this difficult problem, the system is solved using a new two-step procedure. In the first step, an approximated linear problem is solved. In the second step, an optimization is performed over the nonzero values obtained in the previous step. The solution to this system of equations renders the sources' positions and amplitudes. In the case of coherent sources, their relative phase can also be recovered. The technique is referred as noise source localization and optimization of phased-array results. A detailed analytical formulation, numerical simulations, and sample experimental results are shown for the proposed postprocessing.
An 18% scale semispan model is used as a platform for examining the efficacy of microphone array processing using synthetic data from numerical simulations. Two hybrid Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes/Large-Eddy-Simulation (RANS/LES) codes coupled with Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings solvers are used to calculate 97 microphone signals at the locations of an array employed in the NASA Langley Research Center 14 Â 22 tunnel. Conventional, DAMAS, and CLEAN-SC array processing is applied in an identical fashion to the experimental and computational results for three different configurations involving deploying and retracting the main landing gear and a part-span flap. Despite the short time records of the numerical signals, the beamform maps are able to isolate the noise sources, and the appearance of the DAMAS synthetic array maps is generally better than those from the experimental data. The experimental CLEAN-SC maps are similar in quality to those from the simulations indicating that CLEAN-SC may have less sensitivity to background noise. The spectrum obtained from DAMAS processing of synthetic array data is nearly identical to the spectrum of the center microphone of the array, indicating that for this problem array processing of synthetic data does not improve spectral comparisons with experiment. However, the beamform maps do provide an additional means of comparison that can reveal differences that cannot be ascertained from spectra alone.
A new aeroacoustic measurement capability has been developed consisting of a large channelcount, field-deployable microphone phased array suitable for airframe noise flyover measurements for a range of aircraft types and scales. The array incorporates up to 185 hardened, weather-resistant sensors suitable for outdoor use. A custom 4-mA current loop receiver circuit with temperature compensation was developed to power the sensors over extended cable lengths with minimal degradation of the signal to noise ratio and frequency response. Extensive laboratory calibrations and environmental testing of the sensors were conducted to verify the design's performance specifications. A compact data system combining sensor power, signal conditioning, and digitization was assembled for use with the array. Complementing the data system is a robust analysis system capable of near real-time presentation of beamformed and deconvolved contour plots and integrated spectra obtained from array data acquired during flyover passes. Additional instrumentation systems needed to process the array data were also assembled. These include a commercial weather station and a video monitoring / recording system. A detailed mock-up of the instrumentation suite (phased array, weather station, and data processor) was performed in the NASA Langley Acoustic Development Laboratory to vet the system performance. The first deployment of the system occurred at Finnegan Airfield at Fort A.P. Hill where the array was utilized to measure the vehicle noise from a number of sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial System) aircraft. A unique in-situ calibration method for the array microphones using a hovering aerial sound source was attempted for the first time during the deployment.
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