Experimental investigation of the effect of sectional airfoil profile deviation on propeller noise

Abstract

The geometry of the sectional airfoil has a determinative impact on the aeroacoustic characteristics of propellers. However, there are always slight deviations in the practical profiles due to manufacturing tolerance, wear loss, and limitations of processing techniques, which can potentially introduce uncertainties to aeroacoustic measurements. To this end, a systematic investigation is conducted on a benchmark propeller with a diameter of 217.2 mm and several of its variants in an anechoic wind tunnel. The variants are redesigned by modifying the sectional airfoil shapes with varying finite trailing-edge thicknesses. High-accuracy computer numerical control machining is employed to ensure the subtle geometrical differences between the blades. Force measurements indicate that the aerodynamic performances are insensitive to the slight variations of the sectional geometry, as expected. As for the acoustic performance, both the tonal and broadband noise are slightly affected when the axial flow speed is lower than 5 m/s. By contrast, a discernible noise reduction above 3 dB can be achieved due to the finite trailing-edge thickness. The noise source features are also investigated using a wavelet-based beamforming method, confirming that the noise reduction is caused by the weakened trailing-edge noise around the tip. This study is beneficial for the quantification of uncertainties in propeller noise measurements. It also suggests that adjusting trailing-edge thickness might be an useful approach in reducing propeller noise in practical applications.