Fluid Mechanics and Flight Mechanics

Experiment on influence mechanism of rotor flow on blade-vortex interaction noise

  • Wei SUN ,
  • Yuni ZHANG ,
  • Ting LIU ,
  • Zheyu SHI ,
  • Yongfeng LIN
Expand
  • 1.National Key Laboratory of Helicopter Aeromechanics,China Helicopter Research and Development Institute,Jingdezhen 333001,China
    2.Aerospace Times FeiHong Technology Company Limited,Beijing 100094,China
    3.China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center,Mianyang 621000,China
E-mail: sunw017@avic.com

Received date: 2025-04-29

  Revised date: 2025-05-19

  Accepted date: 2025-06-13

  Online published: 2025-07-03

Supported by

National Key Laboratory of Helicopter Aeromechanics Funding(2024-CXPT-GF-JJ-093-05)

Abstract

The Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise of helicopter rotor is a severe impulsive noise source. In order to investigate the influence mechanism of the unsteady flow of the rotor on the BVI noise characteristics, the noise characteristics, pressure distribution, and unsteady flow characteristics of the different rotor conditions are measured based on the microphone spherical array measurement technology, the blade surface pressure measurement technology, and the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technology in an acoustic tunnel environment. The influences of the advance ratio,oblique descent angle, and lift coefficient on the BVI noise are obtained. The influence mechanism of the rotor surface pressure and the vortex motion trajectory on the BVI noise are revealed. The analysis results show that the main radiation direction of BVI noise covers most of the first to third quadrants. In the time domain, it shows a high peak pulse noise pressure, and the main sound energy frequency is concentrated on the multiples of the rotational frequency in the medium- and high-frequency bands. The BVI noise mainly occurs at the blade leading edge, generally within 0.3 times of the chord length, with intensity inversely proportional to the distance. Upper and lower surface interaction loads exhibit opposing impulsive directions. For 5-bladed rotors, parallel BVI phases approximate 60°. Spanwise cumulative noise effects arise from extensive BVI during parallel BVI. The change of the rotor advance ratio and oblique descent angle will cause the change of the flow near the rotor, which will change the motion trajectory of the blade tip vortex, and then change the relative angle, distance, and interference phase between the blade and the vortex, thus affecting the BVI noise. Vertical force coefficient modifications impact vortex strength rather than trajectory, which directly influence BVI noise intensity.

Cite this article

Wei SUN , Yuni ZHANG , Ting LIU , Zheyu SHI , Yongfeng LIN . Experiment on influence mechanism of rotor flow on blade-vortex interaction noise[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(3) : 132182 -132182 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32182

References

[1] 邓景辉, 朱文庆, 张威, 等. 直升机气动噪声抑制与飞行测试研究进展[J]. 南京航空航天大学学报 (自然科学版)202355(2): 169-185.
  DENG J H, ZHU W Q, ZHANG W, et al. Progress in suppression and flight measurement for helicopters noise[J]. Journal of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics (Natural Science Edition)202355(2): 169-185 (in Chinese).
[2] 祁浩天, 王亮权, 张卫国, 等. 旋翼间距对共轴刚性旋翼气动噪声的影响[J]. 航空学报202445(21): 130153.
  QI H T, WANG L Q, ZHANG W G, et al. Effect of rotor spacing on aerodynamic noise of rigid coaxial rotor[J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica202445(21): 130153 (in Chinese).
[3] JOHNSON C, SIROHI J. An experimental study of stacked rotor tip vortex interaction in hover[J]. Journal of the American Helicopter Society202469(4): 1-14.
[4] GREENWOOD E, SIM B W, BOYD D D. Effects of ambient conditions on helicopter harmonic noise radiation: Theory and experiment[J]. Journal of the American Helicopter Society202469(1): 1-17.
[5] JAIN R, CONLISK A T. Interaction of tip-vortices in the wake of a two-bladed rotor in axial flight[J]. Journal of the American Helicopter Society200045(3): 157-164.
[6] KOUSHIK S, SCHMITZ F H. Understanding in-plane helicopter blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise[C]∥ American Helicopter Society 68th Annual Forum. Alexandria: American Helicopter Society, 2012: 1-12.
[7] RAMASAMY M, LEISHMAN J G. Interdependence of diffusion and straining of helicopter blade tip vortices[J]. Journal of Aircraft200441(5): 1014-1024.
[8] YU Y H, TUNG C, VAN DER WALL B G, et al. The HART-Ⅱ test: Rotor wakes and aeroacoustics with higher-harmonic pitch control (HHC) inputs: The joint German/French/Dutch/US project[C]∥American Helicopter Society 58th Annual Forum. Alexandria: American Helicopter Society, 2002.
[9] VAN DER WALL B G, BURLEY C L, YU Y, et al. The HART Ⅱ test: Measurement of helicopter rotor wakes[J]. Aerospace Science and Technology20048(4): 273-284.
[10] MARTIN P B, LEISHMAN J G, PUGLIESE J G, et al. Stereoscopic PIV measurements in the wake of a hovering rotor[C]∥American Helicopter Society 56th Annual Forum. Alexandria: American Helicopter Society, 2000.
[11] YU Y H, TUNG C, GALLMAN J, et al. Aerodynamics and acoustics of rotor blade-vortex interactions[J]. Journal of Aircraft199532(5): 970-977.
[12] BOXWELL D A, SCHMITZ F H, SPLETTSTOESSER W R, et al. Helicopter model rotor-blade vortex interaction impulsive noise: Scalability and parametric variations[J]. Journal of the American Helicopter Society198732(1): 3-12.
[13] ZHAO Y Y, SHI Y J, XU G H. Helicopter blade-vortex interaction airload and noise prediction using coupling CFD/VWM method[J]. Applied Sciences20177(4): 381
[14] 史勇杰, 徐国华. 飞行参数对旋翼桨-涡干扰噪声特性的影响机理研究[J]. 航空学报201334(11): 2520-2528.
  SHI Y J, XU G H. Research on the influence of flight parameters on helicopter rotor BVI noise characteristics[J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica201334(11): 2520-2528 (in Chinese).
[15] 史勇杰, 徐国华, 王菲. 直升机旋翼桨-涡干扰脉冲噪声传播特性研究[J]. 南京航空航天大学学报 (自然科学版)201446(2): 212-217.
  SHI Y J, XU G H, WANG F. Propagation characteristics of helicopter rotor blade-vortex interaction noise[J]. Journal of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics (Natural Science Edition)201446(2): 212-217 (in Chinese).
[16] 王菲, 徐国华, 胡志远. 大气环境对直升机旋翼桨-涡干扰噪声辐射特性的影响[J]. 南京航空航天大学学报(自然科学版)202052(2): 304-310.
  WANG F, XU G H, HU Z Y. Effects of atmospheric environment on helicopter blade-vortex interaction noise radiation characteristics[J]. Journal of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics (Natural Science Edition)202052(2): 304-310 (in Chinese).
[17] 陈文轩. 直升机桨-涡干扰试验研究[J]. 直升机技术2010(1): 1-14.
  CHEN W X. The experiment study of helicopter blade-vortex interaction[J]. Helicopter Technique2010(1): 1-14 (in Chinese).
[18] 刘正江, 黄建萍, 陈焕, 等. 旋翼桨涡干扰噪声特性试验技术研究[J]. 直升机技术2019(1): 43-47.
  LIU Z J, HUANG J P, CHEN H, et al. Study on characteristic of rotor blade-vortex interaction noise[J]. Helicopter Technique2019(1): 43-47 (in Chinese).
[19] 刘向楠, 刘少腾, 周国成, 等. 旋翼桨-涡干扰噪声特性风洞试验研究[J]. 实验流体力学202337(3): 84-91.
  LIU X N, LIU S T, ZHOU G C, et al. Wind tunnel test research on the characteristics of rotor blade-vortex interaction noise[J]. Journal of Experiments in Fluid Mechanics202337(3): 84-91 (in Chinese).
[20] 杨永东. 悬停及前飞状态下旋翼尾迹的显示与测量[C]∥ 第十八届全国直升机年会. 2002.
  YANG Y D. Visualization and measurement of rotor wake in hover and forward[C]∥18th National Helicopter Annual Conference. 2002 (in Chinese).
[21] 袁红刚, 李进学, 杨永东, 等. 前飞状态旋翼尾迹测量试验研究[J]. 实验流体力学201024(4): 29-32.
  YUAN H G, LI J X, YANG Y D, et al. Test investigation of wake measurement for rotors in forward flight[J]. Journal of Experiments in Fluid Mechanics201024(4): 29-32 (in Chinese).
[22] 江露生, 曹亚雄, 刘婷, 等. 共轴刚性旋翼悬停状态桨叶表面压力测量试验与计算研究[J]. 北京航空航天大学学报202147(12): 2484-2493.
  JIANG L S, CAO Y X, LIU T, et al. Experimental and computational study on blade surface pressure measurement of coaxial rigid rotor in hovering state[J]. Journal of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics202147(12): 2484-2493 (in Chinese).
[23] 唐朝, 招启军, 王博, 等. 用于BVI噪声试验的新型涡发生器设计与分析[J]. 南京航空航天大学学报 (自然科学版)201850(2): 157-166.
  TANG C, ZHAO Q J, WANG B, et al. Design and analysis of new type vortex generator for BVI noise experiment[J]. Journal of Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics(Natural Science Edition)201850(2): 157-166 (in Chinese).
Outlines

/