1122 AIAA JOURNAL VOL. 19, NO.

AIAA80-0996R

Linear Acoustic Formulas for Calculation of Rotating Blade Noise

F. Farassat*
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.

A unified approach is used to derive many of the current formulas for calculation of discrete frequency noise
of helicopter rotors and propellers. Both compact and noncompact results are derived. The noncompact results
are based on the solution of Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) equation. The compact formulations are
obtained as the limit of noncompact source results. In particular, the linearized acoustic theories of Hawkings
and Lowson, Farassat, Hanson, Woan and Gregorek, Succi, and Jou are discussed in this paper. An interesting
thickness noise formula by Isom and its extension by Ffowcs Williams are also presented.
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Nomenclature minimum distance of the observer from the

surface/^O
B = number of blades r0 observer distance from rotation center
c = speed of sound ret retarded time
F(y;x,t) --\f(y,r)}^=f(y,t-r/c) S surface area of the actual body/= 0
- net force by a compact source on the medium S(T) source position vector
= F,r, s' distance along the direction of helical
= equation of the surface of a body in motion velocity vector
= shaft frequency T thrust or lift/unit area
f period of the sound
H(-) Heaviside function t observer time
h the thickness function of a blade U local helical speed of a source
- (dF/d/)/ I VFI, normal velocity of the
= Bessel function of first kind and nth order surface F=0
= seeEq. (69) forward velocity of the propeller
= maximum dimension of Z) surface, F= 0 (tW)*
= net force on the medium by the kth segment local velocity of the body or velocity of a
of the blade (see the method of Succi) compact source
= force/unit area on the medium — (df/dt)/ I V/l, local normal velocity of
=i,f, the body/= 0
M = Rw/c, local rotational Mach number vr viri
MF = Vp/c, Mach number of forward flight x,Xi observer position
Mn = vn^c Y seeEq.(70)
Mr = v i f i / c , local Mach number in the radiation y,yf source position
direction azimuthal angle of the source in nonrotating
n = harmonic number jc-frame
= V// I V/l , local outward unit normal on the the curve of intersection/=0 and g = 0
body/=0 7 ratio of specific heats
PF = planform of the body/= 0 A indicates the jump in a quantity as
P = surface pressure /?a — p0 on/= 0 Ap=(/?) l o w e r -(P) upper
P' = acoustic pressure <5 ( • ) the Dirac delta function
Pa = absolute pressure 17,77, the source position in a rotating frame fixed
Po = ambient pressure of undisturbed medium to the blade
PT = acoustic pressure due to thickness 6 = angle between r; and n{
P'L = acoustic pressure due to loading angle between propeller or rotor axis and the
P'm = the amplitude of nth harmonic of the observer direction
thickness noise A [\+M2n-2MncosB]!/2
P'ln = the amplitude of nth harmonic of the loading X transform variable [see Eq. (60)]
noise P0 density of the undisturbed medium
= source distribution function Lk summation over all segments of the blade
= Fourier transform of Q E surf ace area of F=Q
Qo = net rate of mass injection from the surface a twist angle
F=0 T source time
R = radial distance from rotation center <1> a function used in Eq. (2)
r - \x-y\ polar angle of the source in the frame fixed
r. = (xt —y{ ) /r, unit radiation vector to the blade
volume inside F = 0
\[/ volume inside/=0
Presented as Paper 80-0996 at the AIAA 6th Aeroacoustics Con- volume inside kth segment of the blade (see
ference, Hartford, Conn., June 4-6, 1980; submitted July 18, 1980; \l/k
revision received March 12, 1981. This paper is declared a work of the the Method of Succi)
U.S. Government and therefore is in the public domain. co angular velocity of the blade
*Aerospace Technologist, Noise Prediction Branch, Acoustics and COD seeEq. (61)
Noise Reduction Division. Member AIAA. D2 the wave operator, D'Alembertian
SEPTEMBER 1981 FORMULAS FOR CALCULATION OF ROTATING BLADE NOISE 1123

I. Introduction Solution of the Wave Equation with Surface Sources

OR many years, there has been a need for accurate Consider the wave equation
F prediction of the noise of propellers and helicopter rotors.
The increase in the number of general aviation aircraft and (2)
helicopters and the awareness of the public to environmental
noise pollution have been driving forces for research on This equation has a source term similar to the FW-H equation
prediction techniques. A good review of the works in this field except for some time or space derivative on the right. It can be
up to the early seventies is by Morfey. J Many other papers solved by Green's function method as follows. Green's
have been published since Morfey's review article, with new function of the wave equation in unbounded space is
formulations for prediction of the noise of rotating blades. <5(g)/47ir, where g = T-t + r/c and r= \x-y\. Here x and /
Most of these results are for noncompact sources. In general, are the observer position and time, y and T are the source
one requires the use of a computer for obtaining the acoustic position and source time, respectively. The formal solution of
pressure signature or spectrum of the noise. Eq.(2)is
In this paper, a unified approach is used to derive many of
the compact and noncompact formulas for the calculation of = -Q(y,r) \ V f \ d ( f ) d ( g ) d y d r (3)
the discrete frequency noise of rotating blades. The approach jr
is based on the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H)
equation. 2 It is shown that many known results can easily be The time integration is over (- oo,t) and the space integration
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obtained by manipulating various forms of the solution of the is over the entire unbounded space.
FW-H equation. The methods presented here are not those A change of variable r^g and integration over g will result
used in the original derivations. For example, Hanson's in
results, discussed below, were originally based on the solution
of an inhomogeneous wave equation as described by Morse
and Ingard. 3 However, it was felt that the approach used in ,t)= \-(Q(y,r) IV/l<5(/)] ret d.y (4)
J r
the present paper is more appropriate since it takes advantage
of the operational properties of generalized functions and where the subscript ret stands for retarded time. Let the
thus reduces the algebra. surface £ be given by F(y;x,t) = \f(y,r) ] ret =f(y, t-r/c)=0.
In the following sections, the general noncompact and Then, Eq. (4) can be written as
compact formulations are first presented. Then these
equations are specialized as used by various researchers. In
the interest of brevity, the frequency domain formula of 4ir*(x9t) = ( - - I Q ( y . T ) I V/l] ret <5(F)d>> (5)
Jr
Hanson and the acoustic formula of Jou are not derived in
this paper but are presented for completeness. Now the following relations developed in Refs. 4 and 5 will be
used to integrate the delta function:

II. General Acoustic Formulas dy = - (6)

In this section, some general formulas for calculation of the IVFI
sound from moving bodies will be derived. These will form
the starting point for other formulas in the next section. Only IVFl=[IV/lA]ret (7)
linear acoustic results will be discussed.
2 2
Consider a body whose surface is described by the equation \, = l + M -2MncosO (8)
f(x,t) =0 where the ;c-frame is fixed to the undisturbed
medium and t is the time. The equation of the surface/=0 is where Mn = vn/c and 6 is the angle between V/ and the
defined such that/>0 outside the body and/<0 inside it. The radiation direction r=x— y. Equation (5) can then be written
FW-H equation without the quadrupole source term is as a surface integral over the £ surface as follows:

F=O r A

This result is not surprising since the surface £ is the locus

of points on /=0 in space whose emitted signals arrive
(1) simultaneously to the point x at time t. This surface is the
intersection of/(j;,r) =0 and g = r— t + r/c = Q in (y,r) space.
Fortunately, the visualization of the £ surface is very easy.
wherep' is the acoustic pressure and p0 and c are the density Note that (x,t) are kept fixed in the above derivations so that
and speed of sound in the undisturbed medium, respectively. our attention will be focused on y and r only. For a fixed
The local normal velocity of the body surface is vn = source time r < t, the surface g = 0 is a sphere with center at the
— (df/dt) 11 V/l and /, is the local force per unit area acting observer and radius r = c(t — r) . As r is varied from — oo to t,
on the fluid at the surface of the body. The Dirac delta the radius of this sphere collapses to zero. This sphere in-
function is denoted by 6(/). The source terms on the right- tersects the surface f ( y , r ) = 0 over some time interval during
hand side of Eq. (1) have become known as thickness noise the collapsing process. The curve of intersection for a fixed r
and loading noise sources, respectively. The derivation of this will be denoted by F. The locus of these F curves in space is
equation is discussed in Refs. 2 and 4. The necessary the surface £:F=0. It is shown in Ref. 5 that the following
mathematical background for the derivation of this equation relations hold
and what follows here can be found in Ref. 4 and in the
literature cited there. Note that the surface pressure term in /,
is actually the difference between the absolute surface d£ cdFdr
(lOa)
pressure pa and the undisturbed ambient pressure p0. The sin0
solution of Eq. (1) in various forms will be presented below.
First, however, the solution of the wave equation with a dS
source distribution on a moving surface will be derived. (lOb)
\l-Mr\
1124 F. FARASSAT AIAA JOURNAL

where dS is the element of surface area of /= 0 (assumed a In these equations, lr = lifi is the force in the radiation
rigid surface) and Mr = y / r / /c. Here vf is the local surface direction per unit area. If the viscosity is neglected, one can
velocity on /=0 and fi=(xi~yi)/r is the unit radiation write lr =/?cos0 where p is the surface pressure defined asp fl —
vector. Note that in Eq. (10a), the body is not assumed rigid. P0. The absolute pressure on the body surface is denoted as/?a
Using the above relations, Eq. (9) can be written as andp0 is the ambient pressure of the undisturbed medium.
In this paper, the loading noise formula of Hanson 7 is
cQ(y,T) derived using Eq. (15a). The starting point for the derivation
dFdr (lla) of Hawkings and Lowson's result 6 is Eq. (15c). Farassat's
i/=o
g=o rs'mO
method8'10 is based on Eqs. (15b) and (15c). The method of
= ds Woan and Gregorek n is based on Eq. (15c).
\f.olr\i-Mr\]at (lib) By taking the time derivatives inside the integrals in Eq.
(15), many other formulas can be derived which will not be
presented because of their limited usefulness. The resulting
The reason that r in Eq. (1 Ib) is now evaluated at the retarded equations can become very long and complicated.
time is that, in the frame fixed to the body where the surface
integral is evaluated, r is a function of the source time. Thickness Noise
Returning to the FW-H equation, note that the derivatives
appearing before the source terms are generalized The thickness noise is the solution of the equation
derivatives. 4 They can be taken out of the integrals in the
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solution. In the following paragraphs, the analysis of this ' -—

section will be utilized to develop formulas for the loading
and thickness noise. Because of the diversity of the forms of the solution, each
separate derivation is numbered below.
Noncompact Source Formulas 1) Using the method discussed above for Eq. (2), the
Loading Noise solution of this equation can be written as
The loading noise is described by the solution of the
equation

(12)
(17b)
dt J/=o rsmB
g=o
Using Eqs. (9) and (11), the solution of this equation can be
written in the following forms:

4*PL(*.t) —— ±\ -[^l d£ (13a) These are the most useful forms for calculation of the
dXf JF=0 r LA J ret
thickness noise. In this paper, Hanson's time domain method
is derived based on Eq. (17a). 7 Many other methods are based
(13b) onEqs.(17b)and(17c).
2) An entirely different form of the thickness noise for-
mula was derived by Isom. 12 Because of its potential for
-~\ */ iI ds
\ -•'... (13c)
numerical calculation and its interesting physical in-
terpretation, this formula will be derived below. Note that
dXj J/=o lr \1 -M r\ J r e t
Isom's original result was for a rotating blade with the ob-
server in the far field. Farassat13 showed that Isom's result
Equations (13a) and (13b) have not been utilized for noise was valid for any moving body and Ffowcs Williams extended
calculations as they stand. Equation (13c) was employed by the result to the near field. This extension was reported by
Hawkings and Lowson 6 to derive their acoustic formula Farassat. 14
presented in the next section. Some more useful formulas can Let H(f) denote the Heaviside function. Then, applying
be derived by converting the space derivative in the above the wave operator to the function [1 -H(f)]p0c2 , one obtains
equations to a time derivative.4'5 The easiest method is to
start with the formal solution of Eq. (12) before the in- a
tegration of the delta functions d(f) and d ( g ) . The relation n2l(l-H(f)]Poc2} = — [p0vn\Vf\d(f)]
ot
l_d_ rffd(g) I ffd(g)
(14) (18)
4irr c dt L 4vr J 4irr2

is then used in the final step of conversion. The results for where n = V// I V/l is the unit outward normal on the surface
Eqs. (13) are of the body/=0. Subtracting both sides of Eq. (16) from
corresponding sides of Eq. (18) and using the relation 1-
H(f) =0 outside the body, the following differential equation
F=O r F=O r A for the thickness noise is obtained

•^(Poc2ni\Vf\d(f)} (19)
(15b)
dt J/=o rsinO
g=o /=o
g=o
r2sm6
This means that the thickness noise is equivalent to the noise
from a uniform pressure distribution of magnitude p0c2 over
= the body/= 0. In Isom's work, this interpretation of thickness
~c~3t }f=o I r\l-Mr\ J ret d5+ }f=o L noise can be deduced from his far field formula for rotating
(15c) blades.
SEPTEMBER 1981 FORMULAS FOR CALCULATION OF ROTATING BLADE NOISE 1125

The solution of Eq. (19) is can be simplified as follows

— (26a)
r Tdt JF<O

rcos0-| - o . (far field) (26b)

dt F=O A Jr hrl (20)

Here ^(jc,0 is the volume inisde the surface £ which depends

on the observer position and time. It must be mentioned that
Four other forms of these relations can be obtained by using
the observer is in the far field if rm[n>L where r min is the
Eq. (10).14 These are very unusual forms of thickness noise
minimum distance of the observer from the blade surface and
relations because of the absence of the term vn.
This interpretation of the thickness noise can be used to L is the maximum dimension of the surface F= 0.
write the FW-H equation in an unusual form. For an inviscid 4) Consider the surf ace F(>>;jc,0 = l f ( y , T ) ] n t = 0 . The local
normal velocity of this surface as a function of observer time
fluid, /,- = (pa -p0)ni. Using the relation p0c2 = yp0, where 7
is the ratio of the specific heats, the FW-H equation can be is
written as
dF/dt
=r-i
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(27)
2 ,^__a_ IVFI LAJret
a J (21)
dxf Substituting this relation in the integral of Eq. (17a), one gets
The solution of this equation is
(28a)
dt }F=O r
(22a)
F=O /-
(28b)
r ^r dt }F=O r
F=O r A }F=O r 2 L
IdQo (far field) (28c)
(22b) r dt
where p=pa + (7 - 1)/V Four other equivalent forms may be where dQ0=p0VNdL is the local rate of mass injection from
obtained by using Eq. (10). These are new forms of solution
the surface £. Clearly
of the FW-H equation. These have not been used for
numerical calculations but are presented here for their
unusually simple forms. (29)
In the application of Eq. (20) for blades with finite
thickness at the tip, it was found that the sources on the airfoil
section at the blade tip are very important. 15 The effect of is the net rate of mass injection from this surface. Equations
these sources can be described by a line integral over the blade (28a-c) are just another interpretation of thickness noise.
tip chord as shown in Ref. 15. This observation also applies to These are the noncompact source extension of the well-known
Eq. (22). result that for a stationary compact monopole source, the
3) Another useful interpretation of thickness noise is in acoustic pressure is proportional to the time derivative of the
terms of the volume inside the surface F=0. The far field rate of mass injection.
result of this interpretation was published earlier. 4 Here, it is 5) The following result applies to a rigid body in motion.
extended to the near field also. In this paper the methods of Since it has a known compact limit formulation, it will be
Hawkings and Lowson 6 and Succi16 are based on the results derived here. Assume that the velocity vector field inside the
derived below. rigid body is described by the local velocity of the rigid body.
The surface source term in Eq. (16) can be written as a This vector field is solenoidal, i.e., V • v = 0. Now consider the
volume source as follows. Let //(/) be the Heaviside func- following manipulations:
tion. Then it is seen that

b (23)

Using this result in Eqs. (16), the wave equation for the
Equation (16) can be written as follows when the above result thickness noise can be written as
is used:

(30)
(24)

A solution of this equation using Green's function ap-

The solution of this equation, using Green's function of the proach is
wave operator, is

(25)

Note that the integration is over the volume inside the surface Summarizing, it is seen that the thickness noise is the solution
£: F=0. For the observer in the far field the above equation of the wave equation for p'T with the following equivalent
1126 F. FARASSAT AIAA JOURNAL

forms of the source term where ( • ) indicates the source time derivative and Fr =Firi is
the net force in the radiation direction. Succi's method 16 is
based on Eq. (36a). Lowson has used the above results ex-
(32a) tensively in his work on rotating blade noise.
The conditions

= ——2(p0c2U- (32b) (37a)

OX j

(37b)
d ,
(32c)
together determine the compactness of the source. Note that
compactness is not solely a property of the source. It also
depends on the observer position.
(32d)
Thickness Noise
1) The above analysis can be applied to Eq. (25) assuming
o 0 y, [7-#(/)]) (rigid body) (32e) that/= 0 is a rigid body. The derivation is as follows:
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Note that Eq. (32b) is equivalent to Eq. (32d) if the partial

derivative a/a*, in the former equation is taken inside the
a2 a2
curly bracket.

Compact Source Formulas

In the following paragraphs the compact source formulas
are derived as the limit of noncompact source relations
derived above. Although it is possible to write down the
inhomogeneous terms of the acoustic wave equation for (38)
moving sources by other methods (for example, from the
equations for stationary point sources), the method presented
here is more rigorous. One can also establish conditions for where \l/ is the volume inside the actual body/=0. The same
compactness of the sources. relation holds for a pulsating body with volume ^ ( r ) which is
in motion. The quantity Mr is then based on the velocity of
Loading Noise the origin of the frame moving with the pulsating body.
Only one result will be presented here. The starting point of Equation (38) is the solution of the following wave equation:
this analysis is the following equation:
(39)
= -—— (33)
/=o lr\l-Mr\
where 5(0 is the source position. In the present paper, Succi's
For fixed x and t, let L be the maximum dimension for the £ method is derived based on Eq. (38).
surface F=0. Let the minimum value of r denoted by rmin be 2) Applying the above analysis to the solution of Eq. (32b),
such that r min >L. Let AT be the time taken by the collapsing one obtains another equivalent form of thickness noise
sphere g = 0 to cross the body. If f is the typical period of
fluctuation of forces on the medium and AT< f, then one can
(40)
simplify Eq. (33) as follows:

This is the solution of the wave equation

4*p'L -- , 7 .. .
L r \1 —Mr \ J/=0
n2p'T= —— iPo (41)
r FJ(T) -I
(34)
lr\l-Mr\ J r e t
Alternatively, applying the wave operator to p0c2\l/d[x —
where F ; (r) is now the net force of the body on the fluid s ( t ) ] , one obtains
medium. This result is due to Lowson. 17 It is the solution of
the following equation:
—— {Po
d
(35)
aZ (42)
from which Lowson obtained his near and far field results.
Here s( t) is the position vector of the point force. The solution of this equation is
Using Eq. (14), one can write another form of Eq. (34) as
follows:

(36a)
d2 r
dx?lr\l SU,,
For points not coinciding with the source itself, one has d[x —
SEPTEMBER 1981 FORMULAS FOR CALCULATION OF ROTATING BLADE NOISE 1127

= 0. Therefore, acoustic spectrum of the noise can be obtained by the con-

ventional Fourier series expansion of the signature. The
loading noise is considered first. Following Hawkings and
[ r\l-M \]
——
Pnt
U
———
r
1
ret
=
d2
———
2
f
^°
OnC2Y\L
dx lr\l-Mr\ J ret
"1
(44)
V
' Lowson, only far field results will be presented.
.From Eq. (15c), the far field loading noise is described by
Equation (40) has not been used for noise calculations. It is
the compact form of the solution of Eq. (32b).
(49)
3) From the noncompact solution of Eq. (32e) and con-
ditions described by Eq. (37), another compact source for-
The blades are assumed thin and in the x}x2 plane of a
mula for thickness noise is obtained as follows: nonrotating jc frame with origin at the center of the rotor disk.
The observer is assumed in XjX3 plane at the distance of r0
(45) from the origin and making an angle 00 with the rotor axis (x3
axis). Define the Fourier decomposition of p'L as follows:
Here, vt = v t ( r ) is the velocity of the source. This equation is
the solution of the wave equation (50)

d2
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U2p'T=- (46) where w = 27r/. Here / is the shaft frequency. Only a single
blade is considered now.
The following relation is used to findp'Ln (x)
Another method of deriving this equation is converting one
of the time derivatives on the right side of Eq. (39) to a space
derivative as shown below: 'Ln= p'L(x,t)e'»«'dt
T Jo

] =— {8[xl-s1(t)]d(x2-s2(t)]8[x3-s3(t)]}
at at

_a where PF stands for planform of the blade. Note that an

; 6[jc-^(0]l = - /- (^6[jc-5(0] 1 (47)
ax, C d/ -^ (7^f;
integration by parts was performed to get rid of the observer
time derivative. With the above definition of p'Ln, to find the
The well-known work of Arnoldi 18 is based on the solution decibel level of nth harmonic, one must use the relation for
ofEq. (46). positive integers n
Summarizing, the thickness noise for a compact source is
the solution of the following wave equation with any of the n' \
(re: 2x10-'Pa) (52)
three equivalent source functions:
Now, consider a source on the blade with polar coordinates
(48a) (R,<t>) in a frame fixed to the blade. The variable / is trans-
formed to r.
_ Then the following relations are used in Eq. (51):
(p c2W[x-s(t)]} (48b)
~dx~2 0 t =T+ (r/c) - (R/r0)sm00cos/3] (53)
2
d
(48c) dt=\l-Mr\dr (54)
dtdX:

Zr = - Tcos00-Dsm00sm/3 (55)

III. Current Formulations Used by where f3 = ur + </) is the azimuthal angle of the source in the x
Various Researchers frame. Also, rand D are thrust (or lift) and drag per unit area
In the last decade, many researchers have developed at the source point on the blade. Integration of Eq. (52) with
computer programs to calculate the discrete frequency noise respect to r then gives
of rotating blades. In this section, the method used by these
researchers will be discussed. Each method has certain merits
PLn =
and restrictions, some of which will be pointed out. As can be 4Tccrn
seen from the reference articles, one can algebraically
manipulate and specialize the equations in the previous
section considerably for noise calculation. It is neither useful [Tcos60 - — )Jn (nMsm00) exp( - //
J PF \ M/
nor possible to present all these formulas. The acoustic (56)
formulas in this paper are given in their most general form
which may differ somewhat from those by the originators of where M=Ru/c is the Mach number of the source. The in-
the methods. This is done to reduce the number and length of tegration is over the blade planform.
formulas in this paper. The methods are discussed in For the thickness noise, it is better to start with Eq. (26b).
chronological order of the first publication of each research The volume
worker.
*=\F<Ody
The Method of Hawkings and Lowson
This paper appeared in 1974.6 Their method is applicable can be written as integral over the planform as follows
to open subsonic or supersonic rotors which are not in for-
ward motion v (hovering rotor or static propeller). Since the (57)
acoustic pressure signature is periodic, the discrete frequency PF
1128 F. FARASSAT AIAA JOURNAL

where #(/?,</>) is the blade thickness. The same analysis suction side of the blade. Also, vn on one side of the blade is
leading to Eq. (56) can be repeated to give the Fourier used in Eq. (59).
component of the thickness noise: Hanson's frequency domain result, which was developed
for propellers in forward flight, is derived by a Fourier trans-
P0(inu)2 form technique. 20 The far field result for a single blade will be
~~ presented. Let a rotating locally orthogonal frame fixed to the
blade, denoted as the 17 frame, be set up as follows. The 772
axis is along the pitch change axis, the i\l axis is parallel to the
\ hJn(nMsind0)Qxp(-in<l))RdRd(t> (58) chord and the r?5 axis is such that the rj frame forms a right-
JPF
handed coordinate system. If the source term on the right side
of the FW-H equation is denoted by Q(^), then the Fourier
For B blades, n on the right-hand side of Eq. (56) and Eq. transform Q(\/U, rj2» *!3) °f Qls defined as follows:
(58) must be replaced by nB and the resulting right-hand side
of the equations must be further multiplied by B. Note that
Eqs. (56) and (58) differ by a factor of two in the denominator
from those of Hawkings and Lowson. This factor appears «G- (60)

because the definition of Fourier series expansion in the

present paper, Eq. (50), differs from that of Hawkings and where U2 = (r/ 2 co) 2 + V2F is the square of the local helical
Lowson. speed and VF is the forward velocity of the propeller. The
angular velocity of the propeller is denoted by co. A new
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There is no restriction on tip Mach number of the blades.

The main restrictions of this method are 1) far field position shifted frequency is defined by the relation
of the observer; 2) no forward motion of the rotor is allowed;
and 3) the blade's mean chord surface is approximately in the u
(61)
l-MFcos00
plane of the rotor disk.

The Method of Farassat

where MF= VF/c and 60 is the angle between the propeller
axis and the observer direction. The observer distance from
This method was originally based on Eqs. (15b) and the propeller center is assumed as r0. Then the complex
(17b).8'19 Both the near and far field noise could be amplitude of the nth harmonic of the acoustic pressure
calculated. The blade mean chord surface was assumed to be spectrum is given by
in the plane of the disk. In a more recent version of this
r
method, each blade is specified precisely in curvilinear P.in (<*D
( -^o - -
^
coordinates fixed to the blade. The blades are subdivided into A
4irur 0 I V c 2
panels. The collapsing sphere method, based on Eqs. (15b)
and (17b) is used for each panel for which Mr at the emission oo

time is greater than 0.98 and Eqs. (15c) and (17c) are used if
M r <0.98. There are no restrictions on the blade shape, tip
i o n

Mach number, or forward motion of the blades. This method

was developed in 1978 to calculate the noise of a prop-fan. x exp i (62)
For details of the implementation of this method, see Refs. 9
and 10. In this method, all acoustic calculations are in the where MD = uDrj2/c. The modification of this equation for n
time domain. A similar computer program for helicopter blades is obvious.
rotors with subsonic tip Mach numbers based on Eq. (15c) The above equation has been used extensively by Hanson
and (17c) was developed in 1979 at NASA Langley by for prop-fan noise calculations. Although this result is
Nystrom and Farassat. developed for the far field, it has been used successfully for
aeroacoustic optimization of prop-fans in the design stage
The Methods of Hanson using a phasor method as employed in electrical
Hanson has two methods, one in the time domain 7 and engineering. 20 Generally good agreement between the
another in the frequency domain. 20 The method in the time methods of Hanson and Farassat has been obtained for
domain is based on Eqs. (15a) and (17a). The sources are several prop-fan designs. 10'20
distributed on the mean chord surface of the blades so that the
surface E is generated by the intersection of the collapsing The Method of Woan and Gregorek
sphere g = 0 and the blade planform. This surface is called the This method is based on Eqs. (15c) and (17c) with the
acoustic planform. Since Mn=0 for this surface (infinitely derivative d/dt taken inside the integrals. n It is assumed that
thin), then A= 1. The force in the radiation direction per unit the blade forces are steady. The result is as follows:
area becomes - A/?cos0 where Ap is the local lift per unit area
on the blade and 6 is the angle between the normal to the mean 4*p'(x,t)
chord surface of the blade (pointing to the suction side) and
the radiation direction. The equation used by Hanson and the 1 d P
time domain calculation, in the notation of the present paper -( \ ( 0CV"+lr\ , l
r 1 H

is: }f=o Lc\l-Mr\ dr\r\l-Mr\ ) + r2 \l-Mr \ J r e t

In this equation r, Mr and lr are functions of time. Then the

4irp' (x,t) = - — [2Pocvn - Apcos0]retd£ following relations are used in the above equation

dr
(64)
-L — [Apcos6>]retdE (59)

riv,-vi
where APF stands for the acoustic planform. In Hanson's (65)
work, 7 d£ is written explicitly in terms of variables defining a dr
helical surface on which the sources lie. Note that the negative
sign for the loading noise term above appears because of the dMr 1 f dvtL .2 2.I
= — \r i-- +v -v (66)
assumption that the normal to the planform points to the crlldr J
SEPTEMBER 1981 FORMULAS FOR CALCULATION OF ROTATING BLADE NOISE 1129

where vr = viri and v2 = *;,*;,. Note that /,. is also a function of For the thickness noise, the complex amplitude of the nth
T. harmonic in the far field is
Woan and Gregorek use a curvilinear coordinate system to
describe the blade and use Gauss' formula for the element of
surface area of the blade. The only restriction is that the tip
speed of the blade must be subsonic. The computer program
developed based on this method is for propellers in forward Jn(nY)
flight. 11 This method is suitable for helicopter rotor noise *\-u£(l-Ml) (71)
J PF ds COSCr
calculations.
where U2 — R2^2 + V2F is the square of the local helical speed
The Method of Succi and 5' is the distance along the direction of the helical velocity
In this method, the blade is divided into small segments. vector.
Each segment has a finite volume \l/k and a force acting on the The above equations have not been used for numerical
fluid Lki. The forces acting on the fluid are assumed steady, calculations of propeller noise. Some interesting qualitative
although this restriction can be easily relaxed. The noise of the results have been published by Jou concerning the directivity
blades is calculated by summing over all the segments using of high speed propeller noise.
Eqs.(36a)and(38):
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IV. Concluding Remarks

In this paper, many of the formulas used in calculation of
r2\l-Mr\ret the noise of rotating blades are presented. A unified approach
based on the solution of the FW-H equation is used. An in-
, y^r. Potk A / i A/ i \\\ teresting observation is the diversity of the forms of the
YL \l-Mr\ dr V \l-Mr\ dr V r \l-Mr I //J r e t solution of the linearized wave equation derived by the
workers in the field.
Most equations presented in this paper have been used for
Equations (64) through (66) are used to get the final ex- noise calculation. In the computer programs developed for
pression for use on a computer. The main advantages for this this purpose, various approximations are made to reduce
method are the ease of computer coding and the speed of execution time. An important unanswered question is how
execution. The current use of this program is for propellers in these approximations influence the numerical results. An
forward flight with subsonic tip speed.9'16 This method is also obviously good policy is to use as few approximations as
suitable for helicopter rotor noise calculations. possible in the coding.
It is not possible to select one particular formulation which
The Method of Jou can be used for all rotating blade noise problems. For
This method is an extension of the Hawkings and Lowson example, although the collapsing sphere method is the main
method. 6 The extension is similar to the technique of Garrick choice in time domain for high speed rotating blades (tran-
and Watkins where the forward flight effect was included in sonic and supersonic tip speeds), it is not recommended for
Gutin's result. 22 The analytic results of Jou were developed blades with subsonic tip speed. In this latter case, the for-
for a propeller in uniform forward flight with constant speed mulation with the Doppler factor is more efficient. Since in
VF. The sources are assumed to lie in the propeller disk. The the aeroacoustic optimization of rotating blades, one may be
acoustic sources on the blade can be replaced by equivalent required to control the level of some harmonics of the
periodic sources on the entire propeller disk. By a simple acoustic spectrum, the frequency domain methods are par-
geometric construction (sometimes referred to as the Garrick ticularly suitable for this task.
triangle), the actual sound transmission distance can be A careful study of the available formulations as well as
related to the observer coordinates in the frame moving with other factors such as the type of motion of the blade disk (as a
the propeller. In the notation of the present paper, the propeller or a helicopter rotor) and observer position (near or
complex amplitude of the nth harmonic (for a one-bladed far field) is required in development of a computer program
propeller) of the loading noise in the far field is for noise calculation.

References
!
Morfey, C. L., ''Rotating Blades and Aerodynamic Sound,"
Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 28, No. 3, 1973, pp. 587-617.
2
Ffowcs Williams, J. E. and Hawkings, D. L., "Sound Generated
by Turbulence and Surfaces in Arbitrary Motion," Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. A264, 1969, pp.
321-342.
3
Jn(nY) Morse, P. M. and Ingard, K. U., Theoretical Acoustics, McGraw-
x———— exp( - // (68) Hill Book Co., New York, 1968.
cosa 4
Farassat, F., "Discontinuities in Aerodynamics and
Aeroacoustics: The Concept and Application of Generalized
Derivatives," Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 55, 1977, pp.
where the following definitions for the symbols are used: 165-193.
5
Farassat, F., "Theory of Noise Generation from Moving Bodies
2 2
kD= (l~M Fsin 00) " -Mcos00 (69) with an Application to Helicopter Rotors," NASA TR R-451, 1975.
6
Hawkings, D. L. and Lowson, M. V., "Theory of Open
Msin6n Supersonic Rotor Noise," Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 36,
Y= (70) 1974, pp. 1-20.
7
Hanson, D. B., "Near Field Noise of High Tip Speed Propellers
in Forward Flight," AIAA Paper 76-565, 1976.
8
Farassat, F. and Brown, T. J., "A New Capability for Predicting
Here M=Ru/c is the Mach number at radial distance R and a Helicopter Rotor and Propeller Noise Including the Effect of Forward
is the twist angle (geometric angle of attack). Motion," NASA TM X-74037, 1977.
1130 F. FARASSAT AIAA JOURNAL

9 16
Farassat, F. and Sued, G. P., "A Review of Propeller Discrete Succi, G. P., "Design of Quiet Efficient Propellers," SAE Paper
Frequency Noise Prediction Technology with Emphasis on Two 790584, 1979.
Current Methods for Time Domain Calculations," Journal of Sound 17
and Vibration, Vol. 71, No. 3, 1980, pp. 399-419. Lowson, M. V., "The Sound Field of Singularities in Motion,"
10
Nystrom, P. A. and Farassat, F., "A Numerical Technique for Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Vol. A286, 1965, pp.
Calculation of the Noise of High Speed Propellers with Advanced 559-572.
Geometry," NASATP 1662, 1980. 18
Arnoldi, R. A., "Propeller Noise Caused by Blade Thickness,"
H
Woan, C. J. and Gregorek, G. M., "The Exact Numerical United Aircraft Corp. Research Department Rept. R-0896-1, 1956.
Calculation of Propeller Noise," AIAA Paper 78-1122, 1978. 19
12 Farassat, F., Pegg, R. J., and Hilton, D. A., "Thickness Noise of
Isom, M. P., "The Theory of Sound Radiated by a Hovering
Transonic Helicopter Blade," Polytechnic Institute of New York Helicopter Rotors at High Tip Speeds," AIAA Paper 75-453, 1975.
Rept. Poly-AE/AM No. 75-4, 1975. 20
13 Hanson, D. B., "The Influence of Propeller Design Parameters
Farassat, F., "The Derivation of a Thickness Noise Formula for on Far-Field Harmonic Noise in Forward Flight," AIAA Paper 79-
the Far-Field by Isom," Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 64, 0609, 1979.
No. 1, 1979, pp. 159-160.
14
Farassat, F., "Extension of Isom's Thickness Noise Formula to 21
Jou, W.-H., "Supersonic Propeller Noise in a Uniform Flow,"
the Near Field," Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 67, No. 2, AIAA Paper 79-0348, 1979.
1979, pp. 280-281.
15 22
Farassat, F. and Nystrom, P. A., "Isom's Thickness Noise Garrick, I. E. and Watkins, C. E., "A Theoretical Study of the
Formula for Rotating Blades with Finite Thickness at the Tip," Effects of Forward Speed on the Free-Space Sound-Pressure Field
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI on November 12, 2014 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/3.60051

Journal of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 72, 1980, pp. 550-553. Around Propellers," NACA TR 1198, 1954.

From the AIAA Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics Series...

INJECTION AND MIXING IN TURBULENT FLOW—v. 68

By Joseph A. Schetz, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Turbulent flows involving injection and mixing occur in many engineering situations and in a variety of natural
phenomena. Liquid or gaseous fuel injection in jet and rocket engines is of concern to the aerospace engineer; the
mechanical engineer must estimate the mixing zone produced by the injection of condenser cooling water into a waterway;
the chemical engineer is interested in process mixers and reactors; the civil engineer is involved with the dispersion of
pollutants in the atmosphere; and oceanographers and meteorologists are concerned with mixing of fluid masses on a large
scale. These are but a few examples of specific physical cases that are encompassed within the scope of this book. The
volume is organized to provide a detailed coverage of both the available experimental data and the theoretical prediction
methods in current use. The case of a single jet in a coaxial stream is used as a baseline case, and the effects of axial pressure
gradient, self-propulsion, swirl, two-phase mixtures, three-dimensional geometry, transverse injection, buoyancy forces,
and viscous-inviscid interaction are discussed as variations on the baseline case.

200pp., 6x9, illus., $17.00Mem., $27.00List

TOORDER WRITE: Publications Dept., AIAA, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N. Y. 10019