A turbulent inflow model based on velocity modulation

This article presents a novel turbulent inflow model based on modulation of the velocity field for use with time-domain propulsor calculations. Given an experimental mean and rms turbulent inflow, a model can be constructed by modulating the velocity field over a range of frequencies. Assuming the turbulence is homogeneous, the inflow can be constructed as a Fourier series where the frequencies can also be modulated to smooth the broadband output. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the model, experimental inflow velocity data were acquired for an upstream stator, downstream rotor configuration mounted on an undersea vehicle afterbody. Two main sources of turbulence originated from the vorticity shed from the stator wakes and the boundary layer vorticity produced on the hull body. Three-dimensional, unsteady velocity data were acquired using hot-wire anemometry and reduced to provide mean and rms velocity values. Time-series data were processed to provide velocity power spectra used to calibrate the model. Simulations were performed using a modified version of the propulsor unsteady flow code capable of computing fully turbulent inflows. This solver models the propulsor blade as a vortex lattice and sheds the vorticity into the wake to solve the unsteady potential flow. The no-flux boundary conditions are satisfied at the lattice control points and the resulting unsteady circulation is a function of the instantaneous inflow velocity field over the blade. Vorticity is shed into the wake to account for the full time history of the inflow velocity field. To demonstrate the full effectiveness of the model, computed surface pressure data were exported to a code to compute the far-field radiated noise (both tonal and broadband). Simulated data were compared with experimentally obtained noise data with favorable results. Applications of this methodology in the incompressible flow domain include broadband analysis of propulsor-radiated noise on undersea vehicles and radiator fan noise in cars.