The sound radiated by tip clearances submerged in a boundary layer

The present study investigates the behaviour of the far-field sound radiated by low Mach number tip clearance flow induced by placing a stationary cambered airfoil adjacent to a stationary wall. The tip clearance heights ranged from 14% to 30% of the incoming, undisturbed boundary layer thickness and the clearance heights based Reynolds numbers were between 2,600 and 16,000. The far-field sound measured using a microphone array was beamformed to reveal the dominant noise sources and how they behave when the flow Mach number, angle of attack and the clearance height were varied. The near-field behaviour was also examined through PIV measurements and surface pressure fluctuation measurements on the tip. The results show that the mid-to-high frequency noise generated by tip clearances is dominated by the leakage flow in the mid-chord and leading-edge regions, while a distinct low-frequency noise source with a different scaling behaviour exists close to the trailing-edge of the tip clearance. The origin of this low-frequency noise source is believed to be the tip separation vortex that resides close to the trailing-edge and induces significant turbulence levels in the region. The strength of this noise source decreases with clearance height which is consistent with a reduction in turbulence levels associated with the separation vortex. The magnitude of the mid-frequency clearance noise which scales with the sixth power of the Mach number, decreases with tip clearance height due to a reduction in the fluctuating pressure on the airfoil tip surface. The time-scale of this sound was independent of the flow velocity, implying that the source is non-compact. Smaller tip clearances were also found to generate louder high-frequency noise due to intense turbulence and pressure fluctuation levels concentrated near the leading-edge of the clearance. • The character and scaling of tip clearance noise is clarified. • The effect of Mach number, angle of attack and clearance height are discussed. • Trailing-edge region is the source of low-frequency noise. • An intense, high-frequency noise source is present near the leading-edge.