Broadband self-noise from loaded fan blades

An experimental investigation and analytical modeling were conducted of the broadband self-noise radiated by an industrial cambered airfoil embedded in an homogeneous flow at low Mach number. The instrumented airfoil is placed at the exit of an open jet anechoic wind tunnel. Sound is measured in the far field at the same time as the statistical properties of the wall pressure fluctuations close to the trailing edge. Three different flows with different statistical behaviors are investigated by changing the angle of attack, namely, the turbulent boundary layer initiated by a leading-edge separation, the nearly separated boundary layer with vortex shedding at the trailing edge, and the laminar boundary layer with Tollmien-Schlichting waves. The far-field spectrum is related to the spectrum and spanwise correlation length of the wall pressure fluctuations. Simple statistical models based on Howe's theory and on an extension of the original Amiet's theory show a good agreement with the experimental results. They provide helpful tools to predict the self-noise from subsonic fans in an industrial context.