Noise control for high-lift devices by slat wall treatment

A novel wall treatment method, termed as the Slat Cove Wavy Wall (SCWW), is proposed to improve both the aero-acoustic and the aerodynamic performances of high-lift devices. By this treatment, a wavy pattern is imposed on the wall in the slat cove. In the present work, slats with three different SCWWs are designed and applied to a straight wing composed by 30P30N airfoil. Numerical simulations and analyses are conducted to unveil the underlying mechanisms of noise reduction. The unsteady flow field and the far-field noise are predicted by a hybrid SA-IDDES method followed by the integration of the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings equation. The modified high-lift device is proved to be able to improve the aero-acoustic performance by reducing the low-frequency components of the radiated noise. Meanwhile, the aerodynamic performance is maintained or improved under proper design parameters. The boundary layer separation in the slat cove is accelerated by the SCWW, which transforms low-frequency periodic vortex shedding to high-frequency turbulent flow. This results in the sound energy shift from low-frequency noise to high-frequency broadband noise. The SCWW method is proved to be effective in redistribution of boundary vorticity flux on the slat lower surface. To reveal the mechanism of the SCWW's drag and noise reduction, the vortex dynamic processes near the slat lower surface in terms of the Lamb vector divergence are further investigated. It is found that the Lamb vector divergence is directly related to both the noise source and the drag. The interaction area of positive and negative Lamb vector divergence can be balanced and decreased by SCWW, resulting in the drag and noise reduction. As expressed by the vortex dynamic processes, this feature implies the SCWW method is of great potential in noise attenuation. (C) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.