Experimental and Analytical Studies of Shielding Concepts for Point Sources and Jet Noises.

This analytical and experimental study explores concepts for jet noise shielding. Model experiments centre on solid planar shields, simulating engine-over-wing installations, and 'sugar scoop' shields. Tradeoff on effective shielding length is set by interference 'edge noise' as the shield trailing edge approaches the spreading jet. Edge noise is minimized by (i) hyperbolic cutouts which trim off the portions of most intense interference between the jet flow and the barrier and (ii) hybrid shields--a thermal refractive extension (a flame); for (ii) the tradeoff is combustion noise. In general, shielding attenuation increases steadily with frequency, following low frequency enhancement by edge noise. Although broadband attenuation is typically only several dB, the reduction of the subjectively weighted perceived noise levels is higher. In addition, calculated ground contours of peak PN dB show a substantial contraction due to shielding: this reaches 66% for one of the 'sugar scoop' shields for the 90 PN dB contour. The experiments are complemented by analytical predictions. They are divided into an engineering scheme for jet noise shielding and more rigorous analysis for point source shielding. The former approach combines point source shielding with a suitable jet source distribution. The results are synthesized into a predictive algorithm for jet noise shielding: the jet is modelled as a line distribution of incoherent sources with narrow band frequency (TURN)(axial distance)('-1). The predictive version agrees well with experiment (1 to 1.5 dB) up to moderate frequencies. The insertion loss deduced from the point source measurements for semi-infinite as well as finite rectangular shields agrees rather well with theoretical calculation based on the exact half plane solution and the superposition of asymptotic closed-form solutions. An approximate theory, the Maggi-Rubinowicz line integral, is found to yield reasonable predictions for thin barriers including cutouts if a certain correction is applied. The more exact integral equation approach (solved numerically) is applied to a more demanding geometry: a half round sugar scoop shield. It is found that the solutions of integral equation derived from Helmholtz formula in normal derivative form show satisfactory agreement with measurements.