Sound radiation from real airfoils in turbulence

Leading edge noise measurements and calculations have been made on a three airfoils immersed in turbulence. The airfoils included variations in chord, thickness and camber and the measurements encompass integral scale to chord ratios from 9 to 40 percent as well as 4:1 ratios of leading edge radius and airfoil thickness to integral scale. Angle of attack is found to have a strong effect on the airfoil response function but for the most part only a small effect on leading edge noise because of the averaging effect of the isotropic turbulence spectrum. Angle of attack effects can therefore be significant in non-isotropic turbulence and dependent on airfoil shape. It is found that thicker airfoils generate significantly less noise at high frequencies but that this effect is not determined solely by the leading edge radius or overall thickness. Camber effects appear likely to be small. Angle of attack effects on the response function of a strongly cambered airfoil are shown to be centered on zero angle of attack, rather than the zero lift angle of attack.