Assessment of Noise Reduction Concepts for Leading-Edge Slat Noise
The leading-edge slat of a high-lift airfoil can be a significant noise contributor during aircraft landing. This paper summarizes the effects of several passive noise reduction devices on the 30P30N high-lift airfoil. Experiments are conducted on a two-dimensional multi-element high-lift airfoil with leading-edge slat extensions, gap filler, and cove filler in an anechoic wind tunnel to evaluate the effect of passive flow control on the acoustics generated by the unsteady flow field. Slat geometry modifications associated with the treatments alter the flow field in the region that dominates the generation of the acoustic field. Three angles of attack (a(k) = 8°, 10°, and 15.5°) and three different Reynolds numbers (Re(c) = 1.2e6, 1.5e6, and 1.71e6) are selected as the test conditions. Steady surface pressure measurements are conducted to assess the effect of the treatments on the lift and drag. Unsteady surface pressure measurements along with the far-field acoustic array measurements are performed to evaluate the changes in near- and far-field pressure fluctuations, respectively. Delay and Sum (DAS) beamforming method is applied to locate the noise sources on the model and provide integrated spectra. Implementation difficulties with the gap filler led to structural integration deficiencies that prevented a fair assessment of this technology. Among the other passive devices, the cove filler s the most effective noise reduction, along with a negligible change in the aerodynamic metrics.