Aeroacoustic research at the University of Adelaide: development of an experimental facility, initial results, and future research programme

Abstract

A small anechoic wind tunnel was built at the University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering. It consists of a free jet of rectangular cross–section (75 x 275 mm2) with a maximum flow speed in excess of 40 m/s, located in an 8m3 anechoic enclosure. Technical specifications of the wind tunnel are given, and a preliminary experiment on rod/airfoil interaction noise is presented. Experimental results are consistent with and complementary to published data, which demonstrates that this facility is adequate to provide high quality experimental data. This wind tunnel will be used to investigate the noise generation mechanisms associated with orthogonal blade/vortex interaction noise in helicopters in the near future.