VENUS Project: Numerical and Experimental Investigation on the Aeroacoustics of Distributed Propulsion Configurations

The present paper deals with a numerical investigation of the aeroacoustics of Distributed electric propulsion systems. In particular, the analysed configuration consists of three propellers mounted in front of the wing leading edge. The numerical predictions are compared with the experimental data obtained in the framework of the European VENUS project in the Pininfarina wind tunnel. The numerical analyses are performed through the combined application of a high-fidelity CFD aerodynamic tool for the evaluation of the pressure field over the body surfaces and an aeroacoustic solver based on the Farassat 1A formulation for noise radiation. The aim of the numerical/experimental comparison is twofold: validation of the numerical procedure and investigation of the effect on the system aeroacoustics of some design parameters, such as the phase shift between the adjacent propeller blades and the wing angle of attack.