TUC-TUC: Development of a test bench for the study of rotor aeroacoustics

The accelerated development of Urban Aerial Transportation (UAT) conflicts with current legislation efforts to mitigate sound exposure to communities affected by such operations. UAT vehicles rely on open rotors or propellers for producing lift and propulsion. However, their use is the source of the majority of the vehicles' noise emissions. Rotor noise has been studied extensively, with its theoretical foundations being complemented by experimental campaigns over the last half-century. Nevertheless, difficulties exist in the generation of a complete experimental dataset that allows for a thorough aeroacoustic validation of the theoretical and numerical efforts realized. The complex geometry of rotors, their associated flow, and the inherent difficulties of performing aerodynamic measurements on a rotating body commonly hamper a direct physics-driven study and validation of rotor aeroacoustics. To this purpose, this work focuses on the development of a test bench that allows for a complete assessment of the aerodynamic characteristics and the acoustic emissions of a rotor under different flight-like operating conditions. The rotor is named TUC TUC, after the TU delft Characterization model for roTor aerocoUstiCs. The design rationale, technical developments, and resulting performance are shown in this work.