Laminar boundary layer instability noise produced by an aerofoil

When a laminar boundary layer exists on the surface of an aerofoil up to the trailing edge, a tone or a number of tones are sometimes produced. These tones have been the subject of a number of investigations which have proposed a variety of different mechanisms regarding their production. This paper gives a brief overview of the previously proposed mechanisms and then describes the development of a theoretical model to estimate the tone frequencies. The model is validated against a number of well-known published experiments and also against the results of an experimental investigation undertaken by the authors. The model is compared with other models available for predicting laminar boundary layer instability noise and is shown to be accurate and robust. Unlike previous models, which are empirical, the model presented in this paper is purely theoretical and could be used to predict the frequency of laminar boundary layer instability noise produced by an arbitrary aerofoil.