Numerical study on reduction of aerodynamic noise around an airfoil with biomimetic structures

A biomimetic airfoil featuring leading edge waves, trailing edge serrations and surface ridges is proposed in this study, based on flow control with each section meeting the NACA 0012 airfoil profile. Numerical simulations have been conducted to compare aerodynamic and acoustic performances between the NACA 0012 and biomimetic airfoils. These simulations utilize the large eddy simulation (LES) method and aeroacoustic analogy at an angle of attack of 0° and a Reynolds number of 1.0×105, based on using the airfoil chord as the characteristic length. The simulation results reveal the overall sound pressure levels (OASPLs) for all frequencies and at the seven observer points around the biomimetic airfoil, and a decrease of 13.1-13.9 dB is observed, whereas the drag coefficient is almost unchanged. The biomimetic structures can transform the shedding vortices in laminar mode for the NACA 0012 airfoil to regular horseshoe-type vortices in the wake, and reduce the spanwise correlation of the large-scale vortices, thereby restrain the vortex shedding noise around the biomimetic airfoil.