Experimental investigation on the effect of slat geometrical configurations on aerodynamic noise

Relatively few studies have addressed the slat noise dependence on gap, overlap and deflection angle, although slat noise level and spectral content are topics of increasing concern in the aeronautical industry. This paper presents new experimental data on the subject. An array of microphones placed in a closed-section wind tunnel was used in the experiments. Beamforming signal processing enhanced by DAMAS (Deconvolution Approach for the Mapping of Acoustic Sources) was applied to the data. The experimental data covered a range of angles of attack and Mach numbers, for which the typical slat noise signature features high-level narrow-band peaks, broadband noise and a single broad tone. The narrow-band peaks often dominate the slat noise spectra and arise at Strouhal numbers up to approximately 5. The broadband noise is well characterized for Strouhal numbers between 5 and 20, whereas the broad tone arises for Strouhal above 20. A total of 10 different slat configurations, including variations in gap, overlap and deflection angle were tested. The slat noise dependence on gap, overlap and slat deflection angle was assessed by letting each of them vary separately. The slat configuration exerted a substantial effect on all slat noise components, with variations of up to 20 dB/Hz in the level of the narrow-band peaks. In general, the level of the narrow-band peaks reduced and the high frequency content increased as the gap, overlap, angle of attack and slat deflection increased separately or in combination. The aerodynamically optimized baseline configuration is very distinct from the lowest noise one.