Reduction of aerofoil self-noise by surface plasma technique
Lead Research Organisation:
Brunel University London
Department Name: Mech. Engineering, Aerospace & Civil Eng
Abstract
In the aerospace industry, great emphasis is always placed on the lifting components to achieve high-lift, low-drag and low-noise performances. This proposal concerns an 18-month experimental study into the application of surface plasma actuators as an active boundary layer and wake control technique with the aim of reducing the drag and Trailing Edge self-noise of aerofoil. Two configurations will be investigated: (1) an aerofoil with blunt trailing edge - which characteristically combines a superior lift performance with high drag and significant tone noise radiation; (2) an aerofoil with a sharp trailing edge - which typically produces broadband self-noise in high Reynolds number flow. The main technology under investigation here is the relatively new, though rapidly expanding, surface plasma actuators. The usage of surface plasma actuators for flow control is very attractive for industrial applications because this technique is highly energy efficient, has a fast response, a simple structure, can be used for both steady and unsteady actuations and creates no profile drag when not in operation. The proposed research aims to simultaneously optimise the aerodynamical and aeroacoustical performances of aerofoil with blunt as well as sharp trailing edges. The expected outcome of this research is an extensive validation of the effectiveness of surface plasma actuator as a relatively novel technique for the reduction of drag and noise generated by aircraft components such as the turbofan engine and airframe. The outcome of this research is also transferable to the wind turbine industry and fan-based home appliance sector.
Planned Impact
An active flow control method (Dielectric surface plasma) is proposed to reduce both the base-drag and trailing edge self-noise of aerofoils. The impact of this research to the academic circle, industrial sector, general public and governmental policy makers is significant. The academic impact has already been addressed in the "Academic beneficiaries" section. How this proposal can benefit the industrial sector, general public and governmental policy makers is detailed below:
It is envisaged that this research project can directly affect three types of industries: aerospace, wind turbine and fan-based home appliance manufacturers. For the aerospace industry, research and development into the "faster, higher and longer" technologies has reached a saturation phase where great emphasise is now placed on developing technology to sustain the above accomplishments with the lowest possible energy consumption and cost. The active flow control technology developed in this research can reduce the viscous or pressure drag caused by the turbulent or separated flows over the aircraft body or lifting surfaces, thus saving fuel, and consequently reducing the overall operational cost. The novelty of this research project, however, is to exploit the by-product as a result of the active flow control on drag reduction. This "by-product" is essentially the reduction of the noise sources on the foil surfaces and in the wake flow. Therefore, this research aims to reduce the drag force and self-noise radiation simultaneously. Nowadays, aerofoil self-noises generated by the aircraft fan engine, the airframe and the wind turbine (which has a characteristic swishing noise that can be heard at considerable distance) can affect the quality of life, and in some cases, personal health of the general public who reside near the airport or wind farm. These noise issues have already hampered the growths of airport capacity and onshore wind turbine installation significantly. The European Union and the UK government have two ambitious targets to be achieved by the year 2020. The first one originates from the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe, where a target was set to reduce the perceived aviation noise to one half of the year 2001 level by 2020. The second one is the UK government's commitment to increase the share of renewable energy in the domestic usage to 15% by 2020. In 2011, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change identified that extra wind power delivered by both onshore and offshore wind turbines is required to meet this 15% target. The proposed research will benefit directly aircraft and engine manufacturers seeking to design quieter aero-engines by establishing new control techniques for reducing the noise from rotor blades and aircraft wings, and wind turbine manufactures who aim to design the next generation turbine blades with low-noise and low-drag characteristics. This work will clearly benefit communities living in close proximity to airports or wind farms. Most importantly, technology developed in this work will have a direct beneficial impact on Europe and UK's efforts to achieve the two targets identified above, which ultimately can improve not only the quality of life for the general public, but also the economy of the country as a whole. The quest for the improvement of "quality of life" by the proposed research can also be extended to the general consumer of home appliances. An innovative electronic manufacturer is interested to adopt the fan noise control methodology to be developed in this research to their fan-based home appliance products, such as the air-conditioner, to produce a quiet operating condition. To summarise the impact of this research proposal, the technology developed here will appeal to a wide spectrum of industrial products ranging from large aircraft engine fans and wind turbine blades to small air-conditioner fans.
It is envisaged that this research project can directly affect three types of industries: aerospace, wind turbine and fan-based home appliance manufacturers. For the aerospace industry, research and development into the "faster, higher and longer" technologies has reached a saturation phase where great emphasise is now placed on developing technology to sustain the above accomplishments with the lowest possible energy consumption and cost. The active flow control technology developed in this research can reduce the viscous or pressure drag caused by the turbulent or separated flows over the aircraft body or lifting surfaces, thus saving fuel, and consequently reducing the overall operational cost. The novelty of this research project, however, is to exploit the by-product as a result of the active flow control on drag reduction. This "by-product" is essentially the reduction of the noise sources on the foil surfaces and in the wake flow. Therefore, this research aims to reduce the drag force and self-noise radiation simultaneously. Nowadays, aerofoil self-noises generated by the aircraft fan engine, the airframe and the wind turbine (which has a characteristic swishing noise that can be heard at considerable distance) can affect the quality of life, and in some cases, personal health of the general public who reside near the airport or wind farm. These noise issues have already hampered the growths of airport capacity and onshore wind turbine installation significantly. The European Union and the UK government have two ambitious targets to be achieved by the year 2020. The first one originates from the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe, where a target was set to reduce the perceived aviation noise to one half of the year 2001 level by 2020. The second one is the UK government's commitment to increase the share of renewable energy in the domestic usage to 15% by 2020. In 2011, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change identified that extra wind power delivered by both onshore and offshore wind turbines is required to meet this 15% target. The proposed research will benefit directly aircraft and engine manufacturers seeking to design quieter aero-engines by establishing new control techniques for reducing the noise from rotor blades and aircraft wings, and wind turbine manufactures who aim to design the next generation turbine blades with low-noise and low-drag characteristics. This work will clearly benefit communities living in close proximity to airports or wind farms. Most importantly, technology developed in this work will have a direct beneficial impact on Europe and UK's efforts to achieve the two targets identified above, which ultimately can improve not only the quality of life for the general public, but also the economy of the country as a whole. The quest for the improvement of "quality of life" by the proposed research can also be extended to the general consumer of home appliances. An innovative electronic manufacturer is interested to adopt the fan noise control methodology to be developed in this research to their fan-based home appliance products, such as the air-conditioner, to produce a quiet operating condition. To summarise the impact of this research proposal, the technology developed here will appeal to a wide spectrum of industrial products ranging from large aircraft engine fans and wind turbine blades to small air-conditioner fans.
Organisations
- Brunel University London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM (Collaboration)
- City, University of London (Collaboration)
- Shandong University of Science and Technology (Collaboration)
- INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tze Chong (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Al-Sadawi L
(2019)
Circular Cylinder Wake and Noise Control Using DBD plasma Actuator
Al-Sadawi L
(2019)
Aerodynamic noise reduction by plasma actuators for a flat plate with blunt trailing edge
in Journal of Sound and Vibration
Al-Sadawi Laith Ayad
(2018)
Vortex shedding-induced noise reduction using (DBD) plasma actuator
Al-Sadawi, L.
(2017)
Active Noise Control of Single and Tandem Cylinders Using Plasma Actuator
| Description | The usage of plasma actuators for flow control is very attractive for industrial applications because this technique is highly energy efficient, has a fast response, a simple structure, can be used for both steady and unsteady actuations and creates no profile drag when not in operation. This project validates the effectiveness of plasma actuator as a relatively novel technique for the simultaneous reduction of drag and noise generated by aerofoil with blunt and sharp trailing edges. The project has successfully demonstrated that tonal noise generated by the blunt trailing edge can be completely suppressed by the plasma actuators where noise reduction up to 20 dB is achieved. This is a very significant level of aerodynamic noise reduction by a plasma actuator. Based on the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data, the mechanisms were attributed to the plasma jet that (1) acts as the "virtual" splitter barrier to inhibit the momentum transfer between the upper and lower sides of the wake flow; and (2) reduces the velocity deficit at the near wake region. A new "hybrid" approach has also been developed during the course of the project to combine plasma actuator (active control) and non-flat plate serration geometry (passive control) together. The latter is inspired by owl's wing through profiling the trailing edge of an aerofoil in a serrated pattern. However, it is different with the conventional flat plate type because the serration pattern is cut directly into the aerofoil body. The plasma actuators are then applied at the vicinity of the exposed blunt roots to suppress the vortex shedding in the near wake. Our experimental data at low Reynolds number has demonstrated that this hybrid control method is effective in reducing the turbulent broadband noise radiated at the trailing edge (noise reduction up to 7 dB), but crucially avoids unwanted vortex shedding noise and maintains the aerodynamic performance and structural integrity of the aerofoil. In conclusion, the successful demonstration of reductions in the tonal noise (radiated from the blunt trailing edge) and turbulent broadband noise by the plasma actuators from the wake-solid interaction developed in this EPSRC-funded project shows that the original objectives have been achieved, and at the same time new research avenues have been identified. As discussed below: When an aerofoil encounters gusty wind, high level of freestream turbulence impinges on the aerofoil's leading edge. This interaction is extremely effective in radiating broadband noise with a sound pressure level significantly higher than the trailing edge self-noise. So far the only mitigating technology is to use leading edge serrations. This passive flow control method has been proven to be effective in the interaction noise reduction. However, the degradation in the aerodynamic performance (increase in drag and reduce in lift) will also be an issue. The leading edge noise issue was not part of this original EPSRC project "Reduction of aerofoil self-noise by surface plasma technique", but it represents an avenue for further research of the plasma actuator (both DBD and plasma synthetic jet) because it offers the benefits of light weight, controllable actuations and most importantly no extra profile drag will be inadvertently produced. It is envisaged that the plasma actuator can be a better solution for the reduction of turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. |
| Exploitation Route | The plasma system developed in this ESPRC project is based on aerofoil operating in a relatively uniform smooth flow where trailing edge self-noise is the dominant noise generation mechanism. The plasma system can easily be extended to aerofoil subjected to gusty flow, thus making it effective in suppressing the leading edge-gust interaction noise. The technology developed in this EPSRC project could be further developed, and the areas where the plasma system is likely to have most impact are on aero engines, wind turbine, Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC), open rotor aircraft, power generation gas turbine and cooling fan of home appliances including personal computer. These high tech manufacturers are naturally conservative and new technology is adopted only after very extensive testing and in-depth studies are undertake of the economic in terms of balancing the advantages of noise reductions against the manufacturing costs, maintenance costs, safety, and any possible degradation in aerodynamic performance. Some of these companies, such as the wind turbine companies are more likely to introduce trailing edge serration and/or leading edge tubercles in the short term as these can be retro-fitted onto existing wind turbine blades and easily removed should problems arise. The adoption by these companies of the plasma actuators developed in this EPSRC project would require it to be incorporated at the manufacturing stage. The eventual adoption of plasma technology by them is therefore foreseeable in the longer term. This EPSRC project provides scope for academic extension and further research involving multiple disciplines. The design of the surface plasma can be further improved such that higher ionic wind speed can be produced. Most importantly, a reliable insulation system should be developed to allow the plasma actuator operating in hazardous environments. Another area that could be improved is the reduction of high frequency noise produced by the plasma actuators. All these require contributions from researchers of different background, such as smart materials, electrical engineering and environment sensing. The results of this project will open up new and exciting avenues for the promotion of both active and passive flow control techniques, which could include synthetic jets, compliant surfaces and vortex generators for the reduction of the aerofoil self-noise. It is a well known fact that plasma actuators have low authority in producing sufficient jet velocity magnitude. Therefore it could only exert limited influence if one only uses plasma actuators to inject momentum to separated or turbulent flows. The most significant contribution from this EPSRC-funded project is the use of plasma actuators to create an alternative secondary flow mechanism such that these secondary flows will become the dominant force to control the separated or turbulent boundary layer. This has been documented in our most recent journal publication in Journal of Sound and Vibration ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2018.08.029 ). This control philosophy is expected to attract attentions from the research communities, and adopted by others. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Environment,Transport |
| Description | Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government has committed to significant year-on-year greenhouse gas cuts towards an 80% reduction (from the 1990 baseline) by 2050. At a time of heightened sensitivity regarding the economic cost of government policies, the technological maturity of wind power is an attractive option. Onshore wind capacity is set to double by 2020, with offshore set for a four-fold rise, which will result in increased pressure to find suitable onshore and offshore sites. The drive for greater energy yield and technological developments are producing turbines of increasing size that are more likely to result in intrusive low-frequency noise. It is highly likely that in future the UK will see higher numbers of larger turbines affecting increasing numbers of neighbouring residents. Wind turbine noise is a high concern for communities, resulting in planning obstruction and operational complaints. The new technology of plasma actuator developed in this EPSRC project will address this issue, by seeking to preserve the quality of life for nearby residents of existing and proposed wind turbine developments, and helping to ensure that the politics of wind turbines does not impede the critical issue of developing more sustainable means of energy generation. In 2014, the Energy Scientific Advisory Committee ranks wind power technology of high importance due to current wind power deployment plans and the substantial UK wind resource (the best in Europe). The target of increasing public acceptability of wind power technology is an urgent requirement. This EPSRC project concerns an experimental study into the application of surface plasma actuators as an active boundary layer and wake control technique to reduce the trailing edge self-noise of aerofoil. An in-house plasma system has been developed well within the set deadline. The experiment was performed in the state-of-the-art aeroacoustics wind tunnel at Brunel University (designed by me). Using the plasma system, this project aims to: (1) suppress wake vortex shedding produced by a blunt trailing edge, thereby reducing tonal noise; and (2) suppress the impinging turbulence level, thereby reducing the interaction-broadband noise. The first objective has been met at the conclusion of this project, and the second objective has some successes, but further validation is still needed. Some of these results have been disseminated to journal, international and national conferences and workshops. Presenting the results in the conferences and workshops has exerted considerable impact because the forums will normally attended by the best scientist, engineers, industrialists and academics. All the publications related to this project have been made open access for dissemination to a wider audience, including the general public. The Mechanical Engineering subject area of Brunel University offers its course with an optional Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS). Students who choose the "with MPDS" courses will secure a 1-year industrial placement with companies including the GE Aviation, Rolls Royce, DSTL and QinetiQ. I am the Industrial Placement Officer in my department, has the opportunity to visit these companies. The placement visits offer me the opportunities to communicate my research activities, including this EPSRC project, to relevant industrial beneficiaries, expand my network of collaboration and pursue further work in the area as well as the commercialisation of the project outcomes. The university open days offer another opportunity for me to inform the general public about the innovative research conducted in the area of aerofoil self-noise reduction by plasma flow control, and raise public awareness regarding the impact of aircraft noise on the airport capacity and UK economy, and most importantly to provide information on the most up to date research efforts in reducing the aircraft noise. Given the close proximity of Brunel University to Heathrow Airport and the noise-sensitive areas that are under the flight paths, I can interact with many members of local public who are genuinely concerned about the aviation noise. The results and artefacts developed from this EPSRC project would leave an impression and achieve a desire impact to these audiences that the academic research community and the government are actively seeking technological advancement to address the aviation noise. I have also been invited to a seminar at Xian Jiaotong University, China in September 2018 to present the aeroacoustics research at Brunel University. A considerable amount of times was devoted to disseminate the results from this EPSRC project with regard to the aerodynamic noise reduction by surface plasma actuators. Some Chinese companies, which were present in the seminar, expressed interest on this plasma-based research to achieve aeroacoustics benefits. I am now in discussion with various academics and industrial representatives in the UK, some of whom have extensive research track record in the use of plasma technology for flow control, to collaborate on project on the use of plasma actuators to reduce multiple noise sources of aerofoil and other aeronautical bodies. I recently commenced a collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recently recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. The involvement of industries in this project is seen as particularly important in an effort to elevate the Technological Readiness Level of the plasma technology. Aeroacoustics behaviours and noise generation mechanisms from multi-propellers across different manoeuvre corridors, such as hovering, and transitional (between takeoff and forward flight) phases of flight, represent a very relevant research topic nowadays due to the imminent proliferation of eVTOL (electrical Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. Brunel University London, University of Southampton and Vertical Aerospace have been working together to submit an EPSRC proposal to understand and mitigate multi-propeller noise. One of the noise mitigation strategies to be investigated in this proposal is the use of surface plasma actuators in rotating rotor for the reduction of leading edge interaction noise. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Brunel University Seed and Pump Priming Funding |
| Amount | £5,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | FAA204 (Brunel's internal code) |
| Organisation | Brunel University London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2015 |
| End | 07/2016 |
| Description | QUIET AEROFOIL WITH ADAPTIVE POROUS SURFACES (QUADPORS) |
| Amount | £346,033 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V006886/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2020 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Title | Design of a low-noise anechoic wind tunnel |
| Description | In order to validate the effectiveness of the plasma actuator in the reduction of aerofoil self-noise, as per the EPSRC project (EP/K002309/1), it is necessary to perform the experiment in a very low-noise aeroacoustics wind tunnel that cannot be bought "off the shelf". On a tight schedule and budget, I have designed, project managed and characterised a very unique anechoic wind tunnel facility at Brunel University that has become one of the only two available in the UK's universities - the other one is situated at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR), University of Southampton. Brunel's anechoic wind tunnel has been shown to produce very low background noise and low turbulence free jet and it is extremely versatile. It can support projects other than this particular EPSRC project (EP/K002309/1). For example, this wind tunnel continues to support my other EPSRC projects such as the EP/N018737/1 (completed) and EP/V006886/1 (ongoing). |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The anechoic wind tunnel developed here consists of an open jet wind tunnel situated inside an anechoic chamber. Some of the aeroacoustic research groups in the UK, as well as from overseas, are recently developing their aeroacoustic wind tunnel facilities largely based on this model. |
| Title | Use of plasma actuators to generate various base-flow conditions |
| Description | A plasma actuator can be configured such that the travelling waves it generated can either enhance or deteriorate the flow. For all of the experiments carried out in the EP/K002309/1 project, the plasma actuators were optimised to the configurations such that they can suppress the wake vortex shedding and reduce the turbulence level of the boundary layer in order to produce a less-turbulent and steady flow. Measuring the flow separation noise is one of the main objectives for the current EP/N018737/1 project. To develop a "triggering" method for the boundary layer without subjecting it to large pressure loadings, we are developing a novel method to use the plasma actuator to produce an adverse flow (large scale boundary layer separation) in an otherwise laminar flow condition. This will enable us to study the leading edge and boundary layer separation noise without the need of extensive modification of the current wind tunnel facility. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | As stated in the "Collaborations and Partnerships" section, the limitation on performing aeroacoustic measurements on high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings for aerofoil by an open jet wind tunnel can be overcome by using the plasma actuator to generate a large scale boundary layer separation artificially. This advanced experimental technique would enable us to study and measure the flow separation noise - something that has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community due to limitation in the capability of the wind tunnel facility. |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | City, University of London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | Indian Institute of Technology Madras |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | Shandong University of Science and Technology |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | Technion - Israel Institute of Technology |
| Country | Israel |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | University of Nottingham |
| Department | Faculty of Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National and international academic collaborations |
| Organisation | University of Southampton |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have successfully developed a state-of-the-art plasma actuator system at the conclusion of my EPSRC First Grant (EP/K002309/1), which is to use the plasma actuators as an active flow control device to reduce aerofoil broadband and tonal noise produced at the trailing edge of aerofoil. To move this technology forward, I have partnered with several world-leading experts in flow control and aeroacoustics to develop a multi-disciplinary approach (combined active and passive flow controls) to reduce the industrial fan noise and improve the aerodynamic performances, which is closely associated with the EPSRC project (EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation, 30 Apr 2016 - 31 May 2019) where I was one of the principle investigators. Whilst my main area of research in this project is to improve the serration technology (a passive flow control) to improve the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performances of aerofoil, I also develop a hybrid system to combine the plasma actuators with the serration and riblets to develop the next generation industrial fan blades. The plasma actuator aeroacoustics control research is further enhanced with my collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (https://home.iitm.ac.in/nrv/), who has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. I have recruited a new PhD student to work on the plasma actuator for aeroacoustics control. The numerical work from Professor Vadlamani will complement our experimental work to help in the explanation of the flow physical behaviours. I have been collaborating with University of Southampton, University of Nottingham and City University of London on two EPSRC projects (1) EP/N018737/1 - Quiet aerofoil of the next generation - completed; and (2) EP/V006886/1 - Quiet Aerofoil with Adaptive Porous Surfaces (QUADPORS) - ongoing. Detailed contributions of my research team at Brunel for these two projects have been documented elsewhere within the Researchfish. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Phillip Joseph (ISVR, University of Southampton) is a world-leading expert and he will be developing the serration/geometrical modification techniques to achieve quiet aerofoil. Professor Kwing-So Choi from the University of Nottingham is to develop the bio-inspired, surface riblet technique to reduce the skin friction drag. Professor Alfredo Pinelli from City University London contributes towards high fidelity simulation on fluid flows, whose results are transferrable to the aeroacoustics scatered fields. Dr Oksana Stalnov is an assistant professor at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and she is responsible to develop wall-blowing/mass-injection techniques, as well as the serration technology, to reduce the aerofoil self-noise radiation. Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, has a proven research track record in high fidelity LES/DNS to study active flow control of turbomachinery flow by plasma actuator. Professor Minghui Zhang from Shandong University of Science and Technology visited my research group for a year between 2019 and 2020. During this period, Professor Zhang worked on the structured porous trailing edge for aerofoil trailing edge noise reduction and we have produced two journal articles and a conference paper, all of which have already been published. My collaboration with Professor Zhang is an incubator for the development of a novel concept for quiet aerofoil, i.e. structured porous trailing edge, for further exploitation in my current EPSRC project (QUADPORS EP/V006886/1). |
| Impact | Dr Oksana Stalnov and I have obtained some results on the hybrid leading edge serration and plasma actuator on the reduction of aerofoil turbulence-leading edge interaction noise. This concept has been extended to the use of hybrid serration and active air-blowing through mechanical means, in which the results have been published in "Yasir Al-Okbi, Tze Pei Chong and Oksana Stalnov, Leading Edge Blowing to Mimic and Enhance the Serration Effects for Aerofoil. Applied Sciences, 11(6), 2593. doi:10.3390/app11062593". We are also working together to explore the scaling effect of aerofoil lift coefficients subjected to leading edge serrations, in which a journal article is published in "Stalnov, O., & Chong, T. P. (2019). Scaling of Lift Coefficient of an Airfoil with Leading Edge Serrations. AIAA Journal, 57(8), 3615-3619. doi:10.2514/1.J058168". Apart from working closely together with Professor Phillip Joseph, Professor Kwing-So Choi and Professor Alfredo Pinelli on the work packages defined in the EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1, we are also developing the plasma actuator as an effective non-intrusive device to artificially trigger a large scale flow separation on fan blade surface at low angle of attack, and low pressure loadings. The motivation of this research is to overcome the limitation on performing aeroacoustics measurements of aerofoil subjected to high angle of attack, and large pressure loadings by most of the open jet wind tunnel. The success of this advanced experimental technique would enable us we to continuously use our current open jet aeroacoustics facility to measure the flow separation noise. The flow separation noise is one of the prominent engineering problems facing the industrial fan blades, but it has hitherto not been investigated adequately in the research community and there is a lack of database in the literatures. This particular research work (i.e. use the plasma actuator to generate adverse flow condition - boundary layer separation) has encountered some "self-noise" issues from the plasma actuators which tend to mask the aerodynamic noise of interest. This has been mitigated by investigating at a high velocity flow condition so that the plasma actuator self-noise will be less significant. Professor Joseph, Professor Choi, Professor Pinelli and I will continue to collaborate in this topic alongside the current EPSRC QUADPORS project (EP/V006886/1). The collaboration with Professor Nagabhushana Rao Vadlamani from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras has started at February 2021. Although encountered a slow start initially due to some numerical issues, most of which have been overcome and preliminary results start to emerge. In the near future, we will validate the numerical results with our experimental data. The research outcomes will be disseminated in the conference proceedings and journal articles in near future. The collaboration with Professor Minghui Zhang produces two journal articles and one conference proceedings. The know-how and experiences gained in the project are transferable to my current EPSRC project "QUADPORS - EP/V006886/1". |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Demonstration at University open day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Every year Brunel University will organise many open days in which I regularly involve in the presentations on research and teaching activities to the visitors. The open days in Brunel provide a good opportunity to inform the general public about the innovative research conducted in the area of aircraft noise reduction. I have the opportunity to demonstrate the plasma actuators that could be used for aircraft engine fan noise reduction, which generates interests among the visitors and encourages more students to engage in the STEM education. Given the close proximity of Brunel University to Heathrow Airport and the noise-sensitive areas that are under the flight paths, my research on the plasma actuators (EP/K002309/1), serration technology (EP/N018737/1) and porous treatments (QUADPORS, EP/V006886/1) that aim to reduce fan noise radiated from the aircraft engine has a high potential to achieve significant social impact. This is because a lot of these visitors are from the local area who are genuinely concerned about the impact of the aviation noise and are interested to know more about the recent trend in the technological development. My EPSRC-funded research is well placed to demonstrate that the academic research community as well as the government are motivated to continuously develop the latest technology to address this important societal issue. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2023 |
| Description | ICURe engagement activities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | In April 2018 I received an award from the Innovate UK on ICURe, which is a programme of commercialisation support for teams of academic researchers wishing to explore the commercial potential of their research. My PhD student Jonne Jeyalingam was employed as the early career researcher for this programme to embark a three-month programme to engage and speak directly with technical representatives and managers of over 20 technological companies and governmental organisations on the poro-serrated aerofoil developed in the EPSRC "Quiet Aerofoil of the Next-Generation EP/N018737/1" project, as well as the plasma-based flow control for aeroacoustics application developed in the EPSRC "Reduction of aerofoil self-noise by surface plasma technique" project. This public engagement not only helps to develop and enhance his entrepreneurial skills, but also strengthen links between academic and industrial communities. Our engagement of many fan-based companies (wind turbines, aero-engine, drone, and home-appliance) in this programme allows the opportunity for further collaboration to raise the technological readiness level of the low-noise aerofoil together, and to accelerate the implementation of our product in the industrial applications. Post award engagements with some of these companies are ongoing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invite lecture at University of Southampton - Aerofoil noise reduction by active or passive flow control - opportunities and challenges |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This invited lecture provides an opportunity for me to disseminate some of the most recent research outcomes from my group to other audiences, primary academic colleagues and postgraduate students (PhD and MSc). I also discussed some of the opportunities and challenges facing the aerofoil noise, which sparked many interests and exchanges of new research ideas during the lecture, and afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/news/seminars/2018/11/13-tze-pei.page |
| Description | Outreach activities at the new "STEM Centre" at Brunel University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The new £5 millions "STEM Centre" at Brunel offers an opportunity in which my research students and myself will set up programme to get the general public and school students involved in scientific activities and inform them the innovative research conducted in the areas of aircraft and wind turbine noise reduction. We also set up simple experiments (e.g. plasma actuators for active control, and serration and porous treatment for the bio-inspired flow control) to encourage the school students to take part in the exercises. We always receive positive feedback from the school students as they find it fascinating that the unique bio-features from owl can be mimicked to the fan blade to achieve good aeroacoustic and aerodynamic performances. We also receive feedback from schools about the increased interest in the aeroacoustic field. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019,2023 |
| Description | Participating in the "Made in Brunel" public showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | My research team and I participated in the "Made in Brunel" public showcase held at OXO Bargehouse to demonstrate our next-generation low noise fan blade. The aim is to raise public awareness of the efforts from scientific-community to reduce wind-turbine noise, and how bio-inspired concepts (e.g. serration from owls) can realise this goal. Results from my two EPSRC projects (Reduction of aerofoil self-noise by surface plasma technique EP/K002309/1, and Quiet Aerofoil of the Next Generation EP/N018737/1) were showcased in this event. We generated a lot of interests and some attendees are quite fascinated by the capability of serrated fan blade in the reduction of noise. This event was not organised in 2020 due to the pandemic lockdown. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| URL | http://madeinbrunel.com/ |
| Description | Update on Aerospace Research activities at Brunel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As the lead for the Aerospace Research Group, I actively establish and develop sustained academic and professional networks nationally and internationally which bring benefit to the University. I invited the Director of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for the Institute of Electrified Aero Engines, Professor Lars Enghart, to participate in person for the "Brunel Aerospace Research" seminar on 20 June 2022. Other external participants include academics from TU Cottbus (Germany), and Southern University of Science and Technology (China). Internal invitations were sent to colleagues both within and outside the Aerospace Research Group, as well as academics from other departments. During the meeting, I disseminate major results of my three EPSRC projects (EP/K002309/1, EP/N018737/1 and EP/V006886/1). At the conclusion of this seminar, several avenues for research collaborations have been discussed and currently in development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |