Model and full scale high-lift wing wind tunnel experiments dedicated to airframe noise reduction

During landing approach, airframe noise has become a significant contributor to the overall radiated noise from commercial aircraft, when propelled by quiet high-bypass-ratio engines. The major sources of airframe noise are the landing gears and the wing high-lift devices (HLD). In view of European aviation industry to design and build a very large commercial aeroplane, the A3XX, a German National Research Project was initiated, culminating in a series of model- und full scale wind tunnel experiments on HLD. This paper discusses recent results from HLD-studies in the German Dutch Wind Tunnel (DNW) on a 1/7.5 scaled complete model aircraft and the outer section of an A320 full scale wing, employing farfield microphones, unsteady pressure instrumentation and source localization techniques to quantify airframe noise levels and identify the major aeroacoustic sources. The tests provided a baseline data set for the development of noise prediction schemes. Test results obtained on the full scale wing section revealed the importance of excess noise from construction details of a real wing HLD. Tonal components in scale model flap side-edge surface pressure spectra were found to originate from scale model Reynolds number effects. The acoustic effectiveness of initial noise reduction concepts was assessed.