Atmospheric turbulence inflow effect on the aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of side-by-side urban air mobility aircraft

Abstract

Urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft operate near the planetary surface, exposing them to complex wind conditions in the atmospheric turbulence layer. The interaction of atmospheric turbulence with the aircraft significantly impacts its structure as well as its aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance. This study employs an efficient mid-fidelity aerodynamic method, integrated with the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy and a stochastic full-field inflow turbulence generator to investigate the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of side-by-side UAM aircraft while cruising through turbulent inflow. Under uniform wind conditions, aerodynamic loads exhibit steady variations once the rotor wake reaches a converged state. However, as the severity of turbulence increases, the wake structures become increasingly disrupted and eventually deteriorate significantly. Turbulent inflow leads to increased unsteadiness and blade-vortex interactions (BVI), altering both aerodynamic and acoustic characteristics. Higher turbulence levels result in elevated sound pressure levels and alterations of acoustic patterns. The impact of inflow turbulence on noise emission is less pronounced in the aft region of the UAM aircraft compared to other directions due to the dominant wake structure propagating downward, mitigating the influence of atmospheric turbulence in that region.