Numerical prediction of marine propeller noise in non-uniform inflow

A numerical study on the acoustic radiation of a propeller interacting with non-uniform inflow has been conducted. Real geometry of a marine propeller DTMB 4118 is used in the calculation, and sliding mesh technique is adopted to deal with the rotational motion of the propeller. The performance of the DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) approach at capturing the unsteady forces and moments on the propeller is compared with experiment. Far-field sound radiation is predicted by the formation 1A developed by Farassat, an integral solution of FW-H (Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings) equation in time domain. The sound pressure and directivity patterns of the propeller operating in two specific velocity distributions are discussed.