Computation of serrated trailing edge flow and noise using a hybrid zonal RANS-LES

The evaluation of a zonal RANS-LES approach is documented for the prediction of broadband noise generated by the flow past unmodified and serrated airfoil trailing edges at a high Reynolds number. A multi-domain decomposition is considered, where the acoustic sources are resolved with a LES sub-domain embedded in the RANS domain. A stochastic vortex method is used to generate synthetic turbulent perturbations at the RANS-LES interface. The simulations are performed with a general-purpose unstructured control-volume code FLUENT. The far-field noise is calculated using the aeroacoustic analogy of Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings. The results of the simulation are validated through the full-scaled wind turbine acoustic measurements. It is found that the present approach is adequate for predicting noise radiation of serrated trailing edge flow for low noise rotor system.