Computational aeroacoustics: Its methods and applications

The first part of this thesis deals with the methodology of computational aeroacoustics (CAA). It is shown that although the overall accuracy of a broadband optimized upwind scheme can be improved to some degree, a scheme that is accurate everywhere in a wide range is not possible because increasing the accuracy for large wavenumbers is always at the expense of decreasing that for smaller wavenumbers. Partially for avoiding such a dilemma, optimized multi-component schemes are proposed that are superior to optimized broadband schemes for a sound field with dominant wavenumbers. The Fourier analysis shows that even for broadband waves an optimized central multi-component scheme is at least comparable to an optimized central broadband scheme.; Numerical implementation of the impedance boundary condition in the time domain is a unique and challenging topic in CAA. A benchmark problem is proposed for such implementation and its analytical solution is derived. A CAA code using Tam and Auriault's formulation of broadband time-domain impedance boundary condition accurately reproduces the analytical solution. For the duct environment, the code also accurately predicts the analytical solution of a semi-infinite impedance duct problem and the experimental data from the NASA Langley Flow Impedance Tube Facility.; In the second part of the thesis are applications of the developed CAA codes. A time-domain method is formulated to separate the instability waves from the acoustic waves of the linearized Euler equations in a critical sheared mean flow. Its effectiveness is demonstrated with the CAA code solving a test problem.; Other applications are concerned with optimization using the CAA codes. A noise prediction and optimization system for turbofan engine inlet duct design is developed and applied in three scenarios: liner impedance optimization, duct geometry optimization and liner layout optimization. The results show that the system is effective in finding design variable values in favor of a given objective.; In a different context of optimization, a conceptual design for adaptive noise control is developed. It consists of a liner with controllable impedance and an expert system realized with an optimizer coupled with the CAA code. The expert system is shown to be able to find impedance properties that minimize the difference between the current and the desired acoustic fields.