Design parameters improvement of helicopter ducted tail rotor

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reduce the acoustic noise of helicopter ducted tail rotor. Design/methodology/approach: To predict the noise accurately, a thin-body boundary element method (BEM)/Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings method is developed in this paper. It is a hybrid method combining the BEM with computational aeroacoustics and can be used efficiently to predict the propagation of sound wave in the duct. Findings: Compared with the experimental results, the proposed method of acoustic noise is rather desirable. Practical implications: Then several geometry parameters are modified to investigate the noise reduction of ducted tail rotor by using the numerical prediction method. Originality/value: The aerodynamic and acoustic performance of different modification tasks is discussed. These results demonstrate the validity of design parameters modification of ducted tail rotor in acoustic noise reduction.