Numerical Simulations of Flow over a Landing Gear with Noise Reduction Devices using the Lattice-Boltzmann Method

Computational methods were used to predict the noise produced from flow around a full-scale, fully-dressed two-wheel main landing gear. Flow simulations were performed using a commercially available code based on the Lattice-Boltzmann Method. Far-field sound predictions were obtained using an acoustic analogy. The aerodynamic and acoustic simulation results for the baseline geometry were verified through comparisons with wind tunnel test results. In both the simulations and the experiments, the dominant noise sources were found to be located along the main strut and piston, downstream of the light and torque arms. Various low-noise landing gear configurations were investigated, each of which aiming to minimize the impingement of upstream components’ wakes on downstream surfaces. Simulation results indicated that the modified torque arm geometry yielded the most significant noise reduction from a single design modification. The predicted benefit of the combination of all noise reduction methods was found to be around 3.4 dB.