Tutorial: Aeroacoustic for a Helmholtz Resonator With the

Direct Method (CAA)

Introduction
The purpose of this tutorial is to provide guidelines and recommendations for the basic
setup and solution procedure for a typical aeroacoustic application using computational
aeroacoustic (CAA) method.
In this tutorial you will learn how to:
Model a Helmholtz resonator.
Use the transient k-epsilon model and the large eddy simulation (LES) model for
aeroacoustic application.
Set up, run, and perform postprocessing in FLUENT.

Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the user interface, basic setup and solution
procedures in FLUENT. This tutorial does not cover mechanics of using acoustics model, but
focuses on setting up the problem for Helmholtz-Resonator and solving it. It also assumes
that you have basic understanding of aeroacoustic physics.
If you have not used FLUENT before, it would be helpful to first review FLUENT 6.2 Users
Guide and FLUENT 6.2 Tutorial Guide.

Problem Description
A Helmholtz resonator consists of a cavity in a rigid structure that communicates through a
narrow neck or slit to the outside air. The frequency of resonance is determined by the mass
of air in the neck resonating in conjunction with the compliance of the air in the cavity.
The physics behind the Helmholtz resonator is similar to wind noise applications like sun
roof buffeting.
The Helmholtz-Resonator considered is shown in Figure 1. We assume that out of the two
cavities that are present, smaller one is the resonator. The motion of the fluid takes place
because of the inlet velocity of 27.78 m/s (100 km/h). The flow separates into a highly
unsteady motion from the opening to the small cavity. This unsteady motion leads to a
pressure fluctuations. Two monitor points (Point-1 and Point-2) act as microphone points
to record the generated sound. The acoustic signal is calculated within FLUENT. The flow
exits the domain through the pressure outlet.

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Preparation

1. Copy the files steady.cas.gz and steady.dat.gz into your working directory.

2. Start the 2D double precision (2ddp) version of FLUENT.

Setup and Solution

Step 1: Grid

1. Read the initial case and data files for steady-state (steady.cas.gz and steady.dat.gz).
File Read Case & Data...
Ignore the warning that is displayed in the FLUENT console while reading these files.

2. Keep default scale for the grid.

Grid Scale...

3. Display the grid and observe the locations of the two monitor points, Point-1 and
Point-2 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Graphics Display of the Grid

4. Display and observe the contours of static pressure (Figure 2) and velocity magnitude
(Figure 3) for the initial steady-state solution.
Display Contours..

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6.09e+02
5.29e+02
4.49e+02
3.69e+02
2.89e+02
2.09e+02
1.29e+02
4.87e+01
-3.14e+01
-1.11e+02
-1.91e+02
-2.72e+02
-3.52e+02
-4.32e+02
-5.12e+02
-5.92e+02
-6.72e+02
-7.52e+02
-8.32e+02
-9.12e+02
-9.92e+02

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, rke)

Figure 2: Contours of Static Pressure (Steady State)

3.92e+01
3.72e+01
3.53e+01
3.33e+01
3.14e+01
2.94e+01
2.74e+01
2.55e+01
2.35e+01
2.16e+01
1.96e+01
1.76e+01
1.57e+01
1.37e+01
1.18e+01
9.80e+00
7.84e+00
5.88e+00
3.92e+00
1.96e+00
0.00e+00

Contours of Velocity Magnitude (m/s)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, rke)

Figure 3: Contours of Velocity Magnitude (Steady State)

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Step 2: Models

1. Select unsteady solver.

Define Models Solver...
(a) Under Time, select Unsteady.
(b) Keep default settings for other parameters.
2. Ensure that Non-Equilibrium Wall Functions is selected under Near-Wall Treatment in
the Viscous Model panel.
Define Models Viscous...
Near-Wall Treatment predicts good separation and re-attachment points.

Step 3: Materials
Define Materials...

Ensure that under Properties, ideal-gas is selected in the Density drop-down list for
air in the Materials panel.
Ideal gas law is good in predicting the small changes in the pressure.

Step 4: Solution

1. Monitor the static pressure on point-1 and point-2.

Solve Monitors Surface...
(a) Increase the Surface Monitors to a value of 2.
(b) Enable Plot and Print options for monitor-1 and monitor-2.
(c) Under Every drop-down list, select Time Step.
(d) Click Define... to open Define Surface Monitor panel.

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i. Specify the parameters as shown in the Define Surface Monitor panel.

(e) Similarly, specify the surface monitor parameters for point-2.

2. Start the calculations using the following settings.

Solve Iterate...
(a) Specify a value of 0.001 for Time Step Size (s).
The expected time step size for this problem is of the size of about 1/10th of the
time period. The time period depends on the frequency (f ) which is calculated
using the following equation:
s
c S
f=
2 V [L + 2 . D2h ]

where,
c = Speed of sound
S = Area of the orifice of the resonator
V = Volume of the resonator
L = Length of the connection between the resonator and the free flow area
Dh = Hydraulic diameter of the orifice
For this geometry, the estimated frequency is about120 Hz.
(b) Increase the Number of Time Steps to 220.
(c) Specify a value of 25 for Max Iterations per Time Step.
(d) Click Iterate to start the calculations.
The iterations will take a long time to complete. You can skip this simulation af-
ter few time steps and read the files (transient.cas.gz and transient.dat.gz)
provided with this tutorial. These files contain the data for the flow time of 0.22
seconds.
As seen in Figures 4 and 5, no pressure fluctuations are present at this stage. The
oscillations of the static pressure at both monitor points has reached a constant
value.

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Monitors
monitor-1
40.0000

20.0000

0.0000

-20.0000

-40.0000
Average
of -60.0000
Surface
Vertex -80.0000
Values
(pascal) -100.0000

-120.0000

-140.0000
0.000 0.025 0.050 0.075 0.100 0.125 0.150 0.175 0.200 0.225

Flow Time

Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-1 (Time=2.2000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, rke, unsteady)

Figure 4: Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-1 (Transient)

Monitors
monitor-2
4.0000

3.5000

3.0000

2.5000

2.0000

Average 1.5000
of
1.0000
Surface
Vertex 0.5000
Values
(pascal) 0.0000

-0.5000

-1.0000
0.000 0.025 0.050 0.075 0.100 0.125 0.150 0.175 0.200 0.225

Flow Time

Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-2 (Time=2.2000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, rke, unsteady)

Figure 5: Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-2 (Transient)

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Step 5: Enable Large Eddy Simulation

1. Enter the following TUI command in the FLUENT console:

(rpsetvar les-2d? #t)
2. Enable large eddy simulation effects.
The k-epsilon model cannot resolve very small pressure fluctuations for aeroacoustic
due to its dissipative character. Use Large Eddy Simulation to overcome this problem.
Define Models Viscous...

3. Retain default discretization schemes and under-relaxation factors.

Define Controls Solution...
4. Enable writing of two surface monitors and specify file names as monitor-1.out and
monitor-2.out for monitor plots of point-1 and point-2 respectively.
Solve Monitors Surface...
(a) Enable Write option for monitor-1 and monitor-2.
5. Start the iterations again for another 150 time steps.
Figures 6 and 7 shows that dynamically steady solution is obtained.

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Monitors
monitor-1
200.0000

150.0000

100.0000

50.0000

Average 0.0000
of
Surface -50.0000
Vertex
Values -100.0000
(pascal)
-150.0000

-200.0000
0.220 0.240 0.260 0.280 0.300 0.320 0.340 0.360 0.380

Flow Time

Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-1 (Time=3.7000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 6: Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-1 (LES Model)

Monitors
monitor-2
30.0000

20.0000

10.0000

Average 0.0000
of
Surface
Vertex -10.0000
Values
(pascal)
-20.0000

-30.0000
0.220 0.240 0.260 0.280 0.300 0.320 0.340 0.360 0.380

Flow Time

Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-2 (Time=3.7000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 7: Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-2 (LES Model)

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Step 6: Postprocessing

1. Display the contours of static pressure to visualize the eddies near the orifice (Fig-
ure 8).

3.10e+02
2.90e+02
2.70e+02
2.50e+02
2.30e+02
2.10e+02
1.90e+02
1.70e+02
1.50e+02
1.30e+02
1.09e+02
8.94e+01
6.93e+01
4.92e+01
2.91e+01
9.03e+00
-1.11e+01
-3.12e+01
-5.12e+01
-7.13e+01
-9.14e+01

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal) (Time=3.7000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 8: Contours of Static Pressure (LES Model)

2. Enable the acoustics model.

Define Models Acoustics...

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(a) Under Model, enable Ffowcs-Williams & Hawkings.

To specify a value for the acoustic reference pressure, it is necessary to activate
the acoustic model before starting postprocessing.
(b) Retain default settings for other parameters.
(c) Click OK to accept the settings and close the panel.
A Warning dialog box appears. This is just informative panel and will not affect
the postprocessing results. Click OK to acknowledge the information and close
the panel.

3. Plot the sound pressure level (SPL).

Plot FFT...

(a) Click Load Input File... button and select monitor plot file for Point-1 (monitor-1.out).

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(b) Click Plot/Modify Input Signal...

i. Under Options, select Clip to Range.

ii. Under X Axis Range, specify a value of 0.25 for Min.
iii. Select Hanning in the Window drop-down list.
Hanning shows good performance in frequency resolution. It cuts the time
record more smoothly, eliminating discontinuities that occur when data is
cut off.
iv. Click Apply/Plot and close the Plot/Modify Input Signal panel.
(c) Select Sound Pressure Level (dB) in the Y Axis Function drop-down list.
(d) Select Frequency (Hz) in the X Axis Function drop-down list.
(e) Click Plot FFT to visualize the frequency distribution at Point-1 (Figure 9).
(f) Under Options, select Write FFT to File.
Note: Plot FFT button will change to Write FFT.
(g) Click Write FFT and specify the name of the FFT file in the resulting Select File
panel (point-1-fft.xy).
(h) Similarly write the FFT file for monitor plot for point-2 (Figure 10).
In Figures 9 and 10, the sound pressure level (SPL) peak occurs at 125 Hz which is
close to the analytical estimation. Considering that this tutorial uses a slightly large
time step and a 2D geometry, the result is fine.

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130

120

110

100

90

Sound 80
Pressure
70
Level
(dB) 60
(pascal)
50

40

30
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Frequency (Hz)

Spectral Analysis of Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-1 (in SI units) (Time=3.7000e-01)
FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 9: Spectral Analysis of Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-1

120

110

100

90

80

70
Sound
Pressure 60

Level 50
(dB)
(pascal) 40

30

20

10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Frequency (Hz)

Spectral Analysis of Convergence history of Static Pressure on point-2 (in SI units) (Time=3.7000e-01)
FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 10: Spectral Analysis of Convergence History of Static Pressure on Point-2

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4. Compare the frequency spectra at point-1 and point-2.

Plot File...
(a) Click Add... and select two FFT files (point-1-fft.xy and point-2-fft.xy)
that you have saved in the previous step.
(b) Click Plot to visualize both spectra in the same window (Figure 11).

Sound Pressure Level (dB)

140
Monitor point-1 (in SI units)
Monitor point-2 (in SI units)
120

100

80

Sound
Pressure 60
Level
(dB)
40
(pascal)

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Frequency (Hz)

Monitor point-1 (in SI units) (Time=3.7000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 11: Comparison of Frequency Spectra at Point-1 and Point-2

As the distance between the receiver point and the noise source increases, the
dissipation of sound also increases. This is the reason why the peak value of SPL
at Point-1 is higher than that of Point-2. Therefore, you should use the CAA
method only for near field calculations.
The dissipation of sound also occurs due to the influence of the grid size. This
applies for high frequencies for which the wave lengths are very short. Therefore,
a very coarse mesh is not capable of resolving high frequencies accurately.
In this case, the mesh is coarse in the far-field region because of which the
discrepancy between both spectra is more evident in the high frequency range.
You can see this if you continue the simulation. There are two monitor-files
(monitor-point-1-500.out and monitor-point-2-500.out) provided with this
tutorial that contains data for 500 more time steps. When you plot the FFT and
compare these two files, you will see that for high frequencies, the monitor for
Point-1 generates much less noise than monitor for Point-2 (Figure 12).

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80 Sound Pressure Level (dB)

Monitor point-1 (in SI units)
70
Monitor point-2 (in SI units)
60

50

40

Sound 30
Pressure
20
Level
(dB) 10

-10

-20
200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Frequency (Hz)

Monitor point-1 (in SI units) (Time=8.7000e-01)

FLUENT 6.2 (2d, dp, segregated, LES, unsteady)

Figure 12: Comparison of Frequency Spectra at Point-1 and Point-2 (High Frequency Range
of 200-500 Hz)

Summary
Aeroacoustic simulation of Helmholtz resonator has been performed using k-epsilon model
and Large Eddy Simulation model. The advantage of using LES model has been demon-
strated. You also learned how the sound dissipation occurs in the domain by monitoring
sound pressure level at two different points in the domain. The importance of using CAA
method has also been explained

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