Aeroacoustic Study of a Generic Nose Landing Gear Focusing on the Torque Link

Far-field aeroacoustic measurements were conducted on a 30%-scale generic nose landing gear model, using a phased microphone array. Nine model configurations were tested, created from different combinations of strut, wheels (with or without cavities), and torque link. For configurations equipped with the torque link, its placement upstream or downstream of the strut and different separation angles between its arms ([Formula: see text], 119, and 133 deg) were considered. Both spectral results and noise localization maps were examined. At [Formula: see text], the torque link upstream of the strut produced higher noise levels than the downstream one. At [Formula: see text], this trend reversed, making the upstream torque link case the quietest in both the sideline and flyover directions. Although this low-noise advantage of the upstream torque link at [Formula: see text] disappears when wheels have no cavities, with the inclusion of inner and outer cavities on wheels, the upstream torque link regains its noise advantage, suggesting favorable interactions between the wheel cavities and the upstream torque link. Given that real-life landing gears have [Formula: see text] around 133 deg and wheels with cavities, these findings suggest that positioning the torque link upstream in aircraft has the potential to reduce noise.