A low-cost, high-quality hybrid CFD/CAA-methodology is used to predict the acoustic properties of a swirl burner including its complex swirl flow conditions. The numerically determined burner transfer matrix is validated against experimental data. The results demonstrate the capability of this low-cost hybrid approach to predict the acoustic characteristics of combustor components with high geometrical complexity. Most importantly it captures the effect of mean flow quantities on the fluctuating field. This causes the loss of acoustic energy and thus constitutes sources of acoustic damping. In this regard, reliable data can be obtained to characterize complex acoustic components at relatively low computational cost. Therefore, experimental efforts can be reduced which are generally required to provide data e.g. to set up low-order network models.
The insight into the field of fluctuating quantities allows the analysis of linear acoustic damping phenomena. Essentially, in the context of isentropic conditions acoustic energy is lost due to the formation of vorticity disturbances. Source regions for vorticity disturbances are identified at flow separation edges and within the multiple shear layers of the complex swirl flow.
