Results of scale model acoustic tests using supersonic cold jets for H3 launch vehicle

Acoustic test using Mach 2 cold jet was conducted for the H3 launch vehicle currently being developed in Japan. Effect of the clustered engines and the newly built movable launcher on the lift-off acoustics was investigated. The overall acoustic level taken by the farfield microphones did not show proportional increase in the number of engines, especially for the angles corresponding to the Mach wave radiation from the free jets. The observation here disagrees with the empirical prediction model. The computational fluid dynamics was also employed to analyze the acoustic mechanism of clustered engines.