This paper reviews the application of Rapid Distortion Theory (RDT) on transversely shear mean flows to the prediction of sound generated from solid surfaces imbedded in turbulent shear flows. This phenomenon is relevant to the so-called installation noise problem which has received considerable attention in recent years. A few representative results from applications that have appeared in the literature are also presented. This article is part of the theme issue 'Frontiers of aeroacoustics research: theory, computation and experiment'.
Keywords: aeroacoustics; installation effects; rapid distortion theory.