Effect of Pre-Swirling Flow on Performance and Flow Fields in Semi-Opened Axial Fan

In this study, we tried to improve the performance by giving a pre-swirling flow to the radial inflow that occurred in the semi-opened axial fan. In addition, the flow fields of rotor outlet were clarified experimentally, and the effect of pre-swirling flow was considered. The experiment was carried out using a performance test wind tunnel with a square cross section of 880 mm. Three types of casings were prepared, in which the blade tip protruded 0%, 20%, and 40% of the meridional chord length. They were called R25, R15, and R05, respectively, in the casing bellmouth model code. Guide blades for generating a pre-swirling flow were installed on the vertical wall surface of the casing. In addition, a vertical wall was installed 60% upstream of the meridional chord length as an obstacle to prevent axial inflow. The velocity fields of the rotor outlet were measured using a hot-wire anemometer. From the results, the pre-swirling flow did not significantly affect the fan performance. When there was no obstacles wall upstream, there was a partial increase in efficiency, but the difference was not so large. When there was an obstacle wall upstream, the efficiency increased overall in the case of R15, but in the case of R05, the efficiency increased only in the low flow rate region, and conversely decreased in the high flow rate region. By observing the blade outlet flow fields when the performance was improved, it was confirmed that the influence of the tip leakage vortex was weakened.

Effect of Tip-Blade Cutting on the Performance of Large Scale Axial Fan

The effect of tip-blade cutting on the performance of a large scale axial fan was investigated using computational fluid dynamics(CFD)methods.Experiments verified the numerical simulations.The original fan was compared with the one with tip-cutting in terms of dimensionless characteristic and aerodynamic performance in tip region under the conditions of the maximum efficiency point and near-stall point.The results showed that double leakage flow occurred in tip clearance at maximum efficiency point and spillage of leakage flow from leading edge occurred in tip-blade region at near-stall point for the both two fans;and that tip-cutting with 6% of blade height could reduce the intensity of tip-leakage vortex and increase flow capacity in tip blade region,and hold the stall margin almost the same as the original fan.The maximum efficiency of the fan with tip-cutting was improved by1%,and the ability of total pressure rising was obviously greater than the original fan.

Optimum design of camber line shape in a transonic axial fan cascade with splitter

Genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks method were adopted to optimize the camber line shape of splitter cascade in a transonic axial fan. For a certain type of transonic axial fan, the isentropie efficiency was improved by 0. 6% with the modification of splitter cascade rotor. Numerical simulation studies show that the curvature of the optimum splitter cascade with larger suction side is increased, the static pressure gradient is reduced, the process of flow expansion on suction surface is controlled and the separation near hub is eliminated by changing the shock wave structure. The efficiency near hub is improved by 1.3%.

Effects of circumferential configuration concerning splitter blade on the aerodynamic performance in a transonic axial fan

For a certain type of transonic axial fan, the flow field of a fan rotor with splitter blade was computed by numerical simulation, and the shape of the rotor was modified. The effects of different circumferential distributions concerning the splitter cascades upon the aerodynamic performance were investigated. The studies show that the optimum splitter cascade is not very close to the suction side of main blade. The load between the main blade and the splitter blade can be soundly distributed in terms of the adjustment of circumferential position of the splitter blade. The best aerodynamic performance can be successfully obtained according to the optimum shape of the expanding fluid channel reasonably formed by the splitter blade and the main blade.

Study on Performance Evaluation of Small Axial Fan

In order to establish the design methodology of a small axial fan, the axial fan with impeller diameter of 36 mm was designed, manufactured and tested. Especially, in order to investigate the influence of difference in blade cord length and blade thickness on performance characteristics, the performance characteristics obtained by the designed axial fans with difference blade shapes were examined. Also, by using CFD, the same flow field as the experiment was visualized. It was found that the lift of the blade was increased and the performance was improved in high flow rate region by thinning of the blade thickness and by extending the blade chord length.

Unsteady Flow Condition between Front and Rear Rotor of Contra-Rotating Small Sized Axial Fan

Contra-rotating small-sized axial fans are used as cooling fans for electric equipment. In the case of the contra-rotating rotors, the blade row distance between front and rear rotors is a key parameter for the performance and stable operation. The wake and potential interference occur between the front and rear rotors and leakage flow from the front rotor tip influences on the flow condition of the rear rotor near the shroud when the blade row distance is small. Therefore, it is important to clarify the flow condition between front and rear rotors. The fan static pressure curves were obtained by the experimental apparatus and the numerical analysis was also conducted to investigate the internal flow between front and rear rotors. The leakage flow from the front rotor tip reaches the leading edge of the rear rotor when the blade row distance is small as L = 10 mm and the pressure fluctuations at the leading edge of the rear rotor tip becomes larger than those at other radial positions. In the present paper, the vorticity contour between front and rear rotors is shown and pressure fluctuations related to the leakage flow from the front rotor is investigated using the numerical analysis result. Then, suitable blade row distance for the contra-rotating small sized axial fan is discussed based on the internal flow condition.

Volume Flow Rate Optimization of an Axial Fan by Artificial Neural Network and Genetic Algorithm

The present study is to improve the volume flow rate of an axial fan through optimizing the blade shape under the demand for a specified static pressure. Fourteen design variables were selected to control the blade camber lines and the stacking line and the values of these variables were determined by using the experimental design method of the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) to generate forty designs. The optimization was carried out using the genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with the artificial neural network (ANN) to increase the volume flow rate of the axial fan under the constraint of a specific motor power and a required static pressure. Differences in the aerodynamic performance and the flow characteristics between the original model and the optimal model were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the volume flow rate of the optimal model increased by 33%. The chord length, the installation angle and the cascade turning angle changed considerably. The forward leaned blade was beneficial to improve the volume flow rate of the axial fan. The axial velocity distribution and the static pressure distribution on the blade surface were improved after optimization.

Internal Flow Condition between Front and Rear Rotor of Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Axial Fan at Low Flow Rate

Contra-rotating small-sized fans are used as cooling fans for electric equipment. The internal flow condition between the front and rear rotors of the contra-rotating small-sized fan is not known well especially at the low flow rate. Furthermore, the blade row distance between the front and rear rotors is an important parameter for the contra-rotating small-sized fan and its influence on the internal flow condition is not clarified at the low flow rate. Therefore, the internal flow condition of the contra-rotating small-sized fan at the low flow rate is investigated by the numerical analysis in this research. The numerical analysis results are validated by comparing the fan static pressure curves of the numerical results to the experimental results. The internal flow condition at the low flow rate is clarified using the numerical models of the different blade row distance L = 10 mm and 30 mm. In the present paper, pressure fluctuations phase locked each front and rear rotor’s rotation are shown and the influences of the wake and the potential interference are discussed by the unsteady numerical analysis results at the low flow rate.

Effect of Hub-Ratio on Performance of Asymmetric Dual-Rotor Small Axial Fan

Currently, domestic and abroad scholars put more attention on contra-rotating dual-rotor axial fan. But there is less scholars study on asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan, which is one of the contra-rotating dual-rotor axial fans. Like axial fan, many factors have influence on the performance of the asymmetric dual-rotor small axial flow fan, such as the wheel hub ratio, blade shape, blade number, stagger angle and the tip clearance. Because wheel hub ratio has great impact on the performance of the fan, we choose the size of wheel hub ratio as a variable factor to study the model change. There is a different wheel hub ratio between front stage impeller and rear stage of asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan, so it is very beneficial to select the greater wind area that the fan area of external diameter minuses the area occupied by the blades and the hub as front stage impeller. In this paper, the hub-ratio of front stage impeller is 0.72, and that of rear stage is 0.72, 0.67 and 0.62 respectively along with the front stage impeller. Three kinds of models with different hub ratio of rear stage are simulated using the CFD software and the static characteristics are obtained. Based on the experimental test results, the internal flow field of the asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan is analyzed in detail, the impact trends of different hub-ratio on the performance of asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan are obtained and the argument of structure optimization for dual-rotor small axial fan is provided.

MEASUREMENT AND VISUALIZATION OF FLOW FIELD IN AXIAL FLOW FAN

An experimental investigation associated with the basic fluid mechanics in an axial flow fan is described in this paper. The flow field in the tip region has been studied by laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) and flow visualization technique. Some experimental data and images are interpreted to understand the complex interactions between the annulus wall boundary layer and the leakage flow. It shows that the vortex inside the blade passage is produced by the separation of annulus wall boundary layer rather than the rolling up of leakage flow.

INTERNAL FLOW MECHANISM AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH OF LOW PRESSURE AXIAL FAN WITH FORWARD-SKEWED BLADES

This article presents the flow mechanism analysis and experimental study of a forward-skewed impeller and a radial impeller in low pressure axial fan. The forward-skewed blade was obtained by the optimization design of the radial blade and CFD technique. Measurement of the two blades was carried out in aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance. Compared to the radial blade, the forward-skewed blade has demonstrated the improvements in efficiency, total pressure ratio, Stable Operating Range （SOR） and less aerodynamic noise. Detailed flow measurement and computation were performed for outlet flow field for investigating the responsible flow mechanisms. The results show the forward-skewed blade can cause a spanwise redistribution of flow toward the blade mid-span and reduce tip loading. This results in reduced significantly total pressure loss near hub and shroud endwall region, despite the slight increase of total pressure loss at mid-span.

Performance and Flow Condition of Small-Sized Axial Fan and Adoption of Contra-Rotating Rotors

Small-sized axial fans are used as air coolers for electric equipments.But there is a strong demand for higher power of fans according to the increase of quantity of heat from electric devices.Therefore,higher rotational speed design is conducted,although it causes the deterioration of the efficiency and the increase of noise.Then the adoption of contra-rotating rotors for the small-sized axial fan is proposed for the improvement of the performance.In the present paper,the performance and the internal flow condition of the small-sized axial fan are shown as a first step of the research for the contra-rotating small-sized axial fan and the important points to apply contra-rotating rotors to the small-sized axial fan are discussed.Furthermore,the numerical flow analysis is conducted to investigate the performance of the contra-rotating small-sized axial fan and internal flow conditions and pressure distributions are clarified and the effect of contra-rotating rotors is considered.

Effects of a Kind of Non-smooth Blade on the Performance of an Axial Fan

This paper presents an experimental investigation of effects of a kind of streamwise-grooved blade on the performance of an axial-flow fan. The flow field at 25% chord downstream from the trailing edge at hub was measured using a 5-hole pressure probe at different mass-flow conditions. The fan performance of the groove blades was compared with that of the smooth blades. The measurement results indicate that： （ 1 ） the non-smooth blades increase mass flow of the fan at the same throttle conditions except a near stall condition; （2） the non-smooth blades reduce the relative total pressure loss in the rotor passage and increase the fan＇s total pressure rise at the test mass-flow conditions except the near stall condition; （3） Negative benefits are obtained at a near stall condition when the smooth blades are replaced by the non-smooth ones. The fan mass flow decreases 0.9% while the total-pressure rise decreases 2.4% at the near stall condition.

Unsteady Flow Condition of Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Axial Fan

Small-sized axial fans are used as air cooler for electric equipments.But there is a strong demand for higher power of fans according to the increase of quantity of heat from electric devices.Therefore,higher rotational speed design is conducted,although,it causes the deterioration of efficiency and the increase of noise.Then,the adoption of contra-rotating rotors for the small-sized axial fan is proposed for the improvement of performance.In the case of contra-rotating rotors,it is necessary to design the rotor considering the unsteady flow condition of each front and rear rotor.In the present paper,the fan performance of the contra-rotating small-sized axial fan with 100mm diameter at a designed and a partial flow rates is shown,and the unsteady flow conditions at the inlet and the outlet of each front and rear rotor are clarified with unsteady numerical results.Furthermore,the relation between the performance and the unsteady flow condition of the contra-rotating small-sized axial fan is discussed and the methods to improve the performance are considered.

Effects of a Kind of Non-smooth Blade on the Unsteady Flow Field at the Exit of an Axial Fan

An experimental investigation of effects of a kind of streamwise-grooved blade on the unsteady flow field at an exit of an axial-flow fan was performed. The flow field at 25% chord downstream from the trailing edge at hub was measured using a fast-response five-hole pressure probe at different mass-flow conditions. The unsteady flow of the grooved blades was compared with that of the smooth blades. The measurement results indicate that： （1） the grooved blades restrain the velocity fluctuation and the pressure fluctuation by modulating the blade boundary layers, which contributes to the flow loss reduction in the hub region and in the rotor wake region at the design condition; （2） the stream-wise grooves play an important role in restraining the radial migration in the blade boundary layer and abating the tip flow mixing, which contributes to the flow loss reduction in the tip region at the design condition; （3） at the near stall condition, the grooved surface can not reduce the flow loss, even increase the loss nearby when the separation happens in the blade boundary layer.

Experimental study on performance of contra-rotating axial flow fan

Contra-rotating axial flow fan is a kind of the vital equipment in coal mines. Their work conditions directly affect the safety of staff and production. In the paper, the performance of the contra-rotating axial flow fan is experi- mentally investigated. The study is focused on the fan performance, the shaft power and the match between the motor and fan efficiency at different blade angles. The results show that the blade angle 43°/26° has the best aerodynamic perfor- mance. The first engine has a greater impact on the fan than the second one. The blade angle with the best aerodynamic performance does not necessarily correspond to the one with the best match between the motor and fan efficiency. The blade angle 43°/24° is the best choice for the operation of the fan in the present study.

Numerical Simulation of Axial Inflow Characteristics and Aerodynamic Noise in a Large-Scale Adjustable-Blade Fan

Numerical simulation are conducted to explore the characteristics of the axial inflow and related aerodynamic noise for a large-scale adjustable fan with the installation angle changing from−12°to 12°.In such a range the maximum static(gauge)pressure at the inlet changes from−2280 Pa to 382 Pa,and the minimum static pressure decreases from−3389 Pa to−8000 Pa.As for the axial intermediate flow surface,one low pressure zone is located at the junction of the suction surface and the hub,another is located at the suction surface close to the casing position.At the outlet boundary,the low pressure is negative and decreases from−1716 Pa to−4589 Pa.The sound pressure level of the inlet and outlet noise tends to increase monotonously by 11.6 dB and 7.3 dB,respectively.The acoustic energy of discrete noise is always higher than that of broadband noise regardless of whether the inlet or outlet flow surfaces are considered.The acoustic energy ratio of discrete noise at the inlet tends to increase from 0.78 to 0.93,while at the outlet it first decreases from 0.79 to 0.73 and then increases to 0.84.

Influence of Tip End-plate on Noise of Small Axial Fan

In this work, tip end-plate is used to improve the noise performance of small axial fans. Both numerical simulations and experimental methods were adopted to study the fluid flow and noise level of axial fans. Four modified models and the prototype are simulated. Influences of tip end-plate on static characteristics, internal flow field and noise of small axial fans are analyzed. The results show that on basis of the prototype, the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length achieved best noise performance. The overall sound pressure level of the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length is 2.4 dB less than that of the prototype at the monitoring point in specified far field. It is found that the mechanism of noise reduction is due to the decrease of vorticity variation on the surface of blades caused by the tip end-plate. Compared with the prototype, the static pressure of the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length at design flow rate decreases by 2 Pa and the efficiency decreases by 0.8%. It is concluded that the method of adding tip end-plate to impeller blades has a positive influence on reducing noise, but it may diminish the static characteristics of small axial fan to some extent. © 2017, Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF TIP CLEARANCE FLOW FOR AN AXIAL FLOW FAN ROTOR

The flow field in the tip region of an axial ventilation fan is investigated with a particle image velocimeter （PIV） system at the design condition. Flow fields with three different tip clearances are surveyed on three different circumferential planes, respectively. The phase-locked average method is used to investigate the generation and the development of a tip leakage vortex. The result from PIV system is compared with that from a particle dynamics anemometer（PDA） system. Both data are in good agreement and the structure of the tip leakage vortex for the rotor is illustrated. The characteristic of a leakage vortex is described in both velocity vectors and vortical contours. The unsteadiness of the leakage vortex and the position of the vortex are surveyed in detail, which interprets the discrepancy between the numerical simulation and PDA experimental results to a certain extent. The center loci of tip leakage vortex at different times and the mean center loci of the leakage vortex are displayed particularly. Finally, the trajectories of the tip leakage vortex by the experimental measurement are compared with predictions from the existing models for high speed and high-pressure compressors and turbines when appropriately interpreted. A good agreement is obtained.

Off-Design Performance Analysis of Axial Flow Fan in Helicopter

A theoretical calculation method of off-design performance is developed for an axial flow fan of oil cooling system in helicopter,including calculation of aerodynamic parameters and performance parameters.When calculating inlet shock loss,the shock loss coefficient is obtained by comparing results of theoretical calculation,experimental and numerical calculation.The theoretical results and numerical results show that all air velocity components increase from hub to shroud in main flow area at rated condition.Tip leakage vortex moves downstream as flow rate increases.When flow rate decreases,Re decreases,and boundary layer thickness from hub to shroud area all increases gradually.Tip leakage vortex moves upstream,and secondary loss increases.Low speed area in the passage is widened along with high speed area moving to hub area,influenced by boundary layer separation.Consequently wake area and jet area at fan outlet are both larger than rated condition.Therefore optimization design for off-design performance of the fan is required on aerodynamic parameters influencing fan loss.A reliable method is supplied for estimating altitude performance of lubricating system in helicopter.