A prediction method of operation trend for large axial-flow fan based on vibration-electric information fusion

As the critical equipment,large axial-flow fan(LAF)is used widely in highway tunnels for ventilating.Note that any malfunction of LAF can cause severe consequences for traffic.Specifically,fault deterioration is suppressed tremendously when an abnormal state is detected in the stage of early fault.Thus,the monitoring of the early fault characteristics is very difficult because of the low signal amplitude and system disturbance(or noise).In order to overcome this problem,a novel early fault judgment method to predict the operation trend is proposed in this paper.The vibration-electric information fusion,the support vector machine(SVM)with particle swarm optimization(PSO),and the cross-validation(CV)for predicting LAF operation states are proposed and discussed.Finally,the results of the experimental study verify that the performance of the proposed method is superior to that of the contrast models.

Multi-point airfoil optimization for axial-flow fan

Airfoil is the element of fan blade design. It is strongly anticipated to design a fan of ave- raged high performance over a wide operation range. Multi-point optimization design of airfoil for axial flow fan was proposed over specific operation range. Weighted objective function of airfoil lift-drag ratio was constructed for several operation points around the designing one. Airfoil was defined by parametric B-spline curve of limited shape controlling points. Results show that normal standard airfoils have remained spaces to be optimized under specific operation conditions. Airfoil performance is sensitive to flow′s Reynolds number and cascade solidity. Predicting flow transition along airfoil profile is essential to search for optimized one. Optimized airfoil of wide operation range is possible to obtain with prescribed fitness function. Obtainments of multi-point optimization may be relatively lower at design point, but positive obtainments are achieved at off-design ones. Resulted airfoil is specially suitable for axial flow fans operating frequently at off-design point such as air condition coolers.

Analysis of Tonal Noise Generating Mechanisms in Low-Speed Axial-Flow Fans

The present paper reports a comparison of experimental SPL spectral data related to the tonal noise generated by axial-flow fans.A nine blade rotor has been operated at free discharge conditions and in four geometrical configurations in which different kinds of tonal noise generating mechanisms are present:large-scale inlet turbulent structures,tip-gap flow,turbulent wakes,and rotor-stator interaction.The measurements have been taken in a hemi-anechoic chamber at constant rotational speed and,in order to vary the acoustic source strength,during low angular acceleration,linear speed ramps.In order to avoid erroneous quantitative evaluations if the acoustic propagation effects are not considered,the acoustic response functions of the different test configurations have been computed by means of the spectral decomposition method.Then,the properties of the tonal noise generating mechanisms have been studied.To this aim,the constant-Strouhal number SPL,obtained by means of measurements taken during the speed ramps,have been compared with the propagation function.Finally,the analysis of the phase of the acoustic pressure has allowed to distinguish between random and deterministic tonal noise generating mechanisms and to collect information about the presence of important propagation effects.

Effects of rotor structure on performance of small size axial flow fans

Small size axial flow fans are used as a cooling component for computers,electronic equipment and other electronic components.With the increasing power of electrical equipment,the demand for lower noise and higher ventilation of cooling fan is also increasing.Traditional methods of improving ventilation by raising the fan's rotation speed causes a decrease in efficiency and an increase in noise.In this paper,different structures of fans were simulated,and as a result,the counter-rotating fan can achieve higher pressure,efficiency and facilitate ventilation in a smaller space.Furthermore,some other conclusions are as follows:(1) Higher pressure rise can be obtained by a counter-rotating fan than by the two-stage rotor fan in the same axial length.Meanwhile,the counter-rotating fan has a broader work scope.(2) The main noise type of the counter-rotating fan is rotating noise;the small peak pulse caused by vortex noise mainly due to the eddy current produced by small eddies.(3) When the distance of counter-rotating fans is smaller than 2 times the chord,the greater distance the greater total pressure of the circum-averages and along the axial direction,the total pressure begin to decline until the distance is three times the chord,so there is an optimal distance between rotors.The simulation results are of important significance to the quantitative analysis and optimization design of the counter-rotating fan.

Visualization and Experiment of Tip Vortex Phenomenon in Cooling Fan using Digital Particle Image Velocimetry

The Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) is an efficient method for measuring the internal flow field of a low-speed cooling fan. This paper studied the velocity field by means of PIV technology for a leading edge swept axial-flow fan without casing, and the tip vortex phenomenon was observed. Time-averaged velocity measurements were taken near the pressure surface, the suction surface and the tip of blade, etc. Moreover, the flow characteristics were visualized using numerical techniques. Experimental results showed that this tip vortex existed at the leading edge of the blade. The generating, developing and dissipating evolvement process of the tip vortex from the blade leading edge to downstream were discussed in detail. In addition, by comparing DPIV results and numerical results, a good agreement between them indicated a possibility to predict flow field using CFD tools. The experimental data provided in this paper are reliable for improving the aerodynamic characteristics of the open axial fan.