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.

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.

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.

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.

Design of Half-Ducted Axial Flow Fan Considering Radial Inflow and Outflow

Half-ducted fan and ducted fan have been designed and numerically analyzed for investigating the radial flow effect on the overall performance and the three dimensional flow field in design. Based on quasi-three dimensional flow theory, the meridional flow was calculated by adopting the radial balance equations, while the calculation of the blade to blade flow was obtained by 2D cascade data with the correction by a potential flow theory. Two types of axial flow fan were designed. One is the full ducted case as if it was in the straight pipe and another is the half-ducted case with the radial inflow and outflow. The previous experimental results of authors were used to decide the inclinations of both the inflow and outflow. And the circular arc blade with equal thickness was adopted. The numerical results indicate that both of the designed fans can reach the specified efficiency and also the efficiency surpasses more than 11%. Furthermore, the static pressure characteristic of half-ducted fan is much better than that of ducted fan. In comparison of the three dimensional internal flow of these two fans, the improvement of the flow angle at inlet and outlet, the distributions of velocity in the flow field and the pressure distributions on the blade surfaces can be achieved more successfully in accordance with the design intension on consideration of flow angle in design. The conclusion that half-ducted design with considering radial inflow and outflow is feasible and valid in comparison with ducted design for axial flow fans has been obtained at the end of the paper.

A Study on the Half-Ducted Axial Flow Fan Designed by a Diagonal Flow Fan Design Method

A study on the half-ducted axial flow fan designed by a diagonal flow fan design method was conducted. The rotor which has NACA65 blades was designed, calculated numerically, manufactured and tested experimentally. As a result of the design and CFD, the meridional streamline and three distributions of the meridional, tangential and radial velocity at inlet and outlet go well as designed values of the half ducted fan. On the other hand, the values of the meridional velocity and the tangential velocity are little smaller than the design values at the hub side of the radial distribution. The improvement of the design is prospected for this point, that is, the approach between the design value and the actual flow is prospected if the tangential velocity is assigned small at hub and is assigned large at the tip so as to accord the actual flow in the vortex design of the rotor blade. Then the designed half-ducted rotor with four NACA65 blades was fabricated by a three-dimensional printer and tested in the wind tunnel in order to validate the half-ducted design method. For the comparison between the design values and the experimental values at the design flow rate coefficient of φ = 0.264, the experimental values of the pressure rise coefficient ψ and the efficiency η are rather small than the design values, while the experimental value of the torque coefficient τ is almost the same as the design value. However, the experimental value of approximately 0.45 of the maximum efficiency is comparably large value considering for the limitation of the situation of half-ducted. For the comparison between the experimental values and the CFD values at φ = 0.264, the CFD values are almost the same values as the experimental values for all the values of ψ, τ and η. In addition, the tendencies of the CFD values when the flow rate coefficient changes are almost similar as the experimental tendencies, though the flow rate coefficient for the CFD values when ψ or η takes the peak value shifts toward larger flow rate. For the case at rotor outlet at φ = 0.264, two values of the meridional velocity and the tangential velocity are larger than the design values at the tip side of the radial distribution.

Numerical Study on Internal Flow of Small Axial Flow Fan with Splitter Blades

The splitter blades are widely used in axial compressors and play an active role in the improvement of the overall performance of compressors. However, little research on the application of splitter blades to small axial flow fans is conducted. This paper designs a splitter blade small axial flow fan (model B) with a small axial flow fan as the prototype fan (model A) by adding short blades at the second half part of the passageway among long blades of model A. The steady simulation for the two models was conducted with the help of RNG k-ε turbulence model provided by software Fluent, and static characteristics and internal flow characteristics of the two models were compared and analyzed. Results show that splitter blades can improve the unsteady flow in the small flow rate region and also have a positive role to increase static pressure rise and efficiency in the higher flow rate region. The variation of static pressure gradient on the meridian plane in model B is well-distributed. The static pressure on the blade surface of model B distributes more uniformly. Splitter blades can suppress the secondary flow from pressure side to suction side in the leading edge because the pressure difference between suction side and pressure side in model B is generally lower than that of model A. And it also can restrain the vortex shedding and flow separation, and further it may be able to get the aerodynamic noise lower because static pressure gradient on the blade surface is well-distributed and the vortex shedding is not developed. Therefore, the performance of the fan with splitter blades is better than that of the prototype fan. The findings of this paper can be a basis for the design of high performance small axial flow fans.

Numerical Investigation on Vortex Structure and Aerodynamic Noise Performance of Small Axial Flow Fan

The details of unsteady flow field in small axial fans are described and the relationship between the internal flow char- acteristics and aerodynamic noise of small axial flow fans are explored in the manuscript. Firstly, the broadband noise model is introduced to calculate the distributions of broadband noise sources in fan’s internal flow field, and further fan’s internal flow characteristics affecting broadband noise sources are analyzed by the main distributions of broad- band noise sources. Secondly, the unsteady characteristics of vortex structure in fan’s internal flow field are analyzed by large eddy simulation, and FH-W acoustic model is introduced to calculate aerodynamic noise affected by the unsteady characteristics of vortex structure. Finally, Monitoring points are set up near and far field of small axial fans, at which sound pressure level and spectral characteristics are analyzed. The results show that broadband noise sources are mainly distributed at the tip clearance close to blade trailing edge and one third of chord length of blade trailing edge of small axial fans. The maximum sound power of broadband noise sources at the tip clearance is greater than that at blade trail- ing edge. Sound power level of broadband noise near one third of blade chord length of blade trailing edge is first in- creasing and then decreasing when the distance between radial planes and the center of fan hub increases. Fan’s internal flow characteristics affecting broadband noise sources are the tip leakage vortex and the trailing edge vortex shedding. The tip leakage vortices at the leading edge of blade tip first integrate and then break down, while vortex cores of the trailing edge vortex shedding gradually move from blade hub to one-third of blade chord length and then move to far field within a one-seventh of the rotation cycle. Within a flow passage of fan rotation period, sound pressure level of the monitoring points is relevant to the unsteady feature of vortex structure and the main bands of aerodynamic noise of monitor points are irrelevant to the unsteady feature of vortex structure, relating to the distance between the monitor points and fan. With the above distance increasing, the main bands of aerodynamic noise are widened and moved from the low bands to high bands. All conclusions in the paper will provide significant references for reducing the noise of small axial flow fans.

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.

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.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF PASSIVE CONTROL ON UNSTABLE CHARACTERISTICS IN AXIAL FLOW FAN

Experimental investigation of the passive control on improving the unstable characteristics in axial flow fans is performed. It is confirmed that the air-separator is an excellent equipment for rotating stall suppression. The air-separator can effectively remove low energy fluid near the fan casing. Further, it can improve the low flow rate range performance and increase stall margin of the axial flow fan.

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.

Performance and Internal Flow of Contra-Rotating Small-Sized Cooling Fan

High pressure and large flow rate small-sized cooling fans are used for servers in data centers and there is a strong demand to increase its performance because of increase of quantity of heat from servers. Contra-rotating rotors have been adopted for some of high pressure and large flow rate cooling fans to meet the demand. The performance curve of the contra-rotating small-sized cooling fan with 40 mm square casing was investigated by an experimental apparatus and its internal flow condition was clarified by the numerical analysis. The fan static pressure of the front rotor was extremely low and it increased significantly at the rear rotor. The uniform flow was achieved at the inlet of the rear rotor because of the special shape of the casing between the front and rear rotors. On the other hand, the tip leakage flow was large enough to influence on the main flow of the test cooling fan by the design specification of high pressure with compact rotor diameter.

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.

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.

基于变环量方法的农用轴流风机设计及性能优化

随着农业设施养殖空气过滤装置使用的普及,对高压农用轴流风机的需求也随之提升。为了提高农用轴流风机的气动性能并扩大工作压力范围,利用变环量设计理论,通过风洞试验和数值模拟,对风机叶片进行了重新设计。旨在改变现有叶片轮毂处结构形式,改善农用轴流风机内部流态,达到提升农业轴流风机气动性能和扩大稳定运行范围的目的。该研究以0.91 m农用轴流风机尺寸及目标风量为设计参数,利用变环量方法设计了一款叶片。通过单因素和响应面分析方法,研究了轮毂直径d、安装角α和叶片数n结构参数对风机性能和流场的影响。最佳工艺参数为d=260 mm,α=-0.369°,n=4片。数值模拟结果表明,优化后的轴流风机性能优于设计轴流风机,扩大了高压区稳定运行范围。样机试验测试表明,在高压(120 Pa)下,优化风机相较于原型轴流风机的风量提高了163%(达到18 710.99m3/h),能效比提高了18.9%(达到1.94 m3/(h·W))。该研究证明了变环量在农用轴流风机设计中的可行性,结构参数的优化可进一步降低风机的内部涡流。优化后的轴流风机减少了内部流场的二次流,提高了叶片的做功能力,改善了风机的气动性能,确保轴流风机在农业应用中能够更高效地实现空气流通与调控。

轴流式对旋除尘风机的结构优化与性能研究

为了提高轴流式对旋除尘风机的除尘性能,研究各个参数相互之间的干扰,对其一级叶轮叶片数量、二级叶轮叶片数量、一二级叶轮距离、风筒直径和叶轮至进口距离这5个主要的结构参数进行优化改进和参数匹配。采取正交试验法,通过FLUENT对各结构参数下的风机除尘过程进行模拟仿真试验,分析风机除尘作业时内部流场和进出口速度、压力分布情况,给出综合评价风机除尘性能公式,得到轴流式对旋除尘风机各个参数的影响程度由大到小分别为一级叶轮叶片数量、风筒直径、二级叶轮叶片数量、一二级叶轮距离、叶轮至进口距离,并通过计算分析得到风机结构的最佳参数组合。

喷雾降尘对旋式轴流风机结构参数设计优化

随着中国城市化和工业化的快速发展,粉尘污染问题日益突出。通过对喷雾降尘对旋式轴流风机的结构参数即一级叶轮叶片数、二级叶轮叶片数和导流叶个数进行单因素实验,将风机射程、流量及全压效率等作为评价指标,获得优化方案并仿真验证。研究表明:通过单因素分析,确定各结构参数的优选数值分别为一级叶轮叶片数为9,11,13,二级叶轮叶片数为8,10,12,导流叶个数为4,5,6;通过单因素实验及优化选定,确定优化方案为一二级叶轮叶片数分别为13,12,导流叶个数为6,优化方案较初始模型在射程提高了5.90%,流量提高了69.64%,全压效率提高到70.88%。