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.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE AND EXIT FLOW FIELD OF LOW PRESSURE AXIAL FLOW FAN WITH CIRCUMFERENTIAL SKEWED BLADES

In this article, the low pressure axial flow fan with circumferential skewed rotor blade, including the radial blade, the forward-skewed blade and the backward-skewed blade, was studied with experimental methods. The aerodynamic performance of the rotors was measured. At the design condition at outlet of the rotors, detailed flow measurements were performed with a five-hole probe and a Hot-Wire Anemometer （HWA）. The results show that compared to the radial rotor, the forward-skewed rotor demonstrates a wider Stable Operating Range （SOR）, is able to reduce the total pressure loss in the hub region and make main loading of blade accumulating in the mid-span region. There is a wider wake in the upper mid-span region of the forward-skewed rotor. Compared to the radial rotor, in the backward-skewed rotor there is higher total pressure loss near the hub and shroud regions and lower loss in the mid-span region. In addition, the velocity deficit in the wake is lower at mid-span of the backward-skewed rotor than the forward-skewed rotor.

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERI-MENTAL STUDY ON TIP LEAKAGE VORTEX OF CIRCUMFERENTIAL SKEWED BLADES

In the steady operation condition, the experiments and the numerical simulations are used to investigate the tip leakage flow fields in three low pressure axial flow fans with three kinds of circumferential skewed rotors, including the radial rotor, the forward-skewed rotor and the back- ward-skewed rotor. The three-dimensional viscous flow fields of the fans are computed. In the experiments, the two-dimensional plane particle image velocimetry （PIV） system is used to measure the flow fields in the tip region of three different pitchwise positions of each fan. The results show that the computational results agree well with the experimental data in the flow field of the tip region of each fan. The tip leakage vortex core segments based on method of the eigenmode analysis can display clearly some characteristics of the tip leakage vortex, such as the origination position of tip leak- age vortex, the development of vortex strength, and so on. Compared with the radial rotor, the other two skewed rotors can increase the stability of the tip leakage vortex and the increment in the forward-skewed rotor is more than that in the backward-skewed one. Among the tip leakage vortices of the three rotors, the velocity of the vortex in the forward-skewed rotor is th6 highest in the circumferential direction and the lowest in the axial direction.

Influence of Coanda surface curvature on performance of bladeless fan

The unique Coanda surface has a great influence on the performance of bladeless fan.However,there is few studies to explain the relationship between the performance and Coanda surface curvature at present.In order to gain a qualitative understanding of effect of the curvature on the performance of bladeless fan,numerical studies are performed in this paper.Firstly,three-dimensional numerical simulation is done by Fluent software.For the purpose to obtain detailed information of the flow field around the Coanda surface,two-dimensional numerical simulation is also conducted.Five types of Coanda surfaces with different curvature are designed,and the flow behaviour and the performance of them are analyzed and compared with those of the prototype.The analysis indicates that the curvature of Coanda surface is strongly related to blowing performance,It is found that there is an optimal curvature of Coanda surfaces among the studied models.Simulation result shows that there is a special low pressure region.With increasing curvature in Y direction,several low pressure regions gradually enlarged,then begin to merge slowly,and finally form a large area of low pressure.From the analyses of streamlines and velocity angle,it is found that the magnitude of the curvature affects the flow direction and reasonable curvature can induce fluid flow close to the wall.Thus,it leads to that the curvature of the streamlines is consistent with that of Coanda surface.Meanwhile,it also causes the fluid movement towards the most suitable direction.This study will provide useful information to performance improvements of bladeless fans.