Abstract
Aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performances of an axial-flow fan unit are improved by modifying its housing structure without changing the fan blade. The target axial-flow fan system is used to lower temperature of a compressor and a condenser in the machine room of a household refrigerator which has relatively high system resistance due to complex layout of structures inside it. First, the performance of the fan system is experimentally characterized by measuring its volume flow rate versus static pressure using a fan performance tester satisfying the AMCA (Air Movement and Control Association) regulation, AMCA 210-07. The detailed structure of flow driven by the fan is numerically investigated using a virtual fan performance tester based on computational fluid dynamics techniques. The prediction result reveals possible loss due to radial and tangential velocity components in the wake flow downstream of the fan. The length of the fan housing is chosen as a design parameter for improving the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performances of the fan unit by reducing the identified radial and tangential velocity components. Three fan units with different housing lengths longer than the original are analyzed using the virtual fan performance tester. The results confirm the improved aerodynamic performance of the proposed three designs. The flow field driven by the proposed fan unit is closely examined to find the causes for the observed performance improvements, which ensures that the radial and tangential velocity components in the wake flow are reduced. Finally, the improved performance of the proposed fan systems is validated by comparing the P-Q and efficiency curves measured using the fan performance tester. The noise emission from the household refrigerator is also found to be lessened when the new fan units are installed.
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Recommended by Editor Yeon June Kang
Seung Heo received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Pusan National University in 2009 and 2011, respectively. He then continued his study as a Ph.D. candidate in Pusan National University. His main research interest is on fan performance and noise.
Cheolung Cheong received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University in 1997, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University, Korea, in 1999 and 2003. He is now a professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. Dr. Cheong’s current research interests include fan broadband noise, wind turbine noise, compressor noise, underwater cavitation noise and computational aeroacoustics.
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Heo, S., Ha, M., Kim, TH. et al. Development of high-performance and low-noise axial-flow fan units in their local operating region. J Mech Sci Technol 29, 3653–3662 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0809-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0809-3