The main focus of this work is on the geometrical modifications that can be applied to the fan wheel and the volute tongue of a radial fan to reduce the tonal noise. The experimental measurements are performed by using the in-duct method in accordance with ISO 5136. In addition to the experimental measurements, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and CAA (Computational Aeroacoustics) simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of different modifications on the noise and performance of the fan. It is shown that by modifying the blade outlet angle, the tonal noise of the fan can be reduced without affecting the performance of the fan. Moreover, it is indicated that increasing the number of blades leads to a significant reduction in the tonal noise and also an improvement in the performance. However, this trend is only valid up to a certain number of blades, and a further increment might reduce the aerodynamic performance of the fan. Besides modifying the impeller geometry, new volute tongues are designed and manufactured. It is demonstrated that the shape of the volute tongue plays an important role in the tonal noise generation of the fan. It is possible to reduce the tonal noise by using stepped tongues which produce phase-shift effects that lead to an effective local cancellation of the noise.
