Noise Characteristics of Automobile Cooling Fan Based on Circumferential Mode Analysis

Author(s):  
Pengfei Chai ◽  
Zonghan Sun ◽  
Zhiqiang Chang ◽  
Zhigang Peng ◽  
Jie Tian ◽  
...  

Abstract The fan is the main component of the cooling system of an automobile engine. A typical automobile cooling fan consists of a shrouded axial fan, stator vanes, a deflector, and a cover. With recent developments in the automobile industry, the increase in the speed of rotation and blade load of cooling fans has increased the noise generated by them. To reduce it, it is important to analyze the characteristics of this noise. This paper uses an acoustic test to examine the characteristics of flow and noise of automobile cooling fans. The frequency spectrum and far-field radiation of the noise of the fan are first analyzed through far-field measurements, and the influence of the single rotor, tip clearance of the blade, and cover on fan noise is studied. The distribution of the mode spectrum and characteristics of sound propagation of discrete tonal noise are then examined using the circumferential mode test. The influence of the flow structure on fan noise is also studied. The flow characteristics and distribution of the source of noise of the automobile cooling fan are then used to analyze the influence of the structure of the fan on the noise generated by it. The results can help develop designs to reduce the noise of automobile cooling fans.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Chai ◽  
Zonghan Sun ◽  
Zhiqiang Chang ◽  
Zhigang Peng ◽  
Jie Tian ◽  
...  

Abstract The fan is the main component of the cooling system of an automobile engine. A typical automobile cooling fan consists of a shrouded axial fan, stator vanes, a deflector, and a cover. With recent developments in the automobile industry, the increase in the speed of rotation and blade load of cooling fans has increased the noise generated by them. To reduce it, it is important to analyze the characteristics of this noise. This paper uses an acoustic test to examine the characteristics of flow and noise of automobile cooling fans. The frequency spectrum and far-field radiation of the noise of the fan are first analyzed through far-field measurements, and the influence of the single rotor, tip clearance of the blade, and cover on fan noise is studied. The distribution of the mode spectrum and characteristics of sound propagation of discrete tonal noise are then examined using the circumferential mode test. The influence of the flow structure on fan noise is also studied. The flow characteristics and distribution of the source of noise of the automobile cooling fan are then used to analyze the influence of the structure of the fan on the noise generated by it. The results can help develop designs to reduce the noise of automobile cooling fans.


Author(s):  
Zhenyu Wang ◽  
Hui Hu

We report the progress made in our recent study to develop an ultra-quiet axial fan for computer cooling applications. By using a commercially-available cooling fan as the baseline, a number of acoustically tailored modifications are implemented in order to reduce the noise level of the cooling fan, which includes optimizing the rotator blades and guide vanes according to axial fan design theory, adding an intake cone in the front of the hub to guide the airflow into the axial fan smoothly, and reducing the tip clearance to lower the noise generation due to tip vortex structures. A comparison study is conducted to measure the sound pressure level (SPL) of the reformed axial fan in an anechoic chamber, in comparison to that of the prototype fan, in order to assess the effects of the modifications on the fan noise reduction. The measurement results of our preliminary study reveal that, at the same flow rate, the SPL of the reformed fan would be up to 5 dB lower than that of the prototype fan. In addition to measuring the sound pressure levels (SPLs) of the fans, a digital particle image velocimetry (PIV) system is also used to conduct detailed flow field measurements to reveal the changes of the flow characteristics and unsteady vortex structures associated with the modifications. Besides conducting “free-run” PIV measurements to determine the ensemble-averaged statistics of the flow quantities such as mean velocity, Reynolds stress, and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) distributions at the exit of the axial fan, “phase-locked” PIV measurements are also performed to elucidate further details about evolution of the unsteady vortex structures in fan exhaust in relation to the position of the rotating fan blades. The detailed flow field measurements are correlated with the SPL measurements in order to elucidate underlying physics associated with the fan noise reduction.


Author(s):  
Zhenyu Wang ◽  
Hui Hu

We report the progress made in our recent study to develop an ultra-quiet axial fan for computer cooling applications. By using a commercially-available cooling fan as the baseline, a number of acoustically tailored modifications are implemented in order to reduce the noise level of the cooling fan, which includes optimizing the rotating blades and guide vanes according to axial fan design theory, adding an intake cone in the front of the hub to guide the airflow into the axial fan smoothly, and reducing the tip clearance to lower the noise generation due to tip vortex structures. A comparison study is conducted to measure the sound pressure level (SPL) of the new-design axial fan in an anechoic chamber, in comparison to that of the baseline fan, in order to assess the effects of the modifications on the fan noise reduction. The measurement results of our study reveal that, at the same flow rate, the SPL of the new-design fan would be up to 5 dB lower than that of the baseline fan. In addition to measuring the sound pressure levels (SPLs) of the fans, a digital particle image velocimetry (PIV) system is also used to conduct detailed flow field measurements to reveal the changes of the flow characteristics and unsteady vortex structures associated with the modifications. “Time-averaged” PIV measurements illustrate the ensemble-averaged statistics of the flow quantities such as mean velocity, Reynolds stress, and turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) distributions at the flow field around the axial fan. Moreover, a numerical study of the new-design fan is also performed and which is aimed to investigate the flow details inside of the fan. The validation comparison between numerical results and experimental results agree very well and that gives the strong confidence for the computational flow field in the fan can be regarded as useful complement for experiments. The detailed flow field measurements are correlated with the SPL measurements in order to elucidate underlying physics associated with the fan noise reduction.


1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. SCHWALLER ◽  
A. PARRY ◽  
M. OLIVER ◽  
A. ECCLESTON

Author(s):  
Tao Zhu ◽  
Thomas H. Carolus

The aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of axial fans are strongly affected by the unavoidable tip clearance. Two identical fan impellers but with different tip clearance ratio were investigated. Unsteady wall pressure fluctuations in the tip region of the rotating blades and on the interior wall of the duct type shroud and the overall sound radiated were analysed by an unsteady numerical Scale-Adaptive Simulation (SAS) and unsteady surface pressure measurements in both, the stationary and rotating system. Based on SAS-predicted pressure fluctuations on the blade surfaces the acoustic analogy according to Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FWH) was employed to calculate the sound pressure in the far field. In general, experimentally and numerically determined unsteady flow were found to be a tendentially good agreement. The spatial and temporal structure of the tip vortex system and the resulting unsteady pressure distribution on the surfaces in the vicinity of the blade tips was revealed in good detail. The vortices’ strength and trajectories as well as the unsteadiness are controlled by the size of the tip clearance and the operating point: As tip clearance is increased blade/vortex interaction becomes more prevalent and with it the unsteady surface pressure and eventually the sound radiated into the far field. The broadband tip clearance noise was acceptably predicted from the simulation results, while the prediction at discrete frequency should still be improved in the further work.


Author(s):  
Kai Borgeest ◽  
Peter Josef Schneider

In order to compare different control strategies, the cooling system of a mobile machine has been chosen. The example control problem was to run the cooling system for m control variables and with n=m correction variables in a way to minimize power in order to save energy and to reduce fan noise while maintaining sufficient cooling. The plant is nonlinear. Three different kinds of controllers have been investigated in several variations (i.e. fuzzy control, PI[D], and Model Predictive Control [MPC]). Fourteen different criteria have been used in this chapter for evaluation. In many respects, a linear controller with fuzzy prediction proved best, in particular the prediction model can handle nonlinear properties of the plant.


Author(s):  
Sascha Karstadt ◽  
Michael Hess ◽  
Berthold Matyschok ◽  
Peter F. Pelz

In addition to developing fans as aerodynamically efficient as possible, acoustic optimization gains more and more importance for the purpose of reducing fan noise exposure. In order to combine good aerodynamic properties with a silent fan, this experimental research investigates the acoustic and aerodynamic characteristics of an axial fan. In this case, a fan with skewed blades is tested in view of its aerodynamic efficiency and noise exposure in dependence on its tip clearance and stagger angle. For this purpose, six different stagger angles and five tip clearance gaps per angle were measured in a fan test rig (according to ISO 5136). Interpretation of the recorded data shows a clear trend toward higher aerodynamic efficiency and less noise with a down-sizing of the tip clearance gap. As the cost of manufacture rises with the decrease of the tip clearance, the efficiency of these measures can be calculated with the results of this study under consideration of aerodynamic and acoustic aspects.


AIAA Journal ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 1095-1098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeonghan Lee ◽  
Kyungseok Cho ◽  
Soogab Lee

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 917
Author(s):  
Ickjin Son ◽  
Grace Firsta Lukman ◽  
Mazahir Hussain Shah ◽  
Kwang-Il Jeong ◽  
Jin-Woo Ahn

Switched reluctance motors (SRMs) are simple in structure, easy to manufacture, magnet-less, brushless, and highly robust compared to other AC motors which makes them a good option for applications that operate in harsh environment. However, the motor has non-linear magnetic characteristics, and it comes with various pole-phase combinations and circuit topologies that causes many difficulties in deciding on which type to choose. In this paper, the viability of SRM as a low-cost, rugged machine for vehicle radiator cooling fan is considered. First, necessary design considerations are presented, then three commonly use types of SRM are analyzed: A 3-phase 6/4, 3-phase 12/8, and a 4-phase 8/6 to find their static and dynamic characteristics so the most suitable type can be selected. Simulation results show that the 8/6 SRM produces the highest efficiency with less phase current which reduces the converter burden. However, with asymmetric half bridge converter, eight power switches are required for 8/6 SRM and thus put a burden on the overall drive cost. As a solution, the Miller converter with only six switches for four phase SRM. To verify the proposed idea, the 8/6 SRM was manufactured and tested. The results show that Miller converter can be used for the proposed SRM with slightly reduced efficiency at 80.4%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (6) ◽  
pp. 236-256
Author(s):  
Peixun Yu ◽  
Junqiang Bai ◽  
Xiao Han

A multidisciplinary optimization design to simultaneously enhance the aeroacoustic and aerodynamic performance of an cooling fan is performed. The flow analysis of the cooling fan is conducted by solving three dimensional steady-state RANS equations with shear-stress transport turbulence model. Based on the results of the steady flow, aeroacoustic analysis is performed by using the Hanson and Brooks model. A multi-objective optimization is performed to simultaneously improve the efficiency and reduce the sound pressure level through an improved non-dominated sorting gentic algorithm. A Kriging surrogate model is used to approximate the function value while reducing computational cost. Series of optimum designs on the pareto front yielded increases in efficiency and decreases in the sound pressure level compared to the reference design. Through numerical analysis and experimental test, the aerodynamic efficiency is increased by 5% and the total sound pressure level is reduced by 4dB without loss of air volume for the selected optimized cooling fan. The thining of rotor boundary layer and inward load shift are the main factors to improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce noise of the cooling fan.


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