scholarly journals Noise Source Identification and Noise Directivity Analysis of Bladeless Fans by Combined CFD and CAA Method

Author(s):  
Ang Li ◽  
Jun Chen ◽  
Yangfan Liu ◽  
J. Stuart Bolton ◽  
Patricia Davies

Abstract The bladeless fan is a new concept of fan that does not have visible impellers. It features low noise level, uniform airflow, and improved safety. It has been widely applied in household appliances. Since the customers are particularly sensitive to the noise generated by the fan, the aeroacoustics performance of the fan needs to be accurately characterized in the design stage. In this study, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and computational aeroacoustics (CAA) are applied to investigate the aeroacoustics performance and identify the major noise source of the bladeless fan. A prototype of the bladeless fan, including a wind channel, a base cavity, a rotor and a stator inside the base, is set in a computational domain of 4m × 2m × 2m and the airflow through the fan is simulated. The hybrid mesh is generated, the unstructured mesh in the near field, and the structured at the far field. To compute the flow field, steady RANS simulation (standard k–ε turbulence model) and Large Eddy simulation (Smagorinsky-Lilly model) are carried out. Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) analogy is used to predict the acoustic field. Experiments, including air velocity measurement and sound pressure measurement, are conducted to validate simulation results. Sound pressure level results at the near-field receiver illustrate that the blade passage frequency can be captured by combined CFD and CAA method. Noise source analysis shows that the combination of the rotor and stator contributes most to the noise produced by the bladeless fan. The wind channel is the secondary source. Sound pressure level contours at different distances and different heights are generated to investigate the directivity pattern of the noise generated by the bladeless fan. At the near field, the produced noise at the front and the back of the bladeless fan are louder than those at left and right; at the far field, the noise at the front is much larger than the other three sides. In addition, at the near field, with the increase of the height, two separated hotspots appear over 2,500Hz and the sound pressure level at these two hotspots increases; at the far field, the noise distribution at different heights is similar and the peak near 3,000Hz can be estimated. A possible reason to cause this peak is vortex shedding at the trailing edge of the rotor’s blades. The aeroacoustics analysis is helpful to develop strategies to reduce noise and guide the improved design of the bladeless fan.

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si ◽  
Wang ◽  
Yuan ◽  
Huang ◽  
Lin ◽  
...  

The radiated noise of the centrifugal pump acts as a disturbance in many applications. The radiated noise is closely related to the hydraulic design. The hydraulic parameters in the multistage pump are complex and the flow interaction among different stages is very strong, which in turn causes vibration and noise problems because of the strong hydraulic excitation. Hence, the mechanism of radiated noise and its relationship with hydraulics must be studied clearly. In order to find the regular pattern of the radiated noise at different operational conditions, a hybrid numerical method was proposed to obtain the flow-induced noise source based on Lighthill acoustic analogy theory, which divided the computational process into two parts: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational acoustics (CA). The unsteady flow field was solved by detached eddy simulation using the commercial CFD code. The detailed flow information near the surface of the vane diffusers and the calculated flow-induced noise source was extracted as the hydraulic exciting force, both of which were used as acoustic sources for radiated noise simulation. The acoustic simulation employed the finite element method code to get the sound pressure level (SPL), frequency response, directivity, et al. results. The experiment was performed inside a semi-anechoic room with a closed type pump test rig. The pump performance and acoustic parameters of the multistage pump at different flow rates were gathered to verify the numerical methods. The computational and experimental results both reveal that the radiated noise exhibits a typical dipole characteristic behavior and its directivity varies with the flowrate. In addition, the sound pressure level (SPL) of the radiated noise fluctuates with the increment of the flow rate and the lowest SPL is generated at 0.8Qd, which corresponds to the maximum efficiency working conditions. Furthermore, the experiment detects that the sound pressure level of the radiated noise in the multistage pump rises linearly with the increase of the rotational speed. Finally, an example of a low noise pump design is processed based on the obtained noise characteristics.


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.


Author(s):  
Yutaka Ohta ◽  
Eisuke Outa

A hybrid-type noise control method is applied to fundamental and higher-order blade-passing frequency components, abbreviated to BPF components, radiated from a centrifugal blower. An active cancellation of the BPF noise source is conducted based on a detailed investigation of the noise source distribution by using correlation analysis. The sound pressure level of 2nd- and/or 3rd-order BPF can be reduced by more than 15 decibels and discrete tones almost eliminate from the power spectra of blower-radiated noise. On the other hand, the sound pressure level of the fundamental BPF is difficult to reduce effectively by the active cancellation method because of the large amplitude of the noise source fluctuation. However, the fundamental BPF is largely influenced by the frequency-response characteristics of the noise transmission passage, and is passively reduced by appropriate adjusting of the inlet duct length. Simultaneous reduction of BPF noise, therefore, can be easily made possible by applying passive and active control methods on the fundamental and higher-order BPF noise, respectively. We also discuss the distribution pattern of BPF noise sources by numerical simulation of flow fields around the scroll cutoff.


Author(s):  
Henry A. Scarton ◽  
Kyle R. Wilt

Sound power levels including the distribution into octaves from a large 149 kW (200 horsepower) gyro rock crusher and separate asphalt plant are presented. These NIST-traceable data are needed for estimating sound pressure levels at large distances (such as occurs on adjoining property to a quarry) where atmospheric attenuation may be significant for the higher frequencies. Included are examples of the computed A-weighted sound pressure levels at a distance from the source, including atmospheric attenuation. Substantial low-frequency sound power levels are noted which are greatly reduced in the far-field A-weighted sound pressure level calculations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 52-54 ◽  
pp. 1388-1393
Author(s):  
Jun Tao ◽  
Gang Sun ◽  
Ying Hu ◽  
Miao Zhang

In this article, four observation points are selected in the flow field when predicting aerodynamic noise of a multi-element airfoil for both a coarser grid and a finer grid. Numerical simulation of N-S equations is employed to obtain near-field acoustic information, then far-field acoustic information is obtained through acoustic analogy theory combined with FW-H equation. Computation indicates: the codes calculate the flow field in good agreement with the experimental data; The finer the grid is, the more stable the calculated sound pressure level (SPL) is and the more regularly d(SPL)/d(St) varies.


Author(s):  
Wei Tong

Growing environmental sound concerns and recognition that lengthy unprotected exposure to high industrial noise levels can be detrimental to man have resulted in increased attention to reducing industrial noise. In the United States, it is required by law that all turbomachinery manufacturers must provide acoustic guarantees to their customers. For instance, for majority of generators, the near field sound pressure level is usually guaranteed not to exceed 85 dBA. To accomplish this goal, a number of methods of noise reduction have been developed in power industry. As one of the most practical and cost-effective solutions, acoustic blankets have been designed and tested for using on large size electric generators to efficiently reduce their sound pressure levels. This work has successfully demonstrated the potential of acoustic blankets for improve the passive acoustic transmission characteristics from generators. The acoustic data obtained from a field test have shown that the blankets can reduce the overall sound pressure level from large size generators about 4 to 6 dBA.


Author(s):  
T. Ishii ◽  
H. Oinuma ◽  
K. Nagai ◽  
N. Tanaka ◽  
Y. Oba ◽  
...  

This paper describes an experimental study on a notched nozzle for jet noise reduction. The notch, a tiny tetrahedral dent formed at the edge of a nozzle, is expected to enhance mixing within a limited region downstream of the nozzle. The enhanced mixing leads to the suppression of broadband peak components of jet noise with little effect on the engine performance. To investigate the noise reduction performances of a six-notch nozzle, a series of experiments have been performed at an outdoor test site. Tests on the engine include acoustic measurement in the far field to evaluate the noise reduction level with and without the notched nozzle, and pressure measurement near the jet plume to obtain information on noise sources. The far-field measurement indicated the noise reduction by as much as 3 dB in terms of overall sound pressure level in the rear direction of the engine. The use of the six-notch nozzle though decreased the noise-benefit in the side direction. Experimental data indicate that the high-frequency components deteriorate the noise reduction performance at wider angles of radiation. Although the increase in noise is partly because of the increase in velocity, the penetration of the notches into the jet plume is attributed to the increase in sound pressure level in higher frequencies. The results of near-field measurement suggest that an additional sound source appears up to x/D = 4 due to the notches. In addition, the total pressure maps downstream of the nozzle edge, obtained using a pressure rake, show that the notched nozzle deforms the shape of the mixing layer, causing it to become wavy within a limited distance from the nozzle. This deformation of the mixing layer implies strong vortex shedding and thus additional noise sources. To improve the noise characteristics, we proposed a revised version of the nozzle on the basis of a computational prediction, which contained 18 notches that were smaller than those in the 6-notched nozzle. Ongoing tests indicate greater noise reduction in agreement with the computational prediction.


Author(s):  
Shihui Xiong ◽  
Jingcheng Wang ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Yuquan Wen ◽  
Yujun Wu ◽  
...  

To solve the problem of large operating noise of existing pyrotechnic separation devices, a new low-noise pyrotechnic separation device is designed by changing the utilisation mode of pyrotechnic separation, using micro gas pyrotechnic as heat sources, and shape memory alloy material to convert heat energy into mechanical energy. The results showed that the separation time was 1.526 s when the preload was 20 kN, and the maximum shock response was 319 G (2268 Hz) for 100 Hz–100 kHz. When used underwater, the maximum sound pressure level is 106.9 dB at 12,698 Hz and 98.5 dB from 10 Hz–5 kHz. Compared with a conventional separation nut, the frequency band sound pressure level can be reduced by more than 70 dB, realising underwater low-noise separation.


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