Optimization of Low Noise Blade of Small Axial Fan at Low Reynolds Number

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.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zonghan Sun ◽  
Jie Tian ◽  
Grzegorz Liśkiewicz ◽  
Zhaohui Du ◽  
Hua Ouyang

Abstract A noise reduction method for axial flow fans using a short inlet duct is proposed. The pattern of noise reduction imposed by the short inlet duct on the axial flow cooling fan under variable working conditions was experimentally and numerically examined. A 2-cm inlet duct was found to reduce tonal noise. As the tip Mach number of the fan increased from 0.049 to 0.156, the reduction in the total average sound pressure level at 1 m from the fan increased from 0.8 dB(A) to 4.3 dB(A), and further achieved 4.8 dB(A) when a 1-cm inlet duct was used. The steady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) showed that the inlet duct has little effect on the aerodynamic performance of the fan. The results of the full passage unsteady calculation at the maximum flow rate showed that the duct has a significant influence on the suction vortexes caused by the inlet flow non-uniformity. The suction vortexes move upstream to weaken the interaction with the rotor blades, which significantly reduces the pulsating pressure on the blades. The sound pressure level (SPL) at the blade passing frequency (BPF) contributed by the thrust force was calculated to reduce by 36 dB at a 135° observer angle, reflecting the rectification effect of the duct on the non-uniform inlet flow and the improvement in characteristics of the noise source. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the static pressure field on the blades verified that the main spatial mode is more uniformly distributed due to the duct, and energy owing to the rotor-inlet interaction decreases. A speed regulation strategy for the cooling fan with short inlet duct is proposed, which provides guidance for the application of this noise reduction method.


Author(s):  
Edward Canepa ◽  
Andrea Cattanei ◽  
Fabio Mazzocut Zecchin

The effect of rotational speed and pressure rise on the leakage flow noise radiated by a low-speed axial fan, provided with rotating shroud, has been systematically investigated. The flow in the gap region has been studied by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements taken in the meridional plane. At low blade loading, the leakage flow is restrained close to the rotor ring and, at higher loading, it forms a wide recirculation zone. In the latter conditions, an unsteady flow separation likely takes place in the blade tip region which may be observed in the instantaneous flow field only. The leakage flow noise generally increases with the blade loading, but is non-monotonic, as the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) growth is interrupted by local minima; such a trend is qualitatively independent of the rotational speed. As the loading increases, the sound pressure level (SPL) spectrum shows important modifications, since the characteristic frequency of the subharmonic narrowband humps related to the leakage noise decreases; furthermore, height and width of the humps vary non-monotonically. Such a complicated behavior is likely related to the modifications in the leakage flow pattern and also to the appearance of the flow separation at the blade tip.


2013 ◽  
Vol 584 ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Wen Wang ◽  
Da Wei Dong ◽  
Xiao Xie ◽  
Bing Yan ◽  
Yu Hua Sun

In order to optimize the rotation noise spectrum of vehicle alternator cooling fan, a Vector Composition Method was proposed. Based on this method, the relative sound pressure level (RSPL) variations were calculated, which were then used as parameters in the optimization of spectral structure. In this article, the sound pressure level (SPL) variations of the 12thand 18thorder (of rotation frequency) who had the most prominent fan rotation noises were set as optimization targets, the blade distribution angles were optimized to ameliorate the spectral structure and the distribution of spectral energy. Calculations showed that, the RSPL in orders 12 and 18 were decreased by 9.3dBA and 10.5dBA respectively, comparing with experiment results, the errors were 3.9% and 4.11% respectively. Results suggested that the rotation noise of target orders had been significantly diminished, so the objective of optimizing spectral structure was reached. This method has a guiding significance to the design of blade distribution angles.


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.


2011 ◽  
Vol 338 ◽  
pp. 543-546
Author(s):  
Hu Yu ◽  
Hong Hou ◽  
Liang Sun

In this study we use the CAE technology to compute and reduce the radiated noise of range hood. First, a finite element model of a typical range hood is created using Hypermesh. Then, the surface particle velocity is carried out in Nastran, and the radiated noise is calculated by Sysnoise. Finally, the DOE-based structural optimization is preformed using iSIGHT-FD, in which the sound pressure level at four sensitive points and the radiated sound power are selected as the objective function and the thickness of four panels are adopted as design variable. In addition, the weight of the range hood as a constraint is kept no more than its original weight. As a result, a maximum radiated sound power reduction of 3.66W and a maximum sound pressure level reduction of 4.7 dB are successfully achieved. It shows the CAE technology is a very efficient and effective method for reducing radiated noise.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Zhai ZhiPing ◽  
Li ZhuWei ◽  
Zhang Long ◽  
Yang Zhongyi ◽  
Lan Yuezheng

An impeller blower is one of the major aerodynamic noise sources in straw threshing machines. To reduce its aerodynamic noise, it is essential to understand the mechanism of gas-material-coupled unsteady flow causing aerodynamic noise. However, it is difficult to clarify the mechanism through measurement. Therefore, the following topics are studied in this article. First, a full-field transient numerical simulation of the gas and solid particulates’ unsteady flow inside the impeller blower was carried out using a dense discrete phase model and a large eddy simulation turbulence model. Second, based on the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkins equation, the aerodynamic noise of the impeller blower of the straw threshing machines was numerically calculated. Finally, the numerical results were verified by aerodynamic noise test. The results indicate that (1) sound pressure level at the inlet of the impeller blower is the highest, mainly at 100 Hz, which is the fundamental frequency of the rotating impeller, while the sound pressure level at the fourth harmonic frequency of 400 Hz is the main source of the outlet. The total sound pressure level at the inlet is greater than that at the outlet. It is concluded that the dipole source of the rotating impeller is the main noise source, which was generated by the interaction of blade with the air and material as the impeller rotated. Also, acoustic attenuation, acoustic resonance, and impact noise of material and machinery play important roles in aerodynamic noise distribution. (2) The test and simulation results show good agreement, so the numerical model of aerodynamic noise is reliable. This study will provide a reference for the structural and acoustic optimization design of impeller blowers and their integration into threshing machines.


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.


Author(s):  
Masaru Kamada ◽  
Koji Shimoyama ◽  
Fumito Sato ◽  
Junya Washiashi ◽  
Yasufumi Konishi

Car air-conditioners consist of a blower unit and a heater unit. A blower unit sends wind to a heater unit, and a heater unit adjusts the temperature inside the vehicle. Blower units of car air-conditioners are required to be smaller, lighter, noiseless, and power-saving. However, it is difficult and expensive to predict the noise directly by computational fluid dynamics simulation. Hereupon, this study employs an indirect noise prediction method based on a noise prediction theory to evaluate noise for blower units inexpensively. This method is investigated through a comparison with actual sound pressure level measurement. Then, using this method, this study moves to design optimization of a blower unit of car air-conditioners. The optimization aims to improve total pressure efficiency and sound pressure level from the current design that has been employed for a real commercial vehicle. This study employs a genetic algorithm to explore global optima in a two-objective problem. The present genetic algorithm is assisted by the Kriging surrogate model to reduce computational cost required for evaluating objective functions. The optimization results indicate that the optimized blower unit involves a multi-blade fan with the high chord-pitch ratio to decrease the loss of total pressure efficiency, which is often induced by the flow separation on the blade and the swirling flow on the meridional plane. In addition, the sound pressure level of blower unit can be reduced by decreasing the local flow velocity on the meridian plane due to a blockage factor. A blower unit, which has a scroll with a large tongue angle, shows high total pressure efficiency because the increase in eddy loss is suppressed at the tongue. They suggest the importance of the matching of multi-blade fan and scroll to achieve the good overall performance of a blower unit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 931-947
Author(s):  
Teresa L. D. Hardy ◽  
Carol A. Boliek ◽  
Daniel Aalto ◽  
Justin Lewicke ◽  
Kristopher Wells ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to identify a set of communication-based predictors (including both acoustic and gestural variables) of masculinity–femininity ratings and (b) to explore differences in ratings between audio and audiovisual presentation modes for transgender and cisgender communicators. Method The voices and gestures of a group of cisgender men and women ( n = 10 of each) and transgender women ( n = 20) communicators were recorded while they recounted the story of a cartoon using acoustic and motion capture recording systems. A total of 17 acoustic and gestural variables were measured from these recordings. A group of observers ( n = 20) rated each communicator's masculinity–femininity based on 30- to 45-s samples of the cartoon description presented in three modes: audio, visual, and audio visual. Visual and audiovisual stimuli contained point light displays standardized for size. Ratings were made using a direct magnitude estimation scale without modulus. Communication-based predictors of masculinity–femininity ratings were identified using multiple regression, and analysis of variance was used to determine the effect of presentation mode on perceptual ratings. Results Fundamental frequency, average vowel formant, and sound pressure level were identified as significant predictors of masculinity–femininity ratings for these communicators. Communicators were rated significantly more feminine in the audio than the audiovisual mode and unreliably in the visual-only mode. Conclusions Both study purposes were met. Results support continued emphasis on fundamental frequency and vocal tract resonance in voice and communication modification training with transgender individuals and provide evidence for the potential benefit of modifying sound pressure level, especially when a masculine presentation is desired.


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