CFD - Based Investigation of Effects of Obstruction in Front of Small Axial Cooling Fan and Deterioration of Supply Flow Rate

Abstract

Abstract This study describes the deterioration of a small axial fan’s supply flow rate in high-density packaging electronic equipment. A cooling fan flow rate can be predicted by its P-Q curve, which shows a relationship between a pressure rise at a fan (ΔP) and a supply flow rate (Q). However, in high-density packaging electronic equipment, the fan performance is affected by the mounting components around the fans, and the accurate prediction of the supply flow rate becomes difficult. This paper tried to do flow visualization around a small axial cooling fan’s impellers when the obstruction was mounted in front of the fan through CFD analysis. A relationship between the supply flow rate by the fan and the flow pattern around the impellers was investigated while changing the distance between the test fan and the obstruction. Through this study, the following results can be obtained. The fan’s flow is stable in the rotating stall region and the higher flow rate operating points regardless of whether or without the obstruction. At the lower flow rate conditions, the formation of a complex unsteady flow is reproduced. As the flow rate decreases, the flow’s separation point becomes closer to the leading edge of the impeller. In the case of obstruction, the change of the flow pattern causes a larger attack angle. As a result, fan performance is degraded.