Abstract
To meet humans’ need of enhancing the quality of life, the high-performance stand fan has become an essential appliance in every family. On the other hand, energy saving can not only solve the problem of environment protection, but also can reduce the cost of energy consumption. However, the aerodynamic performance and flow characteristics of the stand fan are rarely investigated and analyzed in a systematical manner. Therefore, this research intends to investigate the physical mechanism of the flow pattern and identify the design parameters of the stand fan by combining numerical and experimental methods. First of all, both the structure and performance of a commercial 14-inch stand fan are chosen for analysis and are set as the reference for the fan. The stand fan can be divided into the impeller and the protective cover. Clearly, the impeller blades have a great influence on the fan performance, so they are the first design target. In this work, CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software Fluent (version 14.5, ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA, 2012) is used to analyze and observe the corresponding influences on flow fields and aerodynamic performance by changing the design parameters such as the setting, twist, and inclination angles. Then, the protective cover is studied, improved and integrated with the designed impeller to further enhance the performance of the fan. The protective cover is modified by varying the spacing between the blade tip and cover, as well as varying the shape and angle of ribs to improve the fan’s flow field and performance. Finally, the optimal fan mockup is made via CNC (computer numerical control) technology. Also, its acoustics and performance have been measured to validate the accuracy and reliability of the numerical simulation. The testing results show that the optimally designed stand fan is better than the reference fan with a significant 54% increase in max flow rate. In addition, it has more uniform velocity distribution compared with the reference fan to achieve a comfortable feeling for the human body. In summary, this research successfully establishes a reliable and systematic scheme to design the stand fan. Also, the corresponding performance influences caused by those important parameters are analyzed and summarized to serve as the design reference for the stand fan.
Highlights
The major characteristics of an axial flow fan are high efficiency, low noise, and large flow rate.As a result, usually, axial-flow fans are installed for the purpose of heat dissipation in large-sized equipment to meet the needs of a spacious working environment and the wide-spread airstream.Nowadays, an axial flow fan is used extensively in the lower-resistance system for the purpose of ventilation, and its large flow rate has additional benefits, causing convection in the spaciousAppl
The testing results show that the optimally designed stand fan is better than the reference fan with a significant 54% increase in max flow rate
The results indicate that the flow rate with increasing the protective cover
Summary
The major characteristics of an axial flow fan are high efficiency, low noise, and large flow rate. Through a literature survey about fan design, it is clear that the reliable CFD tool and key design parameters on the axial-flow fan are well established and identified. This dependable approach has not been applied on the stand fan, which is an essential appliance in every family. The design parameters of the rotor and protective cover of the stand fan are systematically examined via a numerical tool to identify the corresponding influence on fan performance. The corresponding performance influences caused by those important parameters will be analyzed to serve as the design reference for the stand fan
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