Numerical simulations of flow induced noise from a dual rotor cooling fan used in electronic cooling systems

Abstract

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) system enclosures in a data center require effective cooling systems to avoid HDD overheating. These systems often rely on air cooling because of their cost effciency and maintainability. Air cooling systems typically consist of an array of axial fans which push or pull the air through the system. These fans emit high level tonal noise particularly at high tip speed ratios. High-capacity HDDs, on the other hand, are sensitive to high acoustic noise, which consequently increases the risk of read/write error and deteriorates drive performance. Therefore, cooling fan noise adversely affects the function of the HDD enclosure systems which emphasizes the need to understand the noise sources and develop methods to mitigate HDD noise exposure.