Study of a dual-sided multiple fans system with a piezoelectric actuator

Abstract

A dual-sided multiple fans system with a piezoelectric actuator (“D-MFPA”), which is able to drive eight passive vibrating fans and provide two-directional air flows by using only one piezoelectric actuator, has been investigated in this study. Moreover, two types of the fan designs, viz. magnetic fan (MF) and composite magnetic fan (CMF) were also explored. In the investigation of the MF, the results indicated that the resonance frequency of the D-MFPA increased from 27.6 Hz to 66 Hz as the length of the carbon fiber plate (L) decreased from 55 mm to 35 mm. It also decreased the amplitude of the D-MFPA from 12.4mm to 4.8 mm. For CMF, the results showed that the resonance frequency decreased when the length of the Mylar plate (El) increased, and the maximum decrease was from 66 Hz to 45 Hz when L= 35 mm and El= 30 mm. Dimensionless heat convection number (MD-MFPA) was defined to describe and quantify the improvement in the thermal performance. The results showed that the optimal MD-MFPA of the single piezoelectric fan was 1.58 for cooling one heat source. By contrast, under the same power consumption, the D-MFPA not only cooled two heat sources but also displayed better thermal performance.