Flow fields with vortex in a small semi-open axial fan

In order to clarify the effect of tip clearance (TC) size on fan performance and the flow field at rotor outlet in a small semi-open axial fan, the experimental investigation was carried out. The tip diameter of test fan rotor was 180mm and test TC sizes were 1mm (TC=1mm) and 4mm (TC=4mm). Fan characteristics tests were carried out for two cases of TC size and three-dimensional velocity fields at rotor outlet were measured using a single slant hot-wire probe at four flow-rate conditions. As a result, it was found that the pressure — flow-rate characteristics curves for two cases showed almost the same tendency. However, the ensemble averaged velocity profiles along radial measurement stations of TC=4mm largely changed compared with that of TC=1mm in cases of small flow-rate condition. From the phase-locked averaging results, it was also found that the vortex existed in the rotor outlet flow field of high flow-rate condition for each TC case. Compared with the vortices for TC=1mm and TC=4mm, the vortex for TC=4mm was stronger than that for TC=1mm.     

离心风机内泄漏数值优化研究

利用流体分析软件ANSYS CFX对某一高效离心风机进行了内部三维数值模拟,得到其流体动力学特征和内泄漏损失特征.根据理论公式对风机泄漏量进行了估算,比较理论计算泄漏量与数值模拟计算泄漏量.首先,在设计工况点对未加装防涡圈的风机进行数值计算,发现在蜗壳内部有一些大的旋涡,并观察到一些重要的流动现象.然后,对加装防涡圏后的离心风机进行整机数值模拟,结果表明,加装防涡圏后蜗壳内部的漩涡明显减小,漩涡强度减弱,流场得到改善,泄漏损失明显减小.最后,对不同间隙的加装防涡圈后的风机进行数值模拟,结果显示,随着间隙的减小,泄漏量明显减小,所以在保证安全运行的条件下,间隙应尽可能小.     

Unsteady Flow at Low Flow-rate Region in a Semi-open Propeller Fan （Velocity Fluctuation outside of Blade Tip）

In order to clarify the unsteady flow fields at low flow-rate region with positive gradient on pressure-flow-rate curve,the experimental investigation was carried out at rotor inlet and outside of rotor blade tip without casing in a semi-opened propeller fan using a hot-wire anemometer.A single I-type hot-wire probe was used,and the data obtained were processed by the use of phase-locked averaging,ensemble averaging and FFT analyzing.The flow fields at rotor inlet and outside of rotor blade tip were discuss...     

Visualization and Experiment of Tip Vortex Phenomenon in Cooling Fan using Digital Particle Image Velocimetry

The Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) is an efficient method for measuring the internal flow field of a low-speed cooling fan. This paper studied the velocity field by means of PIV technology for a leading edge swept axial-flow fan without casing, and the tip vortex phenomenon was observed. Time-averaged velocity measurements were taken near the pressure surface, the suction surface and the tip of blade, etc. Moreover, the flow characteristics were visualized using numerical techniques. Experimental results showed that this tip vortex existed at the leading edge of the blade. The generating, developing and dissipating evolvement process of the tip vortex from the blade leading edge to downstream were discussed in detail. In addition, by comparing DPIV results and numerical results, a good agreement between them indicated a possibility to predict flow field using CFD tools. The experimental data provided in this paper are reliable for improving the aerodynamic characteristics of the open axial fan.     

Experimental Investigation of Aerodynamic Performance due to Blade Tip Clearance in a Gas Turbine Rotor Cascade

This study examines how the complex flow structure within a gas turbine rotor affects aerodynamic loss. An unshrouded linear turbine cascade was built, and velocity and pressure fields were measured using a 5-hole probe. In order to elucidate the effect of tip clearance, the overall aerodynamic loss was evaluated by varying the tip clearance and examining the total pressure field for each case. The tip clearance was varied from 0% to 4.2% of blade span and the chord length based Reynolds number was fixed at 2×10⁵. For the case without tip clearance, a wake downstream of the blade trailing edge is observed, along with hub and tip passage vortices. These flow structures result in profile loss at the center of the blade span, and passage vortex related losses towards the hub and tip. As the tip clearance increases, a tip leakage vortex is formed, and it becomes stronger and eventually alters the tip passage vortex. Because of the interference of the secondary tip leakage flow with the main flow, the streamwise velocity decreases while the total pressure loss increases significantly by tenfold in the last 30% blade span region towards the tip for the 4.2% tip clearance case. It was additionally observed that the overall aerodynamic loss increases linearly with tip clearance.     

Factors affecting small axial cooling fan performance

Many factors such as outer diameter,hub ratio,blade numbers,shape and stagger angle affect the performance of small cooling fans.A small cooling fan was simulated using CFD software for three blade stagger angles (30.5°,37.5°,44.5°)and obtained the internal flow field and the static characteristics.Research indicated that the stagger angle has an obvious effect on the static characteristics of a fan.For flow rates below 0.0104 m3/s,total pressure is the greatest when the stagger angle is 37.5°;flow rates higher than 0.0104 m3/s,the total pressure is greatest when the stagger angle is 44.5° For the same flow rates,the velocity at inlet of pressure surface increases with increasing stagger angle,but the change of velocity on the suction surface is very small.For one model,vortices and the speed of revolution surfaces decrease with tip clearance increasing.But for other three models,increasing the stagger angle,the vortex intensity and speed of revolution surfaces at same height tip clearance increases,simultaneously,the position of vortex offset from the top of the rotor blade to the suction surface.     

叶顶开槽——小翼结构对提升轴流风机性能影响的数值研究

为了有效抑制叶顶泄漏流的发展,降低叶顶泄漏损失,针对两级动叶可调轴流风机提出在吸力面构造叶顶小翼并开设斜槽的新型叶顶改型方案。采用Fluent数值模拟了5种叶顶改型方案对风机性能和流场特征的影响,分析了不同方案下流场、叶顶静压、叶顶泄漏量和动叶区做功能力的变化。结果表明：吸力面小翼可有效降低叶顶损失,小翼上开设顺流向斜槽可进一步提高风机性能,逆流向斜槽会使性能略有降低;顺流向单斜槽为最佳改型方案,在设计流量下全压和效率分别提升166 Pa和0.942%;叶顶间隙处产生额外的涡流,叶顶泄漏流得到抑制,动叶区做功能力得以提升。     

Influence of tip clearance on performance of a contra-rotating fan

Influences of tip clearance on the tip flow and associated loss mechanism in a contra-rotating axial flow fan has been studied in the paper, based on three dimensional numerical results. The results with different tip clearance are compared in terms of stage efficiency, relative total pressure loss coefficient, flow angle. It is found that the efficiency of the contra-rotating fan changes almost linearly with increment of the tip clearance, however, efficiency of the rear rotor is observed to decrease more dramatically than that of the forward rotor given same tip clearance variation. The analysis on the flow structure indicates that the tip region flow field is qualitatively similar in both rotors. However, with the same clearance value, the leakage flow in the rear rotor is effected by a tip leakage vortex of greater intensity caused by relative loading levels and the inter rotor interaction.     

Prediction of aerodynamic noise in a ring fan based on wake characteristics

A ring fan is a propeller fan that applies an axial-flow impeller with a ring-shaped shroud on the blade tip side. In this study, the entire flow field of the ring fan is simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD); the accuracy of the CFD is verified through a comparison with the aerodynamic characteristics of a propeller fan of current model. Moreover, the aerodynamic noise generated by the fan is predicted on the basis of the wake characteristics. The aerodynamic characteristic of the ring fan based on CFD can represent qualitatively the variation in the measured value. The main flow domain of the ring fan is formed at the tip side of the blade because blade tip vortex is not formed at that location. Therefore, the relative velocity of the ring fan is increased by the circumferential velocity. The sound pressure levels of the ring fan within the frequency band of less than 200 Hz are larger than that of the propeller fan. In the analysis of the wake characteristics, it revealed that Karman vortex shedding occurred in the main flow domain in the frequency domain lower than 200 Hz; the aerodynamic noise of the ring fan in the vortex shedding frequency enlarges due to increase in the relative velocity and the velocity fluctuation.     

Development of an axial-type fan with an optimization method

An axial-type fan that operates at a relative total pressure of 671Pa and a static pressure of 560Pa with a flowrate of 416.6m³/min is developed using an optimization technique based on the gradient method. Prior to the optimization of the fan blade, a three-dimensional axial-type fan blade is designed based on the free-vortex method along the radial direction. Twelve design variables are applied to the optimization of the rotor blade, and one design variable is selected for optimizing a stator which is located behind the rotor to support a fan-driving motor. The total and static pressure are applied to the restriction condition with the operating flowrate on the design point, and the efficiency is chosen as the response variable to be maximized. Through these procedures, an initial axial-fan blade designed by the free vortex method is modified to increase the efficiency with a satisfactory operating condition. The optimized fan is tested and compared with the performance obtained with the same class fan to figure out the optimization effect. The test results show that the optimized fan not only satisfies the restriction conditions but also operates at the same efficiency even though the tip clearance of the optimized fan is greater than 30%. The experimental and numerical tests show that this optimization method can improve the efficiency and operating pressures on axial-type fans.     

Effect of inlet box on performance of axial flow fans

Numerical investigations on 3D flow fields in an axial flow fan with and without an inlet box have been extensively conducted, focusing on the variation of fan performance caused by the internal flow fields and the velocity evenness at the exit of the inlet box. It is interesting to find that although the inlet box is well designed in accordance with basic design principles, there is a flow separation region in it. Furthermore, this flow separation and the resulting uneven velocity distribution at the exit lead to some decrease in the efficiency and an increase in the total pressure rise of the fan. This research shows that the inlet box needs further improvement and such a check on the flow fields is of value for the design of inlet boxes. __________ Translated from Journal of Engineering Thermophysics, 2007, 28 (Suppl.1): 161–164 [译自: 工程热物理学报]     

Effect of winglet geometry arrangement and incidence on tip clearance control in a compressor cascade

An experimental study is conducted to investigate the influences of blade tip winglet on the flow field of a compressor cascade. The tests are performed in a low speed linear cascade with stationary endwall, with three blade tip configurations, including the baseline tip, the suction-side winglet tip and the pressure-side winglet tip. The flowfield downstream of the cascade is measured using five-hole probe, from which the three-dimensional velocity field, vorticity field and pressure field are obtained. Static pressure measurements are made on the endwall above the blade row using pressure taps embedded in the plywood endwall. All measurements are made at both design and off-design conditions for tip clearance level of about 2 percent of the blade chord. The results revealed the incidence variation significantly affects the secondary flow and the associated loss field downstream of the cascade, where the tip leakage vortex and passage vortex exist as the major contributors on the field. The winglet geometry arrangements can change the trajectory of the tip leakage vortex. The suction-side winglet tip blade provides a lower overall total pressure loss coefficient when compared to the baseline tip blade and pressure-side winglet tip blade at all incidence angles.     

Stereoscopic PIV measurements of the flow field in a turbine cascade

This paper presents experimental measurements of the flow field in a Low-speed Turbine Cascade using a stereoscopic particle-image velocimetry(SPIV). During the measurements, a pair of frame-straddling-based CCD cameras were configured at different sides of the laser light sheet, and appropriate tracing particles(DEHS) were employed. The measurements were conducted at the incidence angle of 0 degree and exit Reynolds number of 1.7 × 105 with the tip clearance 1.18% of blade chord. The tip flow features, such as the evolution and breakdown of tip leakage vortex, the horseshoe vortex, turbulence characteristics of tip leakage flow, were studied for the flow field analysis. The results showed that the tip leakage flow/vortex mainly dominate flow fields in the tip region. The tip leakage vortex performs as a concentrated vortex before its breaking down and splitting into small vortices. The highest turbulence intensity mainly occurs in the tip region along with the trajectory of tip leakage vortex, and when the vortex breaks down, the turbulence intensity reduces rapidly. Additionally, the SPIV with this configuration also shows an advantage in investigating the flow structures and mechanism inside the turbine cascade.     

Effects of a kind of non-smooth blade on the unsteady flow field at the exit of an axial fan

An experimental investigation of effects of a kind of streamwise-grooved blade on the unsteady flow field at an exit of an axial-flow fan was performed. The flow field at 25% chord downstream from the trailing edge at hub was measured using a fast-response five-hole pressure probe at different mass-flow conditions. The unsteady flow of the grooved blades was compared with that of the smooth blades. The measurement results indicate that： （1） the grooved blades restrain the velocity fluctuation and the pressure fluctuation by modulating the blade boundary layers, which contributes to the flow loss reduction in the hub region and in the rotor wake region at the design condition; （2） the stream-wise grooves play an important role in restraining the radial migration in the blade boundary layer and abating the tip flow mixing, which contributes to the flow loss reduction in the tip region at the design condition; （3） at the near stall condition, the grooved surface can not reduce the flow loss, even increase the loss nearby when the separation happens in the blade boundary layer.     

Experimental Investigations of the Three—Dimensional Flow in a Large Deflection Turbine Cascade with Tip Clearance

INTRoDUCTI0NThetipleakaeflowisnowrecognizedasanimpor-tantsourceoflossesinbothcompressorsandturbines,asasourceofcoolingprobleminturbinesandasourceofinstabilityincomPressorsandfans.Manyturbo-maChinimPellersarenotshroudedandtheleakaeflowthroughthetipgaPofthebladeisanunavoidablefaCtorwhichdeterioratestheperformance.Den-tonandCumpsty[1]melltionedabouttwodistinctandequallyimportantaspects.tothetipclearanceflows.First,thereisareducti0ninthebladeforce,there-fore,theworkdone.Thisoccursbecausethe…     

Numerical evaluation of the clearance geometries effect on the flow field and performance of a hydrofoil

The blade tip leakage flow with efficiency losses and cavitation phenomena is a concern for the low-head tidal power units. A simplified case of NACA0009 hydrofoil in a water tunnel is used to investigate the effects of tip clearance geometries including the foil tip shape and gap width on the flow features and foil performance. Steady non-cavitating simulations are implemented for a round tip foil and a sharp tip foil with two incidence angles (α = 10° and 5°) and different normalized gap width (τ). The minimum pressure is used to reflect the normalized vortex intensity (Γ*) and cavitation characteristics. The Γ*-τ curves at different streamwise positions show that the sharp tip foil generates relatively weaker tip leakage vortex with more flat curves, but its higher Γ* of tip separation vortex in wider gaps increases the risk of clearance cavitation. The flow features on a cross section inside the gap suggest that the sharp tip reduces the leakage flow losses and increases the velocity gradient due to the boundary layer separation. The lift coefficient is a little higher for the sharp tip foil than the round tip foil, with small differences for α = 5° but noticeable deviations for α = 10° especially within 0.3<τ < 1.     

Numerical investigation on the flow field of an axial flow fan in a direct air‐cooled condenser for a large power plant

The flow field of an axial fan in a direct air‐cooled condenser for a large power plant is modeled numerically. In order to improve the efficiency of heat exchange of the air‐cooled condenser, methods of increasing the rotational velocity of the fan and laying out the guide blade at the outlet of the fan are adopted. Results show that increasing the rotational velocity of the fan can effectively increase the flux of the fan, and can improve the efficiency of an air‐cooled condenser; laying out the guide blade at the fan outlet can ameliorate the flow field in an A‐flame. This causes the rotational kinetic energy to change into static pressure at the fan outlet, so the ability of the heat exchange of the air‐cooled condenser is improved. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj). DOI 10.1002/htj.21027     

Performance analysis of a centrifugal compressor with variable inlet guide vanes

The flow in a centrifugal compressor stage with variable inlet guide vanes (VIGVs) is investigated by numerical simulation in this paper. Analysis of the performance curves and relative velocity vectograms indicates that performance curves shift toward small flow domain when VIGVs turn positively, and toward large flow domain when VIGVs turn negatively. Stage efficiency drops quickly after work condition enters a small flow domain through the peak efficiency point. Under the circumstance of large setting angles of the guide vanes, there exist obvious flow separations in guide vane passages within wide flow ranges, and back flow regions can be located at the front of splitter suction surfaces under large flow conditions, while under the condition of small flow, flow separations occur on suction surfaces of long blades. __________ Translated from Journal of Power Engineering, 2006, 26(6): 804–807 [译自: 动力工程]     

Investigation of flow dynamics and decrease of vortex noise inside volute of centrifugal fans

The characteristics of three-dimension flow dynamics inside the volute of a G4-73No.8D centrifugal fan was simulated numerically using a computational fluid dynamics(CFD) technique. The generation, evolution, and noise of the vortex were investigated when cylinder-shaped and cone-cylinder-shaped anti-vortex rings were added separately. Numerical results showed that large-scale vortices were broken effectively and the flow fields inside the fan were more uniform with the two anti-vortex rings installed. Experimental results indicated A-sound level and spectrum noise of the refitted fan decreased and the two anti-vortex rings were effective in decreasing vortex noise. The cone-cylinder-shaped anti-vortex ring was more effective than the cylinder-shaped one in breaking large-scale vortexes and decreasing vortex noise. __________ Translated from Proceedings of the CSEE, 2006, 26(17): 117–121 [译自: 中国电机工程学报]     

Flow through aerodynamic torque converter installed in new type turbofan engine

It is desired to increase the core engine speed of the turbofan,to get the best efficiency for the next leap of the en-gine technology.The conventional mechanism in which the front fan is directly connected to the output shaft ofthe core engine has a limit of increasing the spool speed because the fan diameter is very large.The authors haveproposed a new driving system in which the front fan is driven through the aerodynamic torque converter.Thefront fan can work at the conventional speed while the core engine runs more efficiently at higher speed.Con-tinuously,in this paper,the flow through the converter is simulated numerically by CFX-5 with the k-εturbulencemodel of the commercial CFD code.The secondary flow occurred on the hub wall affects markedly the flow con-dition on the blade surfaces,and the flow along the suction surface of the driver blade separates near the trailingedge,which is deviated to the blade tip by the centrifugal force due to the wheel rotation.