A Numerical Study on the Performance of a Magnesium-Based Automotive Cooling Fan with Bead Structure

This paper presents the numerical analysis of three types of magnesium-based, axial-flow automotive cooling fans. The numerical modeling is conducted for geometrically modified fan designs with and without bead structure. The effect of geometric modifications of the fan blades on the fan performance...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics 2021-01, Vol.14 (1), p.11-21
Main Authors: Hur, K H, Haider, B A, Sohn, C H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Axial flow
axial-flow cooling fan
bead structure
cfd
fan performance
modal analysis
passive control
Beads
Computational fluid dynamics
Cooling
Energy efficiency
Fan blades
Finite element method
Flow rates
Flow velocity
Magnesium
Magnesium base alloys
Modal analysis
Numerical analysis
Resonant frequencies
Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes method
Three dimensional printing
Vibrations
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Summary:This paper presents the numerical analysis of three types of magnesium-based, axial-flow automotive cooling fans. The numerical modeling is conducted for geometrically modified fan designs with and without bead structure. The effect of geometric modifications of the fan blades on the fan performances (P-Q curve), fan efficiency, and energy efficiency is investigated using unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations with the sliding mesh methodology. The baseline fan having no-beads is fabricated using 3D printing technology and tested to measure the flow velocity and volumetric flow rate which shows good agreement to the numerical results. Subsequently, fans with beads are further optimized to achieve a significant increase in fan performances. To investigate the fan vibrations, modal analysis is also carried out using magnesium-alloy AZ31 as the fan material. The modal analysis gives natural frequencies of all types of fans which are beyond the fan rotational frequency and seems satisfactory.
ISSN:1735-3572
1735-3645
DOI:10.47176/jafm.14.01.31222