• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.515-523
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• 2020

This study aims to improve the flow and noise performances of an axial-flow fan for cooling the machine room in a refrigerator by using airfoil-cascade analysis and surface ridge shape. First, the experimental evaluations using a fan performance tester and an anechoic chamber are performed to analyze the flow and noise performances of the existing fan system. Then, the corresponding flow and noise performances are numerically assessed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques and the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) equation, and the validity of numerical results are confirmed through their comparisons with the experimental results. The analysis for the flow of a cascade of airfoils constructed from the existing fan blades is performed, and the pitch angles for the maximum lift-to-drag ratio are determined. The improved flow performance of the new fan applied with the optimum pitch angles is confirmed. Then, the fan blades with surface ridges on their pressure sides are devised, and the reduction of aerodynamic noise of the ridged fan is numerically confirmed. Finally, the prototype of the final fan model is manufactured, and improvements in the flow and noise performances of the prototype are experimentally confirmed.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.321-327
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is paper is to improve the flow performance and to reduce the aerodynamic noise of air discharge system consisting of a centrifugal fan, ducts and a housing for the clothes dryer. Using computational fluid dynamics and acoustic analogy based on FW-H (Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings) Eq., air flow field and acoustic fields of the air discharge system are investigated. To optimize aerodynamic performance and aerodynamic noise, the response surface method is employed. The two factors central composite design using the inflow and outflow angles of fan blades is adopted. The devised optimum design shows the reduction of turbulent kinetic energy in the ducts and the housing of the system, and as a result, the improved flow rate and reduce noise is confirmed. Finally, the experment using the proto-type manufactured usign the optimum design shows the increase of flow rate by 4.2 %.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.7-15
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• 2023

Recently, as interest in air quality in vehicles increases, the use of fine dust detection sensors for air quality measurement is becoming common. An axial-flow fan is inserted in the fine dust sensor installed in the air conditioning system in the vehicle to prevent dust from sinking directly on the sensor. When the sensor operates, the flow noise caused by the rotation of the axial-flow fan acts as a major noise source of the fine dust sensor. flow noise is recognized as one of the product competitiveness of fine dust sensors. In this study, the noise was gradually reduced at the same flow rate by improving the flow performance of the small axial flow fan. First, a virtual fan performance tester consisting of about 20 million grids was developed to analyze the aerodynamic performance of the target small axial-flow fan. In addition, the flow field was simulated by using compressible Large Eddy Simulation for direct computation of flow noise as well as high-accurate prediction of flow rate. The validity of numerical method are confirmed through the comparison of predicted results with experimental ones. After the effects of pitch angle on flow performance were analyzed using the verified numerical method, the pitch angle was determined to maximize the flow rate. It was found that the flow rate was increased by 8.1 % and noise was reduced by 0.8 dBA when the axial-flow fan with the optimum pitch angle was used.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 2013

In this work, a steady-state performance modeling and off-design performance analysis of the 2-spool separate-flow turbofan engine named (BR715-56) which is a power plant for the narrow body commercial aircraft is carried out for engine performance behaviors investigation and condition monitoring using a commercial code MATLAB/SIMULINK. Firstly, the engine component maps of fan, high pressure compressor, high pressure turbine and low pressure turbine are generated from similar component maps using the scaling method, and then the off-design performance simulation model is constructed by the mass flow matching and the work matching between components. The model is developed using SIMULINK, which has advantages of easy steady-stare and dynamic modelling and user friendly interface function. It is found that the off-design performance analysis results using the proposed model are well agreed with the performance analysis results by GASTURB at various operating conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.165-172
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• 2017

In this study, centrifugal fan blades used to circulate cold air inside a household refrigerator were optimized to achieve high performance and low noise by using the response surface method, which is frequently employed as an optimization algorithm when multiple independent variables affect one dependent variable. The inlet and outlet blade angles, and the inner radius, were selected as the independent variables. First, the fan blades were optimized to achieve the maximum volume flow rate. Based on this result, a prototype fan blade was manufactured using a 3-D printer. The measured P-Q curves confirmed the increased volume flow rate of the proposed fan. Then, the rotation speed of the new fan was decreased to match the P-Q curve of the existing fan. It was found that a noise reduction of 1.7 dBA could be achieved using the new fan at the same volume flow rate.

• Transactions of the KSME C: Technology and Education
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2015

Air cooled condenser for power plant is used at inland area of desert or mountainous area because condenser coolant like sea water is not necessary. However, the performance of air cooled condenser is influenced by ambient condition such as wind speed and air temperature. Therefore, various devices have been designed to improve the performance of air cooled condenser. In this study, the CFD analysis for air cooled condenser was carried out according to wind speed and wind screen configuration. As wind speed increased from 3m/s to 7m/s, the fan flow rate was reduced about 15.76% and the rise of inlet air temperature was 5.55 degree of Celsius. When the suitable wind screen is equipped, the fan flow rate went up about 5.18% and inlet air temperature dropped by 2.08 degree of Celsius in comparison with original case without wind screen at 7m/s wind speed.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.371-377
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• 2017

The performance of an air conditioner is closely related to the cooling performance of a split-type outdoor unit so that, in most of the relevant preceding studies, the independent performance of an axial fan in an outdoor unit has been studied. However, there is a lack of research on the effects of other components in an outdoor units was rarely investigated. Therefore, in this paper, the effects of the fan orifice among other parts on the flow performance of the outdoor unit was numerically investigated. A virtual fan tester consisting of 18 million grids was developed for highly resolved flow simulation. The unsteady RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) equations are numerically solved by using finite-volume CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) techniques. In order to verify the validity of the numerical methods, the predicted P-Q curve of the cooling fan in a full outdoor unit is compared with the measured one. Optimization of orifice shape was carried out for maximum flow performance of the outdoor unit using the validated numerical method.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.555-565
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• 2021

The goal of this study is to improve flow and noise performances of existing backward-curved blade centrifugal fan system used for circulating cold air in a refrigerator freezer by optimally designing airfoil shape. The unique characteristics of the system is to drive cold airflow with two volute tongues in combination with duct system in a back side of a refrigerator without scroll housing generally used in a typical centrifugal fan system. First, flow and noise performances of existing fan system were evaluated experimentally. A P-Q curve was obtained using a fan performance tester in the flow experiment, and noise spectrum was measured in an anechoic chamber in the noise experiment. Then, flow characteristics were numerically analyzed by solving the three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes equations and noise analysis was performed by solving the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkins equation with input from the flow simulation results. The validity of numerical results was confirmed by comparing them with the measured ones. Based on the verified numerical method, blade inlet and outlet angles were optimized for maximum flow rate using the two-factor central composite design of the response surface method. Finally, the flow and noise performances of a prototype manufactured with the optimum design were experimentally evaluated, which showed the improvement in flow and noise performance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.47-53
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• 2020

In this study, the optimization design data was presented by analyzing the performance and durability of the cooling fan by one-way fluid-structure interaction analysis of the cooling fan shape used in the engine generator. For this purpose, a steady-state analysis was performed on the flow field inside the cooling fan, and the durability was analyzed by using the steady-state calculation results as input data for structural analysis. Six types were modeled for fluid analysis by changing the blade and sweep angle of the cooling fan, and the ratio of mass flow rate and torque was best in A type, but B type with relatively large mass flow rate was the best. It was judged to have flow performance. As a result of examining the structural analysis by setting the four blade thickness of the B type selected through the fluid analysis, it was judged that B Type-3 is the most suitable when considering the fatigue safety factor.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.379-389
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• 2020

In this study, the flow and noise performances of high-speed fan motor unit for cordless vacuum cleaner is improved by optimizing the impeller which drives the suction air through flow passage of the cordless vacuum cleaner. Firstly, the unsteady incompressible Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved to investigate the flow through the fan motor unit using the computational fluid dynamics techniques. Based on flow field results, the Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) integral equation is used to predict flow noise radiated from the impeller. Predicted results are compared to the measured ones, which confirms the validity of the numerical method used. It is found that the strong vortex is formed around the mid-chord region of the main blades where the blade curvature change rapidly. Given that vortex acts as a loss for flow and a noise source for noise, impeller blade is redesigned to suppress the identified vortex. The response surface method using two factors is employed to determine the optimum inlet and outlet sweep angles for maximum flow rate and minimum noise. Further analysis of finally selected design confirms the improved flow and noise performance.