• 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.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.805-814
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• 2011

In the present study, the detailed flow structure and heat transfer characteristics in the newly-designed heat transfer surface geometry were investigated. The surface geometry proposed in the present study is a traditional dimple structure combining with a protrusion inside the dimple, which is named a protrusion-in-dimple in this study. The basic idea underlying the present surface geometry is to enhance the flow mixing and the corresponding heat transfer in the flow re-circulating region generated by a conventional dimple cavity. The present study was performed by the direct numerical simulation at a Reynolds number of 2800 based on mean velocity and channel height and Prandtl number of 0.71. Three different protrusion heights for protrusion-in-dimples were considered as the main design parameter of the present study. The calculated pressure drop and heat transfer capacity were assessed in terms of the Fanning friction factor and Colburn j factor. The overall performances estimated in terms of the volume and area goodness factor for protrusion-in-dimple cases were higher than the conventional dimple case.