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

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.524-532
• /
• 2020

In this study, noise radiated from a high-speed fan-motor unit for a cordless vacuum cleaner is reduced by designing splitter blades on the existing impeller. First of all, in order to investigate the flow field through a fan-motor unit, especially impeller, the unsteady incompressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are numerically solved by using computational fluid dynamic technique. With predicted flow field results as input, the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) integral equation is solved to predict aerodynamic noise radiated from the impeller. The validity of the numerical methods is confirmed by comparing the predicted sound pressure spectrum with the measured one. Further analysis of the predicted flow field shows that the strong vortex is formed between the impeller blades. As the vortex induces the loss of the flow field and acts as an aerodynamic noise source, supplementary splitter blades are designed to the existing impeller to suppress the identified vortex. The length and position of splitter are selected as design factors and the effect of each design factor on aerodynamic noise is numerically analyzed by using the Taguchi method. From this results, the optimum location and length of splitter for minimum radiated noise is determined. The finally selected design shows lower noise than the existing one.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.515-523
• /
• 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
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.261-269
• /
• 2021

Without any validation of the incompressible assumption, most of previous studies on cavitation flow and its noise have utilized numerical methods based on the incompressible Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations because of advantage of its efficiency. In this study, to investigate the effects of the flow compressibility on the Tip Vortex Cavitation (TVC) flow and noise, both the incompressible and compressible simulations are performed to simulate the TVC flow, and the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) integral equation is utilized to predict the TVC noise. The DARPA Suboff submarine body with an underwater propeller of a skew angle of 17 degree is targeted to account for the effects of upstream disturbance. The computation domain is set to be same as the test-section of the large cavitation tunnel in Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering to compare the prediction results with the measured ones. To predict the TVC accurately, the Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) technique is used in combination with the adaptive grid techniques. The acoustic spectrum obtained using the compressible flow solver shows closer agreement with the measured one.