• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.428-435
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• 2016

In this paper, high-performance and low-noise centrifugal fan used to circulate cold air inside a household refrigerator is developed by reducing the vortex flow observed near the tip of fan hub. First, the performance of the existing centrifugal fan is investigated through the experiment using a fan tester and the characteristics of detailed flow field obtained from the CFD simulation are closely examined. The strong vortex flow is observed in the vicinity of the tip of fan hub. Based on this result, new design is devised to reduce this vortex flow. As a result, it is numerically and experimentaly found that the volume flow rate of the new fan increases and the radiated noise decreases in comparison with the existing fan at the same rotation speed.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.80-85
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• 2014

High-volume low-speed (HVLS) fans are one category of ceiling fan installed in large enclosings such as warehouses, large barns and health clubs in order to generate comfortable air circulation. As a rotary blade, aerodynamic performance of a HVLS fan is predominantly related to its airfoil(s), and the pitch and twist angles. This paper first, investigates the effects of airfoil on the performances of three different HVLS fans with NACA 5414, 6413 and 7415 airfoils. The fans have six untwisted blades with the diameter of 6 m and rotate at 60 RPM. The blades pitch angels are $12^{\circ}$, $12^{\circ}$ and $13^{\circ}$, respectively. The results are presented in the form of the aerodynamic forces and moments, volumetric flow rate and streamlines. Regarding the volumetric flow of air, the results show that the model with NACA 7415 has the best performance. Hence, two other HVLS fans with the same airfoil but, with four and five blades are studied in order to investigate the effects of number of blades. From the point of view of air circulation still the six-bladed fan is the best one; however, the five-bladed fan is more efficient in power consumption.

• 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.