• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.14-22
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• 1997

The position of propeller fan from duct inlet is one of basic parameters for the design of propeller fan. To investigate the effect of its position on fan characteristics, the inlet flow fields and relative flow angles were measured by a 5-hole pitot tube. The experimental results indicate that the ratio of radial flow introduced from propeller circumference to total inlet flow increases with the increase of propeller distance from duct inlet. When fan operates without duct, the total flow rate and the radial flow ratio are higher than those of any other positions of propeller relative to duct inlet. The radial flow ratio decreases as a flow coefficient and the propeller distance decrease. Therefore the front flow fields can be adjusted in some extent by varying the propeller distance according to a fan loading. The inlet flow angles are decreasing a little as a rotational speed and the propeller distance decrease. In the present case it was judged that the deviation angle of outlet flow became negative owing to a flow separation near a trailing edge.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.494-501
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• 2000

A study on performance of a propeller fan according to the distance between the front plate and the fan was conducted experimentally. Different characteristics of performance were found on the performance curve. Flow measurements using the three dimensional LDV system show that the zone of recirculation exists around the fan. The differences of performance in changes of the distance occurs because the zone of recirculation is much wider at the distance of 24mm than at that of 30mm.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1491-1500
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• 1996

Unstable performance deterioration was found on the performance curve of a small propeller fan with a back plate. To investigate this phenomenon and the effects of the back-plate on the performance of the fan, performance tests and flow measurement using 3-hole pitot tube were carried out. Measurements showed that when the flow rate is small, the radial flow dominates, and when the flow rate is large, the axial flow dominates. Performance characteristic of the propeller fan changes from radial to axial type as the flow rate increases. Unstable performance changes are the result of type change of the flow through the fan.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.386-394
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• 2002

The present work is aimed at investigating an unusual variation in flow and performance characteristics of a small propeller fan at low flow rates. A performance test of the fan showed dual performance characteristics, i.e., radial type characteristics at low flow rates and axial type at high flow rates. Dual performance characteristics of the fan are numerically investigated using viscous flow calculations. The Finite Volume Method is used to solve the continuity and Navier-Stokes equations in the flow domain around a fan. The performance parameters and the circumferentially averaged velocity components obtained from the calculations are compared with the experimental results. Numerical values of the performance parameters show good agreement with the measured values. The calculation simulates the steep variations of performance parameters at low flow rates and shows the difference in the flow structure between high and low flow rates. At a low flow coefficient of $\Phi$=0.2, the flow enters the fan in an axial direction and is discharged radially outward at its tip, which is much like the flow characteristics of a centrifugal fan. The centrifugal effect at low flow rates makes a significant difference in performance characteristics of the fan. As the inlet flow rate increases, flow around the fan changes into the mixed type at $\Phi$=0.24 and the axial discharge at $\Phi$=0.4.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2000

Performance and flow characteristics of a small forward swept propeller fan for home refrigerators are studied experimentally. An unusual discontinuity is observed in the performance curve of the fan. Mean flow fields measured with as-hole Pitot probe reveal that the flow is axial at the high flow rate and radial at the low flow rate. The flow structure changes abruptly across the discontinuity. Unsteady flow measurements with a set of hot-wire probes indicate that near the discontinuity a single-cell stall rotates at 40% speed of the fan speed, while away from the discontinuity the flow shows periodic variation corresponding to the blade passage frequency. Phase-lock averaged flow fields measured with a triple-sensor hot-wire probe show that there appears radially inward flow over the pressure side of the blade and the outward passage flow over the tip.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.26-35
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• 2021

In this study, CFD analysis was conducted to compare the aerodynamic performance of the isolated propeller and pusher propeller, which is affected by the wake of wide fuselage. The moving reference frame (MRF) method was used for isolated propeller analysis, while the MRF and sliding mesh method were used sequentially for the pusher propeller to analyze the change in the aerodynamic characteristics based on the azimuth angle. Under the same torque condition, the thrust of the pusher propeller was greater than that of the isolated propeller. Thrust increment of the pusher propeller was mainly generated near the root of the blade where the fuselage wake was concentrated. The net efficiency of the pusher propeller was greater than or equal to that of the isolated propeller. Because of the flat fuselage shape, thrust and torque of the pusher propeller periodically changed with the rotation of the propeller.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1586-1594
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• 1997

Performance characteristics of a small propeller fan are numerically investigated solving the continuity and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The Reynolds stresses for turbulent transport are modelled using a k-.epsilon. turbulence model. The present numerical procedure is constructed using the Finite Volume Method with the SIMPLE algorithms. The performance parameters obtained from the calculations are compared with the measured values for the various flow rates. A performance test of the fan shows different characteristics between a radial type at small flow rates and an axial type at large flow rates. Comparisons between the predictions and the measurements show that the predicted results are in good agreement with the measured values and reasonably reproduce the sharp variations of the power and head coefficient around a flow coefficient .PHI.=0.3. These comparisons indicate that the present numerical method is capable of resolving the performance characteristics with reasonable accuracy. At low flow rates, it is found that the flow enters the fan in an axial direction and is discharged radially outward at the tip which happens in the centrifugal fan. The centrifugal effect makes a significant difference in the characteristics of a fan at the low and high values of flow coefficient.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.4 no.2 s.11
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• pp.7-14
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• 2001

Design and development of a propeller fan for a cooling tower have been accomplished by both numerical prediction of performance and experimental validation with a wind tunnel. Main interest lies on blade geometry of a fan for optimal design of aerodynamic performance. A commercial program, Fine/Turbo used for the present numerical estimation, gives us engineering information such as flow details near the blades and flow rate of the system. The numerical results are compared with precise experimental output and show good agreement in comparison between the two data. Also new proposed model of a blade shows improved performance relative to present running model in market.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.570-574
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• 2012

Spread of household air conditioning system is continued to be increased. Axial fan in the external unit of air conditioning system is for ventilation and air supplying unit, and the related products have been widely adopted as household electronics, automobile engine, big sized blower in factory, tunnel, and subway. In this study, commercial 3-winged propeller fan is modified to shape and modified to 2-winged fan for the airflow increase and cost reduction. Using 3D modelling, the fan shape is modified, and analysis flow is adopted to provide the way to airflow increase and reduce cost while maintaining the same wind capacity.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.726-732
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• 2011

The aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of discharge grille of outdoor unit of air-conditioner was investigated in this study. Discharge grille is one of outdoor unit's important parts to affect the flow rate and Overall Sound Pressure Level(OSPL). New type of discharge grille was suggested based on the results of numerical simulation. To simulate the flow pattern near the propeller fan, commercial flow solver FLUENT was used. Sliding mesh method was used for rotating propeller fan and initial condition for unsteady model was calculated by Multiple Reference Frame(MRF) method. To minimize the interaction noise between fan blade wake and discharge grille, new discharge grille has radial rib which is aligned with trailing edge of fan blade. And inclined radial rib was adopted for reducing flow rate drop in discharge grille. The optimization of inclined angle of radial grille was performed experimentally.