Rapid on-system cooling fan design and analysis using CFD and lifting surface theory

摘要

The design of automobile engine cooling fans has been improved through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), but the work presented to date typically has the fan working in a very idealized environment (e.g., a test chamber). Furthermore, current CFD codes do not typically offer a true blade design capability, but rather just the ability to analyze trial blade shapes. This paper addresses these issues by presenting a design and analysis methodology for axial flow fans operating on-system, including heat exchangers immediately upstream of the fan, a sharp contraction between the heat exchangers and fan, and severe blockage immediately downstream of the fan. All calculations can be done rapidly on a personal computer.