The design process for axial circulator fans currently utilizes methods founded during the 1960's. The success of these methods largely depends on the applicability of "actuating-disk" theory combined with the use of loss coefficients. The lack of generality inherent in this type of approach forces the designer into a costly "cut-and-try" mode. The current study demonstrates the applicability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the analysis of a circulator fan. Unlike most turbomachinery problems, the flow rate through the fan is not known and the pressure rise across the fan is very small. The numerical method utilized is the fully coupled hybrid finite-element finite-volume algorithm developed by Advanced Scientific Computing Ltd. (ASC). Boundary conditions are chosen so that the flow is induced naturally by the fan. The results obtained from this study compared well with experimental data and are used to evaluate the current analytical approach used in industry to predict the mass flow rate through the inner diameter region of the fan.
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