ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF COMPUTATIONAL

FLUID DYNAMICS WITH OPTIMIZATION FOR TWO

MODELS OF AXIAL FANS, PLANE-CURVED AND
AERODYNAMICS BLADE.
Ramiro G. R. Camacho1, Waldir de Oliveir1, Edna R. da Silva1, Eraldo C. dos Santos2, Tania M. A.
Ângulo1, Ewerson F. S. dos Santos1, Carlos E. A. da Costa3, Tania C. A. dos Reis3, Kelly C. A.
Pereira3.
1
Federal university of Itajubá, Av. BPS, 1303, Bairro Pinheirinho, Itajubá - MG - Brasil. 37500
903
2
Federal university of Pará – UFPA, Rua Augusto Corrêa, 01 – Guamá, Belém - Pará - Brasil
66075-110.
3
Brentech Energia S. A. Jardim Ipanema, Aparecida de Goiânia – GO - Brasil, 74984-290
e-mail:ednaunifei@yahoo.com.br

Abstract. Axial fans having an inadequate inlet geometry often induce flow at the inlet varying
from spatially asymmetrical velocity profiles to rotations of that flow which float with time and
give rise to random forces acting on the blades. This produces temporal broadband noise which, in
most cases, triggers tonal noise. In a first phase, it is intended to establish criteria of aerodynamic
design of axial fan rotor for cooling systems of internal combustion engines based on the condition
resulting from the linear cascade theory and the lift wing theory. For the solution of the radial
equilibrium equation the free-vortex and a vortex-forced type are used. CFD techniques are used to
obtain better efficiencies, so several geometric parameters are modified, without changing the fan
operating point, two geometries (curved flat blade and aerodynamic shovel) are drawn and the
analysis of the flow is performed for comparison purposes. The blades are formed by aerodynamic
profiles of the NACA series For the analysis of the noise in turbomachines, techniques are used that
are able to capture the effects in the permanent flow (sources of broadband noise) and non-
permanent, using numerical techniques RANS, URANS (Unsteady-Reynolds-Media-Navier -
Stokes), LES and DNS (direct and integrated methods). Motivated by the need to develop an
efficient fan with low noise generation, this work aims to develop a fan that can reduce the level of
sound power. These effects are analyzed using computational fluids dynamics - CFD, with
optimization process. From the studies it is expected to obtain an axial fan with reduction of the
level of noise produced by the cooling system by up to 15% in relation to the types of fans
commercially used.

Keywords: ventiladores axiais, níveis de ruido, URANS, LES, otimização

Introduction

The UTEs (thermo-electric plants) with basis in groups of diesel engines present sound levels
less acceptable, Where there is a concentration of noise emitters of higher intensity in the exhaust
gas system and in the axial fan of the engine cooling system [1]. Specifically, the operational
characteristics of the axial fans of the Aparecida of Goiana plant’s generation group, managed by
Brentech Energia S/A, will be analyzed.
In order to reduce noise levels, a high-performance rotor design methodology is presented where
aerodynamic analyzes of the rotors are applied to reduce and/or control the separation regions of the
boundary layers and vortices associated with pressure reductions Sound.
 It is intended to extend the methodology developed for plane-curved blades [2], typical of
generator groups that operate as diesel engines, with the objective of finding the regions of energy
dissipation associated with the sound intensities, in order to compare the kind of ventilators to be
used as reference and which should be tested in the laboratory (wind tunnel) and in a UDG
(Generator Diesel Unit) of a thermo-electric plant in operation.
Another action to be taken is, through optimization processes, to create geometries with low noise
and with optimal dimensions that serve as reference for the construction of the axial fan prototype.

Methodology

The theory of flow in linear cascades is widely applied in the aerodynamic design of rotors and
stators of axial flow machines, both motor and generator.
From 1940, the calculation of axial turbomachinery also started to incorporate some elements of
lift wing theory called (developed for aircraft flight). Although this flight theory has been developed
for the study of a "blade" isolated (an airplane wing), it can be satisfactorily applied to axial
machines having fewer blades, such as pumps, fans and hydraulic turbines [3].
The Figure 1 shown the axial fan shape, with plane-curved blades, typical of the cooling system
of the UTE Goiânia II’s Mitsubichi engine.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1: Axial fan picture (a); Virtual model of plane-curved blade (b); Virtual model of
Aerodynamic Blade(c);

Design methodology details with basis on the lift wing theory and the potential vortex hypothesis
to an axial fan can be found in [2].
The lift wing theory extended to the linear cascades considers the cascades circulation, the blade
force and the lift coefficient, where an expression can be obtained in which the grid variables and
the lift coefficient are correlated, as shown by Equations (1) and (2).
1
Fs  b wtcu  bCs w2  (1)
2
 2cu
Cs  (2)
t w
The expression represented by the equation (2) is the basis for the axial rotor design, considering
the potential vortex and the radial equilibrium condition, where losses are indirectly calculated by
the given value of hydraulic efficiency [3], [5].
Briefly, is mentioned a sequence for a calculation for an axial machine with aid this equation.
Initially are determined the diameters De, DI, with the use of Cordier diagram curve type [4];
1 Are drawn the velocity triangles for each radial station;
 2 With Ypá (= ucu), are calculated the values CS  / t;
3 Determined solidity ratio ( / t), it proceeds to obtain the values of CS;
4 Calculated the thickness ymax (material strength), are determined the attack angles ;
5 And finally are calculated the construction of the stagger angles .

Comparison: Plane-curved and Aerodynamic Blades

Through CFD analysis, it was possible to reproduce the operating conditions of the plane blade
fan, and from this model, propose solutions for the creation of new axial fan geometry [2], using the
principles of fluid mechanics. CFD analysis can show the effects of top clearance and quantify
energy dissipation. Table I present the design parameters, and the table II presents the preliminary
results at the design point.

Table I - Design parameters of UTE Goiânia Table II. Preliminary Calculation.

II’s engine system cooling.
Aerodynamic Plane-Curved
Aerodynamic Plane-Curved pt (Pa) 506,20 150,33
Q (m3/s) 9,18 83,68 Y (J/kg) 421,83 125,28
pt (mmH2O) 51,6 15,3 Ph (kW) 4646,88 12,63
n (rpm) 1770 1700 n (rps) 29,50 29,33
 (kg/m3) 1,2 1,2 Pe (kW) 7376,00 21,04
Nblades 9 9
d 2,02
h (%) 80,00 61,93
De (mm) 660 2008 σ 1,04
DiDe 0,3485 0,23
For the numerical analysis of the flow field, it was considered permanent, incompressible and
isothermal flow. For the automatic generation of geometry and the computational mesh, scripts
were generated in Tcl / Tk commands, interpreted by the commercial program ICEM-CFD.
Periodic channels were generated for the two axial rotor geometries, with and aerodynamic (Fig.
2) and plane-curved blades (Fig. 3). The periodicity condition is often applied in flow machines,
based on the radial equilibrium hypothesis, and it is not necessary to model the complete rotor for
the simulation. In Figures 2a and 2b the geometries for the complete rotor and the periodic channel
can be observed.
(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2: Axial fan rotor with tip clearance of aerodynamic blade; (a) Periodic channel; (b) Full
rotor and (c) computational mesh domain (2.062.186)
 (b) (c)
(a)

Figure 3: Axial fan rotor of plane-curved blade; (a) Periodic channel; (b) Full rotor and (c)
computational mesh domain (2.316.762)

The unstructured mesh was used with tetrahedral elements, with leading edge and trailing edge
refinements. The size of the elements is calculated using the criterion of y+ around 20. The mesh
was generated by the ICEM-CFD 17.2® commercial. For the calculation of the local flow field the
commercial program Fluent-CFD 17.2® was used. For the computer simulation, the turbulence
model k-ω/SST was used, which was adequate for the calculation of this type of internal flow in
turbomachinery.
Figure 4 shows the vortex of the blade tip resulting from the pressure difference between the
pressure side and the suction of the blade, causing disturbances of the flow downstream of the rotor.
At the blade tip (in dark blue), the separation of the boundary layers can be identified, causing
regions of negative pressure.

Figure 4: Aerodynamic blade of an axial Fan with vortex on the blade tip.

Figure 5: Plane-curved of an axial Fan with vortex on the blade tip.

 A tip clearance of 3% of the blade height, corresponding to 6.45 mm, was considered. This
value is apparently large, but often used in industrial axial fans.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the BRENTECH ENERGIA S/A, and NEPEN – Center for Studies and
Research Northeast by Financial Support, Federal University of Pará - UFPA and Federal
University Of Itajubá – UNIFEI by infrastructure to development of project.

References

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C. A, Methodology of Preliminary Design and Performance of an Axial-Flow Fan through
Computational Fluid Dynamics – CFD, proceedings ICAMAME 2016, Havana – Cuba, 2016
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Geração de Energia Elétrica, Tese de doutorado, Instituto de Engenharia Mecânica – IEM da
Universidade Federal de Itajubá – UNIFEI, 183 p., 2012.
[3] J. D. Anderson Jr. “Fundamentals of Aerodynamics”, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill International
Editions, Aerospace Science Series. 1991.
[4] R. Bran and Z. Souza. “Máquinas de Fluxo – turbinas, bombas e ventiladores”, Ao Livro
Técnico S.A., Rio de Janeiro. 1969.
[5] C. Pfleiderer. “Die Kreiselpumpen für Flüssigkeiten und Gase” Springer – Verlag. 1961.