On the Fast Prediction of the Aerodynamic Performance of Electronics Cooling Fans Considering the Effect of Tip Clearance

Abstract

This study aims to complete and validate a recently developed reduced-order model for the fast prediction of aerodynamic performance (P -Q) curve of electronics cooling fans, taking into account the real fan geometry and the tip clearance effect. The effect of tip clearance on tip vortex generation and fan performance was revealed by an experimentally validated 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Six different tip clearance ratios ranging from 0% to 12.7% were investigated. The tip clearance was found to have a strong effect on tip vortex generation, which significantly affects the aerodynamic performance of the fan. Fan efficiency increased by up to 7% by reducing the tip clearance ratio by 2.5%. The tip clearance effect was successfully included by the analytical method combined with a correlation equation developed based on the CFD study. The results show that the combined reduced-order model can produce reasonably accurate predictions for fan P -Q curve with errors less than 7.1% compared to CFD results, while having a wide valid range of tip clearance ratio up to 10%. The precision of this model was further validated against experimental results for eight commercial fans. The computational speed of this model is more than three orders of magnitude faster than a steady-state CFD study, making it highly appropriate for fast analysis of fan performance and thermal-flow co-design.

Active and passive cooling techniques of graphical processing units in automotive applications - a review

“…These mechanisms regulate the fan speed based on the temperature of the GPU, ensuring that the fan runs at an optimum speed to ensure optimal cooling without making too much noise. According to Zhao et al, altering the design of the fan blades can also improve the heat dissipation property of fans [49].…”

Numerical Investigation on the Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Characteristics in New Energy Vehicle Cooling Fan with Shroud

“…The aeroacoustic characteristics of cooling fans are determined by their aerodynamics, such as flow separation, secondary flow and other special flow structures. A large number of studies have been performed on aerodynamic characteristics [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and aeroacoustic characteristics [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. For example, Nashimoto et al [3] used phase-averaged PIV measurement and found that the separation and reattachment of the flow occurred on the suction surface at the leading edge of the blade.…”

“…Bo et al [5] found that there is leakage flow in the tip clearance and high-velocity region on the suction side near the blade tip. Zhao et al [6] compared the vortex strength of the blade tips with different tip clearances and found that the proximity of a shroud mitigates tip vortices. Mo et al [10] found that there is a strong tonal noise at the leading edge of the blades with a high sound pressure level (SPL).…”