Multidisciplinary assessment of blade number and manufacturing parameters for the performance of centrifugal fans

Abstract

This work targets the development of the multidisciplinary design for centrifugal fans, based on the calculation of the fan performance following changes in the fan structure and manufacture. A parametric method that starts from the blade number and manufacturing parameters is first developed to control the shape of fan assembly and its fluid domain. The parametric code, and the aerodynamic and structure analysing codes are then integrated, from the solution of which algorithms are developed to calculate the fan indexes including the flow rate, pressure rise, fan efficiency, fan strength, and the motor power. Validation of the proposed method is performed by the comparison with an experimental test. An orthogonal sampling opens out relevant changes of the fan working performance with respect to the blade number and manufacturing parameters. Results suggest ranges for the blade number and manufacturing parameters that have a sound performance and structure safety when converting the motor power to airflow.