RESEARCH ON DESIGN METHODOLOGY OF SMALL AXIAL FAN : CONSIDERATION OF INLET FLOW VELOCITY FOR PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT‐

The efficiency of small axial fan used as cooling device in information technology machines is extremely low, comparing with conventional axial fan which is much larger than small fan. In the design of conventional axial fan, the axial velocity of the inlet flow is regarded as uniform along the blade span. However, in case of the small fan, the velocity could not be uniform.Because the hub-tip ratiois so large that the blade span will be too short to keep the uniform flow region. So, it is important to consider the distribution of the inlet flow condition for the better fan design. The present study is an attempt to improve the basic methodology of small axial fan design by a consideration of the inlet flow distribution obtained by the flow simulation. Some types of fans that the blade design parameters were modified by different assumed inlet flow distributions were fabricated and tested.修士(工学)法政大学 (Hosei University