Aeroacoustic performance evaluation of axial flow fans based on the unsteady pressure field on the blade surface

Because of the European and global regulation concerning acoustic emission, the goal of manufacturers is to substantially decrease the noise radiated by turbomachines, and in particular axial fans, without degrading their aerodynamic performances. High rotation speed and increasing power add to the overall difficulties. The theoretical study of this paper consists of two parts: (1) an aerodynamic approach based on the vortex surface method and (2) an aeroacoustic approach which mainly concerns the prediction of the tonal noise using the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (FW-H) equation. One of the main goals is the evaluation of the unsteady aerodynamic forces applied on the fan blades. A 2D software analysis, based on the vortex surface method (or potential flow method), was carried out. That process enabled evaluation of the potential flow around a mobile grid; first in a steady mode, and secondly in an unsteady mode by introducing an upstream disturbance in the form of an inlet velocity variation. The sources of noise corresponding to the zones with high force fluctuation amplitude are located initially on the blade surface. These fluctuating forces are used to predict the tonal noise radiated by the fan in far field by means of the FW-H equation. Two axial flow fans were used in this study. The theoretical results will be compared to the experimental ones in order to evaluate the aeroacoustic performances of the fans. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.