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On the theoretical link between design parameters

and performance in cross-ow fans: a numerical


and experimental study
Andrea Toolo
*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 135131 Padova, Italy
Received 23 June 2003; received in revised form 26 January 2004; accepted 26 April 2004
Available online 20 July 2004
Abstract
Cross-ow fan performance strictly depends on the complex conguration of the non-axisymmetrical
ow eld within the machine. The ow eld, in turn, is deeply inuenced by the design parameters of both
casing and impeller geometry. In this paper, the relationship between the design parameters of the geo-
metrical conguration and fan performance is discussed in a theoretical perspective, analyzing the features
of the corresponding ow elds. These are reconstructed by a numerical study on cross-ow fan operation
carried out for a representative set of congurations at dierent throttling conditions. Time-accurate
solutions for a two-dimensional viscous and incompressible model of the fan using a sliding mesh technique
are calculated with a commercial CFD code. The numerical results are validated with experimental data
obtained from tests on performance and from local measurements of the ow eld.
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
A well founded theory on cross-ow fan operation does not still exist because of the compli-
cated ow eld structure within the machine (Fig. 1). A double passage of the air across the blade
row and the formation of an eccentric vortex inside the impeller, due to the motion of the blades,
make it dicult to analyze the aerodynamics and the loss mechanisms of this category of fans.
*
Tel.: +39-49-827-6747; fax: +39-49-827-6785.
E-mail address: andrea.toolo@unipd.it (A. Toolo).
0045-7930/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compuid.2004.04.002
Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
www.elsevier.com/locate/compuid
The geometry of both casing and impeller exerts a signicant and complex inuence on these
phenomena, and fan performance is, therefore, hardly predictable from a given set of design
parameters values.
A systematic experimental investigation of fan performance has been recently presented in [1]
on the basis of the main design parameters identied in [2]. This is, however, an empirical
Nomenclature
c absolute velocity (m/s)
D diameter (m)
e specic energy (J/kg)
f normalized stream function
h height (m)
L axial length (m)
p pressure (Pa)
Q volumetric ow rate (m
3
/s)
R radial coordinate (m)
Re
D
u
2
D
2
q=l Reynolds number
s thickness (m)
u peripheral speed (m/s)
a log spiral angle (deg)
b angle of relative velocity (deg)
g eciency
l dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)
q density (kg/m
3
)
r stream function
U Q=LD
2
u
2
ow coecient
W Dp=0:5qu
2
2
pressure coecient
f angular coordinate (deg)
Subscripts and superscripts
1 internal
2 external
I rst blade passage
II second blade passage
b blade
d discharge
R rear wall
s static
t total
u tangential component
V vortex wall
50 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
reconstruction of the relationship between design parameters and fan performance, which is not
based on theoretical considerations drawn from the analysis of the corresponding ow eld within
the machine.
On the other hand, several analytic studies in the literature have tried to evaluate fan perfor-
mance starting from the characteristics of the ow eld pattern. Eck [3] and Coester [4] proposed
to describe the streamlines within the impeller by a potential ow produced by a number of
vorticity sources lying on the inner periphery of the blade row. Tramposch [5] then used this
model to calculate the energy transfer across the impeller by assuming ideal conditions of inci-
dence and discharge on the outer blade edges. Ilberg and Sadeh [6] used a combined vortex (a
forced vortex in the core and free vortex potential ow outside) to reproduce the velocity eld
inside the impeller. Their model, however, requires the knowledge of data retrieved from exper-
imental measurements or ow visualization, and, therefore, cannot be used for predictive pur-
poses. Ikegami and Murata [7] calculated the theoretical performance of a simplied cross-ow
fan conguration (two straight casing walls separating suction and discharge zones) as a function
of the eccentricity and the angular position of two vorticity sources, one inside and the other
outside the impeller. An actuator model was suggested in the experimental studies by Yamafuji
[8]. The streamlines are concentric to the vortex center and have a constant velocity which de-
pends on the radius of the streamline and the eccentricity of the vortex. Fan performance is then
calculated for dierent eccentricities and angular positions of the vortex and for dierent impeller
geometries, dened by the ratio of the internal and external diameters and the external blade
angle.
Although these models are able to capture some performance trends that are experimen-
tally veried, they all fail in predicting accurately the characteristic curves. The main causes
are the lack of reliable models to represent the loss mechanisms and the over-simplifying
assumptions that do not consider some complex but fundamental features of the ow eld
pattern.
This paper aims at explaining how a specic set of design parameters corresponds to a given
performance and eciency in a theoretical perspective based on a detailed analysis of the ow
eld. The latter is reconstructed by means of CFD simulations, the results of which are validated
with the experimental data presented in [1,9].
Fig. 1. The most signicant parameters aecting fan performance and eciency.
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 51
2. The numerical analyses
2.1. The simulation program
The aim of the numerical analyses is to simulate a set of representative cross-ow fan cong-
urations, obtained using dierent values of the design parameters that exert the most signicant
inuence on fan performance and eciency. These parameters derive from the parameterization
suggested in [2] and have been identied in a systematic experimental study [1]. They are the angle
a of the logarithmic spiral that controls the radial width of the rear wall, the height h
d
and the
thickness s
V
of the vortex wall (Fig. 1).
The choice of the congurations to be simulated is driven by the indications obtained in [1] as
well. Three values are considered for the rear wall radial width, corresponding to dierent shapes
of the fan characteristic curve. In fact, small, intermediate and large radial widths result in
ascending, nearly at and descending W
t
U curves, respectively. The considered rear walls are
shown in Fig. 2. The small radial width rear wall RE is Ecks patented rear wall and is made up of
two circular arcs, one of which centered on impeller axis. The intermediate (R2r) and large (R3r)
radial width rear walls are two log spiral rear wall, having a 17:2 and 23.6, respectively.
Vortex wall geometry can be subdivided in two main categories according to thickness. The at
thin s
v
=D
2
0:13 vortex wall used in [1] is combined with all the three rear walls. Only the two
positions in which high performance and eciencies were achieved in [1] are considered and are
indicated as H1 h
d
=D
2
0:185 and H2 h
d
=D
2
0:316 in Fig. 2. In the other category, two
thick vortex walls are matched with the only small radial width rear wall RE, because of the high
eciencies obtained from this combination of design parameters. The two vortex walls, shown in
Fig. 2, are the modular vortex wall S3H1 already used in [1], having s
v
=D
2
0:39 and
h
d
=D
2
0:185, and Ecks patented vortex wall VE. All the selected casing shapes are then com-
bined to the impeller for which the validity of the similarity laws has been veried in [10], having
24 circular arc blades and the external and internal blade angles equal to 38 and 70, respectively.
The impeller has the external diameter D
2
equal to 152.4 mm, the axial length L equal to
228.6 mm, and rotates at 1000 rpm.
Each of the resulting fan congurations is simulated at the ow rates corresponding to ow
coecients equal to 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, provided that these values are lower than the ow
coecient at free blowing. The same fan congurations, at the same ow conditions, were also
Fig. 2. The casing shapes selected for the numerical simulations.
52 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
selected in [9] for an experimental program to determine the local pressures and velocities of the
ow eld inside the impeller.
2.2. The CFD model
The numerical simulations are performed using the commercial general-purpose CFD code
FLUENT by Fluent Inc. A two-dimensional computational grid in the plane perpendicular to
machine axis is developed to model the ow domain to be analyzed. The axial components of the
velocity vectors are not considered because of the ratio between the axial length and the external
diameter of the impeller is equal to 1.5. In fact, according to the literature [11], three-dimensional
eects can be neglected if the ratio L=D
2
is inside the range between 0.5 and 4.
In spite of the high computational eort required for the calculation of an unsteady solution,
the motion of the impeller is modeled using a sliding mesh technique, in which part of the
computational grid is actually rotated in a time-dependent simulation. On the other hand, the
frozen rotor or the mixing plane techniques would not be eective in this application, be-
cause of the high non-uniformity of the ow conditions around the impeller.
The grid is subdivided into two zones: the rst is the moving zone that includes the impeller
blades, whereas the second is stationary and is bounded by machine walls (Fig. 3). The inlet of
the computational domain is placed two diameters upstream the impeller, that is where the ow
is supposed to be undisturbed by the local perturbations induced by impeller motion. On
the discharge side, part of the facility in which the fans were tested is included in the compu-
tational domain in order to simulate accurately the highly non-uniform ow that is formed in
the duct between impeller exit and the discharge section. Thus, domain outlet is placed after
the plenum chamber, in the throat of the Venturi nozzle which is used to measure the volumetric
ow rate (Fig. 3). This choice makes available a section in which the ow conditions are as
uniform as possible, in order to have the imposed boundary conditions as close as possible to
reality.
The grid of both the rotating and the stationary zone is made up of quadrilateral cells and is
unstructured to allow a thickening of the nodes in the regions in which fan geometry causes large
gradients of ow quantities. The region adjacent to the interface between the two zones, a cir-
cumference concentric to impeller axis, is discretized using regular quadrilateral cells, the number
of which determines the overall size of the grid. The number of intervals in which the interface is
Fig. 3. Boundaries of the computational domain and detail of the blade-to-blade grid.
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 53
subdivided was chosen as a trade-o between the computational eort required and the accuracy
of the numerical solution. In Fig. 4, fan performance and eciency predicted for the R2r-H1
conguration using four dierent levels of grid renement, having 240, 360, 480 and 600 cells
along the interface (from 10 to 25 cells across a blade passage), are compared to the experimental
results collected in [1]. It appears that the predictions obtained with 480 cells are grid independent
and suciently accurate (see also the complete validation of the experimental results in Section
2.3). The resulting mesh contains approximately 25,000 cells in the rotating zone and from 60,000
to 90,000 in the stationary zone, depending on the geometrical fan conguration to be simulated.
A detail of the blade-to-blade grid is provided in Fig. 3.
Air is considered as an incompressible uid, the pressure rise generated by the fan being in the
range of decades of Pascals. Viscous eects are taken into account by means of the renormal-
ization group (RNG) ke turbulence model, as Fluent Users Manual [12] recommends when
ows characterized by strong streamline curvature and relatively low Reynolds numbers
(Re
D
80; 000 in this case) are considered. Wall functions are used to model the ow in the near-
wall region and the values of y

in the unseparated regions are kept in the range between 30 and


60, as suggested in [12]. The portion of the mesh containing the impeller is rotated by steps of
0.000125 s, which makes the grid shift by 0.75. The impeller, therefore, performs a complete
rotation in 480 steps, corresponding to 0.06 s.
At domain inlet a boundary condition of constant total pressure, equal to ambient pressure, is
imposed, whereas at domain outlet a constant value of the velocity is imposed in the throat section
of the Venturi nozzle by xing the volumetric ow rate through the fan. This choice of boundary
conditions is preferable to the imposition of total pressure at domain inlet and static pressure at
domain outlet. In fact, fan congurations having unstable or at W
s
U curves, for which the
relationship between volumetric ow rate and discharge static pressure is not biunivocal, can be
simulated without ambiguities.
The simulation of a given fan conguration at given ow coecients starts from a quiescent
ow condition and proceeds until a quasi-steady state is reached, that is when the uctuations of
the main ow quantities become periodic. This takes from 4 to 10 impeller rotations depending on
the conguration and the ow rate, corresponding to 2050 h of CPU time on a four-processor
Compaq AlphaServer ES40 (clock frequency 667 MHz). Fan performance and eciency are then
calculated from the time and space average of some quantities characterizing the ow eld. The
static pressure rise across the fan Dp
s
is evaluated by averaging in both time and space the local
R2r - H1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0

t
experimental
240 cells
360 cells
480 cells
600 cells
R2r - H1
0
10
20
30
0.0 0.5 1.0

t
%
experimental
240 cells
360 cells
480 cells
600 cells
Fig. 4. Grid renement test according to the number of cells along grid interface.
54 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
static pressure on the fan discharge section. The total pressure rise across the fan Dp
t
is cal-
culated by adding to Dp
s
the dynamic pressure corresponding to the mean velocity in the discharge
section, obtained by dividing the volumetric ow rate by the area of the discharge section. It is
worth noting that the same procedure for the experimental measure of these quantities is followed
by the UNI 10531 [13] standard on test methods and acceptance conditions for industrial fans
(equivalent to ISO 5801 [14]). Finally, the torque on the blade row, which is required to calculate
the total eciency, is evaluated by averaging in time the integral of the torque (pressure and
viscous stresses) acting on the blades with respect to impeller axis.
2.3. Validation of the results
An example of the results obtained with the CFD model of the cross-ow fan described in the
previous section is given in Fig. 5, where the contours of the total pressure eld with velocity
vectors superimposed are plotted for three sample congurations. To validate the capabilities of
the model, the results of the numerical simulations are compared to the experimental data about
fan performance and eciency collected in [1] and to those about the ow eld within the impeller
collected in [9]. In fact, very dierent ow eld patterns within the same geometric conguration
may result in identical values of performance and/or eciency. These comparisons are presented
in Fig. 6 for the characteristic curves W
t
U and g
t
U of all the considered congurations, and
in Fig. 7 for the local ow quantities of sample congurations on two circumferences having
R 20 mm and R 40 mm in a plane perpendicular to impeller axis.
Fig. 5. Contour plots of the total pressure elds for three sample congurations (with velocity vectors superimposed).
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 55
R3r - H1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
R2r - H1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
RE - H1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
RE - S3H1
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0

t
%

t
t
0
20
40
60
R3r - H2
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
R2r - H2
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
RE - H2
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0
0
20
40
60
RE - VE
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
0.0 0.5 1.0

t
%
t
t

t
%

t
%

t
%

t
%

t
%
t
t

t
%
t
t
0
20
40
60
Fig. 6. Fan performance (circles) and eciency (triangles) according to experimental data (white symbols) and
numerical simulations (black symbols).
56 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
The numerical simulations apparently reproduce the real performance and ow elds with a
satisfactory accuracy. The largest dierences between experimental data and numerical results are
due to two main causes:
The CFD model is two-dimensional and is not able to simulate the axial components of the
velocity vectors due to three-dimensional eects. These components become comparable to
those perpendicular to machine axis as ow rate decreases U < 0:4 and the space between
the impeller and the rear wall increases (i.e., larger rear wall radial widths).
The number of cells of the model has been limited due to the high computational eort re-
quired by the sliding mesh technique for the calculation of the unsteady solutions. As a con-
sequence, the interaction between recirculating ow and blade row is reproduced with lower
accuracy as vortex eccentricity and strength increase, that is as ow rate U > 0:8 and the
rear wall radial width increase, due to the highly distorted streamlines and high energy losses
in the vortex core.
3. The analysis of the results
3.1. Denition of a normalized stream function
The quantities of the ow eld on the external circumference of the impeller are not analyzed
here according to the angular coordinate, because of the non-uniform distribution of the radial
RE-VE =0.2
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
-180 -120 -60 0 60 120 180

t
R=40mm (num)
R=40mm (exp)
R=20mm (num)
R=20mm (exp)
R3r-H2 =0.2
-20
-16
-12
-8
-4
0
4
-180 -120 -60 0 60 120 180
s

R=40mm (num)
R=40mm (exp)
R=20mm (num)
R=20mm (exp)
RE-S3H1 =0.6
0
1
2
3
4
-180 -120 -60 0 60 120 180
v/u2
R=40mm (num)
R=40mm (exp)
R=20mm (num)
R=20mm (exp)
R2r-H1 =1.0
-60
-30
0
30
60
90
120
-180 -120 -60 0 60 120 180

yaw
R=40mm (num)
R=40mm (exp)
R=20mm (num)
R=20mm (exp)

Fig. 7. Examples of validation of characteristic ow quantities.


A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 57
velocity that would make it dicult to formulate considerations on mean values. Instead, a nor-
malized stream function f is dened as illustrated in Fig. 8 and is used for an easier comparison
among dierent congurations or at dierent ow coecients. First, a stream function r is dened
as usual for the time-averaged velocity eld calculated with the numerical simulations. Then, the
zero of the normalized stream function f is assigned to the streamline that brushes the vortex wall
and envelopes the recirculating ow r r
V
, while the value 1 is assigned to the streamline that
brushes the rear wall r r
R
. The value of f for a generic streamline r is dened as:
f r r r
V
=r
R
r
V
1
Therefore, f is equal to a number between 0 and 1 for a streamline of the throughow, to a
negative number for a streamline of the recirculating ow and to a number greater than 1 for a
streamline that belonging to the portion of the ow that returns to suction.
Fig. 8. Denition of the normalized stream function f .
R2r - H1
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
-4 -3.5 -3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
normalized stream function
t
= 0.4
f
l
o
w
r
e
c
i
r
c
u
l
a
t
i
n
g

t
h
r
o
u
g
h
f
l
o
w


r
e
t
u
r
n
i
n
g

t
o

s
u
c
t
i
o
n

Fig. 9. The local total pressure coecient along the external circumference of the impeller.
58 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
The values of some characteristic quantities of the ow eld along the external circum-
ference of the impeller are plotted for a sample conguration and for a single ow coecient
in Figs. 911, to illustrate the theoretical basis of the analysis that is developed in the fol-
lowing sections. In these gures, two ordinates correspond to a single abscissa, since each
streamline crosses twice the external circumference of the impeller (see the example in
Fig. 8 for a generic streamline r). In all the gures, the lower ordinate represents the value
that the plotted quantity assumes when the streamline enters the impeller, while the upper
ordinate represents the value that the plotted quantity assumes when the streamline leaves the
impeller.
R2r - H1
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
-4 -3.5 -3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
normalized stream function
c
u2
/u
2
= 0.4
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
f
l
o
w

r
e
t
u
r
n
i
n
g

t
o

s
u
c
t
i
o
n

r
e
c
i
r
c
u
l
a
t
i
n
g

f
l
o
w

Fig. 10. The ratio between the tangential velocity and the peripheral speed along the external circumference of the
impeller.
R2r - H1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
normalized stream function

2
= 0.4

2b
Fig. 11. The relative velocity angle along the external circumference of the impeller.
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 59
Fig. 9 shows the values of the local total pressure coecient W
t
along the external circum-
ference of the impeller. At impeller inlet the values of the streamlines coming from suction f > 0
are null, even if the perturbing eects of the blade motion appear. On the other hand, the average
of the values of the throughow streamlines 0 < f < 1 at impeller exit is the discharge mean
total pressure of the throughow. Therefore, this value represents the total pressure rise across the
impeller and, apart from the viscous losses in the duct between impeller exit and the discharge
section, across the fan itself. The impeller makes the total pressure of the streamlines returning to
suction f > 1 rise as well, but this transferred energy is completely lost. Finally, the total
pressure of a streamline of the recirculating ow at impeller exit is not varied, apart from the
viscous losses, when it re-enters the impeller. In fact, the two ordinates corresponding to the same
abscissa are practically superimposed for f < 0.
Fig. 10 shows the values of the ratio between the tangential component of the absolute velocity
c
u2
and the peripheral speed u
2
along the external circumference of the impeller. The area
bounded by these values is the integral of the variation of c
u2
between inlet and outlet for all the
streamlines owing through the impeller. This area is, therefore, a measure of the mechanical
energy transferred from the impeller to the ow. Actually, the exact expression of the specic
energy transferred to a single streamline is:
e c
II
u2
u
2
c
II
u1
u
1
c
I
u1
u
1
c
I
u2
u
2
2
but the contributions of the tangential components on the inner circumference of the impeller can
be neglected since they almost annul each other. The energy fractions that are transferred to the
recirculating ow, the throughow and the ow returning to suction can be evaluated by dividing
the area of the diagram along the abscissae f 0 and f 1. The total eciency can then be
estimated by comparing the total pressure rise across the fan to the overall mechanical energy
transferred by the impeller, whereas the hydraulic eciency can be determined by comparing the
total pressure rise across the fan to the fraction of the mechanical energy that is transferred by the
impeller to the only throughow. The volumetric eciency can be evaluated, as usual, as the ratio
between the throughow and the overall ow rate, but an interesting alternative formulation is to
consider the ratio between the energy fraction associated with the throughow and the overall
energy transferred by the impeller. In the latter case the total eciency can be expressed as the
product of the hydraulic and the volumetric eciencies.
Fig. 11 shows the values of the relative angle of the velocity vector b
2
along the external
circumference of the impeller for the only throughow streamlines. The incidence conditions can
be estimated in this diagram by comparing the eective relative angles to the blade external angle
b
2b
. Stall is likely to occur for the streamlines having the relative angles b
2
much lower than b
2b
.
Figs. 1214 show the values of W
t
, c
u2
=u
2
and b
2
, respectively, for all the selected congurations
at all the considered ow coecients and are discussed in the following.
3.2. Total eciency
For a generic conguration, the total eciency at low ow rates is poor due to the signicant
volumetric losses. In fact, the ratio between the throughow and the overall ow rate through the
impeller is low because of both the fractions of the ow recirculating around the vortex core and
returning to suction (Figs. 12 and 13). At intermediate ow rates, the ow coecient being around
60 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
Fig. 12. The local total pressure coecient for the selected congurations at all ow coecients.
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 61
Fig. 13. The ratio c
u2
=u
2
for the selected congurations at all ow coecients.
62 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
Fig. 14. The relative velocity angle b
2
for the selected congurations at all ow coecients.
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 63
0.6, these fractions are noticeably reduced while, on the other hand, the variation of the tangential
components of the velocity across the impeller is increased for all the streamlines (Fig. 13). A
substantial equilibrium, therefore, occurs between the reduction of the volumetric losses, which
tends to increase the total eciency, and the hydraulic eciency drop due to the increase of vortex
eccentricity and strength. This equilibrium results in a maximum in the g
t
U curve (Fig. 6).
Finally, when the ow coecient approaches 1.0, the further reduction of the volumetric losses
does not counterbalance the further decrease of the hydraulic eciency due to both the increase in
the variation of the tangential velocity components and the worse incidence conditions that make
stall arise in a large portion of the suction arc (Fig. 14).
The highest total eciencies, which are obtained using thick vortex walls matched with small
radial width rear walls, can be justied considering the reduced extension of the suction arc and
the larger space occupied by the thick vortex wall itself. These geometrical features result in a
drastic improvement of the volumetric eciency (Figs. 12 and 13). In fact, at low ow rates the
total eciencies obtained with the congurations RE-S3H1 and RE-VE are at least twice those
obtained with any other conguration having the thin vortex wall (Fig. 6). Moreover, the
hydraulic eciency is enhanced as well, since the vortex is less eccentric and the distribution of the
relative velocity angle at impeller inlet is more uniform (Fig. 14), preventing stall phenomena at
intermediate ow rates.
Conversely, in the congurations with the thin vortex wall, the wider extension of the suction arc
results in an increased portion of the ow returning to suction and the small vortex wall thickness
causes a stronger recirculation which involves a ow rate that is nearly equal to the throughput one
for U 0:6 (Figs. 12 and 13). The volumetric losses are, therefore, the main reason for the poorer
total eciencies obtained with these congurations. Moreover, incidence losses play a major role in
making the total eciency decrease at the highest ow rates. Although the angles of the relative
velocity increase with the ow coecient in the portion of the suction arc adjacent to the vortex
wall, thus improving incidence conditions, a larger and larger fraction of the throughow ap-
proaches the blade row at higher incidence angles in the portion of the suction arc that is closer to
the rear wall for UP0:8 (Fig. 14). The combinations of the small radial width rear wall with the
thin vortex wall (congurations RE-H1 and RE-H2) are particularly unfavorable because of the
little space that is available to the vortex and the consequent low values of both volumetric and
hydraulic eciencies. A better total eciency is obtained, in fact, with the highest positions of the
vortex wall (Fig. 6). When intermediate and large radial widths of the rear wall are considered, both
larger radial width rear walls and higher positions of the thin vortex wall tend to exert a negative
inuence on the total eciency because they allow the recirculating ow to expand inside the
machine. This expansion results in an increased rate of the recirculating ow and in an increase of
the energy transferred to it by the impeller (Fig. 13). These negative eects are overweighted by the
reduction of the ow rate returning to suction and the associated energy. On the other hand, the
decrease of the relative angles of the velocity at impeller inlet result in worse incidence conditions
for both larger radial width rear walls and higher positions of the vortex wall (Fig. 14).
3.3. The shape of the characteristic curve
The variation of the tangential component of the velocity increases with the ow coecient for
all the congurations, as expected from the simplied one-dimensional theory on cross-ow fan
64 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966
operation formulated by Eck [3]. However, dierent shapes of the W
t
U characteristic curves are
experimentally and numerically obtained, as already mentioned in Section 2.1 (see also [1]),
depending on the rear wall radial width.
In the congurations having a small radial width rear wall, the vortex is forced to be not very
strong and eccentric at low ow rates. In such a ow eld pattern the tangential components of
the velocity at impeller exit are small (Fig. 13). Therefore, the total pressure coecient cannot be
high, in spite of the high hydraulic eciency due to the low eccentricity and strength of the vortex.
As ow rate increases, the vortex gets stronger and moves towards more eccentric positions. This
results in an increasing variation of the tangential components of the velocity, which produces an
ascending characteristic curve at least until the hydraulic eciency remains high (Figs. 6 and 13).
For intermediate radial widths of the rear wall, the vortex is already strong and eccentric en-
ough at low ow rates to form a ow eld in which the variation of the tangential components of
the velocity are high, generating high values of W
t
(Fig. 13). As ow rate increases, the charac-
teristic curve is almost constant because of the substantial equilibrium between the eects of a
stronger and more eccentric vortex (which tend to increase the total pressure coecient) and the
hydraulic eciency drop due to the more complex interaction between the recirculating ow and
the blade row.
Finally, for large rear wall radial widths, the negative eects of the diminished hydraulic e-
ciency, which also depends on the worse incidence conditions with the arising of stall phenomena,
prevail over the further increase of the variation of the tangential components of the velocity due
to the highest vortex strengths and eccentricities, and result in a descending trend of the char-
acteristic curve (Figs. 6 and 13).
Higher positions of the thin vortex wall tend to make the characteristic curve more stable
because they generate stronger and more eccentric vortices. Moreover, the entire ow eld follows
the clock-wise movement of the vortex. This results in a larger number of streamlines having low
energy, because of the unfavorable incidence conditions, that are included in the throughow.
These streamlines would otherwise return to suction for lower positions of the vortex wall.
3.4. The maximum ow rate
The values of the maximum ow rate obtained for dierent combinations of the most signi-
cant design parameters can be justied considering that larger discharge sections, which are ob-
tained for larger radial width rear walls and/or higher positions of the vortex wall, result in
decreasing mean velocities at fan outlet. The curve of the static pressure coecient, therefore,
increases, tending to approach the curve of the total pressure coecient, and this makes the ow
rate at free blowing increase. However, these modications of the geometric conguration lead to
a lower energy transfer as well. Consequently, an optimal combination of the design parameters
exists for which the fan ow rate at free blowing has a maximum value.
4. Conclusions
The present study on cross-ow fan operation conrms the tendencies that were high-
lighted in the experimental investigations by the same group of authors [1,9,10]. The inuence
A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966 65
of the most signicant design parameters on performance and eciency, which was simply
outlined in [1], and on the ow eld pattern, which was examined in [9] inside the impel-
ler, has been analyzed here in details and the ow elds determined by representative com-
binations of the design parameters have been theoretically linked to fan performance and
eciency through a streamline by streamline discussion. The circle of relationships existing
among:
design parameters (the radial width of rear wall is the most important, followed by the position
and the thickness of the vortex wall);
ow eld pattern (mainly characterized by the strength and the position of the vortex core
inside the impeller);
performance (total pressure coecient, total, volumetric and hydraulic eciency, maximum
ow coecient);
is now closed. This is the basic step towards the formulation of a general theory on cross-ow fan
operation.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Prof. Andrea Lazzaretto and Prof. Antonio Dario Martegani for
the helpful discussions and their useful suggestions.
References
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[3] Eck B. Fans. Oxford: Pergamon Press; 1973.
[4] Coester R. Theoretische und experimentelle Untersuchungen an Querstromgeblase. Mitteilungen aus dem Institut
fur Aerodynamic ETH. 1959. p. 28.
[5] Tramposch H. Cross-ow fan. ASME Paper No. 64-WA/FE-25. 1964.
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[11] Clayton BR. A review and appraisal of crossow fans. Building Services Eng 1975;42:23047.
[12] Fluent v5.4 Users Manual. Fluent Inc., Lebanon, NH.
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66 A. Toolo / Computers & Fluids 34 (2005) 4966

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