Experimental investigation of metal foam for controlling centrifugal fan noise

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the metal foam for controlling a centrifugal fan noise. Nine samples of metal foam with different types of cells, i.e., open, semi-open and close, are employed to compare their effects on the aerodynamic performance and noise level of the centrifugal fan. Experimental data confirms that the open cell metal foam is the most effective to control the fan noise because it not only significantly suppresses the tonal noise but also attenuates the broadband noise. Moreover, the geometrical parameters of the open cell metal foam, i.e., pores per inch and porosity, are studied to investigate their effects on the aerodynamic performance and noise level of the centrifugal fan.