Numerical simulation of the flow field in the vicinity of an axial flow fan

The main purpose of the current investigation is the development and evaluation of a numerical model used to simulate the effect of an axial flow fan on the velocity field in the vicinity of the fan blades. The axial flow fan is modeled as an actuator disc, where the actuator disc forces are calculated using blade element theory. The calculated disc forces are expressed as sources/sinks of momentum in the Navier–Stokes equations solved by a commercially available computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code, Flo⁺⁺. The model is used to determine the fan performance characteristics of an axial flow fan as well as the velocity fields directly up‐ and downstream of the fan blades. The results are compared with experimental data. In general, good agreement is obtained between the numerical results and experimental data, although the fan power consumption, as well as radial velocity downstream of the fan blades, is underpredicted by the fan model. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.