International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013)

CFD Analysis of Axial Flow Fans with Skewed Blades

Dushyant Dwivedi1, Devendra Singh Dandotiya2
1
Department of Thermal System and Design, Shriram College of Engineering & Management Banmore (MP)
Rajeev Gandhi Technical University Bhopal (INDIA)
Abstract— The present work deals with axial flow fans that
are primarily used for providing the required airflow for heat
and mass transfer operations in the various industrial
equipment and processes. It can be used for cooling,
ventilation or for drying purposes. These include cooling
towers for air-conditioning and ventilation, humidifiers in
textile mills, air heat exchangers for various chemical
processes, ventilation and exhaust as in mining industry. In
consideration of all these application various efforts in the
past have been done to evaluate the performance of axial flow
fans. In the present work computational investigation of axial
flow fan with Forward and Backward Skewed blade profile
carried out using CFD software FLUENT 6.3 and the results
are compared with the experimental results from literature.
The CFD analysis is done by modeling the axial fan in
GAMBIT 2.2 and using Standard k-є model with the
Standard wall function for modeling turbulence. The analysis
is carried out with blade stagger angle of 25o, Skewed angle of
8.3o and at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm. The aim is to analyze fan
with these two types of profiles and compare the static
pressure, flow rate, flow coefficient and pressure coefficient
generated by fan and hence finding the efficiency of an axial
flow fan. After carrying out computational investigation it is
found that computational results holds good agreement with
the experimental results taken from the literature.
 Exhausting dust and noxious fumes
 Conveying light materials
 Forced draft in steam boilers and in HVAC systems.
 Cooling of engine in automobiles also fan systems are
essential to keep manufacturing processes working,
Fans may be classified as centrifugal fans and axial-flow
fans. Centrifugal fans are further classified as radial fans
(with flat blades), forward curved fans, and backward
curved fans. Axial flow fans are further classified as
propeller fan, tube-axial fan and vane-axial fans.
Centrifugal fans increase the speed of an air stream with a
rotating impeller. The speed increases as the air reaches the
ends of the blades and is then converted to pressure. Thus,
in centrifugal fans, air is led through an inlet pipe to the
center or eye of the impeller, which forces it radially
outward into the volute or spiral casing from which it flows
to a discharge pipe. These fans are able to produce high
pressures, which makes them suitable for harsh operating
conditions, such as systems with high temperatures, moist
or dirty air streams, and material handling.

Keywords— Axial flow fan, skewed angle, flow rate, flow

coefficient, pressure coefficient, CFD.

I. INTRODUCTION
A fan is typically a mechanical device that causes a
movement of air, vapour and other gases in a given system.
The basic purpose of ―fan‖ is to move a mass of gas or
vapour at the desired velocity. For achieving this objective
there is slight increase in gas pressure across the fan rotor.
However, the main aim remains to move gas without any
appreciable increase in pressure. The axial flow fans are
widely used for providing the required airflow for heat and
mass transfer operations in the various industrial equipment
and processes. These include the following applications:
 Cooling towers for air-conditioning and ventilation
 Humidifiers in textile mills
 Air heat exchangers for various chemical process
 Ventilation and exhaust in mining industry
 Cooling electric motors and generators

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Fig.1.1 Types of Axial Flow fans
Axial fans move an air stream along the axis of the fan.
The way these fans work can be compared to a propeller on
an airplane: the fan blades generate an aerodynamic lift that
pressurizes the air. Thus, in an axial-flow fan, with the
runner/rotor and guide vanes in a cylindrical housing, air
passes through the runner/rotor without changing its
distance from the axis of rotation. There would be no
centrifugal effect on the airflow generated. Guides or stator
vanes serve to smoothen or straighten the airflow and
improve efficiency.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013)
In general, an axial-flow fan is suitable for a larger flow
rate with a relatively small pressure gain and a centrifugal
fan for comparatively smaller flow rate and a large pressure
rise.
A variable that is of considerable interest is the fan
efficiency. Unlike performance, the definition of efficiency
depends on the specific application of the fan. For
automotive cooling fans, the chosen velocity and length
scales are used to normalize the input power. The definition
of efficiency (where  shaft is the power delivered to the
fans drive shaft) can be expressed as:
Q

 shaft
(1.1)
1.1 Fan Efficiency
The standard description (Wallis 1983) [30] of a fan’s
performance is given in terms of the pressure rise (∆P) as a
function of the flow rate (Q). These variables are best
considered in dimensionless form. The length and velocity
scales most commonly used are the fan diameter (D) and
speed, respectively. The pressure coefficient
2.39  108  SP
  …….. (1.2)
D 2  rpm 2
and the flow coefficient
cfm
 k ………. (1.3)
D  rpm
3
are defined to provide a new functional dependence:
  () . For a given blade shape, this relationship
will be valid for a wide range of fan sizes and speeds
(Bleier, 1997) [2]. This reflects the insensitivity of the flow
field to the Reynolds number. That is, the non-dimensional
velocity and pressure fields are dominantly controlled by
inertial effects and the imposed boundary conditions; they
are insensitive to viscous effects. The above dimensional
reasoning leads to what is conventionally referred to as
―fan laws‖. Specifically, the scaling of dependent variables
which are independent of Reynolds number provides a set
of standard relationships commonly found in the literature
and texts.
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The fan efficiency is defined as the ratio of air power
(output) to shaft power requirement (input). An optimally
designed fan impeller with improved aerodynamics
requires less shaft input power for desired delivery of air
volume with total pressure rise as per the system
requirement. With reduced shaft power requirement, there
is a commensurate reduction in energy consumption.
Fan total efficiency =
total pressure rise (∆Pt) x volumetric flow rate (Q)
Shaft power
Thus the fan efficiency is directly contingent upon
selection of fan and the operating point relevant to the
system resistance.
1.2 Fan Laws
By using dimensional analysis and fluid dynamic
equations, basic fan laws (Bleier 1997) [2] can be derived
giving a relationship between airflow, static pressure,
power, speed, density of medium and noise. The fan laws
are useful in predicting the effect on fan performance when
certain operating parameters are changed. The following
are three basic fan laws showing relationship between the
speed (N in rpm) of the fan to flow-rate (Q in m3/sec or
CFM), change in the total pressure (∆P in Kg/cm2 or psi)
and the shaft power (P in kW or HP) required for driving
the fan:
Q N …… (1.4)
∆P  N2 ……. (1.5)
P0  N3 …… (1.6)
P0 and ∆P  1/Tabs (speed being constant), where T abs is
the absolute temperature of the medium i.e. air/gas. P0 and
∆P  ρ (speed being constant), where ρ being the density of
the medium.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Dunn et al. (1983) [10] done experimental analysis of
Reverse Performance Characteristics of main mine fans.
During a mine fire or other emergency, it may be desirable
to reverse the airflow in order to provide an escape way or
to isolate a fire. Also, in colder areas, the airflow may be
reversed to prevent ice buildup. When reversing main mine
fans, the mine operator usually does not know what
operating characteristics of flow and pressure to expect.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013)
Laboratory and field tests of vane axial main mine fans
were conducted to establish forward and reverse
performance characteristics under controlled conditions and
in typical mine installations. All fans tested were between
81 and 96 in. (2.1 and 2.4 m) in diameter. The vane axial
fan is show in Fig 2.1.The data obtained suggest that
reverse performance characteristics are dependent upon the
blade angle and the hub to tip ratio. The mine fan
performance curve is shown in Fig.2.2 There is also
evidence that reverse performance can be predicted for a
family of blade angles for a given hub to tip ratio.
Generally fan quantity is~30-60 % less in reverse than
when operating in the normal forward mode, with static
pressure equal to the square of the volume percentage
change.
Fig 2.1 Vane axial Fan (Dunn et al 1983)
Fig 2.2 Mine Fan Performance (Dunn et al 1983)
[35]
Yang et.al (2007) studied the flow mechanism
analysis and experimental study of a forward-skewed
impeller and a radial impeller in low pressure axial fan.
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Shown in Fig 2.3 The forward-skewed blade was
obtained by the optimization design of the radial blade and
CFD technique. Measurement of the two blades was carried
out in aerodynamic and aero acoustic performance.
Compared to the radial blade, the forward-skewed blade
has demonstrated the improvements in efficiency. The
aerodynamic performance curve is shown in Fig.2.4
Fig 2.3 3-D models of archetypal blade and optimized blade
(Yang et.al 2007)
Detailed flow measurement and computation were
performed for outlet flow field for investigating the
responsible flow mechanisms. The results show the
forward-skewed blade can cause a span wise redistribution
of flow toward the blade mid-span and reduce tip loading.
Fig 2.4 Aerodynamics Performance Curve (Yang et.al 2007)
This results in reduced significantly total pressure loss
near hub and shroud end wall region, despite the slight
increase of total pressure loss at mid-span.
III. NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION
About the geometry, computational domain, boundary
condition and numerical methods are explained which are
used to carry out analysis of axial flow fan in CFD
software. The geometry is created in Gambit 2.2 and the
analysis is carried out in the CFD software FLUENT 6.3.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013)
3.1 Basis of Present Investigation
The Fan test rig shown in the figure 3.1 is the
experimental setup used by Yang et al. to analyze the axial
fan at School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai
Jiaotong University, China. The setup consists of the axial
fan having diameter of 175 mm. The rotor consists of five
blades, with stagger angle of 25o, five hot wire
anemometers are provided to measure the speed of air.
Manometer is provided to measure the static pressure
generated by axial fan, Pitot tube is used to measure fluid
flow velocity. Thermometer is provided to measure
temperature of incoming air, barometer is provided to
measure the atmospheric pressure. The electric motor is
used as power source for axial fan, and then the streamline
lattice used. The parameters studied with this system were
flow rate, static pressure, velocity, pressure coefficient and
flow coefficient.

Fig 3.2 Three- dimensional (3-D) Model of Forward and Backward

Skewed Blade
Fig 3.1 Fan test rig
1-Test rotor 2- Five-hole probe hot wire anemometer 3 - Manometer 3.3 Fan Geometry
4- Pitot probe 5- Thermometer 6- Barometer 7-Electric motor 8- The computational domain consists of an axial flow fan
Streamlined lattice 9- Throttle cone having casing diameter equal to 500mm and hub diameter
3.2 Blade Profiles equal to 175 mm. The fan consists of five blades on the fan
There are two types of blade profile studied i.e. forward rotor. A 3D Geometry of Axial flow fan is modeled, for the
and backward skewed blade. The length of blade is 162.5 computation one – fifth section is used with periodic
mm there 5 blades mounted on rotor. The skewed angle of boundary conditions, for this turbo volume is created.3D
blade is 8.3o.For computational investigation the blade Geometry is shown in the figure 3.3 below.
profile is modeled in Gambit 2.2.
If the skewed direction of blade is along the rotation
direction of the rotor, it shows that the angle is greater than
0º and the rotor is called the forward-skewed rotor. If the
skewed direction of blade is along the reverse rotation
direction of the rotor, it shows that the angle is less than 0º
and the rotor is called the backward-skewed rotor.

Fig 3.3 Grid display

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 10, October 2013)
3.4 Turbo Volume
For the Modeling of Turbo machines such as Fans,
Turbines, Blowers, Compressors Gambit has a special
turbo tool to create turbo volume. For the analysis of axial
fan we create turbo volume in the current analysis we are
having 5 blades on the axial fan i.e. each blade is at the
angle of 72o, instead of doing analysis for whole fan the
analysis is carried out for the single blade.
Turbo volume consists of
1) Hub surface.(Consists of Single face)
2) Casing surface.(Consists of Single face)
3) Pressure side of blade. (consisting of three faces)
4) Suction side of blade. (consisting of three faces)
5) Periodic surface. (consisting of two faces) Fig 3.5 Hexagonal Mesh generated on Turbo Volume
6) Inlet. (Consists of Single face) 3.6 Governing Equations
7) Outlet. (Consists of one face)
The flow in the axial fan was assumed to be steady and
incompressible. For an incompressible, steady flow and
neglecting body forces, the governing mass continuity
(White FM 2001) and momentum equations can be written
in the Cartesian tensor form as

   ui 
0 ………… (3.1)
xi
u j p  ij
 ui   ……..… (3.2)
xi x j xi
Where for Newtonian fluids, the molecular dependent
momentum transport term is given by
Fig 3.4 Turbo Volume
 ui u j  2
3.5 Mesh  ij   t      ij k ……….. (3.3)
 x x
The Turbo volume generated is meshed with the  j i  3
unstructured Hexagonal mesh. Having coarse mesh with Where i, j = 1, 2, and 3.
102168 cells. The source Face is meshed first with pave
type, and the whole volume is meshed with Hexagonal 3.7 Standard k-ε Model
elements with cooper scheme. The unstructured meshes are The most popular two equation model is k-  .The
used due to the complexity of the geometry. earliest development efforts based on this model were those
Unstructured Grid - For very complex geometries, the of chou (1945) , Davidov (1961) and Harlow and
most flexible type of grid is one that can fit arbitrary Nakayama (1968).The central paper however, is that by
solution domain boundary. In principle, such grids are Jones and Launder (1972) that, in the turbulence modeling
applicable to any discretization scheme, but they are best community, has nearly reached the status of the Boussin eq.
adapted to the finite volume and finite element approaches. and Reynolds paper. That is the model is so well known
The elements or control volumes may have any shape; nor that it is often referred to as the standard k-  model. The
is there a restriction on the number of neighbor elements or following modeled transport equations for turbulence
nodes. In practice, grids made of triangles or quadrilaterals kinetic energy (k) and its rate of dissipation (  ) are used
in 2d, and tetrahedral or hexahedral in 3d are most often (Wilcox 1994).
used.

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   t  k  "Finite volume" refers to the small volume surrounding

  kui         Gk   .… (3.4) each node point on a mesh. In the finite volume method,
xi x j  k  x j  volume integrals in a partial differential equation that
contain a divergence term are converted to surface
        2 integrals, using the divergence theorem. These terms are
  ui      t  
 1C Gk  C2  then evaluated as fluxes at the surfaces of each finite
xi x j     x j  k k volume. Because the flux entering a given volume is
identical to that leaving the adjacent volume, these methods
………… (3.5)
are conservative. Another advantage of the finite volume
In these equations, Gk represents the generation of method is that it is easily formulated to allow for
unstructured meshes. The method is used in all commercial
turbulence kinetic energy due to the mean velocity computational fluid dynamics packages.
gradients. C1 and C2 are the model constants. The
4.2 Solution Method
turbulent (or eddy) viscosity t is computed by combining The segregated solver (Fluent 6.3 Documentation) was
k2 used to solve the governing equations for the conservation
k and  as follows t   C ……… (3.6) of the mass, momentum, and other scalars, such as
 turbulence. In this approach the non-linear governing
Where C is a constant (= 0.09) and the other model equations are solved sequentially using the iterative
technique. Each step in the iteration is as follows:
constants are
1. Fluid properties are updated, based on the current
C1  1.44, C2  1.92, C  0.09,  k  1.0,    1.3 solution (or the initial conditions) if just starting;
2. The x-, y-, and z- momentum equations are each
3.8 Boundary Conditions solved in turn using the current values of pressure and
INLET- The inlet of an axial fan is taken as Pressure inlet. face mass fluxes, in order to update the velocity field.
OUTLET– The outlet of an axial fan is taken as Pressure 3. Since the velocities obtained in step 2 may not satisfy
outlet. the continuity equation locally the ―Poisson-type‖
equation for the pressure correction is derived from
PERIODIC– Rotational periodic conditions are taken on
the continuity equation and the linearized momentum
the two faces of turbo volume.
equations. This pressure correction equation is then
CASING- Casing is considered as stationary wall. solved to obtain the necessary corrections to the
HUB– Hub is considered as wall with 0 RPM Relative to pressure and velocity fields and the face mass fluxes,
Adjacent cell zone. such that the continuity is satisfied.
FLUID– Fluid considered here is air and motion type 4. Where appropriate the equation for turbulence is
considered is Moving Reference Frame (MRF).The solved using the previously updated values of other
rotational speed is in RPM. variables.
5. A check for the convergence of the equation set is
PRESSURE SIDE– Pressure side is considered as wall with
made.
0 RPM Relative to Adjacent cell zone.
The governing equations which are discrete and non-
SUCTION SIDE– Suction Side is considered as wall with 0
linear are linearized to produce a system of equations for
RPM Relative to Adjacent cell zone.
the dependent variables in every computational cell. The
resultant linear system is then solved to yield an updated
IV. NUMERICAL METHODS flow-field solution. The governing equations were
4.1 Finite Volume Method linearized by the ―implicit‖ method with respect to the set
The finite volume method is a method for representing of dependent variables. By this method the unknown value
and evaluating partial differential equations as algebraic in each cell is computed using a relation that includes both
equations. Similar to the finite difference method, values existing and unknown values from neighboring cells.
are calculated at discrete places on a meshed geometry.

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Therefore, each unknown appearing in more than one
equation such as the velocity v and these equations are
solved simultaneously to give the velocity and pressure
values. A point implicit Gauss-Siedel linear equation is
used in conjunction with an algebraic multigrid (AMG)
method to solve the resultant scalar system of equations for
the dependent variables in each cell. Thus, the solver solves
for a single variable field like pressure, at one time
considering all cells. The next variable, like velocity, is
solved using the same technique.
4.3 Discretization
FLUENT 6.3 use a control-volume-based technique to
convert the governing equations to algebraic equations that
can be solved numerically. This control volume technique
consists of integrating the governing equations about each
control volume, yielding discrete equations that conserve
each quantity on a control-volume basis. The integral of the
governing equations is applied to each control volume, or
cell, in the computational domain and discretized. By
default the solver stores the discrete values of the scalar
quantities at the cell centers. However, when the face
values of the scalar quantities are required the values are
interpolated from the cell center values. This is
accomplished using an ―upwind‖ scheme. Upwinding
means that the face values are derived from quantities in
the cell upstream, relative to the direction of the normal
velocity. A second order upwind scheme was used for
acquiring the second-order accuracy. When this scheme is
selected, the face value of a scalar quantity is set equal to
the value in the upstream cell. The grid was generated
using Gambit 2.2.30. Hexagonal type of volumetric mesh
was generated using cooper scheme.
4.4 Pressure –Velocity Coupling
The SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Methods for Pressure
Linked Equations) algorithm was used to relate the velocity
and pressure corrections to enforce mass conservation and
to obtain the pressure field. The momentum equation when
solved using a guessed pressure field gives the face flux. If
the resulting face flux does not satisfy the continuity
equation a correction face flux is added to obtain the
corrected face flux. Thus, satisfying the continuity
equation. The SIMPLE algorithm substitutes the flux
correction equations into the discrete continuity equation to
obtain the discrete equation for the pressure correction p’in
the cell. The pressure-correction equation may be solved
using the AMG method.
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V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the present investigation, computational study of axial
flow fan with forward and backward skewed blades was
carried out using CFD software FLUENT 6.3, and the
results obtained have been compared with the experimental
data of Yang et al. (2007) [35]. The CFD analysis is done by
modeling the axial fan in GAMBIT 2.2 and using standard
k-є model with the standard wall function for modeling
turbulence. The study was carried out at a stagger angle of
25o, skewed angle of 8.3o and at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm.
The objective is to find the behavior of these two profiles in
terms of static pressure, flow rate, flow coefficient and
pressure coefficient.
5.1 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Forward Skewed
Blade at 1440 rpm
Initially, the computational study with the forward
skewed blade is carried out, the blade having a stagger
angle of 25o. The variation of static pressure against flow
rate is shown in Fig. 5.1. It has been observed that with the
decrease of fan’s static pressure, the flow rate kept on
increasing. The maximum pressure of 76.4 Pa is obtained at
the flow rate of 1.2 m3/s, whereas the minimum pressure of
40.35 Pa is obtained at 1.78 m3/s.
Fig 5.1 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Forward Skewed Blade
at 1440 rpm
5.2 Pressure Coefficient ( 
) vs. Flow coefficient (  ) for
Forward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm
The variation of pressure coefficient (  ) against flow
coefficient (  ) is shown in Fig. 4.2 for the forward skewed
blade at 1440 rpm. The computational result shows a range
of pressure coefficient from 0.047 to 0.089, whereas flow
coefficient varies from 0.107 to 0.243.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
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It can be inferred from the above plot that although there
is sudden variation in few values of total pressure
coefficient (  ), but still the trend obtained from the
computational result is satisfactory. This sudden jump has
been occurred due to sudden increase and decrease of static
pressure, thereby causing a sudden change in the flow rate.
5.4 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Backward Skewed
Blade at 1440 rpm
The computational investigation with backward skewed
blade is carried out, the blade having the staggered angle of
25o. Variation of static pressure against flow rate is shown
in Fig.5.4
Fig 5.2 Pressure Coefficient vs. Flow Coefficient for Forward Skewed
Blade at 1440 rpm

The conclusion drawn from the graph is that the

computational values may differ from the experimental
values but the slope of experimental values shows good
agreement with the computational values. As the flow
coefficient depends on the flow rate and the pressure
coefficient is dependent on the static pressure, the
computational values for static pressure vs. flow rate shows
similar trend as pressure coefficient (  ) vs. flow
coefficient(  ).

5.3 Total pressure efficiency (  ) vs. Flow coefficient (  )
for Forward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm
The Fig. 5.3 shows the variation of total pressure
efficiency (  ) vs. flow coefficient (  ) for forward skewed
blade. From the graph it is seen that there is a sudden jump
occurring in the range of total pressure efficiency from 0.32
to 0.68, where as a sudden decrease in the value of flow
coefficient is seen.
Fig 5.4 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Backward Skewed Blade at
1440 rpm
It has been observed that as the fan’s static pressure goes
on decreasing the flow rate goes on increasing. The
pressure values ranges from 80.3 Pa to 41.0 Pa. and flow
rate ranges from 1.21 m3/s to 1.74 m3/s.
5.5 Pressure Coefficient ( ) vs. Flow coefficient (  ) for
Backward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm
In the graph shown below the variation of pressure
coefficient ( ) against flow coefficient is plotted for
backward skewed blade. The pressure coefficient ranges
from 0.09 to 0.044 whereas flow coefficient varies from
0.176 to 0.26

Fig 5.3 Total Pressure Efficiency vs. Flow Coefficient for Forward
Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm

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These sudden jump has been occurred due to sudden
increase and decrease of static pressure and hence due to
this sudden change in the flow rate.
5.7 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Forward Skewed
Blade at 1800 rpm
The computational study with the forward skewed blade
is carried out at 1800 rpm, the blade having a stagger angle
of 25o. The variation of static pressure against flow rate is
shown in Fig. 4.7. It has been observed that with the
decrease of fan’s static pressure, the flow rate kept on
increasing. The maximum pressure of 90 Pa is obtained at
Fig 5.5 Pressure Coefficient vs. Flow coefficient for Backward the flow rate of 1.35m3/s, whereas the minimum pressure of
Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm 40 Pa is obtained at 1.86 m3/s.
The conclusion drawn from the graph is that the
computational values may differ from the experimental
values but the slope of experimental values shows good
agreement with the computational values. As the flow
coefficient depends on the flow rate and the pressure
coefficient dependent on the static pressure, the
computational values for static pressure vs. flow rate shows
similar trend as pressure coefficient vs. flow coefficient.
5.6 Total pressure efficiency (  ) vs. Flow coefficient (  )
for Backward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm
The graph shows the variation of total pressure
efficiency (  ) vs. flow coefficient (  ) for forward skewed
Fig 5.7 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Forward Skewed Blade
at 1800 rpm
blade. From the graph it had been seen that there is sudden
jump has been seen in the value of total pressure efficiency 5.8 Pressure Coefficient ( 
) vs. Flow coefficient (  )
from 0.42 to 0.62, where as a sudden decrease in the value for Forward Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm
of flow coefficient is been seen.
The variation of pressure coefficient (  ) against flow
coefficient (  ) is shown in Fig. 4.8 for the forward skewed
blade. The computational result shows a range of pressure
coefficient from 0.0288 to 0.065, whereas flow coefficient
varies from 0.156 to 0.215

Fig 5.6 Total Pressure Efficiency vs. Flow Coefficient for

Backward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm

The conclusion drawn from the graph plotted between

total pressure efficiency vs. flow coefficient is that
although there is sudden variation or sudden jump in few
values of total pressure coefficient but still the trend got
Fig 5.8 Pressure Coefficient vs. Flow coefficient for Forward Skewed
from the computational result is satisfactory. Blade at 1800 rpm

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
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5.9 Total pressure efficiency (  ) vs. Flow coefficient (  ) 5.11 Pressure Coefficient ( ) vs. Flow coefficient (  ) for
for Forward Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm Backward Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm
The Fig. 5.9 shows the variation of total pressure The variation of pressure coefficient (  ) against flow
efficiency (  ) vs. flow coefficient (  ) for forward skewed
coefficient (  ) is shown in Fig. 4.11 for the backward
blade. From the graph it is seen that range of total pressure
skewed blade. The computational results show a range of
efficiency from 0.315 to 0.70, whereas flow coefficient
pressure coefficient from 0.0288 to 0.064, whereas flow
ranges from 0.156 to 0.215.
coefficient varies from 0.154 to 0.211

Coefficient Fig 5.11 Pressure vs. Flow coefficient for Backward

Fig 5.9 Total Pressure Efficiency vs. Flow Coefficient Forwad Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm
Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm
5.12 Total pressure efficiency (  ) vs. Flow coefficient (  )
5.10 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Backward Skewed for Forward Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm
Blade at 1800 rpm
The Fig. 5.12 shows the variation of total pressure
The computational investigation with backward skewed
efficiency (  ) vs. flow coefficient (  ) for forward skewed
blade is carried out, the blade having the staggered angle of
25o. Variation of static pressure against flow rate is shown blade. From the graph it is seen that range of total pressure
in Fig.5.10. efficiency from 0.30 to 0.69, whereas flow coefficient
It has been observed that as the fan’s static pressure goes ranges from 0.154 to 0.21
on decreasing the flow rate goes on increasing. The
pressure values ranges from 90 Pa to 40 Pa and flow rate
ranges from 1.33 m3/s to 1.82 m3/s

Fig 5.12 Total Pressure Efficiency vs. Flow Coefficient Backward

Skewed Blade at 1800 rpm

5.13 Comparison of Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for

Forward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm
In the fig 5.13 comparison of static pressure vs. flow rate
Fig 5.10 Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Backward Skewed Blade at for backward skewed blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm is
1800 rpm shown.

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It is observed from the graph that, as the static pressure
decreases flow rate increases at 1440 rpm as well as at
1800 rpm. At 1440 rpm pressure decreases from 76.42 Pa
to 40.35 Pa , the flow rate increases from 1.2 m3/sec to
1.78 m3/sec , and at 1800 rpm static pressure decreases
from 90 Pa to 40 Pa the flow rate increases from 1.35
m3/sec to 1.86 m3/sec.
Fig 5.13 Comparison of Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Forward
Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm
5.14 Comparison of Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for
Backward Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm
In the fig 5.14 comparison of static pressure vs. flow rate
for backward skewed blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm is
shown. It is observed from the graph that, as the static
pressure decreases flow rate increases at 1440 rpm as well
as at 1800 rpm. At 1440 rpm static pressure decreases from
80.33 Pa to 41.0 Pa , the flow rate increases from 1.21
m3/sec to 1.74 m3/sec and at 1800 rpm static pressure
decreases from 90 Pa to 40 Pa , the flow rate increases from
1.33 m3/sec to 1.82m3/sec
Fig 5.14 Comparison of Static Pressure vs. Flow Rate for Backward
Skewed Blade at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE
In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to
study of axial flow fan with forward and backward skewed
blade profiles computationally using k-  model.
751
The performance of fan is computed at 1440 rpm and
blade stagger angle of 25o, skewed angle of 8.3o, the
parameters studied are flow rate, static pressure, flow
coefficient and pressure coefficient and results obtained
have been compared with the experimental data of Yang et
al (2007).
6.1 Present Findings
 For forward skewed blade as the Static pressure
decreases from 76.42 Pa to 40.35 Pa , the flow rate
increases from 1.2 m3/sec to 1.78 m3/sec at 1440 rpm
and for backward skewed blade the Static pressure
decreases from 80.33 Pa to 41.0 Pa , the flow rate
increases from 1.21 m3/sec to 1.74 m3/sec at 1440
rpm
 For forward skewed blade as the Static pressure
decreases from 90 Pa to 40 Pa , the flow rate increases
from 1.35 m3/sec to 1.86 m3/sec at 1800 rpm and for
backward skewed blade the Static pressure decreases
from 90 Pa to 40 Pa , the flow rate increases from
1.33 m3/sec to 1.82m3/sec at 1800 rpm
 For forward skewed blade flow coefficient ranges
from 0.1738 to 0.257 and for backward skewed blade
flow coefficient ranges from 0.173 to 0.26 at 1440
rpm.The fig 4.2 and fig 4.5 between flow coefficient
and pressure coefficient shows that computational
results shows similar trend of slope as the
experimental results.
 For forward skewed blade flow coefficient ranges
from 0.156 to 0.215 and for backward skewed blade
flow coefficient ranges from 0.154 to 0.211 at 1800
rpm.
 For forward skewed blade total pressure efficiency
ranges from 0.32 to 0.68 and for backward skewed
blade total pressure efficiency ranges from 0.42 to
0.62 at 1440 rpm
 For forward skewed blade total pressure efficiency
ranges from 0.315 to 0.70 and for backward skewed
blade total pressure efficiency ranges from 0.30 to
0.69 at 1800 rpm
6.2 Future Work
In present work study of axial fan had been done with
stagger angle of 25o and at 1440 rpm and 1800 rpm. In
future the analysis can be carried out by varying the rpm,
by using different type of blade profiles. In the present
study the analysis is carried out using CFD software
FLUENT 6.3.In the future the analysis can also be carried
out by using other CFD software like STAR-CD, ANSYS –
CFX.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
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