Initech Computers Blacksburg, VA March 14, 2012 To: From: CC: Subject: 1.

Summary The PWM and fan speed measuring capabilities of the LabVIEW VI were found to be very reliable. A linearly increasing relationship to the duty cycle was found for the fan pressure, fan speed and fan power. The experimentally determined max air flow rate of .17 m3/min was nowhere near the expected flow rate of .7 m3/min depicted in the manufacturers curves. A max fan pressure of 1.6 mm was also determined experimentally. As compared to the manufacturers given max fan pressure of 2.1 mm which again demonstrates that the given curves are not accurate enough to rely upon. 2. Results and discussion The following sections present verification of the control and measurement software, measurements of the fan speed, flow rate, and a brief dimensional analysis. The LabVIEW VI turned out to be very accurate for the desired measurements. The manufacturers curves for air flow and pressure were found to be very inaccurate and dimensional analysis showed a relatively constant pressure rise obeying classical fan laws. 2.1 Verification of the pulse width modulation control & measurement software In order to determine whether the PWM function was working properly, an oscilloscope was connected to the system with the scale set to 10 . Using the software, the duty cycle was set to 50% and it was noted that the trace of the signal was high for half the time. With a duty cycle of 75% the signal produced was high for of the time, demonstrating that the software was capable of producing the desired pulse width. Another look at the trace produced indicated that there were 2.5 high periods for every ten divisions. The modulation frequency must therefore be the intended 25 kHz as shown in equation 1.
equation 1

Osborne Reynolds, Manager Edwin Guerra. Professor Huxtable, Patrick Kite Computer fan characteristics brushless DC axial fan

At this point the fan was connected to the myDAQ/LabVIEW system and powered using a 12 V source. In order to determine if the rpm of the fan was being measured correctly, a time and frequency domain plot of the fan output was generated with the software. The number of peaks in of a second on the time domain plot showed that the frequency was 70 Hz for a 50% duty cycle. This is consistent with the rpm reading of 2130 using the relationship presented in equation 2.
equation 2

Use of the frequency domain plot to derive the fan output frequency proved to be much easier than the time domain plot. Instead of having to count the number of peaks, the frequency plot yields a peak at 70 Hz. A second peak was present at 60 Hz with corresponds to the electrical noise introduced by powering the fan. After having verified the LabVIEW VI was working properly, our focus turned to the pressure and fan speed relationship. 2.2 Relationship between fan speed and pressure For the transducer pressure range of 0 to 7.62 mm and corresponding voltage range of 110V, a linear pressure voltage calibration curve was generated.

Linear voltage pressure relationship

10.000 8.000 6.000 4.000 2.000 0.000 0.000 Pressure (mm H2O) y = 0.8467x - 0.8467 R = 1

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

Transducer voltage

Figure 1: By plotting the range of voltages and pressures possible from the tranducer, a linear voltagepressure calibration was found. This equation can now be used to determine the pressure of the transducer for any specified voltage. Voltage readings for specific duty cycles were tabulated in the table 1 in appendix A. This was used in conjunction with the voltage-pressure equation to determine the pressure present at each duty cycle.

Pressure Vs. Duty cycle

Pressure (mm H2O) 0.800 0.600 0.400 0.200 0.000 50 60 70 80 90 100 Duty cycle (%)

Figure 2. Pressure rises linearly with increasing duty cycle. With the results obtained and plotted in figure 2, we see a linearly increasing pressure for an increasing duty cycle. As expected for the given data. The Fan speed and power consumed follow similar linear trends as shown in figure 3 and 4.

Fan Speed Vs. Duty cycle

Fan Speed (RPM) 3600.000 3100.000 2600.000 2100.000 50 60 70 80 90 100 Duty Cycle (%)

Figure 3: Fan speed increases linearly for an increasing duty cycle.

Power consumed Vs. Duty cycle

Power fan (w) 1.100 0.900 0.700 0.500 0.300 50 60 70 80 90 100 Duty cycle (%)

Figure 4: As expected, the fan consumes more power for a higher duty cycle. This linearity is exactly what we would expect to see for increasing duty cycle. Higher duty cycle means higher fan speed at the cost of consuming more power. In order to determine whether the manufacturers air flow-pressure curves are accurate, several more measurements are now taken. 2.3 Volumetric flow rate and pressure of the fan Using the manufacturer given curve corresponding to 3300 rpm for air flow rate vs. pressure produced, we would expect to see an air flow rate of approximately .7 m3/min at atmospheric pressure and a maximum pressure of 2.1 mm at 0 air flow rate. The max air flow rate of the fan was experimentally determined by timing the time it took to fill a 13 gallon bag (.0492 m3). Dividing the total volume by the fill time of 17 seconds, an air flow rate of .17 m3/min was obtained. Thus the given curve does not reflect an accurate portrayal of the max air flow rate for our given conditions. This is mainly due to having a heat sink impeding the air flow coming from the fan. A maximum pressure of 1.6 mm was also determined experimentally by blocking the air flow of the fan. The discrepancy between the actual and theoretical maximum pressures is probably due to an inefficient method of impeding air flow. This nonetheless proves that the manufacturer

given curves are not accurate for our given conditions. We will next look at a very useful metric used to compare the performance of different fans operating at different speeds. 2.4 Dimensional analysis and fan laws Through use of dimensional analysis, all of the fundamental units present in the experiment can be used in order to create a single, dimensionless number. This dimensionless number will yield the pressure rise given in equation 3.
equation 3

Where P is the air pressure in N/m2, is fluid density in kg/m3, is rotation speed in rad/s of the fan, and D is fan impeller diameter. Here we will use an assumed fluid density of 1.18 kg/m3 for air and a fan impeller diameter of .067 m as given by the fan specifications sheet. This equation can now be used to generate figure 5. Note that the parameter remains relatively constant at 1.07E-06 with a standard deviation of only 1.87E-08.

Pressure rise Vs. fan speed

Dimensionless pressure rise

0.0000011 1.09E-06 1.08E-06 1.07E-06 1.06E-06 1.05E-06 1.04E-06 1.03E-06

200 250 300 350 400 Fan speed (rad/s)

Series1

Figure 5: The dimensionless number seems to remain relatively constant with increasing fan speed. This dimensionless pressure rise will be extremely useful in comparing the performance of different sized fans operating at different speeds. Mainly, a larger fan may operate at a lower speed while still achieving a greater pressure rise than a smaller fan at higher operating speeds. This dimensionless pressure rise will allow us to compare each of these fans subjectively to one another. 3. Conclusions With the help of an attached oscilloscope, it was determined that the PWM modulation and fan speed measurement using the LabVIEW VI was very accurate. A linear pressure-voltage relationship was found for the transducer which allowed us to determine the pressure reading of the transducer for a given duty cycle. Both the max air flow rate and max pressure given by the manufacturers curves were determined to be off, mainly due to the fact that there is a heat sink attached to our fan. This proves that the manufacturer curves given are not reliable to determine air flow and pressure due to our given conditions. Finally, a dimensionless pressure rise was derived for the given fan. Because it remains relatively constant, this number can be used and will be extremely useful in comparing the performance characteristics of other fans.

Appendix A: Supporting Data and Figures

Duty Cycle (%) 50 60 70 80 90 99 Pressure (V) 1.330 1.420 1.490 1.600 1.720 1.810 Pressure (mm H2O) 0.279 0.356 0.415 0.508 0.610 0.686 Fan Output (V) 0.680 0.676 0.670 0.660 0.650 0.645 Fan Input Voltage (V) 12.000 12.000 12.000 12.000 12.000 12.000 Fan Input Current (A) 0.029 0.050 0.057 0.067 0.078 0.082 Fan Power (Watts) 0.348 0.600 0.684 0.804 0.936 0.984

Speed (RPM) 2130.000 2372.000 2621.000 2830.000 3160.000 3328.000

Table 1: Results obtained from LabVIEW VI by varying the duty cycle of the fan