DESIGN OF A SMALL AXIAL-FLOW FAN WITH 0.2 HUB-TO-TIP RATIO

This paper presents the design of a 315mm axial fan obtained using the practical design approach recently proposed by the authors. Aim of the work is to explore the capability of the suggested method when a design with minimum hub-to-tip ratio is pursued. To this end, a 0.2 hub-to-tip ratio fan has been designed for the same dimensionless duty as an existing 1845mm propeller fan, whose shape and performance are known from the literature. In the paper, the ISO-5801 aerodynamic performance are compared with those measured for the reference fan and its scaled model. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the design approach and quantify the combined effect of size and Reynolds number on the fan performance.