Fixed Vane Stator Development for Axial Fan Performance Improvement in Electronics Cooling

An analysis and development method for augmenting flow and pressure performance of electronic cooling axial fans using a fixed vane stator is established using classical hand calculations, 2-dimensional (2D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, data from a design of experiments, and 3-dimensional (3D) CFD modeling. Where the size of electronic enclosures may disallow an increase in diameter of axial fans but allow for an increase in depth; a fixed vane stator is implemented to recapture lost dynamic pressure associated with swirl and radial flow vectors from the axial fan blades thus augmenting the pressure/flow curve of the unit. Stator blade effectiveness is evaluated and optimized first using data associated with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil shapes and then using 2-dimensional (2D) CFD analyses on both the impeller and stator blades. CFD modeling approaches and solving methods are discussed. A Design of Experiments (DOE) is utilized to verify and optimize the performance of the stator vanes and identifies the effectiveness of the stator vane angle, curvature of the stator leading edge, and number of stator vanes. At a constant back pressure the best performing DOE geometry delivered a 22% improvement in flow at constant electrical power input and a 41% improvement in flow at constant acoustic noise. This result was confirmed using a 3D CFD modeling. This analysis and development method provides a good baseline for evaluating and choosing proper stator vane geometries for flow improvement in axial fans.