Effect of Circumferential Inlet Flow Distortion and Swirl on the Flow Field of an Axial Flow Fan Stage

This paper reports a study of the combined effects of swirl and circumferential inlet flow distortion on the flow field of an axial flow fan stage. The study involves steady state measurements of the flow field at the rotor inlet, exit and the stator exit of the single stage axial flow fan subjected to circumferential inlet flow distortion and swirl. Flow field survey was done at two flow coefficients, namely, ϕ = 0.45 and ϕ = 0.285. The flow at the inlet to the rotor was measured using a three hole pressure probe and five hole pressure probes were used at the rotor and stator exits. The study indicated that at the design flow coefficient swirl had caused deterioration of the performance in addition to that caused by distortion. In addition, the attenuation of distortion was high in the presence of swirl.