Fan Noise Prediction
Fan acoustic emissions are the main noise source in forced convection air-cooled electronics systems. Improving the fan design for a given system will not only result in an increase in air flow, but may also lead to a reduction of noise emissions. A fan operating at a higher efficiency delivers more air for the same amount of torque and is less noisy within the system.
The complexity of aerodynamically generated noise prediction is that the problem itself is inherently unsteady. In addition, the acoustical energy and acoustic pressure fluctuations are several orders of magnitude less than that associated with the air flow. In theory, acoustical energy and pressure fluctuations may be resolved mathematically but at very high computational cost. Alternatively, the details of the air flow can be coupled to broadband noise predictions while adding no computational cost to a typical steady state model. FLUENT offers the ability to predict broadband fan noise, thus allowing the thermal engineer to compare several "what-if" scenarios of system operations, as well as several fan geometries not only for air flow merit, but also for their acoustical performance. For more details, check out our white paper.
