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Vary RPM of a fan

Question asked by Hans Christian Tekol on Jan 21, 2016
Latest reply on Jan 22, 2016 by Amit Katz

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Hi everyone,

I am simulating an inverter cooling with axial fans. Does anyone know how to vary RPM of a fan in Solidworks Flow Simulation? Because I want to see the effect of fan static pressure to thermal behavior of the cooling.

I have tried changing the rotor speed (rad/s), which is corresponding to RPM, but to no avail. Let's say I use Papst 8412N fan, the default rpm is 3600 rpm. I have varied the rpm from 3600 to 50 rpm, but the results are similar.

Your suggestions are highly appreciated.

Thanks

Hans

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Amit Katz Jan 21, 2016 3:57 PM
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How are you gaging the effects of the fan's RPM? Are you looking at the velocity of the wake?
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- Hans Christian Tekol @ Amit Katz on Jan 22, 2016 7:53 AM
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  Hi Amit Katz,
  
  Well actually my concern is the junction temperature of IGBT modules installed on a heatsink, which is cooled down by axial fans.
  Based on the fan's performance curve (static pressure vs RPM), I want to have higher static pressure by decreasing the RPM, in order to acommodate pressure loss of the system (inverter).
  
  I have looked into KB, online help, tutorial concerning this matter, but have't found any solution yet. Do you know if it's even possible to change the RPM of a fan in SolidWorks Flow Simulation?
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  - Amit Katz @ Hans Christian Tekol on Jan 22, 2016 8:26 AM
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    It sounds to me like you are using a fan boundary condition, rather than a rotating region. When you give a surface a "fan" condition and supply a performance curve, the simulation will find a balance point for that surface on the curve, depending on the intensity of pressure that the surface interacts with. As far as I know there's no way to set a point on the curve, you would need to provide a different curve for a different RPM.
    
    What you could do instead is actually model the fan in full detail and set it as a sliding mesh rotating region. This will simulate the physical interaction of the fan blades with the air, and you can manually specify whatever RPM you choose. Please note, this is a computationally intensive option, and the simulation can take a long time.
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Vary RPM of a fan

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