The Measurement of Three-Dimensional Flow Field in an Axial Flow Fan Using PDA

In this paper, a three-color dual-beam PDA (Particle Dynamic Analyzer) system (made by DANTEC Measurement Technology) is used to measure the three-dimensional velocity of an axial flow fan. Due to the geometrical limit of fan rotor, non-orthogonal velocity components are measured first, from which the orthogonal three-dimensional components of the velocity field are computed through transformation equations. The detailed flow fields at 15 axial locations upstream, inside and at the exit of the rotor are measured, respectively. On each cross section perpendicular to the rotating axis, the flow field measurement at 15 different radial locations from 50% of the blade span to the region inside the tip clearance (between the tip blade and the casing wall) are taken. The experimental technique is described, and the three dimensional flow fields (including the tip clearance flow) are presented and analyzed.