Experimental and numerical studies on the discrete noise about the cross-flow fan with block-shifted impellers

Abstract The experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to investigate the blade passage frequency (BPF) noise of a cross-flow fan (CFF) with the block-shifted impeller. Firstly, the aeroacoustic and aerodynamic features about the five different block-shifted impellers have been obtained experimentally. Secondly, the dynamic pressure sensors were put in the noise generating surfaces to investigate the pressure fluctuations generated by the shifted blocks in the near-field through the cross-correlation analysis. Thirdly, the two-dimensional (2D) unsteady flow field has been simulated by commercial CFD software and the vortex flow patterns and the unsteady force of the blade have been analyzed to detect the noise source about the CFF. Finally, the noise properties about the CFF were predicted by a hybrid method through the Farassat’s equation and the surface pressure fluctuations were provided by the CFD simulations. A simplified theory model has also been built up at the same time. The comparisons are made between the results of hybrid method and the theory model to validate the correctness of the noise prediction methods. The accuracy of these results was also evaluated by the corresponding experimental ones. The results indicate that the impellers with different block-shifted angles are the same in aerodynamic performance but different in the BPF noise. The relations between the shifted angles and the BPF noise levels have been predicted and discussed for the noise reduction.