Measurement and analysis of radiated sound from a low speed fan with a large tip gap

The wake flow field and radiated sound from a low speed axial fan is studied experimentally. The fan geometry uses controlled diffusion blades and is designed with a low aspect ratio (0.9). The fan is installed with a large tip gap, approximately 10% of the blade span. The radiated sound field is analyzed using a known trailing edge noise formulation. First, the model is compared to an experiment of a single airfoil in a wind tunnel to assess the predictive capabilities. Second, measurements of the fan are made at two different blade loading conditions. Hot wire measurements are made in the near wake of the fan to assess the extent of the tip leakage flow for each condition. The radiated sound fields are compared with the trailing edge noise theory. Use is made of the wake measurements as an input to a surface pressure model. When the fan is operated with the optimal blade loading, the influence of the tip leakage flow is found to be of secondary acoustic impact. When the fan is operated at a high loading condition for the blades, a more significant leakage flow develops and is found to be responsible for the dominant radiated sound.