Author(s)

Yingkun Zhang, Yu Wang, Jingyin Li

School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.

The present study is to improve the volume flow rate of an axial fan through optimizing the blade shape under the demand for a specified static pressure. Fourteen design variables were selected to control the blade camber lines and the stacking line and the values of these variables were determined by using the experimental design method of the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) to generate forty designs. The optimization was carried out using the genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with the artificial neural network (ANN) to increase the volume flow rate of the axial fan under the constraint of a specific motor power and a required static pressure. Differences in the aerodynamic performance and the flow characteristics between the original model and the optimal model were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the volume flow rate of the optimal model increased by 33%. The chord length, the installation angle and the cascade turning angle changed considerably. The forward leaned blade was beneficial to improve the volume flow rate of the axial fan. The axial velocity distribution and the static pressure distribution on the blade surface were improved after optimization.

Axial Fan, Volume Flow Rate, Genetic Algorithm, Artificial Neural Network

Zhang, Y. , Wang, Y. and Li, J. (2019) Volume Flow Rate Optimization of an Axial Fan by Artificial Neural Network and Genetic Algorithm. Open Journal of Fluid Dynamics, 9, 207-223. doi: 10.4236/ojfd.2019.93014.