The blade pass frequency (BPF) noise for axial flow cooling fans in Electrical Vehicles (EV) is much obvious in some of rotational speeds. The root cause of this BPF noise is due to the cooling fan loading which is caused by the pressure difference between inlet and outlet of the fan. The pressure difference is defined as the resistance value of the fan. The resistance value of fan in EVs is much higher than the value of internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It is very difficult to obtain the resistance value in full vehicle condition. A new method to estimate the vehicle resistance value is developed using bench tests. By assuming, on the same operating parameters of the same fan both in vehicle and in test bench, such as inlet voltage, current and rotational speed, the resistance value of the fan in vehicle is the same as in test bench, thus, the operating parameters are used in the bench testing to simulate the resistance value of the fan in vehicle. Once the resistance value is achieved, the noise values of the fan can be measured in the test bench under different rotational speeds. Several testing results of different fans show that the BPF noises in bench with the defined resistance value align with those in vehicle. Using this method, the cooling fan noise can be studied in bench, earlier fan prototypes can be evaluated before finalizing design parameters. From this study it is found that the deformation of blades under the operation is the main factor to affect BPF noise levels. During operation the blade deformation changes the gap between the blade and the shroud in axial direction. The gap is related to the initial gap and the strengthen of the fan blade. This gap can be designed and optimized to balance the BPF noise in the total rotational range. The guidelines for designing low noise fan are outlined in this paper also.
| Published in | International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications (Volume 13, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12 |
| Page(s) | 98-107 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Cooling Fan, Blade Pass Frequency Noise, Test Bench, Resistance Value, Blade Deformation
| [1] | Chuanxue Duan, Wei Qian. Reduce the Cooling FAN Blade Pass Frequency Noise in Electrical Vehicle, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications. Volume 11, Issue 2, April 2023, pp. 54-59. |
| [2] | Quinlan D. A., Bent P. H.: High Frequency Noise Generation in Small Axial Flow Fans, Journal of Sound and Vibration, No. 02, 1998, 177-204. |
| [3] | Ouyang. H., Li Y., Du Z. H., et al.: Experimental Study on Aerodynamic and Aero Acoustic Performance of Low Blades, Journal of Aerospace Power, vol. 21, No. 04, 2006, 668-674. |
| [4] | Bianchi S., Corsini A., and Sheard A. G.: Experimental Characterisation of the Far-Field Noise in Axial Fans Fitted with Shaped Tip End-Plates, ISRN Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 102, 2012, 01-09. |
| [5] | Jin G. Y., Ouyang. H., et al.: Research of Aerodynamic Noise Source in Tip Region of Axial Fans with Circumferential Skewed Blades at Off-Design Conditions, Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University, vol. 45, No. 06, 2011, 345-349. |
| [6] | Sutliff D. L., Tweedt D. L., and Fite B. E.: Low Speed Fan Noise Reduction with Trailing Edge Blowing, Glenn Research Center, Cleverland, Ohio, 2002. |
| [7] | Woodward R. P., Fite E. B., and Podboy G. G.: Noise Benefits of Rotor Trailing Edge Blowing for a Model Turbofan, Glenn Research Center, Cleverland, Ohio, 2007. |
| [8] | Avinash, D., Shankar, M., Maller, R., and Ravindran, V., “Reduction of Aero-Acoustics Tonal Noise for a Tractor Cooling Fan,” SAE Technical Paper 2021-26-0299, 2021, |
| [9] | Teymourpour, Sh., Mahdavi-Vala, A., Yadegari, M., Kia, S. et al., “Engineering Approach for Noise Reduction for Automotive Radiator Cooling Fan: A Case Study,” SAE Technical Paper 2020-01-5085, 2020, |
| [10] | Karlsson, M. and Etemad, S., “Installation Effects on the Flow Generated Noise from Automotive Electrical Cooling Fans,” SAE Technical Paper 2020-01-1516, 2020, |
| [11] | Zhou, Z., Lin, H., Shangguan, W., Wang, X. et al., “Calculation of Cooling Fan Blade Deformation and Aerodynamic Performance Based on Fluid-Structure Model,” SAE Technical Paper 2023-01-0815, 2023, |
APA Style
Duan, A., Yu, J., Shao, S., Haijiang, D., Zhou, C., et al. (2025). The Experimental Study of Reducing Cooling Fan Noise Using Test Bench. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications, 13(3), 98-107. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12
ACS Style
Duan, A.; Yu, J.; Shao, S.; Haijiang, D.; Zhou, C., et al. The Experimental Study of Reducing Cooling Fan Noise Using Test Bench. Int. J. Mech. Eng. Appl. 2025, 13(3), 98-107. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12,
author = {Andy Duan and Jing Yu and Siyuan Shao and Dai Haijiang and Changshui Zhou and Perry Gu},
title = {The Experimental Study of Reducing Cooling Fan Noise Using Test Bench
},
journal = {International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications},
volume = {13},
number = {3},
pages = {98-107},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmea.20251303.12},
abstract = {The blade pass frequency (BPF) noise for axial flow cooling fans in Electrical Vehicles (EV) is much obvious in some of rotational speeds. The root cause of this BPF noise is due to the cooling fan loading which is caused by the pressure difference between inlet and outlet of the fan. The pressure difference is defined as the resistance value of the fan. The resistance value of fan in EVs is much higher than the value of internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It is very difficult to obtain the resistance value in full vehicle condition. A new method to estimate the vehicle resistance value is developed using bench tests. By assuming, on the same operating parameters of the same fan both in vehicle and in test bench, such as inlet voltage, current and rotational speed, the resistance value of the fan in vehicle is the same as in test bench, thus, the operating parameters are used in the bench testing to simulate the resistance value of the fan in vehicle. Once the resistance value is achieved, the noise values of the fan can be measured in the test bench under different rotational speeds. Several testing results of different fans show that the BPF noises in bench with the defined resistance value align with those in vehicle. Using this method, the cooling fan noise can be studied in bench, earlier fan prototypes can be evaluated before finalizing design parameters. From this study it is found that the deformation of blades under the operation is the main factor to affect BPF noise levels. During operation the blade deformation changes the gap between the blade and the shroud in axial direction. The gap is related to the initial gap and the strengthen of the fan blade. This gap can be designed and optimized to balance the BPF noise in the total rotational range. The guidelines for designing low noise fan are outlined in this paper also.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Experimental Study of Reducing Cooling Fan Noise Using Test Bench AU - Andy Duan AU - Jing Yu AU - Siyuan Shao AU - Dai Haijiang AU - Changshui Zhou AU - Perry Gu Y1 - 2025/06/16 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12 DO - 10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12 T2 - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications JF - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications JO - International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications SP - 98 EP - 107 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-0248 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmea.20251303.12 AB - The blade pass frequency (BPF) noise for axial flow cooling fans in Electrical Vehicles (EV) is much obvious in some of rotational speeds. The root cause of this BPF noise is due to the cooling fan loading which is caused by the pressure difference between inlet and outlet of the fan. The pressure difference is defined as the resistance value of the fan. The resistance value of fan in EVs is much higher than the value of internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. It is very difficult to obtain the resistance value in full vehicle condition. A new method to estimate the vehicle resistance value is developed using bench tests. By assuming, on the same operating parameters of the same fan both in vehicle and in test bench, such as inlet voltage, current and rotational speed, the resistance value of the fan in vehicle is the same as in test bench, thus, the operating parameters are used in the bench testing to simulate the resistance value of the fan in vehicle. Once the resistance value is achieved, the noise values of the fan can be measured in the test bench under different rotational speeds. Several testing results of different fans show that the BPF noises in bench with the defined resistance value align with those in vehicle. Using this method, the cooling fan noise can be studied in bench, earlier fan prototypes can be evaluated before finalizing design parameters. From this study it is found that the deformation of blades under the operation is the main factor to affect BPF noise levels. During operation the blade deformation changes the gap between the blade and the shroud in axial direction. The gap is related to the initial gap and the strengthen of the fan blade. This gap can be designed and optimized to balance the BPF noise in the total rotational range. The guidelines for designing low noise fan are outlined in this paper also. VL - 13 IS - 3 ER -
Geely Automobile Research Institute (Ningbo) Co., Ltd, Ningbo, PR. China
