Numerical Analysis of a Novel Casing Treatment in an Axial Flow Fan

The present paper reports the use of a slotted casing treatment of trapezoidal shape to enhance the stall margin of an axial flow fan. The Taguchi method was used to optimize the rectangular slotted casing treatment based on that which the trapezoidal slots were designed. The unsteady numerical simulations were carried out using the shear-stress-transport turbulence model. The rotor with trapezoidal slots led to the stall margin improvement of 23.4% and mild pressure rise of 0.54%. Without the casing treatment, the tip leakage trajectory was directed from the suction surface of the blade toward the pressure surface of the adjacent blade. After incorporating the trapezoidal slots, the tip leakage trajectory was significantly shifted toward the suction surface of the same blade. This alteration in flow characteristics near the blade-tip region may be attributed to the exchange of momentum due to the simultaneous suction and blowing through the trapezoidal slots. It was also found that the trapezoidal slots improved the axial flow velocity and reduced the diffusion factor in the blade-tip region as compared to the baseline case.