Abstract
An axial-type fan which operates at the relative total pressure of 671Pa and static pressure of 560Pa with the flow rate of $416.6m^3/min$ is developed with an optimization technique based on the gradient method. Prior to the optimization of fan blade, a three-dimensional axial-type fan blade is designed based on the free-vortex method along the radial direction. Twelve design variables are applied to the optimization of the rotor blade, and one design variable is selected for optimizing a stator which is located behind of the rotor and is used to support a fan driving motor. The total and static pressure are applied to the restriction condition with the operating flowrate on the design point, and the efficiency is chosen as the response variable to be maximized. Through these procedures, an initial axial-fan blade designed by the free vortex method is modified to increase the efficiency with the satisfaction of the operating condition. The optimized fan is tested to compare the aerodynamic performance with an imported same class fan. The test result shows that the optimized fan operates with the satisfaction of restriction conditions, but the imported fan cannot. From the experimental and numerical test, they show that this optimization method improves the fan efficiency and operating pressures of a fan designed by the classical fan design method.