SolidWorks Flow Simulation: Defining a Custom Fan
SolidWorks Flow Simulation allows for the creation of custom fan conditions to emulate physical
fans. This can be done in three different ways. The first method entails creating a fan curve. The
other two methods allow for a more accurate representation of the fan by including additional
attributes defining the physical characteristics of the fan: axial fan and radial fan.
Question: How to define a custom fan in SolidWorks Flow Simulation?
Launch the ‘Engineering Database’ (‘Flow Simulation’, ’Tools’, ’Engineering Database’).
In the ‘Database tree’, expand Fans and add a new fan under the user defined section
(right-click on ‘User Defined’ and select ‘New Item’).
On the ‘Item Properties tab’, select the ‘Fan Type’ from the pull down list.
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Fan Curve:
The fan curve type is a simplified representation of a physical fan. It is represented by just
specifying a fan curve. This curve is defined as a dependency of the fan volume flow rate or mass
flow rate on the pressure difference between the fan inlet and outlet. The pressure difference can
be defined as the difference of static pressures (static pressure increase), total pressures (total
pressure increase) or static pressure at outlet and total pressure at inlet (free blowing pressure
increase). The fan curve type does not automatically take into account swirling of the flow and
must be defined manually during the insertion of the fan condition.
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The ‘Reference Density’ option allows for modifying the default condition. The default condition
implies a density value of 1.2 kg/m3, which corresponds to air at a pressure of 101325 Pa and a
temperature of 20°C. When used at a different flow condition, the pressure drop produced by the
fan is recalculated as ∆Pcorrected = ∆P·ρ/ρref, where ρ is the actual density. If the flow rate of the fan
is defined as mass flow rate, it is also recalculated as mcorrected = m·ρ/ρref.
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A fan curve can be inputted by navigating to the ‘Tables and Curves’ tab. The data can be
manually inputted or copied from another source (i.e. Microsoft Excel). To copy data into the
table, select the first cell, right-click and select ‘Paste’.
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Axial Fan:
The axial fan type uses the free blowing pressure increase setting for the fan curve definition. To
account for swirling of the flow, the following attributes can be specified: ‘Rotor speed’, ‘Outer
diameter’, ‘Hub diameter’ and ‘Direction of rotation’.
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Radial Fan:
For the radial fan curve, the pressure difference can be defined as the difference of static
pressures (static pressure increase), total pressures (total pressure increase) or static pressure at
outlet and total pressure at inlet (free blowing pressure increase). To account for swirling of the
flow, the following attributes can be specified: ‘Circumferential velocity type’, ‘Rotor speed’,
‘Outer diameter’ and ‘Direction of rotation’. The circumferential velocity can be automatically
calculated using the rotor speed and outer diameter or it can be manually specified.
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