Effect of Manufacturing Method of a Centrifugal Fan Hub on its Heat Dissipation Characteristics

As the process temperature of a fan system increases, the amount of heat that gets transmitted to the bearings and/or motor increases. If this is not accounted for, it can lead to catastrophic failure. The main heat conduction path is through the shaft, and certain mechanisms must be considered when looking for new solutions. These include; how heat is transmitted through the shaft or increasing the thermal resistance of the shaft, and dissipating heat as it is conducted through the shaft. These aspects must always be considered in addition to the impact of the manufacturing complexity. In the present study, an existing heat dissipation arrangement is reviewed and replaced by a new design which reduces the time taken to machine the part, and ultimately the overall cost of the product. Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based techniques have been used to numerically simulate the designs under operating conditions, and the resulting heat transfer through the shaft compared with respect to the heat dissipation properties. The results demonstrate that although the new design is less effective at dissipating heat, it provides a substantial cost reduction compared to the existing design, while substantially reducing the impact of the design on various aspects of production.