Impeller of an Electrical Motor, Airflow Analysis

Description

Impeller of an Electrical Motor, Airflow Analysis, ANSYS Fluent CFD Simulation Tutorial

This simulation is about the impeller of an electrical motor via ANSYS Fluent software. We perform this CFD project and investigate it by CFD analysis.

Turbomachines, also known as fluid machines, are widely used in the industry. Therefore, studying their behavior in the fluid environment around them is imperative. Turbomachines are divided into two general categories.

The first group transfers energy to the fluid, and the second group works and takes energy from the fluid, transferring it to the system in various forms. The first group’s examples are fans and compressors, and wind and water turbines can be mentioned as the second category.

Electric motors impeller is also a type of turbomachine that falls into the first category. Investigating the movement of such motors’ blades in the fluid flow surrounding them can help analyze their behavior and ultimately improve the design and selection of the material used in such blades.

In this project, the airflow passing over an impeller is investigated. The airflow enters the computational domain at 80m/s, and the impeller rotates at 1000rpm.

The geometry of the present model is drawn by Design Modeler software. The model is then meshed by ANSYS Meshing software. The model mesh is unstructured, and 1786708 cells have been created.

Impeller Method

In this simulation, the MRF (Frame Motion) option has been activated to model the rotation of the impeller. It is assumed that the fluid around the impeller blades is rotating instead of the impeller blades.

The rotational velocity of this fluid is equal to the rotational velocity of the turbine. To do this, the MRF tool is used in Cell Zone Conditions.

Impeller Conclusion

After simulation, the contours of pressure, velocity, and temperature are obtained. Also, pathlines and velocity vectors around the blades are obtained. The pathlines clearly show the rotational motion around the propeller blades.

The pressure contour shows that the pressure is higher in the front part of the propeller because it is in contact with the airflow, and behind the propeller, a large pressure drop appears.

The velocity contour also shows that the velocity increases radially, and the maximum velocity appears around the tips of the blades. This indicates the rotational movement of this propeller.