Prediction of Flow in Centrifugal Blower Using Quasi-Steady Rotor-Stator Models

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based computational tool, named STREAM, is used to analyze fluid flow in a centrifugal blower. The unsteady interaction of the flow in the rotating impeller (rotor) and the stationary volute (stator) is modeled via quasi-steady rotor-stator models. Two such models are developed: one based on a local exchange of information and the other based on a circumferential averaging procedure at the rotor-stator interface. Due care is exercised to ensure that inadequate grid resolution and numerical dissipation do not smear out the small pressure rise typical of the blower considered here. Computed results based on the proposed models with multiblock structured grids are presented; global quantities such as static pressure rise, horsepower, and static efficiency, available from test data for different mass flow rates, are used to evaluate the trends predicted by the CFD results. Overall, the predictions by the proposed models are satisfactory.