The main purpose of the current investigation is the development and evalua
tion of a numerical model used to simulate the effect of an axial flow fan
on the velocity field in the vicinity of the fan blades. The axial flow fan
is modeled as an actuator disc, where the actuator disc forces are calcula
ted using blade element theory. The calculated disc forces are expressed as
sources/sinks of momentum in the Navier-Stokes equations solved by a comme
rcially available computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code, Flo (+ +). The mo
del is used to determine the fan performance characteristics of an axial fl
ow fan as well as the velocity fields directly up- and downstream of the fa
n blades. The results are compared with experimental data. In general, good
agreement is obtained between the numerical results and experimental data,
although the fan power consumption, as well as radial velocity downstream
of the fan blades, is underpredicted by the fan model. Copyright (C) 2001 J
ohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.