Blower Pre-swirler Vane Geometry for NVH Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal blower assemblies in automotive and ventilation industries face inefficiencies, noise, vibration, and harshness due to inadequate air rotation, leading to increased drag and reduced performance.
Innovation Solution
A blower assembly with a pre-swirler featuring vanes that optimize blade exposure and overlap distances to enhance air flow directionality, minimizing noise, vibration, and harshness while maximizing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If air is not pre-rotated sufficiently, then the blower assembly structure is simpler, but drag increases, noise and vibration increase, and efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-swirler performs preliminary rotation of air before it enters the blower wheel, preparing the air flow at the correct angle to maximize blower efficiency and minimize drag and noise
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes specific geometric parameters including blade exposure distance (less than 10 mm) and blower wheel overlap distance (greater than 5.5 mm) to achieve the desired air rotation effect
2Productivity
If blade exposure distance is increased, then air flow through the blower wheel is improved, but noise and vibration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the blade exposure distance to be less than 10 mm, which balances air flow requirements with noise and vibration reduction by controlling the interaction between pre-swirler vanes and blower wheel blades
3Volume of moving object
If blower wheel overlap distance is decreased, then the blower assembly is more compact, but air recirculation increases, reducing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies a blower wheel overlap distance greater than 5.5 mm to minimize air recirculation and maximize efficiency, representing an optimized parameter that balances compactness with performance
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The optimized blower assembly achieves a 4.6% improvement in mechanical efficiency and reduces noise, vibration, and harshness, outperforming prior art designs by effectively directing air flow and reducing recirculation.
Implementation Method 1
a pre-swirler disposed in the fluid inlet of the housing, the pre-swirler including at least one vane having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and an outer edge extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge
Data Source
AI summary
A blower assembly includes a housing having a blower wheel disposed therein and a pre-swirler disposed in a fluid inlet of the housing. The pre-swirler includes an array of spaced apart vanes extending radially outwardly from a central hub. The vanes extend from the hub to an outer ring that is attached to the housing of the blower assembly. The vanes are configured to cooperate with the blower wheel to minimize a noise, a vibration, and a harshness (NVH) of the blower assembly, while maximizing an efficiency thereof.