A numerical study of noise characteristics originating from a shrouded subsonic automotive fan

The characteristics of the noise radiated from a reduced automotive cooling module are numerically studied focusing on the interaction effects linked to the sound generation mechanisms and the acoustic scattering caused by the confined installation. The flow field is simulated by adopting the formulation of Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES), which is a numerical technique that enables large-scale structures to be resolved and the wall-bounded flow to be treated depending on the turbulent content within the boundary layer. By comparing the simulated fan performance to two sets of measurement data of a similar setup, the aerodynamic results obtained from IDDES are validated and conformed to the volumetric flow rate delivered for the pressure drop measured. The acoustic part of the study comprises evaluation of the sound source associated with the momentum distribution imposed on the surroundings at an interface slightly upstream of the fan. At the microphone positions upstream of the installation, the SPL falls within the SPL range measured and the acoustic power delivered by the fan conforms to the SWL obtained from the comparison method in the reverberation room. The system response function, estimated by subtracting the SWL for the free-field simulation from the SWL associated with the reduced automotive cooling module marks spectral humps at fixed frequencies, irrespectively of sound source. As such, the engineering approach to the spectral decomposition method earlier published, which enables the acoustical properties of the installation to be isolated from the source, is validated and found to hold.