For companies in the manufacturing industry reduced material and manufacturing costs can lead to vital improvements in competitiveness. The use of finite element based optimisation methods to minimise material usage can realise significant time savings over conventional techniques, which can sometimes involve the testing of several prototypes to achieve a satisfactory design. Optimisation of an existing design can offer manufacturers’ the opportunity to cut costs while retaining the reliability and/or performance of their product.

Case Study: FCL were recently commissioned by an axial flow impeller manufacturer to recommend design improvements to a fan used in industrial air conditioning systems. The work became necessary after initial trials of the fan using a first prototype blade design showed that excessive axial loads were placed on the actuator mechanism used for controlling blade pitch angle, making it difficult to operate the fan at full load.

As is often the case on projects of this type, FCL’s initial work concentrated on analysis of the existing prototype with a view to establishing a correlation between predicted and observed behaviour. The successful completion of this exercise enabled FCL to gain a thorough understanding of the fan dynamic behaviour and led to a considerable simplification of the design development process. The perceived benefits of a CAE-led approach were confirmed by the successful completion of further prototype testing on the modified blade design.