Sensitivity Analysis of Entrance

Design Parameters of a
Backward-Inclined Centrifugal
A. Behzadmehr
Fan Using DOE Method and CFD
Mechanical Engineering,
University of Sistan & Baluchestan,
Zahedan, Iran
Calculations
Centrifugal fans with an electric motor included in the hub are commonly used in HVAC
(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems. A design of experiments (DOE) has
Y. Mercadier been performed to study the effect of the entrance conditions of a backward-inclined
centrifugal fan on its efficiency. The parameters involved are the base radius of the motor
N. Galanis hub, the radius of the fan entry section, the deceleration factor throughout the entry zone
(from the entry of the fan to the entry of the blade), and the solidity factor. Numerical
Génie Mécanique, simulation coupled with the DOE has been used for the sensitivity analysis of the en-
Université de Sherbrooke, trance parameters. Initially, a complete factorial plan 共24兲 was performed to screen the
Québec Canada most influent parameters and interactions. This has shown that the motor’s cap radius, as
well as its interactions with other parameters, is not significant. A second DOE, using
composite central design (CCD which has a second order of accuracy) has then been
performed on the remaining parameters (radius of the fan entry section, deceleration
factor, and the solidity factor). The effects of these parameters and their interactions on
the fan efficiency are now presented. A linear regression with three parameters has been
performed to establish the efficiency distribution map. The methodology employed is
validated by comparing the predicted results from the DOE and those from the numerical
simulation of the corresponding fan. 关DOI: 10.1115/1.2173293兴

1 Introduction
Small centrifugal fans and blowers have been used extensively
in home appliances and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
共HVAC兲 systems. Flow in a centrifugal fan is a complex three-
dimensional phenomenon, involving boundary layer, separation,
secondary flow, turbulence, etc. Also, the geometry is often com-
plex and asymmetric. These geometrical parameters have signifi-
cant effects on the performance of centrifugal fans and blowers.
Many studies have been concerned with blade and volute geom-
etry, but few are dedicated to the entrance parameters and, above
all, to the combined effects of these parameters. The design of a
centrifugal fan is traditionally based on dimensionless analysis.
Two well-known classical books of Stepanoff 关1兴 and Eck 关2兴 treat
design in this manner. Many experimental and theoretical research
efforts have been made in this field in order to explore and under-
stand the behavior of flow through a machine. However, most of
the theoretical works only consider nonviscous flow through the
fan in order to simplify such a complex problem; details of such
an approach are discussed by the authors in 关1,2兴. Recently,
through use of improving facilities available for performing the
numerical calculations, more researchers have been interested in
considering viscous flow modeling by solving the Navier-Stokes
equations. Computational fluid dynamics 共CFD兲 tools can help us
to understand the flow-field variations throughout a machine and
are also very efficient for the study of the effects of geometrical
parameters on the performance of fans and blowers. These enable
the researcher to achieve suitable parameters, corresponding to the
desired machine performance. The question remains however,
Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division of ASME for publication in the
JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING. Manuscript received September 28, 2004; final
manuscript received October 7, 2005. Review conducted by Joseph Katz.
what are the suitable parameters? What is the effect of each pa-
rameter and what is the overall effect of the interaction of these
parameters on the performance of the machine?
Many works in the literature have been found using numerical
simulation for the study of flow fields in a turbomachine 共how-
ever, published works on small fans and blowers are in number
limited兲. Among them, Rai and Madavan 关3兴 has used three-
dimensional 共3D兲 Navier-Stokes equations to numerically study
the rotor-stator interaction. Zhang et al. 关4兴 analyzed 3D viscous
flow within a backswept centrifugal impeller using Navier-Stokes
equations and k-␧ turbulent model. Strickland et al. 关5兴 presented
a numerical simulation for the study of flow field inside a cen-
trifugal pump. Lin and Huang 关6兴 designed and numerically simu-
lated a small forward-curved centrifugal fan. They found a good
agreement between the experimental and numerical results.
Gonzalez et al. 关7兴 showed that numerical simulation is capable of
capturing the details of the flow field throughout a centrifugal
pump due to the impeller-volute interaction. Choi et al. 关8兴 used
CFD tool integrated with an optimization code to improve the
design of an automotive fan; they selected limited independent
parameters 共two parameters related to the radial distribution of the
sweep angle of an axial fan兲 in order to maximize the pressure
coefficient and to also minimize the production of turbulent ki-
netic energy. As the numbers of iterations required to converge the
optimization code depend on the number of variables employed,
they used a limited number of parameters. Recently, Yu et al. 关9兴
numerically studied the flow field for a centrifugal fan using the
multiple reference frame method. They analyzed the effect of the
blade inlet angle and the impeller gap on the fan performance.
As seen in the foregoing paragraphs, all of the earlier published
works have been aimed at understanding the behavior of flow
inside a machine and its interaction with its solid parts or at trying
to optimize a particular machine by considering some pertinent

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Fig. 1 Sketch of the fan unstructured mesh „hemisphere is
added to inlet…
parameters. But as we know, there is no published work that stud-
ies the weight and effect of each design parameter 共e.g., entry
region variables, blade design parameters, and collector and vo-
lute parameters兲 on the general performance of a turbomachine
and, in particular, a centrifugal fan.
Therefore, the purpose of this present paper is to study and
understand the weight and effects of the entrance region param-
eters of a backward-inclined centrifugal fan on the fan’s effi-
ciency. Thus, the cap of the motor 共an electric motor mounted
inside the hub and rotating the fan兲, entrance radius, deceleration
factor through the entry zone, and the solidity factor were chosen
to study their weight and their effects as well as their interactions
on the efficiency of the centrifugal fan. Therefore, a first design of
experiments 共DOE兲 has been planned based on a complete facto-
rial method. The result of this first DOE is refined, using the
central composite design 共CCD兲 method. The fan response to each
configuration of the parameters is calculated, numerically, by us-
ing a validated numerical code.
2 Model Description and Numerical Procedures
2.1 Geometry and Grid. A geometrical discretization of a
backward-inclined centrifugal fan is created using the commercial
software GAMBIT. It consists of the entry region, rotor and the
volute. In order to simulate the real inlet condition, a large hemi-
sphere is added to the entry region for the purpose of imposing
inlet boundary conditions. Unstructured tetrahedral cells are used
for the meshing of all regions. It is constructed using more than a
million cells 共1,047,501兲. A general view of the geometry and
grids are shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
2.2 Mathematical Formulations and Numerical
Procedure. Three-dimensional elliptical forms of the governing
equations 共continuity and Navier-Stokes equations兲 for incom-
pressible flows are used as primitive variables:
⳵U j
=0 共1兲
⳵X j
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Fig. 2 Detail of the rotor mesh
␳
⳵
⳵X j
共U jUi兲 = −
⳵P
+
⳵
冋冉
⳵Xi ⳵X j
␮
⳵Ui ⳵U j
+
⳵X j ⳵X j
冊
− ␳ u iu j 册 共2兲
Since the temperature is constant, the energy conservation equa-
tion is not used and the fluid properties are assumed to be con-
stant. The standard k-␧ turbulent model is chosen for the modeling
of the effects of turbulence while a wall function is used to resolve
the near wall flows. The commercial software FLUENT is used to
resolve the set of equations based on the control volume method.
In order to have more accuracy, second-order upwind is selected
for the advection terms and the SIMPLE method is performed for
the pressure-velocity coupling. A steady-state multiple reference
frame modeling is used in the calculations to simulate the flow
behavior in different zones 共rotating and stationary zones兲 while
the unsteady interaction effects were neglected. This method
seems to provide a savings in computer time by a factor of about
10 关10兴 and the same degree of accuracy of the unsteady calcula-
tions using the sliding mesh method based on Refs. 关11,12兴. Also,
recently Yu et al. 关9兴 have used the multiple reference frame
method for modeling a centrifugal fan. They showed that good
agreement between the numerical and experimental results was
obtainable.
2.3 Boundary Conditions. Centrifugal fan geometry consists
of three different zones: the entrance, the rotor, and the volute.
The inlet region and the volute are considered on a stationary
frame, whereas the rotor zone is studied on a rotating frame. Sur-
faces between the entry zone and the rotor 共surfaces correspond-
ing to the blades entry兲 and surfaces between the rotor and the
volute 共surfaces corresponding to the blades exit兲 are defined in-
terfaces, needed for the relative velocity of the rotor. Uniform
velocity normal to the hemisphere surface is imposed as the inlet
boundary condition while the turbulence intensity is assumed to
be 1% and the turbulent viscosity ratio equal to 1, corresponding
to the prevailing low-turbulence air condition. There are some
rotating walls included in the inlet zone; thus, they are considered
as rotating walls in the stationary frame. The rotor walls related to
the rotor zone are selected as nonrotating walls in their frame
共rotating frame兲. The outflow boundary condition, with a mass
balance correction, is imposed at the volute outlet.
Convergence of the solution is determined by monitoring the
normalized residuals for each dependent variable. The solution is
considered converged when these normalized residuals reduce to
1 ⫻ 10−3 and the mass residual decreases to 1 ⫻ 10−6.
2.4 Validation of Numerical Simulations. In order to vali-
date the numerical code, grid-independent tests have been done
and the calculated results compared to the experimental results.
MAY 2006, Vol. 128 / 447
 Fig. 3 Comparison of the numerical simulation with the experimental
measurements
Experimental data were obtained using the ANSI/AMCA Standard
210-99 “Laboratory Method of Testing Fans for Aerodynamic Per-
formance Rating” 关13兴.
At different mass flow rates 共see Fig. 3兲, the pressure difference
between the inlet of the fan and the exit of the volute were com-
pared and the concordance between the numerical results and the
experimental results are within 5%.
3 Design of Experiment and Results Analysis
Design of experiment 共DOE兲 was performed on k variables at
more than two levels in order to understand their weights and
effects on the plan 关14兴. A 2k factorial design was chosen to con-
struct the design of experiment this is a design with the k factor
each at two levels. Therefore, for a 2k-design, the complete model
would contain 2k − 1 effects. Four parameters 共related to the en-
trance design of the centrifugal fan兲 were chosen to study their
effects and their interactions’ effects on the fan efficiency. The
selected parameters are 共A兲 the radius of the cap of the motor
共motor installed in the fan and a cylindrical shape assumed for it
共see Fig. 4兲, 共B兲 the radius of the entrance 共see Fig. 4兲, 共C兲 decel-
eration factor 共from the inlet section to the blade inlet兲, and 共D兲
the solidity factor. The angle of attack and the blade inlet diameter
Fig. 4 Entrance nomenclature
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are related to the deceleration and the solidity factor following the
method presented by Eck 关2兴 and used in this study to generate the
geometry. Table 1 summarizes the two levels of each factor 共the
lower level is identified by −1 and the higher one by +1兲. Based
on the parameters and the number of levels, a factorial design
table is prepared and shown in Table 2. The response of these
variables 共fan efficiency兲 is obtained by the corresponding nu-
merical simulation solutions. Therefore, a series of numerical
simulations has been performed for different combinations of
these parameters and their levels 共24 = 16 tests兲, while other fan
design parameters, such as blade exit angle, external diameter,
blade profile 共constant thickness blade兲, etc., are considered to be
constant. For example, the first row shows the level of each pa-
rameter at the first test, i.e., A = −1, B = −1, C = −1, and D = −1,
which means 共see Table 1兲: A = 1.27 cm, B = 0, C = 0.7 and D = 2.
The analysis of variance for these four parameters at two levels is
highlighted in Table 3 共interactions of the higher degree, ABC,
ABD, and BCD are neglected兲. The sum of squares used for test-
ing the hypothesis, that a main effect or an interaction is negli-
gible, is presented on the first row 共ss兲. The degree of freedom
共DOF兲 appears in the second row while the variance 共s2兲 is shown
in the third row. These values have been obtained following the
method presented by Montgomery 关14兴. In this experiment plan,
the Fisher factor 共F0兲, shown in the next row, is equal to 6.61 for
a 95% confidence level 共i.e., the method used to produce the con-
fidence interval yields a correct statement 95% of the time兲. The
Table 1 Parameters and their two levels value for the com-
plete factorial model
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 Table 2 Level of the parameters for each test

Table 3 Analysis of variance for the complete factorial model

Table 4 Parameters and their level for CCD

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 Fig. 5 Response of the first DOE „complete factorial model…
estimated F values for the parameters B, C, D and the interactions
BC, BD, and CD are greater than F0, which means these param-
eters and interactions are statistically significant.
Figure 5 shows the response of these four parameters and the
previously mentioned three significant interactions on the fan ef-
ficiency. As shown in this figure, parameter A 共the radius of the
motor cap兲 compared to the other parameters 共B, C, and D兲 has no
significant effect on the efficiency of the fan. However, the inter-
actions BC, BD, and CD are very important. The results of the
first DOE show the region of the greatest influence on the fan
efficiency. The parameters B, C, and D, as well as the interaction
BC, BD, and CD have positive effects on their lower level 共−1兲.
But if all of the parameters stay at their lower levels 共−1兲, their
interactions can not stay at their lower level because it becomes a
positive value 共−1 ⫻ −1 = 1兲, corresponding to the higher level.
Therefore, an interesting region can not be constructed based on
the lower level of all of these parameters. Thus, the region of the
optimum condition would be constructed based on the lower level
of the parameters B and D and the higher level of parameter C,
since the latter effect is less important. This also allows for having
lower levels for the interactions BC and CD, which have a posi-
tive effect.
At this stage, another DOE has been planned to refine the re-
gion of the optimum condition. Instead of a factorial design, a
Table 5 Analysis of variance for CCD
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central composite design 共CCD兲 关14兴 is chosen for the new plan.
This will enable us to study the behaviour of the parameters and
their interactions by the second order of accuracy.
Table 4 summarizes the parameters and their levels for the
CCD. It is seen that the two levels of parameters B and D are
around their lower level in the first DOE, whereas parameter C is
close to its higher level, as was explained earlier. To construct the
CCD plan, 15 tests are needed. Eight tests must be performed at
two levels to construct the factorial plan 共in order to reduce nu-
merical error in the regression, these eight test have been calcu-
lated twice with two different schemes, so that for these eight tests
in Table 4, two response values are written兲, six runs at another
two levels to establish the axial points 共2k兲, and one test at another
condition to establish the center point are also needed. The analy-
sis of variance for these parameters is shown in Table 5. The
estimated Fisher factor shows that factor C and interactions BD
and BCD are not important. However interactions BC and CD
have significant effects. Also, it shows that the interaction effects
of BC, BD, and CD are significant with a 95% confidence level.
The result of this analysis is shown in Fig. 6: the entrance
radius 共B兲 and the solidity factor 共D兲, as well as the interactions
BC and CD are all very important. It is interesting to note that the
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 Fig. 6 Response of the CCD

Fig. 7 Contour of efficiency map for the solidity factor 1.5757

parameter C 共deceleration factor兲 has not as significant an effect
as its interactions with the entrance radius 共BC兲 and the solidity
factor 共CD兲. This is because of an indirect effect of the decelera-
tion factor 共C兲 on the blade angle of attack and inlet diameter. All
the parameters and interactions BC and CD have a positive effect
at their lower levels and a negative effect at their higher levels.
This means that to have a positive interaction effect, one of the
main parameters 共B, C, or D兲 should stay at its lower level 共less-
effective position兲. Since the deceleration factor 共C兲 has a less
important effect than the other two, it is chosen to stay at its
higher level and, consequently, the interactions BC and CD can
stay at their positive effect position.

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 Fig. 8 Contour of efficiency map for the solidity factor 1.2

4 Optimum Design
A linear regression with the three factors 共B, C, and D兲 has been
done to find the response surface. A contour map presenting dif-
ferent efficiency regimes has been drawn, based on the variations
of the deceleration factor 共C兲 and the entrance radius 共B兲 for dif-
ferent values of the solidity factor 共D兲. Figure 7 shows such a
contour for the solidity factor of 1.5757 共lower level兲; increasing
the deceleration factor 共parameter C goes to its higher level兲 and
keeping the entrance radius 共B兲 around its lower level 共1.016 cm兲,
the maximum efficiency region appears for this solidity factor.
Then by decreasing the solidity factor to 1.2, a region of higher
efficiency appears. This is shown in Fig. 8, a region of 65% effi-
ciency which could not be seen in the case of D = 1.5757. How-
ever, as it is shown in Fig. 9, increasing the solidity factor to 1.8
causes a reduction in the efficiency. This is confirmed that the
movement direction required to achieve a higher efficiency is to-
ward the lower value of the solidity factor. These contours show
that the optimum region, having maximum efficiency based on the
entrance parameters, is a region for which B 艋 1.016 cm, 1 ⬍ C
⬍ 1.2 and D ⬍ 1.7.
In order to validate the procedure, a geometrical condition
共which gives specific value to each entrance parameter兲 in the

Fig. 9 Contour of efficiency map for the solidity factor 1.8

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 region of 63–64% efficiency, was chosen 共see Fig. 7兲. The corre-
sponding fan was configured, based on the following values:
Entrance radius 共B兲 = 0.9108 cm
Deceleration factor 共C兲 = 1.1267
Greek symbols
Solidity factor 共D兲 = 1.5757
Then the fan was simulated numerically and the efficiency ob-
tained equal to 62%. This confirms that the efficiency map ob-
tained using the DOE methodology is reliable with good preci-
sion.
References
5 Conclusion
The design of experiments 共DOE兲 has been performed in order
to study the effect of the entrance geometry of a backward-
inclined centrifugal fan on the efficiency of the fan. Numerical
simulation has been used to determine the efficiency of the fan for
different configurations of the entrance parameters. These en-
trance parameters consist of the radius of the cap of the motor
used for rotating the fan, the radius of the entry section, a decel-
eration factor throughout the entry zone 共from the entry of the fan
to the entry of the blade兲, and the solidity factor. The first DOE
共complete factorial model兲 specifies the region of the most impor-
tant effects. It shows that the motor’s cap, as well as its cross-
interactions with the other parameters, is not significant. However,
the effects of three other parameters and their interactions are
important. Therefore, a region of positive effect on fan efficiency
is established. A second DOE 共central composite design 共CCD兲,
which has a second-order accuracy兲 has also been performed on
the three most important parameters 共radius of the entry to the fan,
deceleration factor, and the solidity factor兲. CCD is focused on the
regions that have positive effects on the fan efficiency. A linear
regression on three factors at three levels shows the map of dif-
ferent efficiency regions based on these three important param-
eters. A higher-efficiency region appears when the entrance radius
is smaller than 0.9108 cm, deceleration varies around 1.1, and the
solidity factor is lower than 1.7. The effects of each principal
parameter and their interaction have been discussed, and the re-
gions of various efficiencies are presented on a contour format.
The methodology is validated by comparing the predicted result
of DOE and the numerical simulation on a specific fan.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank the Natural Science and Engineering Re-
search Council of Canada for its financial support.
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Nomenclature
K ⫽ number of factors
P ⫽ pressure 共Pa兲
U , u ⫽ time-mean and fluctuating velocity 共m s−1兲
␮ ⫽ dynamic viscosity 共N s m−2兲
␳ ⫽ density 共kg m−3兲
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