NOISE

17.1. Introduction
The axial flow fan has, in general, gained the reputation of being a relatively noisy type of air-
moving unit. Too often, owing to bad design or installation of the fan concerned, unnecessary
noise is introduced. A short section on noise is therefore appropriate.
The scientific study of fan noise is still in its infancy and hence no comprehensive findings can
be given here. There are, however, many known aspects of the problem which should be kept in
mind.
Periodic changes in air pressure are transmitted through the air in the form of sound waves.
These changes may originate at the surface of a vibrating body or may arise from certain types
of air turbulence. The frequency with which the periodic changes take place is of considerable
importance as the notes arising from certain frequency bands can be most distressing. When the
sound being transmitted at any time covers a wide range of frequencies the result is usually known
as noise.
Tolerance of noise varies greatly from individual to individual and hence it is difficult to
specify an acceptable level. It is safer, therefore, to assume that all fan noise is undesirable. There
are two distinct stages in the task of minimizing fan noise:
(i) The elimination, in the design stage, of as many potential noise sources as possible and
the use of good design principles in minimizing any unavoidable noise.
(ii) The absorption of a large proportion of the residual noise by appropriate means, e.g. by
the use of porous materials.
The second stage has received much attention in textbooks dealing with sound and will
therefore receive only passing mention here. Since the first is closely allied to the aero- dynamic
design, this aspect of noise suppression will be considered more fully.

17.2. Noise Sources

Noise in axial flow fans may be attributed to three main, and interdependent, sources. These
are:
(a) the periodic pressure field created by the rotor blades
(b) vortex noise associated with the turbulence present in shear flows
(c) mechanical vibrations which may or may not be aero dynamically excited.
The main aspects of these various sources will be considered qualitatively.
17.2.1. Rotation noise. At any point in the neighborhood of a rotor, the air pressure will
vary with a frequency given by the product of the number of blades and the rotational speed of
the rotor. Normally the contribution from this source is small except near the plane of rotation,
in which the sound intensity is at a maximum. Other factors can, however, cause an amplification
of the disturbances.
It is usually assumed <80> that this form of sound is not associated with a longitudinal wave
motion. The author has, however, obtained experimental evidence which suggests that the
column of air contained by the duct is vibrated at a forced frequency by the rotor with a nodal
pattern similar to that found in organ pipes; the plane of the rotor is, of course, an antinode. When
the applied frequency is identical with a multiple of the natural frequency of the air column,
resonance occurs. A forced vibration of the duct structure at this frequency can then occur, giving
rise to a large increase in the noise intensity. A change in the duct length is often desirable as a
means of avoiding organ pipe resonance.
When the flow field through which the rotor blades are moving is non-uniform, a strong note
is produced. For example, the wakes from pre rotator vanes produce very noticeable increases in
the noise level. At the trailing edge of an aero foil, the velocity gradients across the wake are
large but diminish quickly as the flow passes downstream. Hence the distance between the stator
and rotor blades is of considerable importance from a noise point of view. When the distance is
small, the noise can be very intense and even painful. The same, of course, applies when plate or
rod systems are used upstream of the rotor as mechanical supports. Even in the absence of a wake,
some increase in noise, occasioned by the rotor blades cutting the non-uniform pressure field
created by the stators while deflecting the flow, might be expected. To minimize the noise
intensity, the number of evenly spaced supports or stators and the number of rotor blades should
not possess a common factor.
An argument very similar to the above can be applied in the case of the fan fitted with
straightener vanes; here, however, the noise intensity is usually lower. The lower relative velocity
between the air and the stators is a possible contributing factor. Since the stators can be rigidly
supported at each end, restraint can be placed on aerodynamically excited blade vibrations, thus
minimizing the noise level.
In the foregoing, it has been tacitly assumed that the wakes are those which normally arise
downstream of aero foils having attached boundary layers. When flow separation is present, the
general flow becomes less steady and the wake widens appreciably; a marked increase in noise
intensity is at once apparent. An increase in vortex noise can account for quite a large proportion
of the additional noise. For low pressure rise fans, an irregular low frequency rumble may be set
up, while severe surging can accompany the stall in high pressure rise units. A fan exhibiting the
above noise features should be investigated with a view to the possibility of blade stalling.

17.2.2. Vortex noise. The aeolian tone was probably the first form of vortex noise to receive
attention. When a bluff body is placed in an airstream, boundary layer separation leads to a vortex
shedding in which a vortex is shed first from one side of the body and then from the other in an
alternating manner. The body need not necessarily vibrate with the shedding frequency for sound
to be propagated. Theories have recently been advanced in an attempt to explain the dynamics of
sound arising from an aerodynamic origin. For present purposes, however, it is sufficient to
accept that a turbulent mixing flow is capable of producing audible and undesirable sounds. The
noise level will, of course, rise with increasing turbulence in the stream.
The turbulence in an attached boundary layer produces noise which is barely noticeable at the
stream velocities usually encountered in industrial installations. Separated flow, whether of a
general type or of the kind which produces the aeolian note, causes a sharp increase in noise level,
often to a quite objection- able point. This leads to the axiom that the lower the drag or total head
losses in a duct system, the quieter the unit.
With the exception of the aeolian type of phenomenon, aerodynamic noise is of complex
structure and spread over a wide band of frequencies. This is due to the wide range of eddy sizes
found in turbulent mixing flow. The greatest energy, however, is usually found in the vicinity of
1000 cycles per second.
17.2.3. Mechanical noise. The vibration of solid bodies can arise from either
mechanical or aerodynamic sources. Since such bodies are very efficient noise transmitters,
particularly when resonant, every endeavor should be made to avoid excitation or, failing that, to
damp the oscillations of the body. Separated or fluctuating flows can create a considerable
nuisance by forcing the vibration of rods, supports or sheet metal ducting.
 17.2.4. Compressibility effects. In the design theory, incompressible flow is assumed
since a restriction is placed on the tip speed of the blade (Section 7.9). One of the major reasons
for this limitation is the large increase in noise which accompanies the approach to sonic
velocities locally near the blade surface. It is therefore customary to limit the rotational velocity
of the blade tip to 550 ft./sec which is approximately half the speed of sound for the standard
atmosphere.
The increase in noise level with tip speed is related to the local increase in air density and the
possibility of severe shock- induced boundary layer separations.

17.3. Noise Investigations

A considerable proportion of the total noise emitted by present day fan installations can be
eliminated. The origin of the noise must be investigated as a preliminary to applying corrective
measures. Instruments capable of analyzing sound and vibration are of great assistance in such
an investigation.
A sound analyzer, which contains filters, measures the sound energy in a narrow band of
frequencies, a process which is repeated for each band of the complete noise spectrum. When
the frequency of maximum energy coincides with the rotational frequency, or a multiple thereof,
the major source is obvious. If, however, this frequency is not dominant, and the energy is instead
distributed over a wide range of frequencies in the neighborhood of 1000 c/s, vortex noise is at
once suspected.
Features which tend to amplify the noise, e.g. separated flow or improper location of stator
blades, should receive priority in a noise suppression programme. The next phase of the work
involves a reduction in the forced and resonant vibration of solid surfaces; reflecting surfaces
should also receive consideration.

17.4. Absorption of Noise

A similarity which has been established between electrical and acoustical energies permits
treatment of the noise suppression problem in a manner analogous to the use of electrical filters.
(81)
This similarity aids the design of devices which will absorb low frequencies and pass high
ones or vice versa. Resonators can also be designed to absorb acoustic energy at a particular
frequency; such selective devices are, however, of limited use as in most cases the noise is spread
over a wide range of frequencies.
When air velocities are low and the total head losses are in consequence unimportant, very
efficient silencing systems can be built; the silencer on a motor vehicle is an example of such a
system. The design of a “filter” system for the normal duct installation, on the other hand, is a
difficult problem on account of the desirability of minimizing total head losses. There are,
nevertheless, many cases where resonators or filters have produced remarkable reductions in
noise level for negligible increases in flow resistance.
Most noise-absorbing devices must be specially designed for each specific case. When high
frequencies are the only trouble- some ones, sheets of porous materials on the duct walls give
noise attenuation over a wide frequency range.

17.5. Conclusions
If serious thought is given to the matters outlined above, a number of the mistakes which are
often made in the fan design stage can be avoided. As more and more quantitative data become
available, a design estimate of noise level will become a possibility.
The author is of the opinion that, with an adequate research effort, large improvements in noise-
absorbing techniques are possible. The design of silencing devices will eventually be integrated
into the general aerodynamic design problem.
The subject matter presented here, when used in conjunction with the given references, should
prove of value to the engineer concerned with noise suppression. It is recommended that each
problem be diagnosed along the lines indicated in order to eliminate unnecessary sources of sound
and to design effective absorption devices. In the latter connection, the reader is advised to study
modern textbooks dealing with sound in a comprehensive manner.