Chapter 20.

Blowers

A blower is a composite modeling object that can be used to represent impellers and
centrifugal blowers. Often used in conjunction with heat sinks, blowers are similar to
3D fan objects, but instead allow air to be expelled in a direction perpendicular to the
incoming flow. They may have single or dual inlets, and are composed of at least two
openings and either a hollow block or a pair of walls.
To configure a blower in your model, you must specify its position and dimensions and
provide information about the inlet and outlet openings.
In this chapter, information about the characteristics of a blower is presented in the
following sections:

• Section 20.1: Impellers

• Section 20.2: Centrifugal Blowers

• Section 20.3: Specifying Blower Properties

• Section 20.4: Adding a Blower to Your Icepak Model

20.1 Impellers
Impellers, or type 1 blower objects (see Figure 20.1.1), are designed to model motorized
impellers. They consist of two aligned circular wall objects that are separated by a ring-
shaped air-outlet opening and either one or two air-inlet openings. Air is drawn into
the impeller though the opening(s) on the top and/or bottom of the device and is then
redirected 90◦ before being expelled circumferentially into the cabinet.

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 Blowers

Rotating blades expel outlet air

through circumferential opening

Inlet air flow

Figure 20.1.1: Impeller Definition

20.2 Centrifugal Blowers

Centrifugal blowers, or type 2 blower objects (see Figure 20.2.1), consist of a hollow
prism block, an air-outlet opening, and either one or two air-inlet openings. Air is drawn
into the blower though the inlet opening(s) and is then redirected 90◦ . The flow is then
concentrated in one direction though a single circular or rectangular outlet opening.

Outgoing air

Incoming air

Incoming air Outgoing air

Example of a Centrifugal Blower

Centrifugal Blower Object in Icepak

Figure 20.2.1: Centrifugal Blower Definition

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 20.3 Specifying Blower Properties

20.3 Specifying Blower Properties

You can specify internal properties for both types of blowers. For both impellers and
centrifugal blowers, you can specify a characteristic curve for the air flow rate. Addi-
tionally, you can specify a swirl component for the flow for an impeller, as the outlet air
direction is skewed by the blade revolution.

20.3.1 Blower Characteristic Curve

The relationship between volumetric flow rate and the pressure drop across the blower
(static pressure) is described by the blower characteristic curve, which is usually supplied
by the manufacturer. Similar to a fan, the total volumetric flow rate, Q, is plotted against
the static pressure, p. For more information about characteristic curves, see Section 19.9.

20.3.2 Specifying Swirl

To specify the swirl for an impeller, you must specify the impeller blade angle and the
rotational speed (RPM) of the impeller blades. The tangential air velocity, utan , changes
as the blower operating point changes on the blower curve (as shown in Equations 20.3-1–
20.3-3):

urad
utan = ωr − (20.3-1)
tan β

where ω is the angular velocity of the blades,

2π
ω=N× (20.3-2)
60
and

Q
urad = (20.3-3)
2πrh
where
h = height of impeller blades (case height)
r = radius of inlet opening
N = RPM of impeller blades
Q = volumetric flow rate (from characteristic curve)
β = impeller blade angle measured with respect to −ωr (see Figure 20.3.1)

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 Blowers

u tan u rad

ω
r

Figure 20.3.1: Geometry for Impeller Swirl Calculation (Top View)

20.4 Adding a Blower to Your Icepak Model

To include a blower in your Icepak model, click on the button in the Object cre-
ation toolbar and then click on the button to open the Blowers panel, shown in
Figures 20.4.1 and 20.4.2.
The procedure for adding a blower to your Icepak model is as follows:

1. Create a blower. See Section 7.3.2 for details on creating a new object and Sec-
tion 7.3.9 for details on copying an existing object.

2. Change the description of the blower, if required. See Section 7.4.1 for details.

3. Change the graphical style of the blower, if required. See Section 7.4.2 for details.

4. In the Info tab, enter the Manufacturer and Model number, if known.

5. In the Geometry tab, specify the geometry, position, and size of the blower. (See
also Section 7.3.6 for details on resizing an object and Section 7.3.7 for details on
repositioning an object.)
• Impellers:
(a) For an impeller, select either Type 1 single inlet or Type 1 dual inlet in the
Blower type drop-down list. For a dual-inlet impeller, the inlet openings
will be aligned on the top and bottom of the impeller and will have the
same inlet and hub radii.
(b) Specify the plane in which the impeller lies (Y-Z, X-Z, or X-Y) in the Plane
drop-down list.

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 20.4 Adding a Blower to Your Icepak Model

Figure 20.4.1: The Blowers Panel (Geometry Tab)

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 Blowers

Figure 20.4.2: The Blowers Panel (Properties Tab)

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 20.4 Adding a Blower to Your Icepak Model

(c) Under Blower information, enter values for the Center point of the base
side (xC, yC, zC), the Radius, the air Inlet radius, and (optionally) the Inlet
hub radius.
(d) Under Case information, enter a value for the Height of the impeller.
(e) Under Case location from blower, specify the direction in which the impeller
should extend from its base side by selecting Low side for the negative
coordinate direction or High side for the positive coordinate direction.
• Centrifugal blowers:
(a) For a centrifugal blower, select either Type 2 single inlet or Type 2 dual inlet
in the Blower type drop-down list. For a dual-inlet centrifugal blower, the
inlet openings will be aligned on opposite sides of the device and will have
the same size, shape, and hub radii.
(b) Under Case information and Location, select Start/end in the Specify by
drop-down list and enter values for the start coordinates (xS, yS, zS)
and end coordinates (xE, yE, zE, as appropriate) of the base, or select
Start/length and enter values for the start coordinates (xS, yS, zS).
(c) Specify the shape of the inlet opening(s) by selecting Circular or Rectan-
gular in the Inlet shape drop-down list.
(d) Specify the shape of the outlet opening by selecting Circular or Rectangular
in the Outlet shape drop-down list.
(e) Specify the Inlet side in the drop-down list. For a single-inlet blower,
you can select any of the six sides of the case (Min X, Min Y, Min Z,
Max X, Max Y, Max Z). For a dual-inlet blower, you can select any pair
of sides that face the same coordinate direction (Min/max X, Min/max Y,
Min/max Z).
(f) Specify the Outlet side in the drop-down list. Your options will be limited
to those sides that are perpendicular to the side(s) containing the inlet
opening(s). For example, if the inlet opening was located on the Min X
side of the case, you could specify the outlet opening to be on the Min Y,
Max Y, Min Z, or Max Z sides of the case.
(g) Specify the geometry of the inlet opening(s).
– Circular inlets: Under Circular inlet, specify a value for the Radius and,
optionally, the Hub radius.
– Rectangular inlets: Under Rectangular inlet, specify values for the
length and width of the opening (i.e., Size X, Size Y, or Size Z de-
pending on the direction of the opening) and, optionally, the Hub
radius.
(h) Specify the geometry of the outlet opening.

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 Blowers

– Circular outlets: Under Circular outlet, specify a value for the Radius.
– Rectangular outlets: Under Rectangular outlet, specify values for the
length and width of the opening (i.e., Size X, Size Y, or Size Z depend-
ing on the direction of the opening) and the offset distances from the
center of the face (i.e., Face center offset X, Face center offset Y, or
Face center offset Z).

6. In the Properties tab, specify the internal properties of the blower.

(a) Under Blower flow, define the characteristic curve for the blower as a curve con-
sisting of piecewise-continuous line segments. Icepak allows you to describe the
curve either by positioning a series of points on a graph using the Blower curve
graphics display and control window (see Section 19.11.1 for a description of
the similar Fan curve window), or by specifying a list of blower static pres-
sure/volume flow rate coordinate pairs using the Curve specification panel (see
Section 19.11.2). These options are available under Edit.
To load a previously defined curve, click on Load. This will open the Load
curve file selection dialog box. Select the file containing the curve data and
click Accept. See Section 2.1.8 for details on selecting a file.
To save a curve, click on Save. This will open the Save curve dialog box, in
which you can specify the filename and directory to which the curve data is
to be saved.
! Note that the box to the right of Save will be empty if you have not defined a
curve for the blower. This box will contain the first volume flow value if you
have defined a curve.
(b) (impellers only) Under Swirl, specify the Fan blade angle and the RPM.
! For a blowers rotating clockwise, make sure to specify the RPM as a negative
value. If a blower is rotating counterclockwise, make sure to specify the RPM
as a positive value. For example, using the right-hand rule, a blower in the
x-y plane that is rotating counterclockwise will have its normal pointing in the
positive z direction. If the same blower was rotating clockwise, the normal
would point in the negative z direction.
(c) Under Power, specify the Blower power. This value is the amount of energy, in
the form of a volumetric heat source, that is absorbed by the blower from the
motor. The blower power is an indirect specification of the blower’s efficiency,
similar to the hub power for a fan.

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