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    8 views8 pages

    Fan Problems.

    Uploaded by

    enginvserv
    conference talk

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 8
    FAN PROBLEMS Presented to the International Failure Analysis Conference, 20-22 November 2002, Melbourne, Australia. Mr Remy Bourcier Engineering Manager Howden Australia Pty Ltd Introduction Fan problem dignosis isa specialised area of engineering that combines vibration, noise, material selection and rotor dynamics. Most problems are categorised into three groups: mechanical problems, natural frequency problems and ‘operational problems. These groups will be discussed with examples of the cll tale signs. Fans store a lot of kinetic energy when in operational, as such, people working on fans must understand the design of the fan before any work is done on a fan. Although catastrophic failures are rare, caution must be exercised when ‘maintaining the fan, Contact with the fan manufacturer is always advised. ‘There are three major types of fans, axial, centrifugal and mixed flow. The first two types of fans will be discussed as these are the most common types of fans. Axial Fans ‘There are three main areas of failure on axial fans: items have been added to the system, the system operational/stal, impact & corrosion/erosion. Other resistance will be different. Ifthe system resistance is area of complaint is that of noise. raised, an axial fan can stall and blades will break as @ ‘consequence of fatigue damage. Depending on the ‘An axial fan is usually bought for a required duty. 1f type, size and speed of the fan, this failure can be this duty has not been properly caleulated or additional catastrophic. Stall is shown in figure 1 i os Figure 1 showing the stall region for an axial fan and the effect of an antiestall chamber. When two or more fans are operated in parallel itis particularly so in axial fan operations, If this occurs possible that more than one operating point on the fan three things ean happen: curve can satisfy the system characteristic, This is + One of the fans will operate in stall, ‘The fans will not achieve the required duty “The fans may alternate between stall and stable flow producing a hunting effect. All three will have negative influences on the impeller, the magnitude of these effects will depend on a number of factors. ‘The installation of an anti-stall chamber will increase the operating range ofan existing fan and minimise or climinate the possibilty of stall. Figure I shows the cffet of an anti-stall chamber. As axial fan blade tips depend on its proximity to the ‘external casing to provide fan efficiency, an imbalance «due to corrosion, product build up or insufficiently stiff ‘casing / foundation could result inthe blade touching the casing. The result will be similar to that of impact deseribad above. Foundation/easing stiffness ean cause fatigue cracking. of the fan casing, As axial impellers generally sit on the motor located in the centre of the casing, ifthe ceasing construction is too light, running vibrations may Impact is another area that has serious consequences on the fan. Tools, debris or clumped produet impacting on the blade of an axial impeller can cause failure. Generally, ifone axial blade fails in operation, all the remaining blades will also be taken out. The photos ‘below show what happened when a mixed flow blade failed in operation due to a tool being left in the duct afler routine maintenance. In this incident, only one blade filed but the approximately 68kg blade exited through a 10mm thick casing. Each one of these blades under normal operation exerts a centrifugal force of ‘around 58 tonnes on the impeller hub. Figure 2 showing extent of damage due to blade failure Figure 3 showing external damage. occur that would result in fatigue cracking inthe casing. A vibration spectrum will pick up the offending natural frequency but recifcation could be expensive depending on the source ofthe offending vibration. ‘Transmission of vibration from the supporting structure into an axial fan can also be a cause. The proper design of supporting structures andthe elimination of structural natural frequencies near the fan operating or twice operating speeds is essential, Ifthe impeller is mounted on a shaft, foundation ‘dynamic stiffness plays an important role in the shaft design. Most shaft analysis programs available consider only infinite foundation stiffness with the resultant shaft design sometimes being 100 light for the actual foundation siffvess and resulting in blade touch if the impeller system becomes unstable. Sensitivity to Noise isan issue with axial fans, aerodynamic and ‘economic factors will everride acoustic factors and will ‘generally result in a noisy fan. Other than redesign, ‘which would affect performance, the addition of silencers would need t0 be added to quieten the in-duct noise levels. Dusty environments would require the use shaft disturbances is dependant on the foundation dynamic stiffness and shaft design. The graph below shows the effect of foundation stiffness on a shaft ‘design. Inthe figure 4, an actual foundation stiffness of 1x10"Nm or less would produce an unacceptably sensitive shaft of reactive silencers that are generally resistant to dust compared to absorptive silencers. The thickness of the ‘and ducts will aso determine the noise breakout levels outside the fan. ‘RITCAL FED ji ii iii t Figure 4 showing atypical shaft Centrifugal Fans ‘There are three main areas of failures on centrifugal fans: operational/stal, design & corrosion/erosion. Lack of maintenance isthe single biggest cause of fan failures. Bearing failure accounting fora large portion speed curve as a function of suppor stiffness. of the total failures seen and accounts for most operational failures, In figure 5, the bearing was allowed to run dry resulting in the destruction seen, a bearing failure due to inadequate lubrication. ‘Welding on impellers must be done in consultation with fan manufacturers as special materials are sometimes used. Ifthe wrong weld procedure is used, the impeller design could be compromised. Grounding ‘of the impeller must not be done through the bearings. Ifcharged particles are potentially to be carried through the fan, a separate grounding brush must be installed to prevent static discharge running through the bearings as this will also cause bearing failure. Stall in a centrifugal fan is characterised by acrodynamic pulsations at frequencies around two thirds and four thirds of fan sunning speed. Vibrations inthe impeller due to the stall condition will build up overtime and eventually cause impeller fatigue failure. Fan stale posure KPa Volume flow mis Stall generally occurs in low flow / high pressure conditions and thus starting or running fans under fully closed or near fully closed damper conditions is not recommenced Speed changes: The use of variable speed is becoming ‘more popular especially with centrifugal machines. The control method allows the fan to be “twned” cexacily 10 the required duty while sil achieving a highs efficiency. It is not, however, appropriate forall applications, especially those that have an increased system resistance at lower flows. This usually invelves downstream regulation of flow to maintain a certain pressure-flow characteristic. See figure 6 for an example, Fig 6 Diagram showing potential problems with a variable speed centrifugal fan operating with a non-square law system resistance Comparatively small speed changes wil have a pronounced influence onthe centtfugal stresses within the impeller; a 10% speed change results in a 21% change inthe impeller’ stresses. The only way to check the fatigue life ona variable speed impeller i to use a finite element model to calculate the stresses local to the welds and to use one of & number assessment techniques to assess the fatigue life. ts very imporient in designing an impeller that an accurate assessment is made ofthe number and magnituse of sed changes thatthe fan will experience throughout its life. Avoidance of impeller natural frequency excitation In general impeller natural frequencies should be kept as high as possible. Fig 7 shows a typical impeller fabricated hub connection. Bolted connections, together with the use of cast hubs, are also popular. Problems occurred in the USA around the late 1970s on larger fans with “flexible” centre plates. The problem was described as a “dise-wobble” mode excitation, See figure 8, This can be avoided by ensuring that a stiffness check is carried out. Avoidance of impeller natural frequencies from potential excitation sources, such as running speed and its multiples, blade passing tone and twice blade passing ete, isa Howden standard practice, For a typical 2.0m diameter double inlet impeller there will be approximately 60 to 100 natural frequencies in the range from just below running speed to just above twice blade passing frequency. See figure 9 for typical first six impeller natural frequencies. Natural frequency avoidance is only necessary when potentially excitable ‘mode shapes are involved. For example only ripple ‘modes would be considered forthe blade passing and twice blade passing bands. This makes the task of avoidance a practical proposition. i SReHGEEE sewisewe, p p re vos sina Seen Nd Lie ase Tous onset z Fig Siffened hub support zone i vm 5 8 Fig 8. Problematic impeller diaphragming mode on Sone pels supied inthe ite severes SS Parad fon ett @ Sum er) age Figure 9 shows the first six typical natural frequency modes. The order of these natural frequencies may vary depending ‘on the impeller design. The impeller distortions are accentuated to show the various movernents. Natural frequencies can citer be calculated using finite clement analysis, o by performing a bump test with [Natural frequency analysis can show where high stress the rotor in the factory. It should be bome in mind areas will occur but will not show the correct however that static bump tests, as they do not include magnitude of these stresses. It will, however, show rotor bearings and other support system dynamic which natural frequencies would be the cause of any factors, may not yield accurate impeller natural impeller fatigue cracking. Elimination ofthe excitation frequencies, especially those modes where the shaft souree i usually much easier than the shifting ofa fan ‘system plays a part, In addition static burp tests will natural frequency. Examples of impeller fatigue not include effects such as centrifugal stiffening or cracking are shown in figures 10 & 11 gyroscopic influence, which does modify some of the natural frequencies.' Fig 10. Impeller fatigue cracks Fig 11. Fatigue crack propagating from a balance patch Increasing the speed an a fan above its design speed Using EP greases in fan bearings is also not has major ramifications in terms of impeller stresses recommended asthe fan bearings in general are lightly and natural frequencies, shaft critical specds, bearing loaded on overiung arrangements and greases with the life, ee and has resulted in many fan failures. The fan EP additives are more likely to allow the bearing to ‘manufacturer must be consulted if an increase in speed skid eventually causing the bearing to fail. This fan is contemplated bearing design aspect is generally unavoidable due to ‘other more important design issues. In general bearing ‘An inerease in operating temperature above original and fan manufacturers recommended bearing design operating temperatures has also major installation procedures and torques must be strctty ramifications similar o that of speed increases. Again, adhered to, to minimise bearing failures. the fan manufacturer must be consulted ifan inerease in operating temperature is contemplated ‘The use of sonic homs on fans to clean build up is generally not recommended. The resulting vibration thas caused bolted joints to loosen and the excitation of impeller natural frequencies could cause fatigue cracks to occur. Selection of appropriate materials and welding techniques for specified duties is essential for impeller life. Corrasion/erasion effects can be minimised or ‘controlled by various coatings or linings. Inspection of | the fan at regular intervals is essential in limiting Conclusion

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