7.5 User-Defined Fan Model

The user-defined fan model in ANSYS FLUENT allows you to periodically regenerate a profile file that can be used to specify the characteristics of a fan, including pressure jump across the fan, and radial and swirling components of velocity generated by the fan.

For example, consider the calculation of the pressure jump across the fan. You can, through the standard interface, input a constant for the pressure jump, specify a polynomial that describes the pressure jump as a function of axial velocity through the fan, or use a profile file that describes the pressure jump as a function of the axial velocity or location at the fan face. If you use a profile file, the same profile will be used consistently throughout the course of the solution. Suppose, however, that you want to change the profile as the flow field develops. This would require a periodic update to the profile file itself, based upon some instructions that you supply. The user-defined fan model is designed to help you do this.

To use this model, you need to generate an executable that reads a fan profile file that is written by ANSYS FLUENT, and writes out a modified one, which ANSYS FLUENT will then read. The source code for this executable can be written in any programming language (Fortran or C, for example). Your program will be called and executed automatically, according to inputs that you supply through the standard interface.