The Effect of Reynolds Number on Microaxial Flow Fan Performance

Abstract

Microscale axial flow fans were investigated in response to the growing cooling requirements of the electronics industry. The two main challenges of this investigation were manufacture of a fully functional fan at the microscale, and performance reduction due to Reynolds number effect. Manufacture of a fully functional axial microfan complete with three-dimensional blade geometry was proven possible using microelectrodischarge machining techniques. Experimental performance measurements proved that Reynolds number effect was not prohibitive at the microscale, and dimensional analysis thereof derived a novel linear scaling method, which quickly and accurately predicted the Reynolds number effect at any fan scale.