Inlet and Outlet Fans

Define the inlet fan and outlet fan using template-based Axial Fan QuickParts.

To define the inlet fan:
  1. In the Graphics window, select the inlet patch that is highlighted below.


  2. Right-click and select New QuickPart > Axial Fan > Templated.
  3. In the Edit dialog, set Name to Inlet Fan.
  4. In the Graphics window, select one of the horizontal edges of the patch as displayed below, right-click and select Set Dimension > Housing Width.


  5. In the Edit dialog, set the following Geometry properties:
    Property Setting
    Housing Depth 0.025 m
    Fan Radius 0.043 m
    Hub Radius 0.02 m
  6. Set the Location vector to [0.0, 0.0, 0.0] m.
  7. Click Update.
  8. Within the Physics section, set the following properties:
    Property Setting
    Housing Material ABS
    Hub Material ABS
    Fan Surface Back Face
To model the pressure rise across the axial fan, the Electronics Cooling Toolset requires the specification of a fan performance curve. A fan performance curve describes the pressure rise through the fan as a function of volumetric flow rates. The performance curve for the fans that are used in this tutorial is shown below. The curve corresponds to a fan operating rotation rate of 1200 rpm.

To import the fan curve

  1. Set the Fan Curve Type to Table.
  2. Next to the Fan Curve File box, click Import and navigate to heatTransferAndRadiation folder of the downloaded tutorial files.
  3. Select eCoolToolset_GraphicsCardTutorial_FanCurve.csv and click Open.
    The fan curve is imported.
  4. For the imported data, set the following units:
    Property Setting
    Volume Flow Units m^3/s
    Pressure Units Pa
  5. Click OK.
To define the outlet fan, copy the inlet fan, move it to the outlet position, and reverse the flow direction:
  1. In the Electronics Cooling panel, right-click the QuickParts > Inlet Fan node and select Copy QuickParts.
  2. In the Graphics window, select the outlet patch as displayed below, right-click, and select Paste QuickParts.


  3. In the Electronics Cooling panel, right-click the QuickParts > Inlet Fan Copy node and select Edit.
  4. In the Edit dialog, set Name to Outlet Fan.
  5. In the Geometry section, set Local Origin to C.

    The local origin is moved to the back face of the fan.

  6. In the Graphics window, select the outlet patch as displayed below, right-click and select Move Object Being Edited To Center Of Face.


    The axial fan is translated to the outlet position, where the translation vector is defined as the vector pointing from the local origin of the fan to the center of the selected outlet patch.
  7. Set the following Physics properties:
    Property Setting
    Fan Surface FrontFace
    Reverse Direction ✓
  8. Click Apply and Close.
  9. Save the simulation .