Noise reduction optimization for numerous radiator fans for fuel cell vehicle considering thermal-fluid-acoustic synergy

Due to the high-power development of fuel cell vehicles, thermal management has become a key technology that affects the performance and reliability of fuel cells. When numerous radiator fans are used for heat dissipation, more noise is generated. In this paper, a multi-physical field computational model of the radiator is constructed based on the synergistic characteristics of the thermal-acoustic field, taking into account the coupling effect of radiator heat dissipation and fan noise. Four design parameters of the radiator are selected, and the field synergy angle is used as an evaluation index to optimize the radiator system arrangement. The results show that the overall heat dissipation of the optimized radiator system is increased by 8%, while the sound level of the radiator fan is reduced by 4.2 dBA, which achieves more noise reduction while ensuring heat dissipation. It is also found that for the temperature field, the reduction of the synergy angle between the velocity and temperature gradients enhances the heat dissipation of the heat sink, while for the sound field, the increase of the synergy angle between the velocity and pressure gradients attenuates the propagation of acoustic energy generated by the radiator fan.