Application of Computational Tools to Design a Reliable and Tone-Improved Alternator

To predict the temperature distribution of an alternator in an automobile engine, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was applied to a complicated alternator geometry. This analysis revealed the complicated flow patterns and temperature distributions in the alternator. Moreover, an algorithm for predicting the frequency of the noise generated by the alternator’s cooling fan was devised. Then, the pitch angle was optimized by commercial software in order to improve the tone quality, therefore, unpleasant noise of the fan could be reduced by making the noise level for each order equal. It is concluded that these computational tools (i.e., the algorithm and software optimization) can effectively improve the tone quality of the fan noise and, when combined with CFD analysis, they can significantly reduce both the time and cost of developing an alternator.