Direct Drive Centrifugal Fan Parts¶

Run the Direct Drive Centrifugal Fan Parts MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

This MicroSim puts twelve numbered markers on FanPedia's exploded view of a direct drive centrifugal fan (page 9). The fan is an Arrangement 8: the bearing pedestal is extended to carry the motor, and a coupling joins the motor shaft to the fan shaft, so the impeller turns at motor speed. An inset at the lower left shows the inlet side of the assembled fan with a flanged inlet.

The twelve parts are the inlet collar, inlet funnel, impeller, housing, outlet flange, access hole for mounting bolts, pedestal, bearings, shaft, coupling, motor and inlet flange. On a wide screen a label column with leader lines sits to the right of the drawing; on a narrow screen the labels move below it as a numbered list. Where a part is small (the bearings, shaft and coupling), its marker sits just above it with a short pointer to the part.

The quiz describes each part by its job ("Select the part that joins the motor shaft to the fan shaft.") instead of naming it, in a shuffled order. You get two attempts per prompt. The first wrong answer shows a hint about where to look; the second reveals the part and counts as missed. Mastery is 10 of 12 correct on the first attempt. Explore mode is never scored.

How to Use¶

Explore mode (the starting mode). Point at a numbered marker, or Tab to it, to see the part's name and description in the panel below the drawing. Click it (or press Enter) to open it; opened parts get a ✓ in the label list and the counter shows how many of the 12 you have visited. Clicking a name in the label list opens that part too.
Quiz mode. Press Quiz. The labels and leader lines disappear and a prompt describes one part:
- Correct: "✓ Correct:" with the part name and its description; the marker turns green with a ✓ badge and its label comes back.
- Wrong on the first attempt: "✗ Not quite.", the name of the part you picked, and a hint. The hint never names the answer.
- Wrong on the second attempt: the answer is marked "Answer" and named, and the prompt counts as missed.
Press Next prompt after each answer. The toolbar shows "Parts correct: n of 12".
After the twelfth prompt, the summary shows your first-attempt score, whether you reached mastery (10 of 12), and each missed prompt with its answer. Retry missed practises only the misses (not scored), Start over reshuffles and resets the score, and Back to explore returns to the labels.

Keyboard: Tab moves through the markers in number order and then the buttons; Enter or Space selects a marker. After an answer, focus moves to Next prompt, so Enter goes on.

Data label: "Drawing: FanPedia, Twin City Fan, p. 9", shown under the drawing.

Iframe Embed Code¶

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://moroshek.github.io/FanTASTIC-textbook/sims/ch03-direct-drive-centrifugal-overlay/main.html"
        height="710px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Learning Objective¶

The learner will identify the twelve labeled parts of an Arrangement 8 direct drive centrifugal fan on an exploded view, given each part's function (Bloom: Remember, verb: identify).

Audience¶

Adult professional development: new application engineers, sales staff, representatives and facilities staff.

Duration¶

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Chapter 3, sections "The Fan Housing", "The Impeller", "The Fan Inlet", "The Fan Outlet", "The Fan Shaft", "Bearings", "The Fan Motor" and "The Drive Train" (direct drive through a coupling, Arrangement 8).

Activities¶

Explore (4 min): Open all twelve parts. Sort them aloud into the air path (inlet collar, inlet funnel, impeller, housing, outlet flange), the connections (inlet collar, inlet flange, outlet flange) and the drive train and its support (shaft, bearings, coupling, motor, pedestal).
Compare (2 min): Open the belt-driven exploded view in Exploded Centrifugal Fan. Which parts of that drive train are missing here, and which part replaces them?
Quiz (5 min): Switch to quiz mode and find all twelve parts from their jobs without going back to explore mode.
Review (3 min): Read the missed list, open those parts in explore mode, then press Start over for a new order.

Common Misconceptions Addressed¶

The inlet collar and the inlet flange are the same connection: the collar is a plain sleeve that a duct slips over and clamps to, the flange is a drilled ring that bolts face to face (the inset shows it on the assembled fan).
A direct drive fan has no shaft or bearings of its own: in Arrangement 8 the fan keeps its own shaft and two bearings on the pedestal, and only the coupling links it to the motor.
The pedestal is just a stand for the motor: it carries the bearings and shaft, and Arrangement 8 extends it to carry the motor too.

Assessment¶

First-attempt score shown in the summary as "First-attempt score: n of 12"; mastery is 10 of 12 on the first attempt.
Pointing at markers and opening infoboxes in explore mode is exploration, not evidence.
Follow-up question: a site asks for the fan to run slower than motor speed. Which part on this drawing would have to change, and what would replace it?

References¶

FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - Twin City Fan; p. 9 is the direct drive exploded view used here, p. 174 describes Arrangement 8, p. 188 the inlet funnel, pp. 79-80 the shaft and p. 97 the bearings.
FanPedia online - Twin City Fan's online version of the encyclopedia.
Chapter 3: Basic Fan Anatomy - the section "The Drive Train", where this MicroSim is embedded, and the sections that define each part.
Exploded Centrifugal Fan - the belt driven Arrangement 9 counterpart (FanPedia p. 10).