Vaneaxial Fan Parts¶

Run the Vaneaxial Fan Parts MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim¶

This MicroSim puts eleven numbered markers on FanPedia's exploded views of vaneaxial fans (page 16). The two drawings on the left are direct drive fans: the motor sits inside the tube, in the airstream, with the impeller on its shaft. The two on the right are belt driven fans: the motor sits on a motor base on top of the tube, and a belt runs down through a belt tube to the fan shaft in the middle of the tube. The upper pair is pulled apart so the guide vanes and the inside of the tube show.

The eleven parts are the tubular housing, guide vanes, shaft, impeller, motor, motor support, motor base, impeller access door, sheave, belt tube and bearing housing. On a wide screen the labels sit in two columns, left and right of the drawing, with leader lines; on a narrower screen (including the chapter page) they move below it as a numbered list. The shaft and the sheave are small, so their markers sit just beside them with a short pointer to the part.

The quiz describes each part by its job or its look ("Select the passage that shelters the belt in the airstream.") 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 9 of 11 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 11 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 11".
After the eleventh prompt, the summary shows your first-attempt score, whether you reached mastery (9 of 11), 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. 16", 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/ch04-vaneaxial-fan-overlay/main.html"
        height="992px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan¶

Learning Objective¶

The learner will identify the eleven labeled parts of direct drive and belt driven vaneaxial fans on FanPedia's exploded views, given each part's function or appearance (Bloom: Remember, verb: identify).

Audience¶

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

Duration¶

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites¶

Chapter 4, sections "Axial Fans" (tubeaxial and vaneaxial fans), "Tubular Housings" and "Guide Vanes".

Activities¶

Explore (4 min): Open all eleven parts. Sort them aloud into the parts every fan on the page has (tubular housing, guide vanes, impeller, shaft, motor, impeller access door), the part only the direct drive fans need (motor support) and the parts only the belt driven fans need (motor base, sheave, belt tube, bearing housing).
Compare (2 min): Look at the two left drawings and the two right drawings. Where does the motor sit in each, and what keeps the belt out of the airstream on the belt driven fan?
Quiz (5 min): Switch to quiz mode and find all eleven 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¶

A vaneaxial fan is just a tubeaxial fan with a different impeller: the difference is the vane section, the fixed guide vanes downstream of the impeller that straighten the swirling air.
The guide vanes turn with the impeller: they are fixed in the housing; only the impeller rotates.
A belt driven axial fan has its motor in the airstream like a direct drive one: the motor sits outside the tube on a motor base, and only the belt passes through the airstream, sheltered by the belt tube.

Assessment¶

First-attempt score shown in the summary as "First-attempt score: n of 11"; mastery is 9 of 11 on the first attempt.
Pointing at markers and opening infoboxes in explore mode is exploration, not evidence.
Follow-up question: a customer needs the motor out of a hot or dirty airstream. Which of the two drive types on this drawing would you start from, and which parts make that possible?

References¶

FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - Twin City Fan; pp. 15-16 are the exploded views of axial fans, and p. 16 is the direct drive and belt driven vaneaxial drawing used here.
FanPedia online - Twin City Fan's online version of the encyclopedia.
Chapter 4: Centrifugal, Axial and Mixed Flow Fans - the section "Tubular Housings", where this MicroSim is embedded, and the sections "Axial Fans" and "Guide Vanes".
Airflow Path Explorer - a schematic of the air path through each fan family, including the swirl that a vaneaxial fan's guide vanes stop.