Home Appliances

Air flow is critical to the proper functioning of household appliances. The transfer of heat and moisture comes into play in such items as toasters, ovens, and ranges. Recently, ASC worked with a major U.S. appliance manufacturer to study flow patterns in their clothes dryers.

Several such modifications were examined through computational simulations to arrive at those that would produce the best results while meeting manufacturability constraints. The final design avoids unnecessary pressure losses, thereby ensuring sufficient air flow through the dryer over a broader range of operating conditions.

A computational model was created of the rotating drum, along with the inlet ductwork, exhaust ductwork, and fan. One of the strengths of flow simulation is the ability to examine the aggregate effect of many components used in combination. Visualization of the computed flow velocities and directions is possible for any plane within the model. Some features of the flow geometry that were thought to be a concern were shown to actually work well, so attention could be given instead to those areas where improvement would be possible

Examination of the flow patterns revealed other specific areas where a design modification could increase the effectiveness of the dryer.

CFD Simulation in a Clothes Dryer