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Case Study
Want to increase capacity and miniaturize the power supply unit?

San Ace Counter Rotating Fan efficiently cools high-density equipment with industry-leading high static pressure

ICT Equipment Manufacturer D Corp. (500 Employees)
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  • Case Study 91 - ICT Equipment Manufacturer D Corp. (500 Employees)
Problem
  • Mounting density in the interior of their product is increasing, and static pressure performance of their current fan is insufficient.
  • Because their product includes components that are susceptible to vibration, a low vibration fan is required.
Solution and Results
  • Effectively cool high-density equipment with an industry-leading high-static pressure fan.
  • Improved static pressure with the same level of vibration as the current fan.
In the electronics industry, especially for ICT equipment, mounting density has been increasing in line with the increasing processing power required per area/volume.

Problem

Wanted to miniaturize and increase the capacity of a power supply unit, but heat built up inside the unit

ICT equipment manufacturer D Corp. was working on the development of a new power supply for servers. Mr. I, of D Corp.'s development technology department, talks about the challenges he encountered.
"With the trend of server miniaturization, server power supplies must also be downsized. To downsize a power supply while maintaining capacity, it is necessary to increase the mounting density of the unit. However, the increased mounting density caused higher heat generation, affecting the power supply output. So, building an efficient cooling system was a major development challenge. However, the high density of the unit impeded the flow of air through the interior, and the weak static pressure of our current fan was unable to efficiently discharge heat from the interior to cool the unit."

A fan with high static pressure was desired, but high vibration could not be tolerated

"We could not allow high vibration because servers include precision components such as hard disks. We had tried a high static pressure fan in the past, but its high vibration became a problem. According to the manufacturer of that fan, the source of the vibration was the increased rotation speed necessary to provide the fan's cooling performance. I'd have liked to use a fan with high static pressure, but I wanted to avoid the negative impact of vibration on hard disks at all costs," stated Mr. I.
D Corp. realized that they needed a fan with higher static pressure than that used for their current product, and continued to look for fans that met their conditions.

Solution and Results

Effectively cool high-density equipment with an industry-leading high-static pressure fan

Seeking to solve the problem, Mr. I visited the SANYO DENKI booth at a power supply trade show and discussed the issue with a SANYO DENKI representative. After hearing Mr. I's problems, the representative proposed their new 40 × 40 mm San Ace Counter Rotating Fan.
"I was surprised that even in a small 40 × 40 mm size, the maximum static pressure was 1.7 times higher than the current fan. The interior of our new power supply was densely packed with components, but I felt that this fan could be powerful enough to cool it efficiently. We had a tight development schedule, so we wanted to test it in-house right away," said Mr. I.

In response to Mr. I's request, the representative provided evaluation samples. When D Corp. verified the samples, it was confirmed that, as expected, they were capable of efficiently cooling the interior of the new power supply.

Improved static pressure with the same vibration level as the current fan

"The proposed fan provided high static pressure, but kept vibration low. Since rotation speed was nearly 1.5 times higher than our current fan, we were concerned about vibration. However, through testing we were able to confirm that it was at the same level as the current fan. This is a level that does not adversely affect hard disks. Significantly improving static pressure while keeping vibration low was, for us, the key selling point," beamed Mr. I.

After that, D Corp. officially decided to use the 40 × 40 San Ace Counter Rotating Fan. "We successfully developed a power supply unit for servers that met the requirements for miniaturization and higher capacity. It has received high ratings from our customers. Until that point, I had been worried that we would have to choose between static pressure and vibration, but thanks to SANYO DENKI providing sample products so quickly, we were on time for development. I really appreciated the flexible response from SANYO DENKI. I would be happy to discuss with them again in the future," said Mr. I. with a smile.

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