N. A. Chinakal Institute of Mining Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia:

A. M. Krasyuk, Chief Researcher, Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, am.krasuk@gmail.com
E. Yu. Russky, Senior Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences
N. A. Popov, Head of Laboratory, Doctor of Engineering Sciences

As productivity of mines grows, it is required to feed more air in underground excavations using main mine fans. High performance coal cutting machinery in extended longwalls to 400 m and more needs higher air feed for safe concentrations. Thus, it has been and is urgent to design and manufacture highly productive fans for main ventilation in mines. The mining industry in Russia mostly uses axial main mine fans (AMMF). Their productivity is mainly governed by the impeller diameter and rotor speed. Engineering of an AMMF with a large-diameter impeller involves some difficulties. First, the fan itself is heavy and expensive, and the larger diameter impeller only adds to the whole machine cost. Second, the heavier wheel machine needs a stronger and more expensive foundation. Third, larger area rooms are required to accommodate such fans, which is not always feasible in old mines under modernization. Fourth, in reconstruction or upgrading of a main ventilation fan, in case of the available ventilation channels, it is impossible to replace an obsolete fan by a new model with a larger diameter. Thus, the designers are set the task to create axial fans of increased productivity and minimum allowable size. The objective is reached by increasing rotary velocity of impeller. In this case, the task is to harden the impeller body and blades. The key problem of blades of energy-efficient AMMF is materials incapable to endure stresses generated at the blade tip speeds higher than 140 m/s. This is conditioned by high normal forces of inertia due to blade weight. One of the ways out is reduction in weight of a blade by manufacturing of the hub as a honeycomb structure. Thus, it is required to carry out the stress–strain analysis of the honeycomb structure to find the most efficient hub design. The research results are presented in this article.

1. Bolton U. Engineering Materials Technology. 3rd ed. Moscow : DMK Press, 2017. 319 p.
2. Singiresu S. R. The Finite Element Method in Engineering. 6^th ed. Oxford : Butterworth-Heinemann, 2017. 782 p.
3. Repetckii O., Ryzhikov I., Nguyen T. Q. Mathematical Modeling and the Computer Analysis of Strength Characteristics and Sensitivity of High-Loaded Parts of Power Turbines. International Multi-Conference on Industrial Engineering and Modern Technologies. Vladivostok, 2019.
4. Petrov N. N., Popov N. A., Batyaev E. A., Novikov V. A. Theory and design of reversible axial fans with turn in motion blades of impeller. Journal of Mining Science. 1999. Vol. 35, Iss. 5. pp. 519–530.
5. Samogin Yu. N., Serkov S. A., Chirkov V. P. Finite element method in dynamic turbomachine calculations. Moscow : Fizmatlit, 2016. 212 p.
6. Kopachev V. F., Dolgikh D. S. About calculation of aerodynamic characteristics of mine fans of mixed action principle. Izvestiya Uralskogo gosudarstvennogo gornogo universiteta. 2015. No. 1(37). pp. 53–55.
7. Kostyuk A. G. Dynamics and strength of turbomachines : Textbook. 3^rd enlarged and revised edition. Moscow : ID MEI, 2007. 476 p.
8. Bouchain A., Picheral J., Lahalle E., Chardon G., Vercoutter A., Talon A. Blade vibration study by spectral analysis of tip-timing signals with OMP algorithm. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing. 2019. Vol. 130. pp. 108–121.
9. Russky E. Yu. Analysis of dynamic parameters of mine fans. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2018. Vol. 134. 012051
10. Russky E., Lugin I., Krasyuk A., Popov N. Engineering and analysis of aerodynamics and design parameters for metro tunnel fans with the same blade for different hub/tip diamater ratios. Proceedings of the 2016 11^th International Forum on Strategic Technology. Novosibirsk, 2016. Iss. 2. pp. 594–598
11. Vardanyan G. S., Andreev V. I., Atarov N. M., Gorshkov A. A. Strength of materials with elements of elasticity and plasticity. 2^nd enlarged and revised edition. Moscow : Infra-M, 2016. 512 p.
12. Popov N. A., Krasyuk A. M., Russky E. Yu., Lugin I. V. Substantiation of parameters and estimation of strength for basic structural units of axial tunnel fan. Journal of Mining Science. 2015. Vol. 51, Iss. 6. pp. 1139–1149.
13. Yuan Li, Zeyang Qiu, Yu Zhang, Zhenyu Ding, Ling Fan. Static Strength Analysis of Centrifugal Compressor Balance Plate Based on Finite Element Method. Proceedings of the 13^th International Conference on Damage Assessment of Structures. Singapor : Springer Nature, 2019. pp. 555–565.