Performance Analysis of Low-Cost 3D Printed Cooling Fans for Small Electronic Devices

Thermal management remains a persistent challenge in compact electronic devices where conventional cooling solutions often prove impractical due to size constraints and cost considerations. This research investigates the viability of low-cost 3D printed cooling fans as thermal management solutions for small electronic devices. Three distinct fan blade designs were fabricated using fused deposition modeling with polylactic acid (PLA), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filaments. The research was conducted at the Thermal Systems Laboratory of Seoul Institute of Engineering Sciences between March 2023 and November 2023. Performance evaluation encompassed airflow capacity, noise generation, power consumption, and thermal dissipation effectiveness under controlled laboratory conditions. Experimental measurements revealed that PETG-based fans achieved airflow rates of 47.8 cubic feet per minute, representing 90.8% of commercial fan performance while maintaining noise levels at 31.2 decibels. Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences in cooling efficiency among the three materials tested, with PETG demonstrating superior balance between mechanical properties and manufacturing consistency. The cost analysis indicated that 3D printed fans could be produced at approximately 23% of commercial alternatives when factoring in material expenses and printing time. Long-term durability testing over 500 hours of continuous operation showed minimal dimensional changes in PETG samples, with less than 0.3% deformation observed. These findings suggest that additive manufacturing presents a viable pathway for producing application-specific cooling solutions, particularly in prototyping environments and low-volume production scenarios where customization outweighs the modest performance gap compared to injection-molded alternatives. The research contributes practical guidelines for material selection and design parameters that engineers can apply when developing thermal management solutions using desktop 3D printing technology.