Acoustic noise insulation for air-cooled data centre hard disk drive enclosures: Effect on thermal management

Modern data centres widely use hard disk drive (HDD) enclosure systems where multiple HDDs are integrated into a single rack-mounted enclosure. These systems often use forced air-cooling. However, cooling fans also produce acoustic noise and may restrict the performance of the HDD servo system. One way to control noise is to use acoustic insulation materials. However, these acoustic insulation materials may also act as thermal insulators, which can adversely influence the thermal management system performance. This paper investigates the effects of a simplified acoustic insulator and its influence on cooling system efficiency. Acoustic simulations were conducted using the Finite Element Method (FEM) in the frequency domain. Aerodynamic simulations were conducted, solving steady-state RANS equations and the energy equation.