A Critical Analysis of Design for Reduction in Vibrations of Centrifugal Impellers

Abstract

Centrifugal pumps are widely used for various applications. Numerous technical practices use centrifugal pumps, particularly when consistent and adaptable pump performance is required. Still, these can have several issues, including low efficiency when operated under off-design conditions and poor capitalization performance. These frequent transport mixtures, such as liquid and gas, and pure liquids. It is a well-known fact that several problems encountered by pumps in a pumping station are related to structural instability or impeller/blade failure. Vibrations can cause catastrophic failures in the impeller, so these must be kept to a minimum while designing the impeller. Vibration, cavitation, rough running, lower-than-expected efficiency, and shorter pump life can all be traced back to unfavorable process flow conditions. Although there are some design guidelines for pump configuration, the effects of fluctuating discharge on structural stability have yet to be investigated. An additional pressing problem is the identification of time cracks. Failure can occur due to cracks much before the design loads. In this work, we aim to investigate and analyze the centrifugal impeller design consideration. Using different methods for designing and modeling, we compared significant results and found the optimal solutions in which a centrifugal impellor can be designed. This work enables us to determine the best techniques and methods to overcome the problem of vibrations produced in the centrifugal impeller. This also helps us to understand the centrifugal pump's behavior and performance to improve its efficiency. Centrifugal impellors are compared across conditions, including free, forced, damped, and undamped systems. Three successful methods for designing and modeling a centrifugal impellor are proposed using these parameters. The methods of design and analysis provide predictions of the flow fields that are highly reliable. Regarding fluid distribution and pump efficiency, computational fluid dynamics provides various solutions that may be applied to impeller design. Using fluent software, we can better comprehend the pump's resonant operation. Blade mistuning is a severe problem that can be handled using the blade tip timing and strain gauge technique. Vibration and motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is also mentioned to investigate vibrational problems with the centrifugal impeller. Several strategies are discussed to lessen or eliminate the issue of vibrations in impellers. The limitations and disadvantages of using these techniques are discussed. The summary of results provides significant design and improvement in centrifugal pumps in the recent past.