High-efficiency design of a mixed-flow pump using a surrogate model

Abstract

In the present work, the fluid flow characteristics of a mixed-flow pump have beenwere investigated numerically using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The shear stress transport turbulence model and hexahedral grid system were used to analyze the flow in the mixed-flow pump. The efficiency of the mixed-flow pump was evaluated using the variation of two geometric variables related to the inlet angle of the diffuser vane. The design optimization of the mixed-flow pump was performed to maximize the its efficiency at the prescribed specific speed using a surrogate model. Latin hypercube sampling was used to determine the training points for the design of the experiment, and the surrogate model was constructed using the objective function values at the training points. The results show that the efficiency of the mixed-flow pump at the prescribed specific speed is improved considerably by the design optimization.