Optimal design of the guide vane blade of the CAP1400 coolant pump based on the derived multi-source constrained zone

Abstract

Abstract The vane takes over the role of guiding the high-speed flow and decreasing the unbalance radial forces from the rotating impeller, which is important for the safety and long-term serving of the coolant pump. To design the vane blade effectively, a new constrained zone generating the satisfied and efficient design variables was deduced out from the summarized multi-source constrained conditions. Based on the derived constrained zone, an optimization system comprised of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method, the approximate model, and the Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) was established. Taking the 1:2.5 scaled 1400-MW canned nuclear coolant pump as the target, the optimal sample was gotten successfully, and the following conclusions could be concluded as: the influence degrees of the design variables were ranked with RSM analysis; the optimal sample’s efficiency was 2.2% higher than the target, and its head was about 3% greater; the unsteady analysis denoted that the optimal result could decrease the pressure fluctuation and the radial forces effectively, which means that it does good for the safety and long-term serving of the coolant pump. The study is expected to provide a technical reference for the third-generation nuclear power plant design.