Pressure measurement on casing wall and blade rows interaction of contra-rotating axial flow pump

Abstract

An application of contra-rotating rotors has been proposed against a demand for developing higher specific speed axial flow pump. The blade rows interaction between front and rear rotors should be clarified for its stable operation and reduction of unsteady losses. In this paper, the static pressure distributions on casing wall are provided by measuring with the phase locked sampling method. The measurements are carried out for two types of the rear rotors with different blade number and chord length, and it is found that, for both types of rotors, the unsteady pressure fluctuations are more remarkable in the front rotor than in the rear rotor and they are caused by the rear rotor pressure field. The effects of pressure fluctuations will be discussed in more details toward understanding the blade rows interaction in the contra-rotating axial flow pump.