Qualitative comparison between numerical and experimental results of unsteady flow in a radial diffuser pump

Abstract

Comparison between numerical simulation and experimental results for unsteady flow field in a radial diffuser pump is presented for the design operating point. The numerical result is obtained by solving three-dimensional, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations by the commercial CFD code CFX-10 with k - ω based shear stress transport turbulence model. Two-dimensional PIV measurements are conducted to acquire the experiment result. The phase-averaged velocity and turbulent kinetic energy fields are compared in detail between the results by the two methods in the impeller, diffuser and return channel regions. The qualitative comparison between CFD and PIV results is quite good in the phase-averaged velocity field. Although the turbulence level by PIV is higher than that by CFD generally, the main turbulence features are nearly the same. Furthermore, the blade orientation effect and other associated unsteady phenomena are also examined, in order to enhance the understanding on impeller-diffuser interaction in a radial diffuser pump.