Research of fluid-induced pressure fluctuation due to impeller-volute interaction in a centrifugal pump

Abstract

The fluid pressure fluctuation generated by unsteady flow is a very important factor to induce vibration of the centrifugal pump. The relative movement between impeller and volute generates an unsteady interaction which affects not only the overall pump performance, but is also responsible for pressure fluctuations. Pressure fluctuations interact with the volute casing or even with the circuit and give rise to dynamic effects over the mechanical parts, which are one of the most important sources of vibration and hydraulic noise. To investigate the flow characteristic in the centrifugal pump, the unsteady flow is simulated by CFD methods in this paper. Unsteady flow characteristic in the centrifugal pump is obtained considering the impeller-volute interaction in the whole flow field. Based on the unsteady flow simulation, amplitude-frequency characteristics of the pressure fluctuation in the centrifugal pump are obtained through setting up monitoring point at the impeller outlet. The research shows that the frequency component include the blade passing frequency as the main component, the multiplication of blade passing frequency, and the harmonic interference due to the unsteady flow.