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Numerical simulation on the influence of root clearance on the hydraulic performance of axial flow pump device

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Abstract

For the purpose of investigating the influence of impeller root clearance near the leading edge and trailing edge on the hydraulic performance of the axial flow pump, computational fluid dynamics is employed to analyze the energy characteristics and internal flow pattern of an axial flow pump device under four impeller root clearance radii, and two impeller hub structures of cylindrical and spherical hub. External characteristics test is carried out to verify the reliability of numerical simulation results. The results show that the leakage flow generated by root clearance near trailing edge has greater influence on the energy characteristics and internal flow pattern than that at leading edge. When the root clearance radius increases, obvious reductions of head and efficiency are observed, especially under over-load flow rate. The mainstream direction near impeller outlet deviates from the blade mean camberline, and the circumferential and axial velocity at impeller outlet both decreases. A region of stagnant water is generated under the influence of the spherical hub, which further caused hydraulic loss. It is strongly recommended to determine the radius of root clearance and hub sphere considering its influence on hydraulic performance.

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All key data is included in the article.

Abbreviations

Q (m3/s):

Flow rate

Q des (m3/s):

Design flow rate

H (m):

Head of mixed flow pump device

H des (m3/s):

Design head of mixed flow pump device

η (%):

Efficiency of mixed flow pump device

R t (mm):

Root clearance radius

D I (mm):

Impeller diameter

Z D :

Diffuser blades number

Z I :

Impeller blades number

E η (%):

Overall uncertainty

E s (%):

System uncertainty

E r (%):

Random uncertainty

n (r/min):

Rotating speed

R h (mm):

Hub radius

R s (mm):

Shroud radius

C u (m/s):

Circumferential velocity circulation

V u (m/s):

Absolute circumferential velocity

L (mm):

Length of ring at impeller outlet

dl (mm):

Unit length of the ring

3D:

Three-dimensional

RANS:

Reynolds-averaged Navier–stokes

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

EXP:

Experiment

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province.

Funding

This research is supported by the Primary Research and National Foundation for National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant. No. 51809120) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant. No. 18KJB470005).

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Author notes

  1. Yunhao Zheng, Fan Meng, Mengcheng Wang & Yalin Li

    Present address: Research Center of Fluid Machinery Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Fluid Machinery Engineering and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Yanjun Li

Authors
  1. Yanjun Li
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  2. Yunhao Zheng
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  3. Fan Meng
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  4. Mengcheng Wang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Conceptualization and methodology are performed by YL; software and validation are performed by YL and FM; investigation and data curation are performed by MW and YL, writing—original draft preparation is performed by YL; writing—review and editing are performed by FM and YZ.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanjun Li.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Technical Editor: Daniel Onofre de Almeida Cruz.

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Li, Y., Zheng, Y., Meng, F. et al. Numerical simulation on the influence of root clearance on the hydraulic performance of axial flow pump device. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 44, 161 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03409-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03409-x

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