Numerical approach based design of centrifugal pump volute

Abstract

Centrifugal pumps are widely used in many industrial sectors. However the experimental characterisation processus of pumps is very complex and expensive task due to the large number of geometrical parameters in consideration. The complexity is increased due to their elaboration by molding process dicted by the pump components (volute, wheel, and rotor). It is then worthful  to minimizing the costs associated to design and manufacturing processes of pumps. Ever though the tremendous efforts made in this domain the experimentation does not represent the most reliable solution. A precise numerical simulation of complex liquid flow in centrifugal pump can be rapid and reliable solution for improving the pump performance. A large number of numerical or experimental researches are focussed on rotor dimensurring of radial volute. In this study three different forms of tangential volutes (circular, Bezier and trapezoidal) with same dimensions and the same rotor are used. The behaviour of the fluid either Newtonian or Non-Newtonian is taken into consideration. The objective of the study is to know the effect of the form of the volute and nature of the fluid on the properties of the internal fluid flow. Finite volume method (FVM) is used under the commercial code Ansys-CFX. The numerical simulation is carried out to study the velocity distribution and pressure field distribution in the three volutes. The nature of Non-Newtonian fluid behaviour is integrated in the code via a subprogram. The turbulence of flows in the centrifugal pump is taken into account using k-Ɛ model. The obtain results show that the form of the volute and the nature of fluid flow have a sensitive effects on the velocity, the pressure as well as on the shear stress.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.21.4.8930