Panel Discussion on Inducer Design Criteria

This article reports a panel discussion titled Inducer Design Criteria presented at the 9th International Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC-9). The presentations of the panelists and the subsequent discussions are summarized. It is shown that cavitation instabilities are major problems in modern turbopumps and that design criteria to eliminate them are needed. Available design methods for inducers and marine propellers are reviewed, and new criteria to enhance stability are proposed. The current status of CFD is reviewed and an example of successful application is shown. Discussions of several specific topics are reported and future research needs are noted

A theoretical study of fluid forces on a centrifugal impeller rotating and whirling in a vaned diffuser

The fluid forces on a centrifugal impeller rotating and whirling in a vaned diffuser are analyzed on the assumption that the number of impeller and diffuser vanes is so large that the flows are perfectly guided by the vanes. The flow is taken to be two dimensional, inviscid, and incompressible, but the effects of impeller and diffuser losses are taken into account. It is shown that the interaction with the vaned diffuser may cause destabilizing fluid forces. From these discussions, it is found that the whirling forces are closely related to the steady head-capacity characteristics of the impeller. This physical understanding of the whirling forces can be applied also to the cases with volute casings. At partial capacities, it is shown that the impeller forces change greatly when the flow rate and whirl velocity are near to the impeller or vaned diffuser attributed rotating stall onset capacity, and the stall propagation velocity, respectively. In such cases the impeller forces may become destabilizing for impeller whirl

Effects of Leading Edge Sweep on the Cavitating Characteristics of Inducer Pumps

It is well known that leading edge sweep has a favorable effect on the cavitation of turbomachines. However, the mechanisms of the improvement have not been made clear. It has been shown that the lift and the drag on a cavitating swept single hydrofoil can be correlated fairly well based on the velocity component normal to the leading edge. In the present paper, such correlations for swept cascades are derived and the results are examined, neglecting the full geometrical effects of the inducer rotor. It is shown that the correlations can simulate the developments of various types of cavitation, including alternate blade cavitation, rotating cavitation, and cavitation surge. This result is based on the observation that the steady cavity length, as well as the developments of various types of cavitation, is fairly well predicted by the correlation

Unified Treatment of Flow Instabilities of Turbomachines

The relationship among four flow instabilities of turbomachines, namely, surge, rotating stall, cavitation surge, and rotating cavitation, is elucidated, using a unified or common model for their analysis. The simplest unifying model was employed in the analysis to focus on the characteristic features of each instability. Moreover, the concentration is on the stability criteria, and hence, the amplitudes are assumed small. Of course, the instabilities often grow to amplitudes comparable with the average value of the flow variable. Flows upstream and downstream of the impeller were assumed to be one dimensional for surge and cavitation surge and to be two dimensional for rotating stall and rotating cavitation, respectively. Viscous effects were taken into consideration in the form of cascade loss. Impeller blade geometry was incorporated in the assumption that the flow is perfectly guided. The peripheral wavelength of the disturbance was assumed to be much larger than the blade pitch

Analyses of the Characteristics of a Centrifugal Impeller with Leading Edge Cavitation by Mapping Methods

The characteristics of a centrifugal impeller under a condition with leading edge cavitation are analyzed by using conformal mapping methods. It is assumed that the thickness of the cavity is small, and linear cavity models are used. Concerning the treatment of the Bernoulli equation, two different models are considered. The first one is based on a full Bernoulli equation in a rotating frame. In the second model, the Bernoulli equation is linearized on the assumption that the disturbance due to cavity is small. The second model predicts shorter cavity, but the differences in the pressure distribution and in the head coefficient are small for the conditions with the same cavity length. The results of the first model are in general agreement with those by a singularity method and experiments

Active control of vaneless diffuser rotating stall

Experiments were carried out to study the feasibility of active stabilization of vaneless diffuser rotating stalls. Pressure fluctuation at the diffuser inlet was monitored and used to control the rotating stall. AC control flow, which is produced by a load speaker, was introduced into the diffuser at the inlet. It is shown that the rotating stall can be suppressed when the phase of the control flow has a certain relation with the phase of the rotating stall. By considering the energy flux due to the AC control flow, it is shown that the rotating stall is suppressed when the control flow has the phase such that the energy is subtracted out from the diffuser flow. Discussions are made on the relations between the energy flux and the amplitude of the pressure fluctuation due to the rotating stalls

A Theoretical Study of Impeller and/or Vaneless Diffuser Attributed Rotating Stalls and their Effects on the Whirling Instability of a Centrifugal Impeller

Fluid forces on a centrifugal impeller rotating and whirling in a vaneless diffuser are analysed on the assumption of a two-dimensional inviscid flow. It is assumed that the number of impeller vanes is infinitely large and that the loss in the impeller can be estimated from the steady hydraulic and incidence losses taking into account the delay time of the loss. Further, the pressure at the outlet of the diffuser is assumed to be constant. On these assumptions impeller and/or diffuser attributed rotating stalls are observed, and the effects of parameters affecting the stalls are discussed. It is found that both stalls may cause the whirling instability of a centrifugal impeller

FEDSM2005-77387 STEADY ANALYSIS OF THERMODYNAMIC EFFECT OF PARTIAL CAVITATION USING SINGULARITY METHOD

ABSTRACT It is well known that the suction performance of turbopumps in cryogenic fluids is much better than that in cold water because of thermodynamic effect of cavitation. In the present study, an analytical method to simulate partially cavitating flow with the thermodynamic effect in a cascade is proposed; heat transfer between the cavity and the ambient fluid is modeled by one-dimensional unsteady heat conduction model under the slender body approximation and is coupled with a flow analysis using singularity methods. In this report, the steady analysis is performed and the results are compared with those of experiments to validate the model of the present analysis. This analysis can be easily extended into unsteady stability analysis for cavitation instabilities such as rotating cavitation and cavitation surge

Study on Flow Characteristics Downstream of Annular Inlet Guide Vanes

ABSTRACT The main objectives of the present study are to identify the dominant parameters responsible for the generation of unsteady flow, determine the conditions under which flow oscillations are produced and the relation between the flow characteristics and the number of vanes with identical solidity. The flow instabilities downstream of inlet guide vanes (IGV) are clarified experimentally and by numerical simulation. The conditions for the onset of flow instability, including the number of cells and the oscillation characteristics of the unsteady flow, are discussed based on measured pressure fluctuations and the propagating angular velocity ratio of the instability for various radius ratios (r3/r2). The effectiveness of adjusting the number of vanes to control the flow instabilities is also discussed. INTRODUCTION Variable inlet guide vanes (IGV), which are a type of swirling flow generator, are installed at the inlet of centrifugal compressors to reduce the inlet mach number of the rotor blades. Under lower flow rates, the vane angle (β2) referring t