Impeller-Induced Rotor-Dynamic Forces

The flow through and around the rotor of a turbomachine exerts a force on the rotor and, hence, rotor shaft and bearing system. In some circumstances this force may lead to excitation of shaft whirl in the direction of impeller rotation. Recent international research of this phenomenon is briefly reviewed; these findings suggest that turbomachines intended to operate well above the first critical speed should take the effect into account

A Test Program to Measure Fluid Mechanical Whirl-Excitation Forces in Centrifugal Pumps

Much speculation has surrounded the possible unsteady hydrodynamic forces which could be responsible for the excitation of whirl instabilities in turbomachines. However there exist very few measurements of these forces which would permit one to evaluate the merits of the existing fluid mechanical analyses. In keeping with the informal nature of this workshop we will present details of a proposed test program for the measurement of the unsteady forces on centrifugal impellers caused by either (i) azimuthal asymmetry in the volute geometry or (ii) an externally imposed whirl motion of the impeller. In the second case the forces resulting from the imposed whirl motions with frequencies ranging from zero to synchronous will be measured by means of a force balance upon which the impeller is mounted. This work is presently being carried out under contract with the NASA George Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama (Contract NAS 8-33108)

The Influence of Swirl Brakes and a Tip Discharge Orifice on the Rotordynamic Forces Generated by Discharge-to-Suction Leakage Flows in Shrouded Centrifugal Pumps

This paper reports on experiments conducted in the Rotor Force Test Facility at the California Institute of Technology to examine the effects of a tip leakage restriction and swirl brakes on the rotordynamic forces due to leakage flows on an impeller undergoing a prescribed circular whirl. The experiments simulate the leakage flow conditions and geometry of the Alternate Turbopump Design (ATD) of the Space Shuttle High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump and are critical to evaluating the pump's instability problems. Results indicate the detrimental effects of a discharge orifice and the beneficial effects of adding swirl brakes. Plots of the tangential and normal forces versus whirl frequency ratio show a substantial increase in these forces along with destabilizing resonances when a discharge orifice is added. When swirl brakes are added, some of the detrimental effects of the orifice are reduced. For the tangential force, a significant reduction occurs and a destabilizing resonance appears to be eliminated. For the normal force, although the overall force is not reduced, once again a destabilizing resonance appears to be eliminated

On the Effect of Cavitation on the Radial Forces and Hydrodynamic Stiffness of a Centrifugal Pump

The asymmetric flow within a volute exerts a radial force on a centrifugal impeller. The present paper presents experimental measurements of the radial forces on the impeller in the presence of cavitation

A Brief Note on the Interaction of an Actuator Cascade with a Singularity

We have recently become concerned with making estimates of steady forces that may be exerted between moving blade rows and stationary blade rows or volutes. Our present interest is with time averaged forces for estimation of shaft loads and flow asymmetry forces rather than with transient processes. For this purpose we have adopted the well-known "actuator" model for the blade row in which the flow leaving the row or cascade is assumed to have a constant leaving angle. The disturbances external to this row such as a volute may be represented by distributions of vortex elements as was done for example by Domm and Hergt [1]

Measurements for the rotordynamic shroud forces for centrifugal pumps

An experiment was designed to measure the rotordynamic shroud forces on a centrigual pump impeller. The measurements were doen for various whirl/impeller ratios and for different flow rates. A destabilising tangential force was measured for small positive whirl ratios and this force decreased with increasing flow rate

Hydrodynamic Impeller Stiffness, Damping, and Inertia in the Rotordynamics of Centrifugal Flow Pumps

Measurements were made of the lateral hydrodynamic forces experienced by a centrifugal pump impeller performing circular whirl motions within several volute geometries. Experiments were conducted for various flow coefficients, [phi], impeller rotating speeds or angular frequencies, w, and the angular frequency of the whirl motion, [omega], was varied from zero to nearly synchronous (equation) and to nearly antisynchronous (equation). The lateral forces were decomposed into (i) time averaged lateral forces and (ii) hydrodynamic force matrices representing the variation of the lateral forces with position of the impeller center. No assumptions concerning the form of these matrices need to be made. The latter can be further decomposed according to the variation with whirl frequency, the result being "stiffness", "damping", and "fluid inertial" rotordynamic force matrices. It was found that these force matrices essentially consist of equal diagonal terms and skew-symmetric off-diagonal terms. One consequence of this is that during its whirl motion the impeller experiences forces acting normal and tangential to the locus of whirl. Data on these normal and tangential forces are presented; in particular it is shown that there exists a region of positive reduced whirl frequencies, [omega/w], within which the hydrodynamic forces can be destabilizing with respect to whirl

The Effect of Inlet Swirl on the Rotordynamic Shroud Forces in a Centrifugal Pump

The role played by fluid forces in determining the rotordynamic stability of a centrifugal pump is gaining increasing attention. The present research investigates the contributions to the rotordynamic forces from the discharge-to-suction leakage flows between the front shroud of the rotating impeller and the stationary pump casing. In particular, the dependency of the rotordynamic characteristics of leakage flows on the swirl at the inlet to the leakage path was examined. An inlet guide vane was designed for the experiment so that swirl could be introduced at the leakage flow inlet. The data demonstrate substantial rotordynamic effects and a destabilizing tangential force for small positive whirl ratios: this force decreased with increasing flow rate. The effect of swirl on the rotordynamic forces was found to be destabilizing

Unsteady Diffuser Vane Pressure and Impeller Wake Measurements in a Centrifugal Pump

Unsteady surface pressure measurements on a vaned diffuser of a centrifugal pump, and wake measurement of the flow exiting a centrifugal impeller into a vaneless diffuser are presented. Frequency spectra and ensemble averages are given for the unsteady measurements. Two different impellers were used, the pump impeller of the HPOTP (High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump) of the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) and a two-dimensional impeller. The magnitude of the unsteady total pressure measured in the stationary frame at the impeller exit was found to be of the same order of magnitude as the total pressure rise across the pump. The magnitude of the unsteady diffuser vane pressures was observed to be significantly different on suction and pressure side of the vane, attaining its largest value on the suction side near the leading edge while decreasing along the vane

The Influence of Swirl Brakes on the Rotordynamic Forces Generated by Discharge-to-Suction Leakage Flows in Centrifugal Pumps

Increasing interest has been give to swirl brakes as a means of reducing destabilizing rotordynamic forces due to leakage flows in new high speed rocket turbopumps. Although swirl brakes have been used successfully in practice (such as with the Space Shuttle HPOTP), no experimental test until now have been performed to demonstrate their beneficial effect over a range of leakage flow rates. The present study investigates the effect of swirl brakes on rotordynamic forces generated by discharge-to-suction leakage flows in the annulus of shrouded centrifugal pumps over a range of subsynchronous whirl ratios and various leakage flow rates. In addition, the effectiveness of swirl brakes in the presence of leakage inlet (pump discharge) swirl is also demonstrated. The experimental data demonstrates that with the addition of swirl brakes a significant reduction in the destabilizing tangential force for lower flow rates is achieved. At higher flow rates, the brakes are detrimental. In the presence of leakage inlet swirl, brakes were effective over all leakage flow rates tested in reducing the range of whirl frequency ratio for which the tangential force is destabilizing