Abstract
The hydraulic performance analysis of an entire pump system composed of inducer, impeller, volute and seal for the application of turbopumps is numerically performed using three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. A quasi-steady mixing-plane method is used on the impeller/volute interface to simulate the unsteady interaction phenomena. From this work, the effects of each component on the pump performance are investigated at design and off-design conditions through the analysis of flow structures and loss mechanisms. The computational results are in a good agreement with experimental ones in terms of the headrise and efficiency even though very complex flow structures are present. It is found that the asymmetric pressure distribution along the volute wall constitutes the main reason of the difference between experimental and computational results, due to the limitation of the quasi-steady method. Since the volute was found to be over-designed by the pressure distribution of the volute wall, re-design of the volute has been performed, resulting in an improved performance characteristic.
