• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 2011

In this paper, design optimization for mixed-flow pump impellers and diffusers has been studied using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and DOE (design of experiments). We also discussed how to improve the performance of the mixed-flow pump by designing the impeller and diffuser. Geometric design variables were defined by the vane plane development, which indicates the blade-angle distributions and length of the impeller and diffusers. The vane plane development was controlled using the blade-angle in a fixed meridional shape. First, the design optimization of the defined impeller geometric variables was achieved, and then the flow characteristics were analyzed in the point of incidence angle at the diffuser leading edge for the optimized impeller. Next, design optimizations of the defined diffuser shape variables were performed. The importance of the geometric design variables was analyzed using $2^k$ factorial designs, and the design optimization of the geometric variables was determined using the response surface method (RSM). The objective functions were defined as the total head and the total efficiency at the design flow rate. Based on the comparison of CFD results between the optimized pump and base design models, the reason for the performance improvement was discussed.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.48-53
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• 2013

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the influence of the blade back sweep angle on the performance and flow characteristics in a centrifugal compressor with a vaneless diffuser. Five impellers with different back sweep angles were tested in the flow simulations. It was found that a low back sweep angle could improve the total-to-total pressure ratio and the work coefficient over whole operating ranges. However, the flow field in an impeller with a low back sweep angle produced a more non-uniform velocity distribution at the impeller exit because the wake region was significantly increased. As a consequence, the impeller with a low back sweep angle caused a low diffuser performance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11b
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• pp.422-427
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• 2000

The design of low-solidity vaned diffusers and the effect on the performance of a turbocharger compressor is discussed. The effect of vane number and turning angle was investigated while maintaining a basic design with a leading edge angle of $70^{\circ}$, leading and trailing edge radius ratios of 1.1 and 1.3. All results are compared with those obtained with the standard vaneless diffuser configuration and it was shown that all designs increased and shifted the pressure ratio to reduced flowrates. Despite the low-solidity configuration none of the vane designs provided a broad operating range, and the vane leading edge angle was not main factor that system went into the surge condition. The diffuser of higher trailing edge angle improved the flow range for the compressor to operate at lower flow region.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1123-1131
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• 2002

An experimental study on the performance and instability development characteristics of a centrifugal compressor equipped with a cambered variable diffuser has been performed with varying diffuser vane angles. The test was conducted at the design speed of 20,800 rpm and the 80% design speed of 16,640 rpm for 5 diffuser angles : 65$^{\circ}$, 70$^{\circ}$, 75$^{\circ}$, 77.5$^{\circ}$, 80$^{\circ}$ The steady performance test results showed that choking mass flow rate decreases and total pressure ratio increases with a narrowed surge margin as the diffuser vane angle increases. Unsteady pressures were measured using high-frequency pressure transducers at the inducer and the diffuser throat to investigate the instability phenomena such as rotating stall and surge inside the compressor. From the unsteady measurements, it is found that the transient process from rotating stall to surge was mainly affected by diffuser angles. The results of the present study can be applied to the instability control of the centrifugal compressors using a variable diffuser.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.544-551
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• 2005

The flow characteristics have been numerically investigated for various shapes of the diffuser/nozzles which are used for a valveless micro-pump. The important parameters considered in this study are the throat width ($15\~120\mu$m), the taper angle ($3.15\~25.2^{\circ}$), and the diffuser length ( $600\~4,800\mu$m), and the size of the middle chamber ($1\~16mm^2$). To find the optimal values for these parameters, steady state calculations have been performed assuming the constant pressure difference between the inlet and exit of the flow For the taper angle and the throat width, it is found that there exists an optimum at which the net flow rate is the greatest. The optimal taper angle is in the range of $10\~20^{\circ}$ for all the pressure differences; and the throat width indicates an optimal value near $75\mu$m for the case of 35 kPa pressure difference. The net flow rate is also influenced by the size of the middle chamber. With decreasing chamber size, the net flow rate is reduced because of the interference between two streams flowing into the middle chamber. The unsteady pulsating flow characteristics for a micro-pump with a given diffuser/nozzle shape have been also investigated to show the validity of the steady state parametric study.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.349-355
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• 2011

In this study, numerical simulation has been conducted to investigate dispersion of a pollutant released from a new furniture, a kind of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). A sofa which generates formaldehyde is implemented by using an immersed boundary method. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is employed to obtain time-dependent velocity and concentration fields. It is shown that the ventilation efficiency in this room can be improved by changing inlet angle of diffuser, even though other conditions still remain unchanged. Both active diffusion near a sofa and air flow pattern are important parameters to enhance the ventilation efficiency.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.131-135
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• 2010

In the present study, the effects of the stagger angles on the aerodynamic performances in the vaned centrifugal compressor has been investigated by CFD methods. The diffuser vane angles were vane angles were varied in the range of ${\pm}10$ deg. from the intial-design points. The commercial Navier-Stokes solver, ANSYS-CFX were applied to solve the impeller-diffuser flowfields. Through the numerical results, the desirable setting angles were proposed to fit the best performance to the variation of the operating conditions.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2672-2677
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• 2007

An investigation of low Reynolds number flow in nozzles and diffusers which are widely used in the valveless micropump is presented. Flow characteristics in the nozzle and diffuser are explained in view of viscous effect and flow oscillation induced by pumping membrane. These calculation results show that the rectification property of valveless micropump is due to a flow separation in the diffuser and the separation is largely originated from the flow oscillation. Under the assumptions of steady flow velocity profile and flow separation in the diffuser, simplified analytical models are provided to see the dependency of rectification on the micropump geometry. Geometric parameters of channel length, nozzle throat, chamber size, and converging/diverging angle are depicted through the analytical models in low Reynolds number flow, and the prediction and experimental results are compared. This theoretical study can be used to determine the optimum geometry of valveless micropump.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.110-113
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• 2005

This paper presents flow regime maps of two-dimensional, planar diffusers with constant-area ducts at very low Reynolds numbers. They are obtained from numerical calculations using the commercial CFD program CFD-ACE+. The Reynolds numbers considered are 63, 105, and 210. For each Reynolds number, a wide range of geometric parameters of dimensionless diffuser length, which is a ratio of diffuser length to throat width, $1 and divergence half angle $1^{\circ}<\phi<50^{\circ}$ are selected to obtain steady-state solutions. These maps can be served as a guideline to designers for very low Reynolds number diffuser flows.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.1322-1325
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• 2009

The impeller and vane diffuser for the mixed flow pump(NS550) was designed by using meridional selection program and inverse design method. We decided the meridional shape of the impeller from the meridional design parameter, such as the specific speed and maximum diameter at the impeller exit. The meridional shape of vane diffuser was set from the impeller shape, distribution of cross sectional area and maximum diffuser diameter. The angle of impeller blade and diffuser vane was designed by using inverse design method. The predicted overall performance by using commercial CFD code(ANSYS CFX-11) shown good agreement with design goals.