Analysis of clearance flow of a fuel pump based on dynamical mode decomposition

The flow field structure within the clearances of turbomachinery is complex and diverse, exhibiting high-dimensional nonlinearity. How to accurately extract the main structures that affect the internal flow within the turbine from the complex clearance flow has always been a key issue. To explore the impact of the dynamic structure of the clearance flow on the mainstream region in a centrifugal pump, this study combines the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) method to conduct a thorough analysis of the velocity and pressure pulsation frequencies in the multi-physics fields within the clearance. The study has identified the main characteristic structures under different physical conditions in the clearance and has established the relationship between the characteristic structure frequencies in different physical fields and the impeller frequency. The research indicates that the internal flow within the clearance affects the occurrence of vortices in the volute. Under design conditions, the velocity field within the clearance is primarily influenced by high-order harmonic frequencies of the impeller, and the pressure field is mainly affected by low-order harmonic frequencies of the impeller. This reflects the crucial influence of impeller frequency and inlet flow on the coherent structures within the clearance flow. The research results offer new insights and methods for analyzing complex internal flows in large turbomachinery.

Numerical Investigation of the Fluid Flow Characteristics in the Hub Plate Crown of a Centrifugal Pump

Due to the lack of understanding in the flow mechanism of the hub plate crown, the current calculation of the disc friction loss and the axial thrust in the centrifugal pump often uses empirical formulas. Research on the flow characteristics of the hub plate crown is of practical significance. The shroud and hub cavities are respectively studied with regard to tangential and radial velocities at the four different angular positions(0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°) at the four different operational points(0.6 Qsp, 0.8 Qsp, 1.0 Qsp, and 1.2 Qsp). Results indicate that at the same operational point, the smaller the volute chamber sectional area is, the higher the tangential velocity of the fluid core zone of the shroud cavity is. Radial leakage flow from the volute to the seal ring at the same operational point appears in 0° and 90° direction;when the flow is large, the tangential and radial velocities of the shroud and hub cavities with the same radius tend to be equal with axial symmetry. The axial leakage flow through the balance holes significantly affects the radial distribution of both tangential and radial velocities of fluid flow in the hub cavity. The numerical calculation results of fluid leakage through the clearance of back sealing ring are in good agreement with the test results. Accordingly, the magnitude of leakage is closely related to the fluid pressure and velocity distribution in the hub plate crown of the centrifugal pump. The analysis of the flow characteristics in the hub plate crown of the centrifugal pump could reveal the cause of the disc friction loss from the mechanism, providing a significant guidance for improving the accuracy of calculation and balancing the axial thrust in the centrifugal pump.

Tip-leakage flow loss reduction in a two-stage turbine using axisymmetric-casing contouring

In order to reduce the losses caused by tip-leakage flow, axisymmetric contouring is applied to the casing of a two-stage unshrouded high pressure turbine（HPT） of aero-engine in this paper. This investigation focuses on the effects of contoured axisymmetric-casing on the blade tipleakage flow. While the size of tip clearance remains the same as the original design, the rotor casing and the blade tip are obtained with the same contoured arc shape. Numerical calculation results show that a promotion of 0.14% to the overall efficiency is achieved. Detailed analysis indicates that it reduces the entropy generation rate caused by the complex vortex structure in the rotor tip region, especially in the tip-leakage vortex. The low velocity region in the leading edge（LE） part of the tip gap is enlarged and the pressure side/tip junction separation bubble extends much further away from the leading edge in the clearance. So the blocking effect of pressure side/tip junction separation bubble on clearance flow prevents more flow on the tip pressure side from leaking to the suction side, which results in weaker leakage vortex and less associated losses.