Numerical and Experimental Study on Flow-induced Noise at Blade-passing Frequency in Centrifugal Pumps

With the increasing noise pollution, low noise optimization of centrifugal pimps has become a hot topic. However, experimental study on this problem is unacceptable for industrial applications due to unsustainable cost. A hybrid method that couples computational fluid dynamics （CFD） with computational aeroacoustic software is used to predict the flow-induced noise of pumps in order to minimize the noise of centrifugal pumps in actual projects. Under Langthjem＇s assumption that the blade surface pressure is the main flow-induced acoustic source in centrifugal pumps, the blade surface pressure pulsation is considered in terms of the acoustical sources and simulated using CFX software. The pressure pulsation and noise distribution in the near-cutoff region are examined for the blade-passing frequency （BPF） noise, and the sound pressure level （SPL） reached peaks near the cutoff that corresponded with the pressure pulsation in this region. An experiment is performed to validate this prediction. Four hydrophones are fixed to the inlet and outlet ports of the test pump to measure the flow-induced noise from the four-port model. The simulation results for the noise are analyzed and compared with the experimental results. The variation in the calculated noise with changes in the flow agreed well with the experimental results. When the flow rate was increased, the SPL first decreased and reached the minimum near the best efficient point （BEP）; it then increased when the flow rate was further increased. The numerical and experimental results confirmed that the BPF noise generated by a blade-rotating dipole roughly reflects the acoustic features of centrifugal pumps. The noise simulation method in current study has a good feasibility and suitability, which could be adopted in engineering design to predict and optimize the hydroacoustic behavior of centrifugal pumps.

Collisionless tool orientation smoothing above blade stream surface using NURBS envelope

In five-axis machining,tool orientation above a blade stream surface may lead to tool collision and a decrease in workpiece rigidity.Hence,collisionless tool orientation smoothing(TOS)becomes an important issue.On the basis of a constant scallop height tool path,the triangular facets in the faces,vertices format are constructed from cutter contact(CC)using the Voronoi incremental algorithm.The cutter location(CL)points candidate set is represented by an oblique elliptic cone whose vertex lies at CC using NURBS envelope.Whether the CL point is above its CC is judged by the dot product between the normal vector and the point on triangulation nearest to the CL point.The curvatures at CC are obtained by fitting a moving least square(MLS) quadratic patch to the local neighborhood of a vertex and calculating eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix.Triangular surface elastic energy is employed as the weight in selection from the NURBS envelope.The collision is judged by NURBS surface intersection.TOS can then be expressed by selecting a CL point for each CC point and converted into a numerical control(NC)code automatically according to the postprocessor type of the machine center.The proposed method is verified by finishing of a cryogenic turboexpander impeller of air separation equipment.

Surface integrity of GH4169 affected by cantilever finish grinding and the application in aero-engine blades

GH4169 is the main material for aero-cngine blades and integrated blisks. Because GH4169 has a poor milling performance, the profile precision and surtace integrity of blades and integrated blisks are difficult to be met by utilizing the conventional milling process, which directly influence the global performance and reliability of aero-engines. Through grinding experiments on parameters and surface integrity optimization, the helical cantilever grinding process utilizing a 300# CBN RB wheel is presented and applied in finish machining of GH4169 blades. The profile errors of the blade surface are within ±0.01 mm, the roughness is less than 0.4μm, the residual compressive stresses and the hardening rate are appropriate, there are no phenomena of burr and smearing with the grinding chips, and the leading/trailing edge can be smoothly connected with the suction/pressure surface. All the experimental results indicate that this grinding process is greatly suitable for the profile finish machining of GH4169 blades.