Large-Eddy Simulation of a Mixed-Flow Pump at Off-Design Conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Posa ◽  
Antonio Lippolis ◽  
Elias Balaras
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Design Flow ◽  
Immersed Boundary ◽  
Mixed Flow ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Image Velocimetry ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
The One ◽  
Flow Pump

The flow through turbopumps is characterized by highly unsteady phenomena at part load conditions, involving large separation and generation of vortical structures. This behavior is strongly dependent on the interaction between rotating and steady parts, which is significantly modified, compared to the one at the design flow rate. Therefore, at off-design conditions, eddy-resolving computations are more suitable to analyze the complex physics occurring inside turbomachinery channels. In this work the large eddy simulation (LES), coupled with an immersed-boundary (IB) method, is utilized to study a mixed-flow pump at a reduced flow rate, equivalent to 40% of the nominal one. The present approach has been already validated in a previous study, where a satisfactory agreement with two-dimensional (2D) particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments has been shown at design conditions. In this paper a comparison with the LES results at the optimal flow rate is also proposed, in order to understand the important modifications of the flow occurring at part loads.

scholarly journals Large-Eddy Simulation of Unsteady Flow in a Mixed-Flow Pump

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 345-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chisachi Kato ◽  
Hiroshi Mukai ◽  
Akira Manabe
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Flow Rate Ratio ◽  
Mixed Flow ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Specific Speed ◽  
Flow Pump

This article describes the large-eddy simulation (LES) of the internal flows of a high–specific-speed, mixed-flow pump at low flow-rate ratios over which measured head-flow characteristics exhibit weak instability. In order to deal with a moving boundary interface in the flow field, a form of the finite-element method in which overset grids are applied from multiple dynamic frames of reference has been developed. The method is implemented as a parallel program by applying a domain-decomposition programming model.The predicted pump heads reproduce the instability and agree fairly well with their measured equivalents, although the predicted stall takes place at a flow-rate ratio that is a few percentage points lower than the measurements. The phase-averaged distributions of the meridional- and tangential velocity components at the impeller's inlet and exit cross sections were also compared with those measured by laser-Doppler velocimetry. Reasonably good agreements have been obtained between the computed and measured profiles. The developed LES program thus seems to be a promising design tool for a high–specific-speed, mixed-flow pump, particularly for off-design evaluations.

Large eddy simulation of an axial pump with coupled flow rate calculation using the sharp interface immersed boundary method

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 2253-2276
Author(s):  
Mohammad Haji Mohammadi ◽  
Joshua R. Brinkerhoff
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Immersed Boundary Method ◽  
Sharp Interface ◽  
Immersed Boundary ◽  
Inlet Flow ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Inlet Flow Rate ◽  
Large Eddy

Purpose Turbomachinery, including pumps, are mainly designed to extract/produce energy from/to the flow. A major challenge in the numerical simulation of turbomachinery is the inlet flow rate, which is routinely treated as a known boundary condition for simulation purposes but is properly a dependent output of the solution. As a consequence, the results from numerical simulations may be erroneous due to the incorrect specification of the discharge flow rate. Moreover, the transient behavior of the pumps in their initial states of startup and final states of shutoff phases has not been studied numerically. This paper aims to develop a coupled procedure for calculating the transient inlet flow rate as a part of the solution via application of the control volume method for linear momentum. Large eddy simulation of a four-blade axial hydraulic pump is carried out to calculate the forces at every time step. The sharp interface immersed boundary method is used to resolve the flow around the complex geometry of the propeller, stator and the pipe casing. The effect of the spurious pressure fluctuations, inherent in the sharp interface immersed boundary method, is damped by local time-averaging of the forces. The developed code is validated by comparing the steady-state volumetric flow rate with the experimental data provided by the pump manufacturer. The instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields are also studied to reveal the flow pattern and turbulence characteristics in the pump flow field. Design/methodology/approach The authors use control volume analysis for linear momentum to simulate the discharge rate as part of the solution in a large eddy simulation of an axial hydraulic pump. The linear momentum balance equation is used to update the inlet flow rate. The sharp interface immersed boundary method with dynamic Smagorinsky sub-grid stress model and a proper wall model is used. Findings The steady-state volumetric flow rate has been computed and validated by comparing to the flow rate specified by the manufacturer at the simulation conditions, which shows a promising result. The instantaneous and time averaged flow fields are also studied to reveal the flow pattern and turbulence characteristics in the pump flow field. Originality/value An approach is proposed for computing the volumetric flow rate as a coupled part of the flow solution, enabling the simulation of turbomachinery at all phases, including the startup/shutdown phase. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large eddy simulation of a hydraulic pump to calculate the transient inlet flow rate as a part of the solution rather than specifying it as a fixed boundary condition. The method serves as a numerical framework for simulating problems incorporating complex shapes with moving/stationary parts at all regimes including the transient start-up and shut-down phases.

scholarly journals Large-Eddy Simulation of Unsteady Flow in a Mixed-Flow Pump

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 345-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chisachi Kato ◽  
Hiroshi Mukai ◽  
Akira Manabe
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Mixed Flow ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Flow Pump

Large Eddy Simulation of Unsteady Flow in a Mixed Flow Pump Guide Vane

2013 ◽  
Vol 444-445 ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Bin Li ◽  
Ren Nian Li ◽  
Xiu Yong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Pressure Fluctuation ◽  
Guide Vane ◽  
Suction Surface ◽  
Mixed Flow ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Small Flow ◽  
Flow Pump

In order to investigate the characteristics of unsteady flow in a mixed flow pump guide vane under the small flow conditions, several indicator points in a mixed flow pump guide vane was set, the three-dimensional unsteady turbulence numerical value of the mixed flow pump which is in the whole flow field will be calculated by means of the large eddy simulation (LES), sub-grid scale model and sliding mesh technology. The experimental results suggest that the large eddy simulation can estimate the positive slope characteristic of head & capacity curve. And the calculation results show that the pressure fluctuation coefficients of the middle section in guide vane inlet will decrease firstly and then increase. In guide vane outlet, the pressure fluctuation coefficients of section will be approximately axially symmetrical distribution. The pressure fluctuation minimum of section in guide vane inlet is above the middle location of the guide vane suction surface, and the pressure fluctuation minimum of section in which located the middle and outlet of guide vane. When it is under the small flow operating condition, the eddy scale of guide vane is larger, and the pressure fluctuation of the channel in guide vane being cyclical fluctuations obviously which leads to the area of eddy expanding to the whole channel from the suction side. The middle of the guide vane suction surface of the minimum amplitude pressure fluctuation to which the vortex core of eddy scale whose direction of fluids rotation is the same to impeller in the guide vane adhere.

scholarly journals Large Eddy Simulation of Periodic Transient Pressure Fluctuation in a Centrifugal Pump Impeller at Low Flow Rate

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 311
Author(s):  
Renfei Kuang ◽  
Xiaoping Chen ◽  
Zhiming Zhang ◽  
Zuchao Zhu ◽  
Yu Li
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Centrifugal Pump ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Pressure Fluctuation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Pump Impeller ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Inlet Flow Rate ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Centrifugal Pump Impeller

This paper presents a large eddy simulation of a centrifugal pump impeller during a transient condition. The flow rate is sinusoidal and oscillates between 0.25Qd (Qd indicates design load) and 0.75Qd when the rotating speed is maintained. Research shows that in one period, the inlet flow rate will twice reach 0.5Qd, and among the impeller of one moment is a stall state, but the other is a non-stall state. In the process of flow development, the evolution of low-frequency pressure fluctuation shows an obviously sinusoidal form, whose frequency is insensitive to the monitoring position and equals to that of the flow rate. However, inside the impeller, the phase and amplitude in the stall passages lag behind more and are stronger than that in the non-stall passages. Meanwhile, the strongest region of the high-frequency pressure fluctuation appears in the stall passages at the transient rising stage. The second dominant frequency in stall passages is 2.5 times to that in non-stall passages. In addition, similar to the pressure fluctuation, the evolution of the low-frequency head shows a sinusoidal form, whose phase is lagging behind that by one-third of a period in the inlet flow rate.

Wake-Airfoil Interaction as Broadband Noise Source: A Large-Eddy Simulation Study

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 93-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Boudet ◽  
Nathalie Grosjean ◽  
Marc C. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Particle Image ◽  
Broadband Noise ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Acoustic Analogy ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Naca0012 Airfoil ◽  
Image Velocimetry ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Proper Orthogonal

A large-eddy simulation is carried out on a rod-airfoil configuration and compared to an accompanying experiment as well as to a RANS computation. A NACA0012 airfoil (chord c = 0.1 m) is located one chord downstream of a circular rod (diameter d = c/10, Red = 48 000). The computed interaction of the resulting sub-critical vortex street with the airfoil is assessed using averaged quantities, aerodynamic spectra and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the instantaneous flow fields. Snapshots of the flow field are compared to particle image velocimetry (PIV) data. The acoustic far field is predicted using the Ffowcs Williams & Hawkings acoustic analogy, and compared to the experimental far field spectra. The large-eddy simulation is shown to accurately represent the deterministic pattern of the vortex shedding that is described by POD modes 1 & 2 and the resulting tonal noise also compares favourably to measurements. Furthermore higher order POD modes that are found in the PIV data are well predicted by the computation. The broadband content of the aerodynamic and the acoustic fields is consequently well predicted over a large range of frequencies ([0 kHz; 10 kHz]).

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