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Analysis of internal flow and cavitation characteristics for a mixed-flow pump with various blade thickness effects

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Abstract

In this study, a numerical analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of blade thickness on hydraulic performance and cavitation phenomenon of a mixed-flow pump. The three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation, which was discretized using the finite volume method, was applied to solve a steady-state analysis. For cavitation analysis, the Rayleigh-Plesset equation was applied to calculate the transition between liquid and vapor phases. The hydraulic performance of a mixed-flow pump changes depending on the blade thickness and was systematically analyzed under various operating conditions. Blade thickness was defined as a blockage, and the cavitation coefficient was considered to express the suction performance. Cavitation characteristics were analyzed for each blockage in relation to the vapor volume fraction. The amount and pattern of vapor were different for each blade thickness case. Furthermore, in this paper, detailed flow analyses that consider the angle of incidence are presented and discussed. To verify the numerical analysis results, an experimental test was conducted at specific points.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant of ‘Development of Design Technology for Thermal Energy Devices with Industrial Demand (kitech JA-19-0011)’ from the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermal & Fluid System R&D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, 89 Yangdaegiro-gil, Ipjang-myeon, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 31056, Korea

    Yong-In Kim, Sung Kim, Hyeon-Mo Yang, Kyoung-Yong Lee & Young-Seok Choi

  2. Industrial Technology, University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Korea

    Yong-In Kim & Young-Seok Choi

Authors
  1. Yong-In Kim
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  2. Sung Kim
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  3. Hyeon-Mo Yang
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  4. Kyoung-Yong Lee
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  5. Young-Seok Choi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Young-Seok Choi.

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Recommended by Associate Editor Weon Gyu Shin

Yong-In Kim received his B.S. degree from Chungnam National University, Korea, in 2016. Since March 2017, as a student researcher, he is pursuing his integrated course in turbomachinery from the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) campus of University of Science & Technology (UST). His research interests include computational fluid dynamics, design optimization, and experimental tests.

Sung Kim received his B.S. degree from from the Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREA TECH) in 2006, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Hanyang University in 2009 and 2019, respectively. He is currently a researcher in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH). His research interests are turbomachinery design, numerical analyses, optimization techniques, and experimental tests.

Hyeon-Mo Yang received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREA TECH), Korea, in 2005 and 2013, respectively. Currently, he is a researcher in the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH). His research interests include turbomachinery design, numerical analyses, and experimental tests.

Kyoung-Yong Lee received his B.S. degree from Korea University of Technology and Education (KOREA TECH), Korea, in 2002 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the same university in 2004 and 2017, respectively. He has been a Senior Researcher in the Thermal & Fluid System R&D Group, at KITECH, Korea. His research interests include turbomachinery design, numerical analyses, system loss analyses, and experimental tests.

Young-Seok Choi received his B.S. degree from Seoul National University in 1988, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the same university in 1990 and 1996, respectively. He is currently a Principal Researcher at Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) and a Professor at University of Science and Technology (UST). His research interests include computational fluid dynamics and design optimization of turbomachinery.

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Kim, YI., Kim, S., Yang, HM. et al. Analysis of internal flow and cavitation characteristics for a mixed-flow pump with various blade thickness effects. J Mech Sci Technol 33, 3333–3344 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0628-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0628-z

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