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Flow fluctuation abatement method and flow characteristics of lobe pump by external noncircular gear drive

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Abstract

A new flow fluctuation abatement method based on noncircular gear variable speed drive is proposed and the mechanism principle of variable speed lobe pump is expounded. Considering the instantaneous flow rate of lobe pump and the closed constraint condition of noncircular gear, the design method of noncircular gear for flow pulsation suppression based on Fourier series is established. Based on the transient numerical simulation, the effects of design parameter of the noncircular gear, angular deviation, rotor-rotor gap and input velocity on fluid pulsation were investigated. The result shows that the outlet flow rate fluctuation of lobe pump decreases by 84.1 % after installing a Fourier noncircular gear, while the increase of angular deviation deteriorates the flow characteristics. With the increase of the number of terms in the Fourier series, the intensity of the fluid pulsation decreases gradually. Decreasing of the rotor-rotor gap from 0.4 mm down to 0.2 mm produces about 54.1 % reduction of flow rate fluctuation. As the input velocity is increased from 200 (r/min) to 600 (r/min), the flow pulsation is reduced by more than 60.0 %. A pump prototype was made to verify that the flow pulsation of the lobe pump can be optimized effectively by the external Fourier noncircular gears drive, which provides a beneficial support for the design of lobe pump with low flow pulsation.

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Abbreviations

A :

Center distance of the noncircular gears 1 and 2

a n :

Coefficients of Fourier series expansion

B :

Length of the rotor

b :

Distance from the tooth top arc center to the rotor center

b n :

Coefficients of Fourier series expansion

I :

Ideal transmission ratio for stabilizing flow fluctuation of lobe pump

i 12 :

Transmission ratio of the noncircular gears 1 and 2 for stabilizing flow fluctuation of lobe pump

K :

Number of terms in the fourier series

n 1 :

Order of the noncircular gear 1

n 2 :

Order of the noncircular gear 2

P ave :

Average pressure of the pump

P max :

Maximum instantaneous pressure of the pump

P min :

Minimum instantaneous pressure of the pump

Q :

Instantaneous flow rate of the lobe pump

Q ave :

Average flow rate of the pump

Q i :

Instantaneous flow rate of the pump with noncircular gears 1 and 2

Q max :

Maximum instantaneous flow rate of the pump

Q min :

Minimum instantaneous flow rate of the pump

q 0 :

Theoretical flow rate of the lobe pump

R :

Radius of the rotor pitch circle

R 5 :

Radius vectors of the rotor 5 at the meshing point

R 6 :

Radius vectors of the rotor 6 at the meshing point

R m :

Radius of the rotor

r :

Radius of the tooth top arc

r 1 :

Radius vectors of the pitch curves for noncircular gears 1

r 2 :

Radius vectors of the pitch curves for noncircular gears 2

V p :

Displacement of the lobe pump

Z :

Number of the blades

ε P :

Pressure non-uniform coefficient of the pump

ε Q :

Flow rate non-uniform coefficient of the pump

λ :

Area utilization factor of the rotor

φ 1 :

Polar angle of the noncircular gear 1

φ 2 :

Polar angle of the noncircular gear 2

φ 5 :

Polar angle of the rotor 5

ω 1 :

Angular velocity of the noncircular gear 1

ω 5 :

Angular velocity of the rotor 5

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant No. E2022203006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China

    Dawei Liu, Chao Xu, Bowen Tian & Xin Jin

  2. Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., Tangshan, 063200, China

    Liang Shi

Authors
  1. Dawei Liu
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  2. Chao Xu
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  3. Liang Shi
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  4. Bowen Tian
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  5. Xin Jin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dawei Liu.

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Dawei Liu is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Design and Theory from Yanshan University. His research interests include new mechanical transmissions, new energy vehicles and tactile sensors.

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Liu, D., Xu, C., Shi, L. et al. Flow fluctuation abatement method and flow characteristics of lobe pump by external noncircular gear drive. J Mech Sci Technol 38, 271–284 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-023-1223-x

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