Abstract
One of the most important reasons for the wearing of the blades in the slurry pumps is cavitation. The current article investigates the inverse profile of the blade on the cavitation and erosion performances of the slurry pumps. In this article, the inverse profile of the blade is considered as straight and curved lines. The flow simulation is conducted as steady and 3-dimensional, using Realizable k—ε as the turbulence model. The results of the simulation demonstrated that in the curved profile volume fraction and the explosion of bubbles at the tip of the blade is lower than that of the straight line. Furthermore, in this article, the blades were tested in both states, showing that when the inverse profile of the blade changes from straight line to curved, cavitation decreases hence the lifespan of the blade increases. In the experimental results, a blade with a straight line inverse profile eroded and completely destroyed after 12 days of functioning, while in a curved inverse profile, the blade can work well—enough for 23 days (91% increase in lifespan).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiming F, Jinming L, Ziyun T (1995) Failure analysis of the impeller of a slurry pump subjected to corrosive wear. Wear 181–183:876–882
Arabnejad H, Mansouri A, Shirazi SA, McLaury BS (2015) Development of mechanistic erosion equation for solid particles. Wear 332–333:1044–1050
Azimian M, Bart HJ (2015) Erosion investigations by means of a centrifugal accelerator erosion tester. Wear 328–329:249–256
Christopher S, Kumaraswamy S (2013) Identification of critical net positive suction head from noise and vibration in a radial flow pump for different leading edge profiles of the vane. Fluids Eng 135:121301
Coutier-Delgosha O, Morel P, Fortes-Patella R et al (2005) Numerical simulation of turbopump inducer cavitating behavior. Int J Rotat Mach 2:135-142. 3
Deng T, Bingley MS, Bradley MSA (2001) Influence of particle dynamics on erosion test conditions within the centrifugal accelerator type erosion tester. Wear 249:1059–1069
Fukaya, M., et al., “Experimental Prediction Method of Cavitation Erosion in Pumps by Using Aluminum Sheet. In: Proc. 6th Int. Symposium on Cavitation (CAV2006), Wageningen, The Netherland
Fukaya, M, et al., Prediction of Cavitation Intensity and Erosion in Centrifugal Pump Based on Detailed Bubble Behavior Simulated Using Bubble Flow Model. In: Proc. 11th Int. Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC-11), Honolulu, ISROMAC-11)2006(.
Ji B, Luo XW, Peng XX et al (2012) Numerical analysis of cavitation evolution and exited pressure fluctuation around a propeller in non-uniform wake. Int J Multiphase Flow 43:13–21
Llewellyn RJ, Yick SK, Dolman KF (2004) Scouring erosion resistance of metallic materials used in slurry pump service. Wear 256:592–599
Neilson JH, Gilchrist A (1968) Erosion by a stream of solid particles. Wear 11:111–122
Noon AA, Kim MH (2017) Erosion wear on Francis turbine components due to sediment flow. Wear 378–379:126–135
Noon AA, Kim MH (2016) Erosion wear on centrifugal pump casing due to slurry flow. Wear 364–365:103–111
Ojala N et al (2016) Wear performance of quenched wear resistant steels in abrasive slurry erosion. Wear 354–355:21–31
Premkumar TM, Kumar P, Chatterjee D (2004) Cavitation characteristics of S-blade used in fully reversible pump turbine. J Fluids Eng 136:051101
Rossetti A, Pavesi G, Ardizzon G et al (2014) Numerical analyses of cavitating flow in a Pelton turbine. Fluids Eng 136:081304
Visser FC, Ding H, Jiang Y, Furmanczyk M (2011) Demonstration and validation of a 3D CFD simulation tool predicting pump performance and cavitation for industrial applications. J Fluids Eng 133:011101
Washio S, Fujiyoshi S, Takahashi S (2009) Observation of cavitation inception in separating water flows through constricted channels. Mesh Eng Sci 223:2071–2080
Washio S, Takahashi S, Uemura K et al (2008) Singular properties of flow separation as a real cause of cavitation inception. Mesh Eng Sci Part C 222:667–678
Wei W, Luo XW, Ji B, Zhuang BT, Xu HY (2015) Cavitating flow investigation inside centrifugal impellers for a condensate pump, Earth and Environmental. Science 15:032061
Yang ZJ, Wang FJ, Liu ZQ et al (2011) Prediction of cavitation performance of axial flow pump based on CFD. J Drain Irrig Mach 29:11–15
Zhang YL, Yuan SQ, Zhang JF et al (1997) Numerical investigation of the effects of splitter blades on the cavitation performance of a centrifugal pump. J Huazhong Univ Sci Technol 25(9):44–47
Zhang Y, Reuterfors EP, McLaury BS, Shirazi SA, Rybicki EF (2007) Comparison of computed and measured particle velocities and erosion in water and air flows. Wear 263:330–338
Zhong Y, Minemura K (1996) Measurement of erosion due to particle impingement and numerical perdiction of wear in pump casing. Wear 199:36–44
Zima, P., Sedlar, M., and Marsik F., 2004, Bubble Creation in Water with Dissolved Gas: Prediction of Regions Endangered by Cavitation Erosion. In: Proc. 14th Int. Conf. on the Properties of Water and Steam (14th ICPWS), Kyoto, 232–235.
Zuo ZG, Liu SH, Liu D et al (2013) Numerical predictions of the incipient and developed inter blade vortex lines of a model franc is turbine by cavitation calculations. Adv Mesh Eng 7. 4
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khamedi, R., Khavasi, E., Nasiri, S. et al. The Effect of Blade Design on Wear Rate and Life Span of Slurry Pumps. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 46, 531–539 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-021-00450-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-021-00450-4