Since solid particles suspended in the fluid can cause wear in centrifugal pumps, intensive attention has been focused on the numerical prediction for the wear of flow parts in centrifugal pumps. However, most numerical studies have focused on only one wear model and a sphere particle model. The impact of particle shape on the wear of flow parts in centrifugal pumps is under-studied, particularly considering abrasive and impact wear simultaneously. In this work, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-Discrete Element Method (DEM) coupling method with an abrasive and impact wear prediction model was adopted to study the wear characteristics of a centrifugal pump. Moreover, four regular polyhedron particles and a sphere particle with the same equivalent diameter but different sphericity were mainly analyzed. The results demonstrate that more particles move closer to the blade pressure side in the impeller passage, and particles tend to cluster in specific areas within the volute as sphericity increases. The volute suffers the principal wear erosion no matter what the shapes of particles and wear model are. Both the impact and abrasive wear within the impeller occur primarily on the blade leading edge. The pump’s overall impact wear rate decreases first and then increases with particle sphericity rising, while the pump’s overall abrasive wear rate grows steadily.

Since various foreign bodies can cause clogging and wear in single-channel pumps, considerable attention has been focused on the numerical study of solid-liquid flows in the single-channel pump. However, conventional numerical simulation cannot responsibly assess the significant effect of the particle material properties, inter-particle collision, and size on the pump. In consideration of the particle features and behaviors, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-Discrete Element Method (DEM) coupling method was applied for the first time to simulate the solid-liquid flows in a single-channel pump. The results showed that the smaller particles possessed a wider velocity distribution range and velocity peak, while the larger particles exerted a greater contact force. Additionally, the pie-shaped particles had the most severe collisions, and spherical particles had the least in total. Furthermore, the hub and shroud wall suffered a minor contact force, but the blade and volute wall both sustained a considerable contact force. This paper could present some supply data for future research on the optimization of a single-channel pump.

No abstract

Numerical simulation was applied to investigate the Taylor vortex flow inside the concentric cylinders with a constant radial temperature gradient. The reliability of numerical simulation method was verified by the experimental results of PIV. The radial velocity and temperature distribution in plain and 12-slit model at different axial locations were compared, and the heat flux distributions along the inner cylinder wall at different work conditions were obtained. In the plain model, the average surface heat flux of inner cylinder increased with the inner cylinder rotation speed. In slit model, the slit wall significantly changed the distribution of flow field and temperature in the annulus gap, and the radial flow was strengthen obviously , which promoted the heat transfer process at the same working condition.

No abstract