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The pressure fluctuations and the radial fluid forces acting on the impeller, the pressures in the volute, as well as the vibration of the shaft in a centrifugal pump were measured simultaneously, and their relationship was investigated. Experiments were done for various diffuser vanes, flow rates, and rotating speeds. It was demonstrated that both the blade-pressure fluctuations and the volute static pressures are nonuniform circumferentially (not axisymmetrical) under off-design operating conditions and that the two have a strong relationship. At high flow rates, the blade pressure fluctuations, induced by rotor-stator interactions, are large in areas where the volute static pressure is low. The traveling directions of the rotating pressure waves, the whirling directions of the radial fluid forces, and the most predominant frequency components of both the fluctuations and the forces are discussed, and an equation for predicting them is introduced. It was also noted that large alternating fluid forces are not necessarily associated with large pressure fluctuations. Furthermore, when measuring the radial fluid forces in the rotating frame, other frequency components, in addition to those related to the products of the diffuser vane number and the rotating frequency, may occur due to the circumferential unevenness of the pressure fluctuations on the impeller. These components are predictable.

This paper describes a new design method of blade geometry for a Francis turbine runner by using a three-dimensional inverse design method and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The design objectives are the suppression of cavitation by reducing the area in which static pressure is lower than the vapor pressure while keeping the efficiency high. In the inverse design method, it is possible to optimize the static pressure distribution in the runner by controlling blade loading parameters and/or stacking condition, which is related to a blade lean angle, for the same design specification. A Francis turbine runner was re-designed by the inverse design method for different blade loading and stacking conditions, and the flow fields were evaluated by applying CFD. It was confirmed that the present design method is very practical and effective to control low pressure region and achieve high efficiency for Francis turbine runners.

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The pressure fluctuations and the radial fluid forces induced by rotor-stator interaction in a centrifugal pump were measured and their relationship was investigated. Experiments were done for various guide vanes, flow rates, and rotating speeds. It was demonstrated that both the blade pressure fluctuations and the volute static pressures are non-uniform circumferentially (not axisymmetric) under off-design operating conditions and that the two have a strong relationship. At high flow rates, the interaction-induced blade pressure fluctuations are large in areas where the volute static pressure is low. The propagating directions of the pressure fluctuations, the whirling directions of the radial fluid forces acting on the impeller and the dominant frequency components of both the fluctuations and the fluid forces are discussed. When measuring the fluid forces in the rotating frame, other frequency components, in addition to those related to the products of the number of guide vanes and the rotating frequency, may occur due to the circumferential unevenness of the pressure fluctuations.