Effects of the number of blades on impeller-volute interaction and flow instability of a centrifugal pump

Effects of the number of blades on the impeller-volute interaction and flow instability were studied for a centrifugal pump. The hydraulic performance and time-dependent flow field were analyzed by using the unsteady three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the k-omega based shear stress transport turbulence model. The grid dependence and temporal resolution were tested to evaluate the numerical uncertainties, and the numerical results were validated using experimental data. As the performance parameters, the stage total-to-static head coefficient, the impeller total-to-static head coefficient, and the volute static pressure recovery coefficient were selected to classify the cause of the impeller-volute interaction and flow instability observed inside components. Using the fast Fourier transform, fluctuations of the performance parameters were divided into three categories: the blade passing frequency and its harmonic frequencies, the fluctuations in the broadband frequency region, and the fluctuations in the low-frequency region. The results showed that the fluctuations of the performance parameters and local pressure were affected in various ways by the number of blades. The time-dependent flow structure was investigated to study the root causes of the differences in the impeller-volute interaction and flow instability by the number of blades.