Optimization of Pump Blades Using Three Dimensional Inverse Design Method

A new approach to optimizing a diffuser pump was presented, based on a three-dimensional (3-D) Inverse Design Method and a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The blade shape of the impeller or the diffuser was designed for a specified distribution of blade loading and a given meridional configuration. To optimize the flow behavior inside the flow passage, the 3-D pressure fields were carefully controlled by the application of the 3-D Inverse Design Method and numerical prediction using a Dawes 3-D Navier-Stokes code. A variety of design examples were presented, based on the author’s previous publications, which included secondary flow suppression in centrifugal impellers, suppression of corner stall of mixed flow pump diffusers, optimum design of mixed-flow pump stage with super compact machine size, and a series development for mass customized pump design. The results of experimental validation, including flow measurements, were also presented and discussed briefly.  The present novel design strategy using 3-D Inverse Design Method and CFD was proved to be powerful and efficient for optimizing diffuser pumps. The design system is currently operated at Ebara Corporation in Japan for daily design and development work, which leads to a drastic reduction of the development time of pumps having high performance, high reliability and innovative design concepts.

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