Study on Pump Impeller With Splitter Blades Designed by 3-D Inverse Design Method

The performance of pump impellers with splitter blades, designed using a three-dimensional inverse design method, is examined. The designs were chosen for a specific speed of 400 (m3/min, m, min-1) or 0.155 (non-dimensional), and analyzed numerically with CFD and experimentally with model tests. Experimental validation showed that the peak efficiency of the impeller with conventional splitter blades, having the same shape as full blades and located mid-pitch between full blades, was remarkably lower than that of the corresponding impeller without splitter blades. However, the peak efficiency of impeller with splitter blades designed using the 3-D inverse design method, having different shape from full blades, was almost the same as the corresponding impeller without splitter blades.  It was also found that the suction performance of the impellers with splitter blades was improved from that of the corresponding impeller without splitter
blades. The suction performance was improved mainly at partial flow rates if the leading edges of splitter blades were located at 20% of the meridional chord length and improved mainly at larger flow rates if the leading edges of splitter blades were located at 40% of the meridional chord length. Unstable phenomena occurring at partial flow rates under low suction pressure were also investigated.

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