PIV MEASUREMENTS AND NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF FLOW IN CENTRIFUGAL PUMP IMPELLERS WITH SPLITTING VANES

PIV technology and numerical simulations are employed to study the flow in centrifugal pump impellers with splitting vanes under different working states. Through experimental tests and numerical simulations, the flow fields in impellers are obtained for various working states. The results exhibit some basic flow characteristics in impellers: the asymmetry of flow in impellers; backflow occurs in the inlet suction side of long vanes; high speed region exists in the immediate region behind the shroud of splitting vanes; the outlet velocity profile is impr oved by splitting vanes; relative velocity increases evidently with the increase of flow rate. All these flow phenomena directly affect the performance of pumps.