AUTHOR=Li Wei , Yang Yi , Wu Pu , Ji Leilei , Liu Mingjiang , Qi Handong , Li Shuo 

TITLE=Impact characteristics and erosion mechanism of solid particles in a centrifugal pump

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1206309

DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2023.1206309

ISSN=2296-598X

ABSTRACT=To study the impact and erosion mechanism of solid particles in centrifugal pumps, the standard k-ε turbulence model and SIMPLE algorithm are adopted in this paper. Based on the discrete phase model (DPM) of Lagrange method and McLaury erosion model, the flow impact characteristics and erosion mechanism of solid particles impacting on the surface of flow passage components in a single-stage centrifugal pump were numerically simulated, and comparing the test data with the numerical simulation results of the external characteristics of the pump in clean water. The results show that the erosion mechanism of the pressure surface of the blade is mostly the impact erosion caused by high-speed particles with large impact angle, and the impact angle and impact velocity are larger near the tail of the pressure surface. The impact angle of solid particles on the shroud and hub is relatively small, but the erosion mechanism is still impact erosion. The erosion mechanism of the volute wall is mostly the cutting friction erosion caused by the low velocity particles with small impact angle, and it is only impacted by the particles with large angle near the volute tongue, which is impact erosion. Overall, the average impact angle and impact velocity of the particles on the pressure surface of the blade are higher than those of the volute, so the erosion of the pressure surface is more serious than that of the volute in theory. The research results have a certain theoretical reference value for improving the wear resistance of centrifugal pump.