Numerical analysis of an axial-flow pump with different bell mouths

Abstract

Based on the FVM (Finite Volume Method), standard turbulent model used to close the RANS (Reynolds Average Navier- Stokes Equations) equations and scalable wall function, was adopted to treat the flow near wall, and the flow pattern in the bell mouth of a certain axial-flow pump was simulated. The results show that there were some vortexes and spiral flows in the bell mouth if we used a traditional bell mouth which was also used in mixed-flow pump. By optimizing the structure of the bell mouth, the simulated results showed that the flow pattern in the bell mouth was better than a traditional bell mouth, there were no vortexes or spiral flows in the bell mouth, and the performance of the pump was also better than before. Based on the numerical simulation, the new structure of the bell mouth was proposed to be used practical engineering.