Research on the Unsteady Flow and Vortex Characteristics of Cavitation at the Tongue in Centrifugal Pump

Abstract

In order to study the unsteady flow and vortex characteristics of tongue cavitation, numerical calculation is carried out for the whole flow channel given different conditions. Then, the calculation results are verified experimentally. The results show that after the occurrence of tongue cavitation in the centrifugal pump, it deteriorates with the decrease of NPSH_a. However, when NPSH_a is reduced to 3.78 m, it does not change significantly anymore with the decrease of NPSH_a. The extrusion of fluid by the vapor at the tongue promotes the formation of the separation vortex, and the re-jet flow caused by the separation vortex leads to vapor shedding. The frequency of cavitation shedding is consistent with the frequency of vortex shedding. In the vorticity transport equation, the relative vortex stretching term and the relative vortex dilatation term dominate the vapor shedding by controlling the change in vorticity. The baroclinic torque term mainly affects the change of vorticity at the vapor-liquid interface, but to a much lesser extent than the first two terms.