Author(s): Songheng Li
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Numerical simulation; CFD; Water-pump intake
Abstract: This paper reports part of the most recent results of numerical simulations of flow in practical water-pump intakes by using the U2RANS CFD model (Lai 2000) to carry out the simulations of a real-world case with physical model experiments conducted by Nakato et al. (1999). A symmetric and an asymmetric test with as-designed geometry were simulated with the calculations performed separately in a far field and a near field. This study showed: All the important flow features observed in the experiments were captured well; Flow distributions at the bay entry was extremely poor; Weak swirl was found inside the pump column for both tests with that for the asymmetric one to be stronger; The variation of swirl in different portions inside the pump column may vary greatly from each other; A small separation inside the pump column may cause a big increment in swirl; Numerical results showed good agreement with the experimental data in velocity distributions with higher velocities in the outer and lower in the inner concentric circles at the pump throat, however, the calculated velocity deviations are much lower than the corresponding experimental data. Together with the achievements of previous research (Li et al. 2000), U2RANS CFD model is demonstrated to be a cost-effective tool for water-pump intake design.
Year: 2001