Study of Unforced Unsteadiness in Centrifugal Pump at Partial Flow Rates

In order to explore the unforced unsteadiness of centrifugal pumps, a 2-D frequency domain imaging display technology was used to study the development of these unsteady flow structures at partial flow conditions. The results showed that, the unsteady flow field was not only affected by rotor and stator interaction, but also appeared an unforced unsteadiness with fundamental frequency of St≈0.23 around the impeller throat area. Moreover, as the flow rates decreased, this unsteady flow structure gradually weakened and disappeared. When the flow rate was reduced to 0.6 times of design flow rate, another two unforced unsteady flow structures with characteristic frequencies of St≈0.0714 and St≈0.12 began to appear in the same area. Therefore, with the operating condition smaller than design flow rate, the internal flow became more and more complex. In addition to the forced unsteadiness, the unforced unsteadiness which is not connected with the blade passage frequency became more and more obvious.