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Advances in Production Engineering & Management ISSN 1854‐6250

Volume 15 | Number 3 | September 2020 | pp 295–306 Journal home: apem‐journal.org


https://doi.org/10.14743/apem2020.3.366 Original scientific paper

Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the


volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions
Hu, Q.a, Yang, Y.a, Cao, W.a,*
a
Research Institute of Fluid Engineering Equipment Technology, Jiangsu University, P.R. China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO


Volute pump is the most common used centrifugal pump. As cavitation highly Keywords:
contributes to deteriorating the performance of the pump, anti‐cavitation Centrifugal pump;
performance is one of its design specifications. To clarify the cavitation evolu‐ Numerical simulation;
tion at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions Computational fluid dynamics
and its influence on the flow field in the impeller, numerical simulation with (CFD);
ANSYS CFD and a hydraulic test were conducted on a volute pump at several Tongue;
flow rates above optimal value. The cavity distribution and the blade loading Cavitation;
distribution were analyzed. And the characteristics of the pressure fluctuation Blade loading;
of the monitoring points located in volute casing were obtained and compared Pressure fluctuation
with each other. Results showed that cavitation may first emerge at the
*Corresponding author:
tongue rather than the impeller inlet at overload conditions. The alternative
cwd@ujs.edu.cn
stress resulting from periodical radial force increases obviously as the extent
(Cao, W.)
of cavitation at the tongue. Meanwhile, the mean cavity length grows as each
blade comes close to the tongue, and causes a decrease in performance be‐ Article history:
cause of a reduction or closure of flow passages. The pressure pulsation in the Received 18 August 2020
volute is consistent with the blade passing frequency whether cavitation Revised 14 September 2020
occurs or not, while the pulsation intensity increases obviously after cavita‐ Accepted 16 September 2020
tion inception. From the first section to the eighth section of volute, the pulsa‐
tion intensity of impeller outlet decreases gradually. The results are then
compared to provide a reference for the optimum design of the anti‐cavitation
performance of centrifugal pump.
© 2020 CPE, University of Maribor. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The generation of cavitation can cause severe damage in hydraulic machinery. In liquid flows, the
vaporization of liquid is generally due to the local pressure becomes lower than the saturated
vapor pressure [1]. Volute pumps are among the most used centrifugal pump types, mainly in
mining, petrochemical, and paper industries. Cavitation is a major undesirable phenomenon,
which occurs in the operation of centrifugal pumps [2]. The occurrence of cavitation in passages
affects the energy change between the wall surface and liquid, which leads to the breakdown of
performance, surface erosion, and even the equipment failure [3, 4]. In case of centrifugal
pumps, the cavitation inception generally takes place on the suction surface of the blades near
their leading edge, and the cavity presents an asymmetrical feature, which is caused by the inter‐
action between the blade and tongue of volute.
On this basis, cavitation in centrifugal pumps have been extensively studied [5‐12]. Most stud‐
ies mainly focused on the cavitation detection in impellers and performance improvement
through the application of cavitating flow simulation. However, only a few studies on the cavita‐

295
Hu, Yang, Cao

tion at the tongue of volute have been conducted based on visualization experiment and simula‐
tion computation. At overload conditions, flow separation, characterized by unsteady vortex
shedding from the tongue, causes the low pressure zone near the tongue. The present study
deals with a special case, where cavitation near the tongue of the volute occurs prior to the cavi‐
tation at the leading edge of blades. The head drop curve also has a knee shape that head remain
constant with the decrease of NPSH and rapidly decreases at critical point. In this case the break‐
down of performance due to cavitation at the tongue rather than cavitation in impeller. With
pressure fluctuation and visualization experiment, and combining numerical simulation, the cavi‐
tation structure at the tongue and its influence to the flow field in impeller was investigated. The
results were then compared to provide a reference for the optimum design of centrifugal pump.

2. State of the art


The investigation of flow filed in the vicinity of or inside cavitation is complex in spite of remark‐
able progress on the experimental technique and numerical calculation. R.F. Kunz et al. [13] pre‐
dicted the occurrence and evolution of single airfoil cavitation by using a two‐phase flow model
based on the Navier‐Stokes equation. On this basis, the present study conducted a numerical
simulation analysis and research on a centrifugal pump and investigated the anti‐cavitation per‐
formance. Luo et al. [14] compared the cavitation prediction for a centrifugal pump with and
without volute casing. Both models predicted the performance deterioration caused by cavita‐
tion, while the asymmetrical feature of cavitating flow exists when the calculation domain with
volute casing is applied. And the performance deterioration caused by the asymmetrical cavita‐
tion is overestimate based on the experiment data. Rudolf et al. [15] provide high‐speed photo‐
graphic observation of successive stages of unsteady cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a
centrifugal pump. The experiments were carried out at a flow rate above optimal value and at
3 % head drop conditions. The cloud cavitation at the tongue is similar to the one on single hy‐
drofoils. However, only direct visualization was conducted to explain the evolution of cavitation
structures at the tongue of centrifugal pump at overload conditions, numerical method was not
employed to investigate the cavitation phenomenon at the tongue. To slove the cavitation dam‐
age problem near the casing tongue of an afterburner fuel pump, Xue et al. [16] investigated the
separated flow characteristics and pressure fluctuations around the tongue by large eddy simu‐
lations. It is found that at low flow conditions, the fuel backflow from diffuser to the annular
chamber triggers serious separation, which lowers the local static pressure to less than zero. The
location of the separated vortex is in accord with the cavitation damage core region. Meng et al.
[17] simulated and analyzed the complex transient cavitation flow patterns inside a centrifugal
pump. The cavities in the passages exhibit an obvious life cycle with a frequency corresponding
to the impeller rotation frequency under off‐design conditions. The asymmetric cavitation in
associated with the uneven pressure distribution on volute and impeller‐tongue interaction. Du‐
lar et al. [18] employed the PIV‐LIF method to obtain the velocity field inside and outside the
vapour cavity around two hydrofoils. On the basis of the captured images of vapor structures, it
can been seen that the cavitation behaves dynamically at the front wall. The backflow causes the
separation of cavitation cloud and the vortex remains present inside the separated cloud. The
development of unsteady cavitation on impeller blades resembles that on a single hydrofoil.
However, in the case of a centrifugal pump, the interaction between the impeller and the volute
tongue strongly affects cavitation evolution due to the periodically variation of the flow fields in
passages. Limbach et al. [19, 20] conducted the numerical calculation and experimental work on
a low‐specific‐speed centrifugal pump. It is observed that the Net positive suction head (NPSH)
rises toward overload due to incidence, flow separation, and vapor zones at the volute tongue.
The numerical simulation has been performed by Micha et al. [21] to study the effect of tip‐
vortex cavitation in a centrifugal pump and its result on the change in nuclei size. The size of
bubble nuclei significantly affect the incipient of cavitation and unsteady pressure distribution in
passages and the suction surface of the impeller leads to separation and re‐circulation at off‐
design condition which in turn influences the onset of cavitation at the leading edge of the blade.
Ahmed et al. [22] analyzed the vibration signal in both time and frequency domains to detect and

296 Advances in Production Engineering & Management 15(3) 2020


Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions

diagnose the cavitation phenomenon within a centrifugal pump. With various flow rates and
rotational speed, the signals presented similar statistical features and revealed that using low‐
frequency was sensitive to predict cavitation in the pump. By means of unsteady numerical com‐
putation, Tang et al. [23] found that the blade passing frequency is the dominant frequency of the
pressure fluctuations in the casing except the vicinity of the volute tongue for all operating con‐
ditions, and the dominant one near the volute tongue is the blade passing frequency at the de‐
sign point and 0~0.5 times the blade passing frequency at other off‐design points. Dö nmez et al.
[24] and Tao et al. [25] investigated the influence of geometric parameters of blade inlet on cavi‐
tation phenomenon of the centrifugal pump. Cavitation performance of pump is excessively af‐
fected by both blade inlet angle and blade leading‐edge shape. Increasing hub blade angle has
slightly negative effect on cavitation performance of the pump, and the round and ellipse lead‐
ing‐edge impellers have higher inception cavitation coefficient than the ones with blunt or sharp
leading‐edge. Alex et al. [26] compiled an overview on the effect of cavitation in the performance
of centrifugal pump. They took account of parameters such as blade numbers, blade angle, inlet
flow angle, flow rates, and inlet and outlet pressure. These parameters all have influence on the
cavitation performance, however the casing type or the tongue shape were not considered
Above research results indicate that the evolution of cavitation causes the performance dete‐
rioration of centrifugal pump and the development of cavitation cloud in passages usually
emerges at the suction side of blade leading edge. During the experiment, the pump was operat‐
ing at overload flow rate and cavitation condition leading to 3 % head drop. Detailed observa‐
tions of cavity evolution near the tongue of casing were made when no obvious cavitation occurs
within the impeller. On the basis of numerical simulation and hydraulic testing, this study ex‐
plored cavitation structure and flow field in the vicinity of the tongue of the volute casing to pro‐
vide guidance for the optimization design of centrifugal pumps.

3. Materials and methods


3.1 Design of test stand
The closed testbed is shown in Fig. 1. The pressure fluctuation and cavitation at tongue down‐
stream experiments were conducted on the testbed, except for measuring the external character‐
istics of the pump model under different flow rates. In Fig.1, impeller and volute were prepared
with PMMA. The testbed was equipped with a pressure transmitter, a turbine flowmeter, and a
high‐frequency pressure sensor for the effective measurement of testing parameters: turn fre‐
quency (n), spindle torque (T), mass flow (Q), pressure fluctuation, and inlet and outlet pres‐
sures of the pump model (pin and pout). Design parameters of the model pump are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Design parameters
Qd(m3/h) 10
H(m) 11
n(r/min) 1450
P(kW) 3
Impeller diameter D2(mm) 192
Impeller inlet diameter D1(mm) 54
Impeller hub diameter dh(mm) 20
Impeller width b2(mm) 5
Blade outlet angle β2 27.5

Fig. 1 Three‐dimensional schematic of the test stand

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Hu, Yang, Cao

3.2 Pressure fluctuation test


The test field of pressure fluctuation is shown in Fig. 2. The overall structure of the testbed is
shown in Fig. 2(a). Under the assistance of a high‐frequency dynamic pressure sensor, the pres‐
sure fluctuation characteristics at the tongue downstream were monitored with a HSJ2010 hy‐
draulic machinery comprehensive tester developed by Huazhong University of Science and
Technology. The distributions of pressure fluctuation measurement points are shown in Figs.
2(b) and 2(c). The sampling frequency and sampling time of test data were set to 8,700 Hz and
60 s, respectively.

(a) (b) (c)


Fig. 2 The pressure fluctuation testing station

3.3 High‐speed photography experiments


The experimental apparatus for high‐speed photography is shown in Fig. 3. The positions in Fig.
3 show the locations of the light source and CCD camera in the test. The capture frequency was
set to 500 images/s, and the pixel depth of images was set to 8 bits due to the low revolution
speed of the test pump. The pixels of the obtained image were 860×1,280. The arrow in Fig. 3
shows the shooting direction of the camera and the incidence angle of light source to decrease
the interferences of the reflected light.

Fig. 3 High‐speed photographic experiment device

3.4 Analysis of the test results


The overall external characteristics of the pump are shown in Fig. 4. The flow head curve under
non‐cavitation is shown in Fig. 4(a), and the NPSH‐H curve is shown in Fig. 4(b) when Q/Qd = 1.52.
With the reduction in NPSH, no evident cavitation is found at the back of the impeller inlet. How‐
ever, evident cloudy cavitation is detected close to the tongue near the flow measuring points.

(1)

where pin is the static pressure at the impeller inlet, pv is the saturated vapor pressure, taken as 3574
Pa, vin is the absolute velocity at the impeller inlet.

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Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions

13 11.5

12
11.0

11
10.5
H/m

H/m
10 studied flow rate NPSH3%

10.0
9

8 9.5

7 9.0
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Q/Qd NPSH/m
(a) (b)
Fig. 4 External characteristic curve of the model pump

The pressure fluctuation in rotating hydraulic machinery can be divided into three types, name‐
ly, random pressure, blade multifrequency, and axial multifrequency fluctuations. The random
pressure fluctuation is induced by cavitation, eddies, and unsteady secondary flows. It is similar
with white noise on the spectrum. The blade frequency fluctuation has a multiple relation with
blade passing frequency and is related to rotor‐stator interaction. The shaft frequency fluctua‐
tion is related to mechanical speed. In this study, the rotational speed of the centrifugal pump
was 1,450 rpm. The patterns of time and frequency domains at Q/Qd = 1.52 and NPSH3% = 1.5 m
are shown in Fig. 5. The domain pressure fluctuation in the flow field at the volute downstream
is mainly blade passing frequency.
128 6

126

124 4
pout/Kpa

122
2
120

118
0
116

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0 3 6 9 12 15 18


t/s f/fnHz

Fig. 5 Time-domain and frequency-domain of the pressure fluctuation in monitoring point

The high‐speed photography results at the tongue of the pump model at Q/Qd = 1.52 are
shown in Fig. 6. Figure 6 shows that: a) A large cavitation structure is developed at the leading
edge of the tongue when the blade leaves the observation range, b)The cavitation cloud at the
leading edge of the tongue develops quickly and sheds when the next blade appears in the visual
frame, c) The flow regime deteriorates, and many bubbles begin to develop at the leading edge
when the blade approaches the tongue, d) The cavitation cloud at the tongue tends to attach on
the cavities when the blade is close to the tongue position, e) The cavitation cloud rapidly blocks
the flow passage near the tongue because the blade leaves the tongue and moves to the down‐
stream areas, significantly influencing the energy transmission in the volute.

a b c d e
Fig. 6 Cavitation evolution at the volute tongue

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Hu, Yang, Cao

4. Result analysis and discussion


4.1 Method of numerical simulation
Time‐averaged N‐S equations were utilized as the basic governing equations in the single‐phase
computation. The SST k‐ω turbulence model was selected for 3D turbulence numerical simula‐
tion because it considers the transmission of turbulence shear stress and can accurately predict
the initial position and results of fluid separation under turbulent negative‐pressure gradient.
The transport behavior was obtained using the eddy viscosity equation containing the limiting
quantity
(2)
where vt denotes dynamic viscosity, α1 is a constant taken as 5/9, k is turbulent kinetic energy, ω
is turbulence frequency, F2 is mixing function that constrains the limiting quantity in the bounda‐
ry layer, and S is the invariant measure of shear rate.
A homogeneous model was used in the vapor‐liquid two‐phase flow field. The Zwart equation
based on the Rayleigh‐Plesset formula was used to analyze the generation and collapse of cavita‐
tion bubbles and the mass transfer in the fluid. The evolution process of cavitation bubbles is
given as
(3)
where RB is the radius of bubble, pv is the pressure inside the bubble, p is the pressure of the fluid
around bubble, ρf is the density of the fluid, and σ is the surface tension of the interface between
the fluid and bubble.
ANSYS ICEM was used to generate high‐quality hexahedral meshes in the computational do‐
mains of the model pump. Fifteen mesh layers were added to each boundary while guaranteeing
that the distribution of blocks was accordance with the flow regime in the computational do‐
mains to ensure the accuracy of the numerical simulation in the near‐wall zone. Mesh independ‐
ence was applied under the design condition to guarantee calculation accuracy and improve cal‐
culation efficiency. When the grid number exceeded 2.6 million, the change in the pump head
was within 1 %. Thus, the grid number was determined. Fig. 7 shows a 3D model of the computa‐
tional domain, and Fig. 8 shows a schematic of the computation meshes. The left side presents
the cross‐section mesh of the impeller and volute, and the right side shows partial enlargement
of the mesh at the inlet and outlet of blade.
Steady‐stage computation of multiple working conditions was performed with different inlet
attack angles by using ANSYS‐CFX 16.0 software. Given that NPSH is closely related to the pres‐
sure at the pump inlet, the total pressure in the inlet and the mass flow in the outlet were used
for the computational domain. The calculations for non‐cavitation simulation were used as the
initial results for the cavitation simulation to reduce the calculation time.

Fig. 7 Computational domain Fig 8 Schematic of the mesh

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Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions

4.2 Numerical simulation results and analysis


The one‐sixth cycle numerical simulation results of cavitation at the tongue at Q/Qd = 1.52 are
shown in Fig. 9. The short tongue adopted in this study differs significantly from ordinary airfoil
profile but its cavitation structure has great similarities to the attachment and shedding of cavi‐
ties on single airfoil. The inlet speed and Strouhal number are the main factors influencing peri‐
odic cavitation formation and shedding on single airfoil. For the cavitation at the tongue , the
development of cavitation is influenced by the interaction changes in pressure gradients be‐
tween the pressure surface (PS) and suction surface (SS) of blades and the unsteady changes in
flow field near the leading edge of the tongue caused by jet wake at the impeller outlet.
As shown in Fig. 9(a), the tongue at 0 T is in the middle of flow passage. At this moment, a rel‐
atively large cavitation cloud occurs at the leading edge of the tongue. At 1/4 T, the cavitation
cloud develops quickly at the tongue and sheds when the next blade approaches the tongue. At
1/2 T, the cavitation cloud gradually moves toward the tongue downstream when the blade ap‐
proaches the tongue. The cavitation cloud separates in the high‐pressure zone at the tongue
downstream, thereby decreasing the area of low‐pressure zone. At 3/4 T, the blade is located at
the tongue, and a newly attached cavitation emerges at the tongue. The previous cavitation cloud
breaks quickly and then moves downward. The flow regime in the volute deteriorates, and cavi‐
tation wake occurs at the downstream close to the volute outlet. Thus, the low‐pressure zone is
expanded. At 1 T, the blade leaves the tongue, and the cavitation cloud develops at the leading
edge of the tongue, exerting the evident blocking effect of the flow passage. With the shedding of
cavities, the actual flow area close to the tongue increases suddenly, thereby causing great ener‐
gy losses in the volute.
The velocity diagram for the middle section of the pump in a single cycle is shown in Fig. 9(b).
Uniform relative rates are found on the middle stream surface of the blade, and a local high‐
pressure zone is found at the blade outlet close to the tongue. At overload conditions, serious
separation occurs at the tongue. The negative pressure fluctuation caused by separation and
transition can trigger the initiation of cavitation. Separated unsteady eddies are formed near the
tongue, which are the vibration and noise sources. At 0 T, a low‐rate backflow zone that occupies
approximately one‐half of the flow passage is formed at the leading edge and tongue down‐
stream, significantly blocking the flow passage. The cavitation cloud develops quickly and
squeezes the actual flow area. At 1/4 and 1/2 T, the blocked passage is released partially with
the shedding of cavities. The low‐rate backflow zone shrinks, and the eddies move downward.
The flow field near the tongue is divided into backflow and mainstream zones. At 3/4 T, the
blade outlet is close to the tongue, and the eddy center moves downward. The previous cavita‐
tion cloud moves downward to form a cavitation wake. At 1 T, the blade leaves the tongue, and a
new cavitation cloud emerges at the leading edge of the tongue.

0T 1/4 T 1/2 T 3/4 T 1T


(a) Cavitation evolution at the tongue

0T 1/4 T 1/2 T 3/4 T 1T


(b) Velocity distribution on the cross section of the pump
Fig. 9 Flow field at Q/Qd = 1.52

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Hu, Yang, Cao

A centrifugal pump with a helical pumping chamber can generate a radial force that acts
on the impeller during operation. Thus, the axis bears alternating stresses and generates a
directed deflection. The pressure in the chamber of the centrifugal pump continuously
changes due to the interference by the impeller and the tongue of the volute, thereby gener‐
ating unsteady radial forces. The existence of cavitation may affect the radial forces. The
vector diagram of radial force distribution on the impeller in a single cycle under different
flow rates is shown in Fig. 10. Cavitation occurs at the impeller inlet when Q/Qd = 1.3 and
1.52. However, the radial force distributions at the critical cavitation state are basically con‐
sistent under three working conditions. The radial force distribution is related to the num‐
ber of blades and is in hexagonal star distribution. This condition is caused by the interfer‐
ence of the impeller and the volute. At Q/Qd = 1.3, the vector diagrams under critical cavita‐
tion and non‐cavitation conditions are close. At Q/Qd = 1.52 and 1.73, the radial forces pro‐
duce alternating stresses under cavitation conditions when the blade sweeps the separation
tongue.
150
150 150
Fy/N Fy/N
Fy/N cavitation
100 100 non-cavitation
100

50 50 50

Fx/N Fx/N Fx/N


0 0 0
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150
-50 -50 -50

-100 -100 -100

-150 -150 -150

Q/Qd = 1.3 Q/Qd = 1.5 Q/Qd = 1.73


Fig. 10 Distribution of radical force

The secondary flows and “jet wake” phenomenon are caused by the high‐speed rotation of the
impeller, interference between the impeller and the volute, and the viscosity of fluid due to the
spatial asymmetric structure of the centrifugal pump. The internal flow field presents complicat‐
ed unsteady characteristics that may cause pressure fluctuation. The circumferential pressure
fluctuation of the volute and pressure fluctuation near the tongue are influenced and present
different characteristics when cavitation emerges at the tongue. The monitoring points of pres‐
sure fluctuation in the volute are shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11 Monitoring points of pressure fluctuation

The pressure amplitude of pressure pulsation in the volute is characterized, and the influ‐
ences of the static pressure of monitoring points on pressure fluctuation are eliminated. The
strength of pressure fluctuation is expressed as pressure coefficient Cp
(4)
where p is the instantaneous pressure value at the monitoring points, and is the mean pressure
of monitoring points in the investigated cycle.
The time domain of monitoring points P1‐P9 when Q/Qd = 1.3, 1.52, and 1.73 is shown in Fig.
12. The pressure fluctuation intensity increases significantly with the increase of flow rate. Alt‐
hough the number of wave peaks at different monitoring points in a single cycle is equal to the
number of blades, the regularity in a single cycle weakens with the increase of flow rate. At Q/Qd =

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Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions

1.3, the pressure fluctuation at different monitoring points shows evident periodic fluctuation
laws. The fluctuation amplitudes at different monitoring points are close, except for the monitor‐
ing points at the downstream of the tongue. Considering that all monitoring points are close to
the flow field at the impeller outlet, the pressure fluctuation is caused by the jet‐wake structure
at the passage outlet of the impeller, and the fluctuation amplitudes are similar. At Q/Qd = 1.73,
irregular wave peaks are found, indicating the occurrence of serious cavitation close to the
tongue. Therefore, the flow field becomes extremely disordered.
The multiplication of rotating frequency is defined as
(5)
where F is the practical frequency after Fourier transform, n is the rotating speed of the impeller,
and Fn is the rotating frequency under the corresponding rotating speed.
As shown in Fig. 13, the excitation frequency at different monitoring points is the blade pass‐
ing frequency under different flow rates. The shaft frequency and other low‐frequency and high‐
frequency bands have small amplitudes. This finding reveals that the pressure fluctuation caused
by the “jet wake” flow structure under high flow rate is the main excitation frequency. With the
increase in flow rate, the pressure fluctuation strength increases significantly. In particular, a
magnitude of jumps of pulsation strength is found after the cavitation occurs at the tongue. At
Q/Qd = 1.3, the pressure fluctuation is weak. The main excitation frequency first decreases and
then increases from the first to the eighth sections. The pressure fluctuation strength declines as
the monitoring point moves away from the tongue. At Q/Qd = 1.52 and 1.73, the cavitation in the
volute becomes evident, and the pressure fluctuation in the volute shows different laws. The
pressure fluctuation at the downstream of the tongue is lower than that at the impeller outlet.
The fluctuation strength at the impeller outlet decreases gradually from the first to the eighth
sections.
30 30 30
Q/Q d=1.3
20 20 20
Q/Q d=1.52
Cp

Cp
Cp

10 Q/Q d=1.73 10 10

0 0 0

‐10 ‐10 ‐10


0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
  
P1 P2 P3
30 30 30
Q/Q d =1.3
20 Q/Q d =1.52 20 20
Cp

Cp

Cp

Q/Q d =1.73
10 10 10

0 0 0

‐10 ‐10 ‐10


0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
  
P4 P5 P6
30 30 30
Q/Q d =1.3
20 Q/Q d =1.52 20 20
Cp
Cp

Cp

10 Q/Q d =1.73 10 10

0 0 0

‐10 ‐10 ‐10


0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
  
P7 P8 P9
Fig. 12 Pressure fluctuation of monitoring points around the impeller outlet

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Hu, Yang, Cao

0.10 4 9
8
0.08 3 7
6
0.06 5
2

Cp
Cp

Cp
0.04 4
3
0.02 1 2
1
0.00 0 0
P1 P1
P2 P1
P2
P2
P3 P3 P3
P4 P4
P5 P4
P5
P5
P6 P6 P6
P7 P7 P7
P8 P8 P8
P9 P9 P9
0 6 12 NF 18 24 0 6 12 NF 18 24 0 6 12 NF 18 24
Q/Qd = 1.3 Q/Qd = 1.52 Q/Qd = 1.73
Fig. 13 Frequency domain of pressure fluctuation

The time domains of pressure fluctuation at P10‐P15 are shown in Fig. 14. The pressure fluc‐
tuation has six wave peaks under different working conditions, and the pressure fluctuation at
different monitoring points is caused by the interference of the tongue. The pressure fluctuation
strength increases with the increase of flow rate. The fluctuation strength weakens when the
distance between the monitoring point and the tongue increases. The influence of the tongue on
pressure fluctuation and the influence of jet‐wake structure at the impeller outlet decline when
the monitoring point approaches the wall surface facing the tongue. The pressure fluctuation
strength without cavitation close to the tongue at Q/Qd = 1.3 is significantly lower than that with
cavitation at the tongue at Q/Qd = 1.52 and 1.73. This finding reflects that the unsteady flow at
the tongue is complicated, and the changes in pressure distribution are intense after the occur‐
rence of cavitation. At actual operation, these conditions may trigger serious vibration noises,
thereby influencing the stable operation of the pump.
The frequency domains of pressure fluctuations at different monitoring points close to the
tongue under different working conditions are shown in Fig. 15. The dominant frequency under
working conditions is the blade passing frequency. The rapid increase in dominant frequency
amplitude caused by cavitation reflects the influences of cavitation development on the pressure
fluctuation strength close to the tongue. The pressure fluctuation at the downstream monitoring
point P1 is 0.41 of the dominant frequency amplitude under non‐cavitation condition. However,
it increases to 2.12 and 3.84 when Q/Qd = 1.52 and Q/Qd = 1.73, respectively. A strong pressure
fluctuation may be found at the downstream position of the tongue due to the development and
breakage of cavities. In accordance with the changes in dominant frequency amplitude under
different working conditions, the pressure fluctuation intensity declines gradually when the
monitoring point approaches the wall surface facing the separation tongue.

6 Q/Q d=1.3 6 6
4 Q/Q d=1.52 4 4
Cp

Cp

Cp

2 Q/Q d=1.73 2 2
0 0 0
‐2 ‐2 ‐2
‐4 ‐4 ‐4
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
  
P10 P11 P12
6 Q/Q d=1.3 6 6
4 Q/Q d=1.52 4 4
Cp

Cp

Cp

2 Q/Q d=1.73 2 2
0 0 0
‐2 ‐2 ‐2
‐4 ‐4 ‐4
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
  
P13 P14 P15
Fig. 14 Pressure fluctuation near the tongue

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Computational analysis of cavitation at the tongue of the volute of a centrifugal pump at overload conditions

0.6 3.0 6
0.5 2.5 5
0.4 2.0 4
0.3 1.5 3

Cp
Cp

Cp
0.2 1.0 2
0.1 0.5 1
0.0 0.0 0
P10 P10 P10
P11 P11 P11
P12 P12 P12
P13 P13 P13
P14 P14 P14
P15 P15 P15
0 6 12 NF 18 24 0 6 12 NF 18 24 0 6 12 NF 18 24
Q/Qd = 1.3 Q/Qd = 1.52 Q/Qd = 1.73
Fig. 15 Frequency domain of pressure fluctuation of monitoring points near the tongue

5. Conclusion
In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the cavitation at the tongue of centrifugal pump at
overload conditions. By means of numerical computation and visualization measurement, un-
steady flow structures in cavitation zone were studied to associate with blade loading and pres-
sure fluctuation. From the present research following conclusions can be drawn:
• As the increase of flow rate, the shedding of the separated vortex lowers the static pres-
sure near the tongue. And the flow separation at the tongue brings dramatic pressure fluc-
tuation and strong shearing vortex which induce cavitation.
• At overload conditions, higher radical velocity and deviation of relative flow angle contrib-
ute to periodical variation of flow field near the tongue, which results in periodical cavita-
tion evolution. Thus, the frequency of the cavitation cloud shedding is equal to the blade
passing frequency.
• Cavitation at the tongue not only enhances the pressure fluctuation in volute, but also affects the
blade loading distribution: The pressure pulsation in the volute is consistent with the blade
passing frequency whether cavitation occurs or not, while the pulsation intensity increases
obviously after cavitation inception. From the first section to the eighth section of volute,
the pulsation intensity of impeller outlet decreases gradually.
The study showed that it is possible that the head drop at overload conditions is caused by
the appearance of cavitation at the tongue of volute, which may provide guidance for the optimi-
zation of the anti-cavitation performance of centrifugal pump. In future, more accurate visualiza-
tion measurement and vibration experiment can be conducted to investigate the cavitation phe-
nomenon at the tongue of casing.

Acknowledgement
This research was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0810506) and the Key R&D Program of
Zhenjiang (SH2017049).

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