Numerical Simulation on Effect of Tip Clearance on Inducer Performance

摘要

Effect of tip clearance on inducer performance is studied with numerical simulation.Five inducer models with different tip clearance from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm are studied.Firstly, the detailed flow field is obtained was obtained by using RANS and SST κ-ω turbulence model as well as the SIMPLEC algorithm.Then, the performance of the inducer with different tip clearance and the pressure distributions in inducer were analyzed.The results show that the tip clearance affects the head and efficiency of the inducer obviously.When the tip clearance increases 1 mm,the head at the rated flow is reduced by 40 ％, and the efficiency is reduced about 30 ％.When the tip clearance is less than 0.8 mm, the pressure variation rate on the leading edge part of the blade is larger than that of the trailing edge part.When the tip clearance is larger than 0.8 mm, the pressure variation rate on the leading edge part of the blade is about the same as that of the trailing edge part.The low pressure area is located in the suction surface of the blade near the leading edge and the area decreases with the increase of tip clearance.With increasing of the tip clearance, the vortex core gradually moves toward the leading edge of the blade.