Session: 01-01-04 Fluid Machinery Symposium

Paper Number: 130597

130597 - Adjoint-Based Topology Optimization for Hydraulic Performance Improvement in Double-Suction Volute Pump 

Abstract

The increasing demand for high-speed and miniaturized pumping solutions, as well as the need for high efficiency performance, has made a crucial aspect of the double-suction volute pumps design in modern industrial systems. To achieve these goals, the most important requirement is to design the suction passage to generate uniform velocity distribution and pre-rotation to ensure the incidence matching to the blade angle of the impeller leading edge [1]. Previous studies by Sekino [2] and Katsutoshi [3] proposed the optimization design procedure of a double-suction pump using DOE (Design of Experiment) with limited design parameters to improve the pump hydraulic efficiency. However, due to its three-dimensional curved free surface configuration, defining the hydraulic shape of suction passage in limited design parameters is challenging.

To address this issue, this study introduced the adjoint-based topology optimization method [4] to optimize the suction passage of the double-suction volute pump. This method aims to reduce the computational cost because it is independent from the number of design variables. In order to control the flow distribution at the outlet of the suction passage, the objective functions such as velocity component and flow angle deviation were implemented, ensuring the flow pattern matching and maximum impeller efficiency. Furthermore, the objectives, such as total pressure loss minimization and flow uniformity were also chosen. A three-dimensional RANS equation was used to solve both flow fields and adjoint dual fields, and the results were validated through numerical simulation and experimental testing.

The results showed that the novel configuration generated by topology optimization improves the flow uniformity and reduces the total pressure loss inside the suction passage, leading to the improvement of suction performance and a slight increase in pump efficiency at the design flow rate compared with the baseline design. The cavitation region is also improved at design and overload flow rates, as confirmed by the experiment test results.

Overall, this study demonstrates that incorporating velocity components and pre-rotation flow angle objectives in topology optimization could improve the hydraulic performance of double suction pumps and provide valuable insights for designing more effective and reliable pumps in a range of applications.

Keywords: Adjoint-based topology optimization, double suction pump, numerical simulation

References

[1] Gülich, J. F. (2010) Centrifugal Pumps, 2nd Edition, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Chap. 7.

[2] Sekino, Y., Watanabe, H. (2015) The 13^th AICFM, AICFM13-186

[3] Katsutoshi, K., Isao, H. (2013) ASME FEDSM2013-16345

[4] Karpuzas, G., De Villiers, E. (2014) OPT-i2014-1^st International Conference on Engineering and Applied Sciences Optimization, Proceedings June, 56–74.

Presenting Author: Szu Yung Chen Ebara Corporation