Effects of Inlet S-duct on Inducer Performance and Cavitation Instability

Abstract

Abstract To investigate the effect of inlet flow distortion on two-bladed inducer performance and cavitation instability, the s-shaped duct was installed at the inlet of the inducer to induce secondary flow. Inducer cavitation performance with and without s-duct were compared while varying the cavitation number. Also, the effect of s-duct on the occurrence of alternate blade cavitation was investigated using unsteady casing pressure measurement and high-speed camera visualization. It was shown that the s-duct decreases the strength of alternate blade cavitation and lowers the head breakdown cavitation number without considerable head loss by reducing the tip leakage vortex cavitation.