Effect of particle mass concentration on erosion characteristics of self-priming pump

Abstract

The self-priming pump is widely used in conveying the solid-liquid two-phase flow medium. The particles in the medium erode the components, leading to structural damage and failure. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the 65ZW30-20 self-priming pump is built to study erosion characteristics and mechanisms. FLUENT, along with the Discrete Phase Model and Oka erosion model, is applied for the numerical simulation. The particle distribution, impact times and velocity, and trajectories are taken into consideration to investigate the erosion characteristics in each component. The results show that with the increase of the particle concentration, the head and efficiency decreases gradually. The volute wall and blade leading edge are the most vulnerable regions to erosion, because of a large number of impact times and high impact velocity. Also, the particles impact the front gap wall for fewer times and the hub with lower velocity, which leads to a slighter erosion. Besides, the particle trajectories indicate that some particles impact the blade suction surface and the paraxial area of the shroud, rendering considerable erosion.