Influence of different types of volutes on centrifugal aviation fuel pump

Abstract

High efficiency and low vibration are two hot topics in the field of fluid mechanics. In this paper, different spiral volutes are designed for centrifugal aviation fuel pump based on Velocity Coefficient Method. Physical fields under different operating conditions are simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that solved the Navier–Stokes equations for three-dimensional flow (3D-RANS). And theoretical and simulation values of radial and axial forces are analyzed. The unsteady pressure fluctuation based on the steady results at the monitoring point is solved and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to obtain the influence of different volutes on pressure pulsation. The influence of three volutes on is analyzed and compared with the simulation. The results show that the double volutes improve significantly the large flow efficiency of the aviation fuel pump, 20%–30% higher than that of the single volute. The doubles volute can also optimize the radial force under the off-design condition. The radial force of the single volute fuel pump is 100 N. The radial force of the two types of double volute fuel pump is between 10 and 20 N. The three types of volute have no obvious influence on the axial force. Two types of double volutes provide excellent suppression of fuel pump pulsation spikes over the full frequency range. The peak value of single volute is mainly concentrated in the low frequency area below 2000 Hz. The blade frequency (170 Hz) and frequency multiplication are the main frequencies of the pulsation and the pulsation decreases rapidly in the high frequency area. The research results provide theoretical support for the design of aviation fuel pump with low pressure pulsation.