Investigation on the Flow in a Rotor-Stator Cavity with Centripetal Through-Flow

Abstract

Daily and Nece distinguished four flow regimes in an enclosed rotor-stator cavity, which are dependent on the circumferential Reynolds number and dimensionless axial gap width. A diagram of the different flow regimes including the respective mean profiles for both tangential and radial velocity was developed. The coefficients for the different flow regimes have also been correlated. In centrifugal pumps and turbines, the centripetal through-flow is quite common from the outer radius of the impeller to the impeller eye, which has a strong influence on the radial pressure distribution, axial thrust and frictional torque. The influence of the centripetal through-flow on the cavity flow with different circumferential Reynolds numbers and dimensionless axial gap width is not sufficiently investigated. It is also quite important to convert the 2D Daily and Nece diagram into 3D by introducing the through-flow coefficient. In order to investigate the impact of the centripetal through-flow, a test rig is designed and built up at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The design of the test rig is described. The impact of the above mentioned parameters on the velocity profile, pressure distribution, axial thrust and frictional torque are presented and analyzed in this paper. The 3D Daily and Nece diagram introducing the through-flow coefficient is also organized in this paper.

Keywords

• rotor-stator cavity
• centripetal through-flow
• axial thrust
• frictional torque