Numerical Simulation of Pressure Surges and Vibrations in Pump Systems

Project duration: 2017-2019
Financing: Forschungskuratorium Maschinenbau e.V.

Hydraulic flow machines interact with the adjacent pipeline system through pressure pulsations. These interactions create feedback effects that are difficult to represent accurately in numerical simulations but significantly influence cavitation behavior in the machine. To gain detailed insights into the flow field of a hydraulic machine, 3D finite volume (FV) flow simulations are typically employed. However, a three-dimensional representation of the pipeline system is not practical due to its complexity and offers no significant advantage over a one-dimensional approach. Therefore, the Chair of Hydraulic Flow Machines, in collaboration with the Department of Fluid Mechanics at TU Dortmund, has developed a coupling method. This method combines a 3D FV approach of the in-house flow solver solver3dv2 with the 1D finite difference (FD) characteristic method FLOAT developed at TU Dortmund. This allows the wave dynamics in the pipeline system to be represented one-dimensionally with moderate effort, while also accounting for the interactions between the machine and the system. The current research focuses on studying the effects of the system on cavitation behavior within the working chamber of an oscillating positive displacement pump. Pump and system measurements from the Chair of Process Machines and Plant Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg are used to validate the computational models.

Final report

Contact: Pascal Munsch