Transient numerical investigation on hydraulic performance and flow field of multi-stage centrifugal pump with floating impellers under sealing gasket damage condition

Multi-stage centrifugal pumps with floating impellers provide a convenient means of adjustment to meet diverse head requirements. These pumps utilize sealing gaskets to minimize leakage losses and restrict impeller axial motion. However, the impact of sealing gasket breakage on hydraulic performance and internal flow remains uncertain. To investigate this, a novel dynamic mesh simulation method is proposed to enable simultaneous axial motion and rotation of the impeller. Validation of numerical simulations with experiments is performed. Transient hydraulic performance is influenced by impeller axial motion, with a lagging flow field response. Head coefficient and efficiency curves exhibit asymmetric triangular functions with higher fluctuations compared to impeller with fixed axial position. At the design condition, with the impeller floating, the head coefficient ranges from 0.7 to 1.9, while the efficiency ranges from 29.7% to 60.1%. Among the various loss ratios, the hydraulic loss ratio exhibits the highest magnitude, followed by the leakage loss ratio, with the shroud friction loss ratio being the smallest. Entropy production reveals the significant influence of impeller oscillation on local flow loss. The axial motion of the impeller causes drastic velocity and pressure fluctuations in both time and space.