Donghyuk Kang

Study of Cavitation Instabilities in Double- Suction Centrifugal Pump

In double-suction centrifugal pumps, it was found that cavitation instabilities occur with vibration and a periodic chugging noise. The present study attempts to identify cavitation instabilities in the double-suction centrifugal pump by the experiment and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Cavitation instabilities in the tested pump were classified into three types of instabilities. The first one, in a range of cavitation number higher than breakdown cavitation number, is cavitation surge with a violent pressure oscillation. The second one, in a range of cavitation number higher than the cavitation number of cavitation surge, is considered to be rotating cavitation and causes the pressure oscillation due to the interaction of rotating cavitation with the impeller. Last one, in a range of cavitation number higher than the cavitation number of rotating cavitation, is considered to be a surge type instability.

Numerical Evaluation of Dynamic Transfer Matrix and Unsteady Cavitation Characteristics of an Inducer

The transfer matrix and unsteady cavitation characteristics, cavitation compliance and mass flow gain factor, of cavitating inducer were evaluated by CFD using commercial software. Quasi-steady values of cavitation compliance and mass flow gain factor were obtained first by using steady calculations at various flow rate and inlet cavitation number. Then unsteady calculations were made to determine the transfer matrix and the cavitation characteristics. The results are compared with experiments to show the validity of calculations.

Analytical Study of Cavitation Surge in a Hydraulic System

In order to clarify effects of an accumulator, pipe lengths and gradients of pressure and suction performances on cavitation surge, one-dimensional stability analyses of cavitation surge were performed in hydraulic systems consisting of an upstream tank, an inlet pipe, a cavitating pump, a downstream pipe, and a downstream tank. An accumulator located upstream or downstream of the cavitating pump was included in the analysis. Increasing the distance between the upstream accumulator and the cavitating pump enlarged the stable region. On the other hand, decreasing the distance between the downstream accumulator and the cavitating pump enlarged the stable region. Furthermore, the negative gradient of a suction performance curve and the positive gradient of a pressure performance curve cause cavitation surge.

A Study on the Coanda Effect and the Thrust Characteristics of Synthetic Jets

Although there have recently been various studies on synthetic jets, many issues remain to be clarified, including details of the structure, Coanda effect and thrust characteristics. The present study clarifies some fundamental flow characteristics of synthetic jets near a rigid boundary by experiments and numerical simulations. In addition, a thruster model using the Coanda effect of synthetic jets is proposed and thrust characteristics are evaluated. As the main results, the flow of a synthetic jet near a rigid boundary is visualized and the trajectory of a vortex pair is demonstrated. It is confirmed that the flow patterns of the synthetic jets near a rigid boundary depend on H/b0 (offset ratio, normalized step height). The behavior of the asymmetric synthetic jets caused by the presence of the rigid wall was observed experimentally and the results were compared with numerical data. Furthermore, typical flow patterns around the proposed synthetic jet thruster and its thrust characteristics curves are shown.Copyright