A computer-aided design system has been developed for hydraulic parts of pumps including impellers, bowl diffusers, volutes, and vaned return channels. The key technologies include three-dimensional (3-D) CAD modeling, automatic grid generation, CFD analysis, and a 3-D inverse design method. The design system is directly connected to a rapid prototyping production system and a flexible manufacturing system composed of a group of DNC machines. The use of this novel design system leads to a drastic reduction of the development time of pumps having high performance, high reliability, and innovative design concepts. The system structure and the design process of “Blade Design System” and “Channel Design System” are presented. Then the design examples are presented briefly based on the previous publications, which included a centrifugal impeller with suppressed secondary flows, a bowl diffuser with suppressed corner separation, a vaned return channel of a multistage pump, and a volute casing. The results of experimental validation, including flow fields measurements, were also presented and discussed briefly.

1.
Favre, J-N., 1995, “Development of a Tool to Reduce the Design Time and to Improve the Radial or Mixed-Flow Pump Impeller Performance,” ASME Fluids 95, FED-Vol. 222, pp. 1–9.
2.
Zangeneh
,
M.
,
1991
, “
A Compressible Three Dimensional Blade Design Method for Radial and Mixed Flow Turbomachinery Blades
,”
Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids
,
13
, pp.
599
624
.
3.
Walker
,
P. J.
, and
Dawes
,
W. N.
,
1990
, “
The Extension and Application of Three-Dimensional Time-Marching Analysis to Incompressible Turbomachinery Flows
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
112
, pp.
385
390
.
4.
Goto, A., 1995, “Numerical and Experimental Study of 3-D Flow Fields within a Diffuser Pump Stage at Off-Design Condition,” ASME Fluids 95, FED-Vol. 227, pp. 1–9.
5.
Lohner, R., 1987, “Three-Dimensional Grid Generation by the Advancing Front Method,” Numerical Methods in Laminar and Turbulent Flow V, Pineridge Press, Swansea, pp. 1092–1105.
6.
Lohner, R., 1987, “The Efficient Simulation of Strongly Unsteady Flows by the Finite Element Method,” AIAA Paper, AIAA-87-0555.
7.
Zangeneh
,
M.
,
1996
, “
Inverse Design of Centrifugal Compressor Vaned Diffusers in Inlet Shear Flows
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
118
, pp.
385
393
.
8.
Denton, J. D., 1990, “The Calculation of Three Dimensional Viscous Flow Through Multistage Turbomachines,” ASME Paper No. 90-GT-19.
9.
Goto
,
A.
,
1992
, “
Study of Internal Flow in a Mixed Flow Pump Impeller at Various Tip Clearances Using 3-D Viscous Flow Calculations
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
114
, pp.
373
382
.
10.
Takemura
,
T.
, and
Goto
,
A.
,
1996
, “
Experimental and Numerical Study of Three-Dimensional Flows in a Mixed-Flow Pump Stage
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
118
, pp.
552
561
.
11.
Goto, A., 1997, “Prediction of Diffuser Pump Performance Using a 3-D Viscous Stage Calculation,” ASME Fluids 97, FEDSM97-3340.
12.
Zangeneh
,
M.
,
Goto
,
A.
, and
Harada
,
H.
,
1998
, “
On the Design Criteria for Suppression of Secondary Flows in Centrifugal and Mixed Flow Impellers
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
120
, pp.
723
735
.
13.
Goto
,
A.
, and
Zangeneh
,
M.
,
2002
, “
Hydrodynamic Design of Pump Diffuser using Inverse Design Method and CFD
,”
ASME J. Fluids Engineering
,
124
, published in this issue, pp.
319
328
.
14.
Sakurai, T., Saito, S., Goto, A., and Ashihara, K., 1999, “Pump Design System based on Inverse Method and its Application to the Development of Diffuser Pump Series,” ASME Fluids 99, FEDSM99-6845.
15.
Nohmi, M., and Goto, A., 1998, “Experimental and Computational Study of the Flow in a Vaned Return Channel of a Low Specific Speed Pump,” ASME Fluids 98, FEDSM98-4857.
You do not currently have access to this content.