ANSYS Fluent Frozen Rotor simulation of a novel 156mm centrifugal pump impeller at 2,900 rpm. The study quantified a negative head at the design point and defined the redesign path before prototype investment.
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Centrifugal Pump Impeller CFD Feasibility Study
A novel centrifugal pump concept with pocket and root actuation features required feasibility validation before physical prototype investment. The core question: could the proposed impeller geometry generate a net positive pressure rise at the specified operating point? Fluxiss built a rotating-frame CFD model in ANSYS Fluent to find out.
The Setup: Impeller and Volute Under Frozen Rotor
- 156 mm impeller with 5 vanes, simulated at 2,900 rpm
- Frozen Rotor rotor-stator interface between impeller and volute
- Mass-flow inlet at 5 kg/s, outlet at 0 Pa gauge, no-slip impeller and casing walls
- Pressure and velocity distributions mapped on impeller blades and volute
- Mass-weighted average total pressures extracted at inlet and outlet
Key Findings
- Total pressure at inlet: 50,755 Pa; at outlet: 20,682 Pa; a net change of -30,073 Pa
- Head of approximately -3.07 m at Q = 0.00501 m³/s, net negative at the design point
- Tip speed matched expected physics: maximum velocity of roughly 25 to 30 m/s against 23.7 m/s theoretical
- Local pocket pressure gradients confirmed that the actuation potential exists
The Outcome: A Redesign Direction, Not a Wasted Prototype
The simulation showed the concept operating in a loss-dominated regime, and the report recommended redesigning the blade geometry and pocket dimensions to convert it to positive head output. The client avoided the cost of prototyping a geometry that could not perform, and received a physics-verified direction for the next design iteration.