Numerical Calculation And Analysis Of The Liquid Oxygen Turbopump Inner Flow Field

Turbopump is an important part and the most frequently damaged part of theLiquid Rocket Engine. Ensuring the stable operations of the Turbopump is crucial tothe safety of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). In order to investigate the flowsin the pump and the pressure fluctuation and cavitation that exists in the Turbopumpduring operation, this paper utilizes the modern Computational Fluid Dynamics toolsto perform numerical calculation and analysis of the flow field of the Turbopump.This paper first performs the steady-state computation of the Turbopump todetermine the pressure distributions and flow patterns at different parts. It has alsodiscussed the locations where the minimal and maximal of pressure exists, and thevortex cavity area and distributions. Then the unsteady simulation has been put to useto analyze the pressure fluctuations at various locations. And this paper utilizes theFFT algorithm to analyze the data series, and obtains the frequency spectruminformation of the flow.In the purpose of determine how different relative positions between the inducerand impeller influences the flow in the Turbopump and its performance curves, thepaper treats the steady-state computations with different axial distance andcircumferential angle between them. By comparing the maximal and minimalpressure, the area of vortex cavity, it has investigated the matching rules of them.This paper employs the Mix Single Flow Cavitation Model based on theRayleigh-Plesset equation, to calculate the cavitation cavity distributions and gas flowpatterns under given condition, and compares with the non-cavitation model results.In order to investigate the variation tendency of cavitation cavities and its externalcharacteristics, it compares the changes of cavitation cavities and performance curveunder different inlet pressure. This paper studies the scope of application of cavitationmodel, by contrast with the differences between the cavitation model andnon-cavitation model under different inlet pressure. Finally, this paper performs anunsteady-state calculation with the cavitation model, and analyzes the growth andmovement of the cavitation zone.