Influence of Tip Clearance on Unsteady Flow in Automobile Engine Pump

The automobile engine pump is an important part of the automobile cooling system, and has a direct influence on the engine performance. Based on the SST k-omega turbulence model, unsteady numerical simulation for an automobile engine pump with different tip clearances was carried out by Fluent. To study the flow field characteristics and pressure fluctuation, the characteristics of secondary flow distribution in volute are also analyzed. The result shows that the pressure fluctuation characteristics of the flow field show obvious periodic variation at different levels of tip clearances. The peak value of pressure fluctuation at each monitoring point is dependent on the blade frequency. At the same time, with the increase of the tip clearance, the pressure fluctuation in the blade and volute is gradually increased, while the pressure fluctuation at the tip is reduced clearance. The pressure gradient in the pump also varies periodically with the rotation of the impeller. With the increase of the tip clearance, the pressure of the impeller, volute and tip clearance is gradually decreased. There are secondary flow vortexes inside the impeller, volute outlet and volute section. With the increase of tip clearance, the vortex intensity in the impeller channel is weakened, and the vortex strength at the volute outlet is intensified. On the cross section of the volute, the morphology of most vortexes has insignificant changes, but the vortex intensity decreased.