Dynamic stress analysis of sewage centrifugal pump impeller based on two-way coupling method

Current research on the operational reliability of centrifugal pumps has mainly focused on hydrodynamic instability. However, the interaction between the fluid and structure has not been sufficiently considered; this interaction can cause vibration and dynamic stress, which can affect the reliability. In this study, the dynamic stresses in a single-blade centrifugal pump impeller are analysed under different operating conditions; the two-way coupling method is used to calculate the fluid-structure interaction. Three-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved with the SST k-ω turbulence model for the fluid in the whole flow passage, while transient structure dynamic analysis is used with the finite element method for the structure side. The dynamic stresses in the rotor system are computed according to the fourth strength theory. The stress results show that the highest stress is near the loose bearing and that the equivalent stress increases with the flow rate because the dynamic stresses are closely related to the pressure load. The stress distributions on the blade pressure side, suction side, leading edge, and trailing edge are each analysed for different flow rates; the highest stress distribution is found on the pressure side. On the blade pressure side, a relatively large stress is found near the trailing edge and hub side. Based on these results, a stress distribution prediction method is proposed for centrifugal pumps, which considers the interaction between the fluid and structure. The method can be used to check the dynamic stress at different flow rates when optimising the pump design to increase the pump reliability.