On the Preliminary Design and Noncavitating Performance Prediction of Tapered Axial Inducers

A reduced order model for preliminary design and noncavitating performance prediction of tapered axial inducers is illustrated. In the incompressible, inviscid, irrotational flow approximation, the model expresses the 3D flow field in the blade channels by superposing a 2D cross-sectional vorticity correction to a fully guided axisymmetric flow with radially uniform axial velocity. Suitable redefinition of the diffusion factor for bladings with non-negligible radial flow allows for the control of the blade loading and the estimate of the boundary layer blockage at the specified design flow coefficient, providing a simple criterion for matching the hub profile to the axial variation of the blade pitch angle. Carter’s rule is employed to account for flow deviation at the inducer trailing edge. Mass continuity, angular momentum conservation, and Euler’s equation are used to derive a simple second order boundary value problem, whose numerical solution describes the far-field axisymmetric flow at the inducer discharge. A closed form approximate solution is also provided, which proved to yield equivalently accurate results in the prediction of the inducer performance. Finally, the noncavitating pumping characteristic is obtained by introducing suitably adapted correlations of pressure losses and flow deviation effects. The model has been verified to closely approximate the geometry and noncavitating performance of two space inducers tested in Alta’s Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility, as well as the measured pumping characteristics of a number of tapered-hub inducers documented in the literature.