In order to study the influence of tip clearance on the performance and energy dissipation of the axial-flow pump and the axial-flow pump as a turbine, and find the location of high dissipation rate, this study took an axial-flow pump model as its research object and designed four tip radial clearance schemes (0, 0.2, 1 and 2 mm). The unsteady calculation simulation of each tip clearance scheme was carried out based on CFD technology. The calculated results were compared with the experimental results, and the simulation results were analyzed using entropy production analysis theory. The results showed that, under both an axial-flow pump and axial-flow pump as turbine operating conditions, increasing the blade tip clearance led to a decrease in hydraulic performance. Compared with the 0 mm clearance, the maximum decreases in pump efficiency, head and shaft power under 2 mm tip clearance were 15.3%, 25.7% and 12.3% under the pump condition, and 12.7%, 18.5% and 28.8% under the turbine condition, respectively. Under the axial-flow pump operating condition, the change in blade tip clearance had a great influence on the total dissipation of the impeller, guide vane and outlet passage, and the maximum variation under the flow rate of 1.0$Q_{des}$ was 53.9%, 32.1% and 54.2%, respectively. Under the axial-flow pump as a turbine operating condition, the change in blade tip clearance had a great influence on the total dissipation of the impeller and outlet passage, the maximum variation under the flow rate of 1.0$Q_{des}$ was 22.7% and 17.4%, respectively. Under the design flow rate condition, with the increase in tip clearance, the dissipation rate of the blade surface showed an increasing trend under both the axial-flow pump and axial-flow pump as turbine operating conditions, and areas of high dissipation rate were generated at the rim and clearance.

The axial flow pump is a low head, high discharge pump usually applicable in drainage and irrigation facilities. A certain gap should be reserved between the impeller blade root and the impeller hub to ensure the blade adjustability to broaden the high-efficiency area. The pressure difference between its blade surface induces leakage flow in the root clearance region, which decreases hydraulic performance and operational stability. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of root clearance on mechanical energy dissipation using numerical simulation and entropy production methods. The numerical model was validated with an external characteristics test, and unsteady flow simulations were conducted on the axial flow pump under four different root clearance radii. The maximum reductions of 15.5% and 6.8% for head and hydraulic efficiency are obtained for the largest root clearance of 8 mm, respectively. The dissipation based on entropy theory consists of indirect dissipation and neglectable direct dissipation. The leakage flow in the root clearance led to the distortion of the impeller’s flow pattern, and the indirect dissipation rate and overall dissipation of the impeller increased with increasing root clearance radius. The inflow pattern in the diffuser was also distorted by leakage flow. The diffuser’s overall dissipation, indirect dissipation rate on the blade surface, and indirect dissipation rate near inlet increased with increasing root clearance radius. The research could serve as a theoretical reference for the axial flow pump’s root clearance design for performance improvement and operational stability.

In this study, the entropy theory was used as the evaluation standard of energy dissipation, and the effect of backflow clearance (the gap between motor rotor and motor shell) on energy characteristics of a full tubular pump was investigated by 3D unsteady flow simulation. The calculated results validated through testing shows that backflow clearance produces additional head loss and the rotation of the motor rotor requires more shaft power. The additional energy losses lead to a significant decline in the efficiency of tubular pump device. Under design conditions, the total dissipation of backflow clearance, rear guide vane, and outlet passage decreases with the increase of clearance radius, but that of the impeller decreases first and then rises with the increase of clearance radius. In addition, the increase of the clearance radius leads to disorderly flow pattern in the impeller. The total dissipation rate on the impeller suction side and near the impeller inlet increases with the increase of backflow clearance radius, but that on the impeller suction side decreases with the increase of backflow clearance radius. The total dissipation rate of the suction side of the guide vane and the wall of the outlet passage decreases with the increase of backflow clearance radius. This work can provide an intuitive analysis of the energy dissipation caused by backflow clearance and reference for engineering applications of full tubular pump.

In this study, entropy generation theory based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to study the influence of a pumping chamber type (guide vane and volute scheme) on the spatial distribution of hydraulic loss in a mixed-flow pump. The CFD data of the mixed-flow pump with a volute is validated by external characteristic test data under Q = 561.4–1598.6 m³/h. The results show that the efficiency and the head of the guide vanes scheme are lower under Q = 800–1200 m³/h, which resulted from a higher total entropy production (TEP) in the pumping chamber and outlet pipe. The high total entropy production rate (TEPR) inside the guide vanes can be found near the leading edge of the hub side and trailing edge of the rim side due to flow separation, which reduces the recovery efficiency of kinetic energy of the guide vanes. The high TEPR inside outlet pipe can be seen near the inlet, caused by back flow. However, the efficiency and head of the volute scheme are lower, under Q = 1200–1600 m³/h, owing to the fact that the volute cannot effectively convert kinetic energy into pressure energy and thus the high TEPR can be found near outlet of volute and inlet of outlet pipe. These results can provide useful suggestions to the matching optimization of the impeller and pumping chamber in a mixed-flow pump.

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of non-uniform suction flow on the transient characteristics of a vertical axial-flow pump device. The unsteady calculation is employed to forecast the unstable flow structure with three inlet deflection angles $\alpha$, and the calculation accuracy under uniform inlet flow is verified by the external characteristic test. The results depict that a promotion in the $\alpha$ will increase the head and shaft power and thus improve the stress and fatigue failure risk of the impeller. At the impeller inlet, the pressure pulsation intensity (PPI) with $\alpha$ = 40° is lower than that with $\alpha$ = 0° caused by a decline in the axial velocity. The dominant frequency of the unsteady pressure signal is the blade-passing frequency (BPF), and the dominant frequency amplitude rises with the increase in $\alpha$ due to the improvement of the pre-rotation impact intensity. At the guide vanes inlet, the dominant frequency of the unsteady pressure signal at the guide vane inlet is also the blade-passing frequency. An improvement in $\alpha$ magnifies the angle between the trailing edge jet of the impeller and the leading edge of the guide vanes under 0.8Q_des and 1.0Q_des, while it diminishes the angle under 1.2Q_des. Thus, the PPI and dominant frequency amplitude with $\alpha$ = 40° are higher than that with $\alpha$ = 0° under 0.8Q_des and 1.0Q_des, but these are lower than that with $\alpha$ = 0° under 1.2Q_des.

A non-uniform velocity profile occurs at the inlet of a coastal axial-flow pump which is placed downstream of the forebay with side-intake. As a result, the actual efficiency and head of the pump is dissimilar to the design parameters, and the lack of the theoretical investigation on the relationship between inflow distortion and energy losses restricts the application of the coastal axial-flow pump in the drainage project. In this paper, the unsteady numerical simulation and entropy production theory are employed to obtain the internal flow structure and quantify energy losses, respectively, with three inflow deflection angles ($\theta$ = 0°, 15°, or 30°). It is reported that the best efficiency point (BEP) shifts to large flow rate with $\theta$ increasing, due to the decline of the velocity component in axial direction at the impeller inlet. Therefore, the total entropy production (TEP) of the coastal axial-flow pump rises with $\theta$ increasing under small flow rates, but it decreases with $\theta$ increasing under large flow rates. The high total entropy production rate (TEPR) in the vicinity of the tailing edge of the impeller and guide vanes rises with $\theta$ increasing, caused by the enhanced wake vortex strength. In addition, the high TEPR area near the inlet of outflow conduit rises with $\theta$ increasing, originated from the improvement of secondary vortices intensity.