Open Access

ARTICLE

Influence of the Impeller/Guide Vane Clearance Ratio on the Performances of a Nuclear Reactor Coolant Pump

Xiaorui Cheng^1,2,*, Xiang Liu¹, Boru Lv¹

1 Lanzhou University of Technology, College of Energy and Power Engineering, Lanzhou, 730050, China
2 Key Laboratory of Fluid Machinery and Systems of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, 730050, China

* Corresponding Author: Xiaorui Cheng. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2022, 18(1), 93-107. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2022.017566

Received 20 May 2021; Accepted 24 August 2021; Issue published 10 November 2021

Abstract

An AP1000 nuclear reactor coolant pump is considered to assess the influence of the Impeller/Guide vane clearance on the performances of this type of pumps. Experiments and numerical simulations relying on an unidirectional fluid-solid coupling approach are used to investigate the problem (stress, strain and mode of the rotor). The results reveal the relationship existing between the hydraulic performance of the nuclear reactor coolant pump and the clearance ratio. The effect of clearance ratio on the maximum equivalent stress on the back surface of the impeller blade is greater than that on the working surface (the maximum equivalent stress on the back surface of impeller blade is about three times that on the working surface). The clearance ratio has a scarce effect on the first six natural frequencies of the rotor of the nuclear reactor coolant pump. The related vibrational modes have different waveforms.

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Keywords

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