Effects of the pump-circuit acoustic coupling on the blade-passing frequency perturbations

Centrifugal pumps are a source of pressure and flow rate perturbations in hydraulic pumping systems. In particular, a significant excitation is usually induced at the blade-passing frequency and harmonics as a consequence of the fluid-dynamic interaction between the rotor and the stator. The magnitude of this excitation is very dependent on the internal geometry of the pump and on its point of operation, but it depends also on the acoustic response of the hydraulic network to the perturbations. The induced and transmitted perturbations can be either amplified or reduced depending on the pump-circuit acoustic coupling, and thus they can lead to excessive levels of noise and vibration under certain conditions. The purpose of the present investigation is the theoretical and experimental characterization of the perturbations induced in a laboratory pumping system, as a function of the acoustic impedance of the pipelines. For different points of operation, the blade-passing frequency impedance is changed by varying the speed of rotation and, additionally, by modifying a closed side branch of the hydraulic system (that is, in the absence of net flow through it). For the theoretical calculations an acoustic model, based on matrix formulation, is applied to obtain the influence of different acoustic impedances of the suction side on the pressure fluctuations at the pump. Test measurements with a fast-response piezoelectric pressure transducer situated at the tongue region of the pump under the same system configurations confirm the significant effect of the pump-circuit acoustic coupling on the pressure perturbations.