Analytical and Experimental Investigation of an Efficient Viscous Pump
Abstract
A viscous pump design is developed and investigated which is more efficient than a viscous pump previously introduced (Etsion and Yaier, 1988). The key to the new design is straight lobes (V-lobes) as opposed to the semicircular lobes of the previous design. The straight lobe analysis, unlike the semicircular lobe analysis, does not produce a closed form solution. Approximations are made that are verified using shape factors and finite element models. Based on the analyses, the lobe geometry for each lobe design is optimized to produce maximum pumping capacity. The results of the analyses and optimizations, which are based on ideal boundary conditions, show that the straight lobe pump is theoretically superior to the semicircular lobe pump. A test rig was devised to test the semicircular lobe and the V-lobe design using a real time data acquisition system. The results of the experiments prove that the V-lobe is superior to the semicircular lobe. The experimental results showed good agreement with the analytical predictions, though some deviations were experienced at relatively low flow rates and high pressures. The deviations were attributed to the fact that the test pump did not have the ideal boundary conditions on which the analysis and optimization were based. Alternate boundary conditions were investigated using finite element models which better described the boundary conditions in the test pump. The analysis based on the new boundary conditions more appropriate to the test pump show excellent agreement with the experimental results.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA356864
Entities
People
- Marlene E. Mainland
Organizations
- Georgia Tech