Pressure Distributions on the Vanes of a Radial Flow Impeller

Abstract

Theoretical approaches give very little guide to the design of radial arrays of vanes for the addition of energy to a fluid. The usual approach of the designer has been to design inlet and outlet angles according to the theory for an infinite number of vanes, and to connect these two angles by some plausible curve. Modifications are introduced according to the experience and records of the designer. The final justification of the design by measurements of the differential pressure is very rarely made. The present paper reports the first of a series of planned experiments to develop necessary background knowledge. An impeller has been designed, according to stated assumptions, and the external characteristics, such as heads generated at various flow rates, have been measured in detail. These characteristics will be correlated with the distribution of the pressure on the vanes. The paper will be illustrated by high-speed moving pictures of the flow in the relative and absolute coordinate systems.

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