CFD Simulation of a Dry Scroll Vacuum Pump Including Leakage Flows
One challenge for the numerical simulation of a dry scroll vacuum pump is the discretization of the chamber volume, which changes with time. In addition, the flow characteristics are very complex including the leakage flow caused by radial and axial gaps between the rotors and the housing. For engineers and designers it is imperative to understand the influence of such leakage flows on the efficiency of the dry scroll vacuum pump. This paper describes the workflow for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) of a dry scroll vacuum pump and shows some preliminary results. The computational grids for the time dependent flow volume are generated by the grid generator TwinMesh. The meshing software generates and optimises all necessary grids for each time step prior to the actual simulation and calculates the mesh quality to assure high quality numerical results. Furthermore, the grid generation accurately considers axial gaps. The transient numerical simulations are performed by the commercial CFD software code ANSYS CFX, which is able to handle complex flow characteristics. The simulations consider compressibility, turbulence, and heat transfer effects using ideal gas properties for the fluid. The pressure ratio between inlet and outlet is varied as well as the gap size. The results are compared with analytical methods. This paper shows time dependent information such as pressure, velocity, and temperature for specific locations in the chamber volume and also integral values such as power, torque, and mass flow. Finally, cross-sectional views are presented for different positions and time steps.
Test and analysis on the working process of dry scroll vacuum pump
The general model for describing the working process of dry scroll vacuum pump (DSVP) has been presented previously by the author. The working process of DSVP can be simulated by this model. In order to verify the simulated results, the dynamic pressure measurement was introduced to DSVP. The related test and design methods were also discussed. The pressure-orbiting angle diagrams for different suction pressures and speeds were successfully recorded. A good agreement between the theoretical results and experimental data was obtained. The maximal deviation of them is less than 10%. Finally, the influence of speed, volume ratio on the working process was analyzed. The corresponding change trends were obtained. The results are helpful to deepen understanding of DSVP.
Mechanical behaviour and durability of high volume fly ash cementitious composites
The purpose of this research is to separate different morphological particles of ASTM class F fly ash, and study their effect on mechanical behaviour and durability of high volume cementitious mixtures. In this research wet separation of raw fly ash is carried out, which resulted in three layers of different morphological particles. The first layer of particles float, comprise of about 1-5% of fly ash, is identified as cenospheres or hollow spheres. The second layer of particles is measured to be 55-60% of raw fly ash and consisting of porous spherical and rounded particles rich in Si and Al. The third layer particles is measured to be about 35-40% of raw fly ash. High volume fly ash cementitious composites containing second or third layer particles are tested under compression and bending, highlighting a higher strength and ductility in comparison to cementitious ones containing raw fly ash particles. KEYWORDS. Cementitious matrix; Raw fly ash; Second layer particles; Third layer particles.