Design and Analysis of Gear Pump
Design and Analysis of Gear Pump
Design and Analysis of Gear Pump
Gear pumps are a type of rotary positive displacement pump, meaning they pump a constant amount of fluid
for each revolution. Gear pumps transfer fluid by gears coming in and out of mesh to create a non-pulsating
pumping action. Gear pumps are able to pump at high pressures and excel at pumping high viscosity liquids
efficiently.
There are no valves in a gear pump to cause friction losses and also high impeller velocities, with resultant
friction losses, are not required as in a centrifugal pump. Therefore a gear pump is well suited for handling
viscous liquids such as fuel and lubricating oils. Gear pumps are not suited for pumping solids and abrasive
liquids.
Internal and external gear pumps are the two basic types of gear pumps. Both the internal and external gear
pumps have an idler gear that is driven by the driving gear and both use the same method of gears coming in
and out of mesh to create a pumping action. The main differences between the two gear pumps are the
2. Hydrodynamic efects
The various hydrodynamic efects of cavitation have their source in the interruption
of the continuity of the liquid phase as cavities appear. As the cavity volume
displaces liquid, the flow pattern is modified and the dynamic interaction between
the liquid and its boundaries is altered. Usually the efect of cavitation is to limit or
lessen the force that can be applied to the liquid by the surface. The overall
resistance to flow and reduced turning efect combine to lower the performance of
the equipment involved. Decrease in power output and head are indications of
cavitation causing a decrease in guidance and hence efective momentum transfer
between liquid and rotor. The decrease in efficiency is a measure of the increased
losses. Hydrodynamic efects in positive displacement pumps will be extensively
discussed in the following chapters.
3. Vibration
Cavitation is an inherently unsteady process and may involve large fluctuating
forces. The amplitudes of vibration do not usually exceed alert values unless
resonance is involved. The spectra produced usually has a very wide frequency
range and low amplitude. Cavitation-induced vibration may lead to other forms of
pump damage.
4. Noise
Noise is a consequence of the momentary large pressures that are generated when
the contents of the bubble are highly compressed. In consequence, it is mainly
caused by the shock-wave mechanism that appears in the bubble collapse process.
The crackling noise that accompanies cavitation is one of the most evident
characteristics of this phenomenon. The onset of cavitation is often detected first by
this noise rather than by visual observation of the bubbles. Moreover, it is often the
primary means of detecting cavitation in devices such as pumps and valves. Indeed,
several empirical methods
have been suggested that estimate the rate of material damage by measuring the
noise generated (for example, Lush and Angell [58]). Most of the analytical
approaches to cavitation noise build on knowledge of the dynamics of collapse of a
single bubble. Fourier analysis of the radiated acoustic pressure due to a single
bubble were first visualized by Rayleigh [71] and implemented by Mellen [61] and
Fitzpatrick and Strasberg [22].
2 Indirect Observation
Indirect methods are based on the measurement of variables afected by cavitation
and on the
previous understanding of the cavity dynamics and its relation with the measured
variables. Some
of these methods are:
Determining the efect of cavitation on the performance of a piece of equipment.
This method
gives no information about the character of the hydrodynamic phenomenon.
Measuring the efect on the distribution of pressure over the boundary at which
cavitation
occurs: It gives information about the location of the cavitating zone and about
force and
moment transmission between the liquid and the boundaries.
Analyzing the noise emitted by cavitation. It provides a very sensitive way of
detecting
amounts of cavitation that may be too small to detect by direct observation.
Analyzing the structural vibrations caused by cavitation.
Allowing cavitation to scatter laser-beam light into a photocell. This is a very
sensitive way
to indicate the presence of extremely small cavities.