1. Cavitation mechanisms in axial machines

The trend towards downsizing in the design of industrial rotodynamic pumps implies an increase in rotational speed, which runs counter to the improvement in suction capacity. Pump behavior in the presence of cavitation, or when pumping two-phase mixtures, poses major operating problems that penalize performance and service life.

The main aim of this article is to identify sizing criteria for improving impeller layouts, whether conventional axial, booster (inductor), helical or centrifugal (see figure 1 ), while minimizing the adverse effects of cavitation: erosion, instabilities and vibrations, drop in performance...

Among the many optimization criteria used at the pump design stage, one of the most important is suction capacity, precisely defined on the...