The pump was developed to resist a rise in temperature of 56°C in 3 seconds, while the casing was designed for a 500MW double discharge pump that is used to circulate water into a boiler.
The pump casing was developed from carbon steel, while the branches of the pump were connected to pipes.
IDAC was asked to carry out CFD and FEA to validate that the structure would not undergo any extreme pressure due to the thermal stress and the internal pressure of 211bar.
To start the project, IDAC performed a one-way Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) solution test, whereas one-way and two-way FSI can be conducted by combining products within the ANSYS Suite.
The ANSYS CFX was used to perform the fluid/thermal analysis, and was followed by an FEA study in ANSYS/Mechanical to obtain a precise stress solution.
IDAC carried out the whole analysis in two stages, of which the first stage was to solve a thermal analysis within ANSYS CFX.
In the second stage, the thermal results from the first stage of the solution were used in an FEA model to collect exact stress results.
The distribution of temperature determined from the first stage CFD analysis was introduced and applied as a load to the body together with the internal pressure load on the inner wet surfaces of the pump walls.
During the study, linearised stress distributions were achieved in important locations.
Hayward Tyler altered the radius of the pump casing to check its result on the stress distribution that would help to design a more effective pump casing.
The study proved that the pump is fit to be used over its entire life cycle.
