AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE FLOW-THROUGH AN AXIAL-FLOW PUMP

The high Reynolds number pump (HIREP) facility at ARL Penn State has b een used to perform a low-speed, large-scale experiment of the incompr essible flow of water through a two-blade-row turbomachine. The object ives of this experiment were to provide a database for comparison with three-dimensional, turbulent flow computations, to evaluate engineeri ng models, and to improve our physical understanding of many of the ph enomena involved in this complex flow field This summary paper briefly describes the experimental facility, as well as the experimental tech niques-such as flow visualization, static-pressure measurements, laser Doppler velocimetry, and both slow- and fast-response pressure probes . Then, proceeding from the inlet to the exit of the pump, the paper p resents highlights of experimental measurements and data analysis, giv ing examples of measured physical phenomena such as endwall boundary l ayers, separation regions, wakes, and secondary vortical structures. I n conclusion, this paper provides a synopsis of a well-controlled, lar ger scope experiment that should prove helpful to those who wish to us e the database.