CFD analysis of gear pump

Abstract

This thesis presents the development of computational fluid dynamics model of the external gear pump for the purpose of the analysis of flow, pressure, velocity and cavitation with an actual 2-D model. Analysis was done for various pressure outlet conditions and different speed range. A well-known CFD package - Fluent was used to perform analysis with control volume technique. The CFD analysis results were compared with the theoretical data of the P315 gear pump manufactured by Parker Hannifin Corporation and reasonable agreement is found in terms of volumetric flow rate. This analysis is expected to be a useful reference to design and development engineers and they will be in position to use this work to obtain the variety of flow parameters of the gear pump. This work also shows how effectively moving dynamic mesh can be used in analysis of the turbulent flow of the external gear pump. An exercise was also done in performing cavitation analysis as part of the CFD analysis of the gear pump. This work will be useful in setting up the cavitation problem in similar environment. Lastly this two dimensional analysis will prove as stepping stone for three dimensional analysis of the gear pump.