Design, optimization, and testing of a high-speed centrifugal pump for motorsport application

Centrifugal pumps are designed to have their BEP (Best Efficiency Point) for a given flow rate, hydraulic head, and speed. In the design phase, those parameters are combined into a dimensionless specific speed used to define geometry of the pump. In this paper, a downsized centrifugal pump has been designed to have high efficiency at very high speeds (10000-15000 RPM), as requested by the cooling circuit of an engine for motorsport and racing applications. The pump design point was 13 L/min and 3.0 bar at 12000 RPM, while the impeller external diameter is 34 mm. A mathematical model has been realized to optimize the pump in the early design phase through an iterative process, based on a 0D procedure which generates the optimal geometry of both impeller and volute. Hence, the model estimates main losses and, thus, hydraulic, volumetric, and organic efficiency. Once the geometry is generated, the performance of the pump has been verified on the design working point through a detailed CFD analysis. Physical phenomena that occur when the pump is running have been simulated, to represent as closely as possible vein fluid detachments, cavitation, and backflow at clearances between impeller and pump casing. At last, a prototype of the pump has been built and experimentally characterized in a dynamic test bench able to reproduce the characteristic curves (hydraulic head and efficiency) at very high revolution speeds as well as the performances in real time-varying operational conditions.