Relationship between noise and cavitation at various cavitation numbers in fan type inducer blades of a centrifugal pump

Cavitation is one of the biggest problems in the industrial centrifugal pumps because it causes serious vibration and noise. So, it is demanded for the pump manufacturers to solve such problems due to cavitation before delivering products to the site. Hence, the experiments were conducted to establish a practical technique for predicting the occurrence, form, and erosion risk of cavitation by sound measurements outside of pipes. A centrifugal pump with a fan type inducer was operated to measure noise at various cavitation numbers and flow rate. The visualization test of the inducer was also conducted to identify the cavitation form. In addition, the paint erosion test was also conducted to estimate the risk of cavitation erosion occurring for the inducer. The relationship among noise, cavitation form, and erosion risk was investigated in detail.