Numerical simulation of turbulent flow in the suction chamber of a gearpump using deforming mesh and mesh replacement

The flow in the suction chamber of an external gearpump is numerically analysed. The evolution of the boundaries of the domain is very complex, and an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation is used with mesh deformation and local remeshing. Nevertheless, a mesh replacement strategy is also adopted in order to avoid skewed meshes and allow for simulation of solid contact between gears. This process approximates a more realistic flow behaviour when the working pressure is larger than 10 bar, which is an important in fluid power systems where the pressure is usually greater than 100 bar.Aside from the laminar model, which fails as a result of the vortex configuration in the suction chamber, Standard k–εk–ε, RNG k–εk–ε, Realizable k–εk–ε and Reynolds Stress Models (RSM) are tested. The numerical flow is compared with experimental data obtained with Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry. Although all of the models failed in some respect, the RSM and RNG k–εk–ε were the best choice provided its behaviour close to the gearing zone and general shape of the vortex distribution.