Two-way fluid-structure coupling analysis of liquid lead-bismuth main coolant pump based on three different blade materials

The main coolant pump (MCP) operates in a high-temperature, high-flow, and corrosive liquid heavy metal environment, and structure analysis have complicated fluid-structure coupling problems. In order to study the coupling characteristics between the MCP blade and coolant, the present study conducts a two-way fluid-structure coupling analysis of liquid lead-bismuth MCP based on three potential impeller materials: T91 steel, Ti3SiC2, and 304 stainless steel. The deformation, equivalent stress, and modal results on moving blades of MCP under different flow conditions are investigated by employing the CFX and Mechanical modules. The results show that the blades made of Ti3SiC2 material exhibit optimal deformation resistance under different flow conditions, which is 11.18 μm at1.0Qd, while blades made of T91 steel experience the lowest maximum equivalent stress at 1.0Qd, which is 8.62 MPa. The maximum equivalent stress is concentrated at the inner edge of the blade, while the maximum deformation occurs at the outer edge of the blade, with both the maximum equivalent stress and deformation decreasing with increasing flowrate. Compared without coupling, the outlet velocity of the T91 steel impeller is the highest with coupling, which is 5.01 m/s. And head attenuation of the T91 steel impeller is the most serious, which is 2 %.