Previous research has shown that aviation fuel pumps, which consist of a screw and centrifugal wheels are the most loaded units of the gas turbine engines. Thus a fuel pump is the key component that limits the reliability and endurance of the fuel system and, as a result, of the whole engine.
This paper describes the results of CFD simulations of the process getting free gas to enter the combined pump. The CFD analysis has been used to calculate an unsteady three-dimensional viscous flow of multi-component fluid in the fuel pump. The calculations have been used to determine unsteady loads of fuel pump in different operating modes. To examine the efficiency of the CFD analysis, we conducted a series of experiments. The experimental results proved the accuracy of the numerical model. The results can help to develop measures for the reduction of dynamic loads in aviation fuel pumps in case where combined air is at entrance to pump.
