FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

BMCG4843 STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING

SEMESTER II SESSION 2017/2018

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: IMPELLER OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

GROUP MEMBERS MATRIC NO.

NUR FATIHAH BINTI ZAINAL ABIDIN B041520015
NUR FARAH HANI BINTI NOR ALZAHARI B041520014
KU MUHAMMAD MUKHLIS BIN KU MANSOR B041520029
MOHAMAD IQBAL BIN MASHOD B0415200

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMISSION DATE

PUAN ZAKIAH ABD HALIM MAY 3rd, 2018

1.0 Pump Impeller

 The rotation of the impeller converts the motor power into pressure and kinetic energy in
the pumped fluid; and its shape, size and speed determine pump capacity. Pump impellers are
usually made of brass, bronze, plastic or steel and any kind of impeller fault will cause a loss in
efficiency and a decrease in pump performance (UNEP, 2004).
The central hub is the mechanism for attaching the impeller to the shaft of the pump.
Extending outwards from the hub is a series of curved rigid arms called vanes, see Figure 2.2.
The action of the vanes is to hurl the fluid outwards into the volute casing and the centrifugal
forces involved transfer the mechanical energy of the motor to the fluid. The type of impeller
vanes (thick, thin, long, short, straight or curved) determine the efficiency of a centrifugal pump
which is invariably increased (and its structure strengthened) if the vanes are enclosed by
sidewalls called shrouds (Spellman et al., 2000).

2.0 Three Common Types of Impeller

2.0.1 Closed Impeller
Closed impellers are by far the most common type of impeller unless there are good
reasons to choose an alternative. The shrouds extend from the impeller eye to the tips of the
vanes, totally enclosing the impeller waterways. The total separation of the inlet and outlet
chambers is achieved by the circular neck ring, shown in Figure 2. 0, which forms a cylinder that
extends from the shroud outwards to actually touch the casing. This has to be periodically
renewed (Karassik et al, 2007).

Figure 2. 0: Closed impeller design structure. Source: Dapat mana???

2.0.2 Semi-Open Impeller
Semi-open impellers have only a back shroud, see Figure 2. 1. To prevent any foreign
matter in the flow lodging at the rear of the shroud and possibly interfering with pump operation
this shroud may have pump-out vanes located at its rear (Karassik et al, 2007).

Figure 2. 1: Semi-open impeller. Source: Dapat mana???

2..0.3 Open Impeller

Open impellers have no shrouds, see Figure 2. 3. Such impellers are generally used only
in small, low energy pumps. The vanes, which must be short, suffer from structural weakness
and are more prone to wear than either enclosed or semi-enclosed impellers and so must be
replaced much more frequently (Karassik et al, 2007). The greater running costs can usually be
justified only in special applications where foreign matter in the liquid might clog a closed
impeller pump.
 Figure 2. 2: Open impeller. Source: Dapat mana???

3.0 Primary & Secondary Functions of An Impeller In Centrifugal Pumps

The primary function of an impeller in a centrifugal pump is to transfer water from Tank
A to Tank B by accelerating the fluid outwards from the center of rotation. The secondary
function of an impeller in a centrifugal pump is to create a suction force inside the pump so that
the flow rate of the water transferred into the system is at 800 litres/minute.

4. 0 Three Functional Failures of Impeller in Centrifugal Pump

There are three functional failures of impeller in centrifugal pump that can affect the
performance and functions of the whole system.
One of the functional failures is when the impeller fails to transfer energy from the motor
to the water that need to be pumped into the system.
Next, the functional failure can occur when it fails to transfer the water from Tank A to
Tank B. It can also leads to more serious failure when it cannot transfer any water at all, depends
on the cause of the failure to occur.
The third functional failures which can occur on impeller of centrifugal pump is when it
cannot maintain the flow rate of the water to be transferred at 800 litres/minute.
5.0 Causes of Functional Failures on Impeller in Centrifugal Pump
The fundamental parts of a pump that are inclined to cause the error for the pump to
operate well are bearing and impeller (Adamkowski, 2016). This shows that impeller is one of
the two main reasons that leads to functional failures of a centrifugal pump. The failures of these
segment happens because of a certain reasons as imbalance of the the impeller, bending of the
shaft, vibration of the pumping system and crack of the impeller blades (Jami, 2016).
The imbalance of the impeller can be categorized into four types, which are the static
imbalance, couple imbalance, dynamic imbalance and quasi-static imbalance (Kalmegh, 2012).
Static imbalance, refer Figure 5. 0, is caused by the improper weight distributions on the impeller
while the couple imbalance, refer Figure 5. 1 is due to the unparalleled of center principal axis of
inertia with the axis of rotation. Dynamic imbalance, refer Figure 5. 2 occurs when there is a
combination of static imbalance and couple imbalance in rotating components. Quasi-static
imbalance takes place as dynamic imbalance in which the static and couple imbalance vectors lie
in the same plane.

Figure 5. 0: Static imbalance conditions. Source: Kalmegh (2012)

Figure 5. 1: Couple imbalance conditions. Source: Kalmegh (2012)

Figure 5. 2: Dynamic imbalance conditions. Source: Kalmegh (2012)

When imbalance occurs due to improper assembly or manufacturing error of the impeller,
the flow in the systems is as well be precarious because of the low-frequency macro instabilities
blade passing frequency pseudo-turbulence and high frequency movements (Shi, 2014). These
deviated, unsteady fluid movements apply an imbalanced and shaky load on the impeller and
prompt momentary deflections of the shaft and the impeller. Whenever a centrifugal pump works
away from its best efficiency point, a siral power is created that will attempt to bend the shaft
(McNally Institute, 2018).
 The vibrations in the direction of axial and radial will be high due to the shaft bending
but the higher vibrations goes to axial than the radial vibrations (Taneja, 2013). When the shaft
bent, it will cause vibration which leads to a shorter lifespan of a centrifugal pump. Vibration can
be an indication that a pump is truly failing in performing its functions. Vibration can harm wear
rings, bushing, impellers and bolts associating the pump and the motor (UK Crest Pumps, 2014).
The vibrations in the system will cause the impeller to crack during the pump operation.
The crack surface will look smooth and generally plastic disfigured because of the surface
grinding when the pump is operating (Po, 2013). Crack that occurs to an impeller will oxidize
and lead to corrosion before the impeller totally lost its role in pumping system.

The Effect of The 3 Functional Failures of Impeller To The Pump Efficiency,

Availability
And Reliability
There are three major influences are consider to affect reliability of the pump which is
operating speed, impeller diameter and flow rate (Beebe, 2004). This shows that impeller plays
an important role in pump performance reliability. The pump is operating close to the best
efficiency point. The functional failures will cause the operation of a pump outside the preferred
range as specified by manufacturer and will adversely affect the performance of pump. In this
case, the function of a centrifugal pump is to transfer water from tank A to tank B at 800
litre/minute, if the causes of functional failures is occur at the impeller, the operating speed of the
pump will decrease and the pump will failed to transfer water from tank A to tank B at 88
litre/minute. According to that statement, the efficiency of the pump will reduce. When this
situation is always occur, the pump also always forced to shutdown. This will affect the
availability of the pump because the pump is not available when it need to be used. The
reliability of the pump also reduce because the frequency of failure over the time interval
increase. This is because the time between failures is short and a higher downtime due to repairs.
Lastly, by maintaining the health of the impeller, the required efficiency, availability and
reliability of the pump will be achieved.

.
3 Possible SHM Techniques To Monitor The Functional Failures of The Impeller
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) aims to give, at every moment during the life of a structure,
a diagnosis of the “state” of the constituent materials, of the different parts, and of the fully
assembly of these parts constituting the structure as a whole. The state of the structure must
remain in the domain specified in the design, although this can be altered by normal aging due to
usage, by the action of the environment, and by accidental events. (Daniel BALAGEAS)

The three (3) possible SHM techniques to monitor the functional failures of the impeller are:
1) Proximity analysis
2) Ultrasonic leak detection
3) Broadband vibration analysis

1) Proximity analysis

Condition monitored Misalignment, imbalance/bent

Applications Shafts, motor or assemblies, impeller

P-F Interval Days to weeks

Operation In the basic mode, a signal from transducer operates as the

ordinate against a time base with a signal impulse,
sinusoidal curves indicate imbalance, bent shaft, oil whirl,
misalignment, adhesive bearing rubs.
Two signals produce a polar diagram which provide more
characteristic information on a X-Y diagram
 A phase indicating mark on the waveforms can generated
more info

Skill Required Trained and experience technician : to operate the

equipment and interpret the results

Advantages Can be used for balancing, portable equipment and very

simple to use

Disadvantages Short P-F interval, long analysis time and limited

diagnosis ability

2) Ultrasonic leak detection

Conditions monitored Leaks and other sources of very high frequency noise

Applications Pressurized cables, ???

P-F interval High variable depending on the nature of faults

Operation Ultrasonic energy is generated by molecular collision

when gas is forced through a small orifice.
The ultrasonic energy is picked up by a high frequency
microphone. The signal is amplified and used to provide a
visual indication of a moving coil meter as well as an
audible signal on headphones

Skill Highly trained skilled technician

Advantages Can be used in very noise area, microphones highly

directional and enables the operator to detect leak or other
sources of noise at long range, and portable equipment

Disadvantages Does not indicate size of crack and underground tanks can
only be tested under vacuum

3) Broadband vibration analysis

 Conditions monitored Changes in vibration characteristics caused by fatigue,
wear, imbalance, misalignment, mechanical looseness,
turbulence

Applications Pump, turbines, shaft, bearing

P-F interval Limited warning of failures

Operation Monitors the vibration of the equipment as a whole and

provides basic info for check or trend monitoring
Initial arrangement an accelerometer and a vibrometer
Reading is in RMS of the vibrations at the location of
the accelerometer, but does not discriminate between
various frequencies.
Frequency range from 20Hz to 1000Hz

Skill Trained semi-skilled personnel: to used the equipment

and record the vibration

Advantages Can be used by inexperienced personnel, cheap and

compact, can be portable or permanently installed,
effective in detecting elementary defects, minimal data
logging

Disadvantages Only a crude overall measurement, no frequency content

and defect identification limited

Best SHM Strategy To Manage The Impeller Failures

Maintenance strategy may be defined as a long-term plan, covering all aspects of
maintenance management which sets the direction for maintenance management, and contains
firm action plans for achieving a desired future state for the maintenance function. The best
strategy is a combination of reliability centered maintenance (RCM) to determine the most
effective combination of maintenance technique to achieve reliability, and the total productive
maintenance (TPM) to achieve zero defects in maintenance and maximum equipment reliability.
The timeline below demonstrate the total plant condition.
References
Adamkowski, A., Henke, A. and Lewandowski, M. (2016) ‘Resonance of torsional vibrations of
centrifugal pump shafts due to cavitation erosion of pump impellers’, Engineering Failure
Analysis. Elsevier B.V., 70, pp. 56–72. doi: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2016.07.011.

Jami, A. (2016) ‘Impeller Fault Detection Under Fluctuating Flow Conditions Using Artificial
Neural Networks’.
Kalmegh, A. and Bhaskar, S. (2012) ‘Dynamic Balancing of Centrifugal Pump Impeller’,
International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 2(6), pp. 1–5.
Available at: http://www.ijetae.com/files/Volume2Issue6/IJETAE_0612_73.pdf.

Kar, N. K. et al. (2015) ‘Failure analysis of a polymer centrifugal impeller’, Case Studies in
Engineering Failure Analysis. Elsevier Ltd., 4, pp. 1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.csefa.2015.03.001.

Daniel BALAGEAS. ‘Introduction to Structural Health Monitoring’

http://www.iste.co.uk/data/doc_xqjujdlhnfls.pdf.

Stan, M. et al. (2018) ‘Centrifugal Pump Monitoring and Determination of Pump Characteristic
Curves Using Experimental and Analytical Solutions’, Processes, 6(2), p. 18. doi:
10.3390/pr6020018.

Karassik. L. Messina. J. Cooper. P. and Heald. C. 2007. Pump Handbook, McGraw-Hill,

New York

Khin Cho Thin. 2008. Design and performance analysis of centrifugal pumps, Proc World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol 36 Dec 2008 issn 2070-3740.

Shi, D. et al. (2014) ‘Effect of the impeller imbalance on the bending moment acting on a shaft
in a stirred vessel’, Chemical Engineering Research and Design. Institution of Chemical
Engineers, 92(11), pp. 2191–2200. doi: 10.1016/j.cherd.2013.12.027.

Spellman, F. 2003. Handbook of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations,

Lewis, USA

Po, P. et al. (2013) ‘IMPELLER-BLADE FAILURE ANALYSIS’, 47(2), pp. 253–258.

UK Crestpumps (2014) Pump Misalignment, Crest Pumps Ltd. Available at:

https://www.crestpumps.co.uk/pump-misalignment/.
UNEP. 2004. Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Pumps and Pumping Systems,
Chapter 6 in Energy Efficiency Guide for Industry in Asia, India, Ministry of Power
[online] [Accessed 20 September 2010] Available from
www.energyefficiencyasia.org

Jami, A. (2016) ‘Impeller Fault Detection Under Fluctuating Flow Conditions Using Artificial
Neural Networks’.

Bachus, L. and Custodio, A. 2003. Know and Understand Centrifugal Pumps. Elsevier,
U.K

Beebe, R. S. (2004) Condition monitoring, Production Engineer. doi: 10.1049/tpe.1987.0113.