The Dynamic Performance of Cavitating Turbopumps

Knowledge of the dynamic performance of turbopumps is essential for the prediction of instabilities in hydraulic systems; the necessary information is in the form of a transfer function relating the instantaneous pressures and mass flow rates at inlet and discharge. Cavitation has a significant effect on this transfer function since dynamical changes in the volume of cavitation contribute to the difference in the instantaneous flow rates. The present paper synthesizes the transfer matrix for cavitating inducers at moderately low frequencies and shows that the numerical results are consistent with observations on rocket engine turbopumps