Automated design of the 3D models of the elements of the flow part of the stage of a screw-centrifugal pump

BACKGROUND: The paper presents the results of the development of a software package for automated design of 3D models of elements of the flowing part of a screw-centrifugal pump. The development of such software makes the design process possible within a single interface, reducing labor costs for the operation of disparate software packages. An alternative method of automating the creation of 3D models without the use of parameterized sketches is proposed. AIM: Development of a software system that is capable of performing the end-to-end design process, starting from the input of the technical specification and ending with the export of the generated 3D geometry to computer-aided engineering (CAE) systems. METHODS: The design of the stage of a screw-centrifugal pump is based on the methods used in pump engineering. Writing the program code is subordinated to the principles of structural programming. The software is implemented using the Python programming language with inclusion of the legacy-code written in the FORTRAN. As an example of functioning of the software package, the stage of a screw centrifugal pump at a head of 62.5 m is designed. RESULTS: Currently, the software package includes such modules as: calculation of parameters and formation of the 2D sketch and the 3D model of the screw, calculation of basic parameters of the impeller; design of the meridian cross-section and calculation of equal velocity flow; calculation of edge parameters; design of the vane system; calculation of losses in the impeller on the basis of calculation of 2-dimensional non-viscous flow, spatial boundary layer and low-energy trace in the impeller channels; automatic creation of the 3D model of the impeller; design of the spiral outlet; calculation of the prediction characteristics; generation of the 3D model of the stage using the application programming interface (API) of the Kompas-3D computer-aided design (CAD) system. The generated 3D geometry of the flow section was used to perform the hydrodynamic calculation. CONCLUSION: The results of the performed hydrodynamic calculation have a small discrepancy with the results of the calculations performed with the developed software. Further development of the software system is planned in terms of automated integration of the 3D geometry into modern CAE-systems, which will help to optimize the obtained stages of screw-centrifugal pumps.