Simulation details
In the LES predictions, the geometric parameters used are identical to those in the PIV experiments, and two rotational speeds (N = 90 rpm and N = 120 rpm) were chosen to investigate the flow characteristics.
Pro\E was used to create the geometry, and ICEM CFD was used to generate non-uniformly distributed hexahedral cells. Table 2 lists the grid parameters. To meet the requirements of the sliding mesh (SM) method, the computational cells consist of two or more subdomains with relative motion at least. Hence, a mesh with 3623012 elements was finally used for simulation. The cell sizes in the impeller discharge region are much smaller than those in the bulk region.
Table 2. The simulation grid parameters