FAILURE ANALYSIS OF A PUMP IMPELLER

IN COLLABORATION WITH TECHNOSUB

Technosub is a world leader in the field of dewatering solutions, providing water processing technologies to pumping solutions for both the mining and industrial sectors. As part of their commitment to continuously improve their products, Technosub mandated Optis to investigate and address recurring failures of a pump impeller.

THE MANDATE

As part of this project, Optis executed the following tasks:

  • Investigate faulty impellers on non-destructive testing (NDT) reports provided by the customer;
  • Reverse engineering of the pump’s design:
    • Obtain hydrodynamic loads using CFD;
    • Assess stress and strain levels based on inertial and hydrodynamic loads using FEA.
  • Compare permanent deformation patterns predicted by numerical simulation with a 3D-scanned geometry of a damaged impeller;
  • Provide recommendations to mitigate failure risk and increase fatigue life.

Throughout this project, Optis collaborated with Technosub’s innovation team to bring hands on solutions and implement corrective actions at a low cost.