Rotor Design and Optimization in Internal Lobe Pumps

The topic of this paper is the design of internal lobe pumps and their optimization which is based on specific performance indexes. Internal lobe pumps can be classified as different types depending on the shape of the lobe of the outer rotor. First, the design of internal lobe pumps with elliptical, sinusoidal, and polycircular lobe profiles is considered. The latter is a new type of lobe profile with special shape whose curvature follows a definite function. Then we introduce the performance indexes used for the comparison. Some of these indexes, such as the flow rate irregularity, are commonly used for performance comparison, while others, such as the specific slipping and the rotor curvature, are particularly suitable in this case. The comparisons are made with the circular type that had been analyzed by the authors in previous papers (see eg, Mimmi, Pannacchi, and Savi (1996), Internal Lobe Pump Design, Mechanics in design - Proc CSME Forum ’96, SA Meguid (ed), Toronto, Ontario, Canada). It is not easy to univocally state the superiority of one type with respect to the others, however, it is possible to notice that elliptical and polycircular types are comparable to the circular ones in terms of flow rate irregularity, but have improved performance in terms of specific slipping and rotor curvature.