Effects of scaling on centrifugal blood pumps

Experimental studies on the effects of scaling on the performance of centrifugal blood pumps were conducted in a closed-loop test rig. For the prototype, eight different impellers of the same outer diameter of 25 mm were tested at 1,500, 2,000, and 2,500 revolutions per minute (rpm) using blood analog as fluid medium. This corresponds to Reynolds numbers (Re) of 25,900, 34,500, and 43,200, respectively. The results indicated that the nondimensional pump characteristic is a function of Re. This is understandable since the typical operating Re for centrifugal blood pumps is less than 100,000. Thus, the effects of scaling cannot be ignored for centrifugal blood pumps. Experiments on a 5x scaled-up model have also indicated that the scaled-up model is more efficient than the prototype model. Our results showed that in the range of Re tested, the nondimensional head versus flow curve is a function of Re to the power of approximately 0.25. It is observed that the nondimensional head versus flow is a function of diameter ratio to the power of 0.2.