Dynamic and Hydraulic Performance of a Peripheral Pump Impeller Made of Pineapple Fiber Reinforced Biocomposite Material

Pumps are machines used at industrial and domestic level for the transport of incompressible fluids, the impeller being one of its main components that directly affects its performance; usually this element is manufactured in metallic materials, but there are not enough studies on its manufacture with new materials such as biocomposites reinforced with natural fibers. For this reason, this paper presents the results of the dynamic characterization and hydraulic performance of a peripheral pump impeller made of a biocomposite material reinforced with natural pineapple fibers. The biocomposite was prepared by the hand lay-up technique using a polyester resin with pineapple fibers in random distribution. A morphological and mechanical characterization of the fabricated material was carried out to evaluate the adhesion of the fiber with the matrix and to obtain themaximum tensile stress. Experimental modal analysis according to ISO 7626-2 and ISO 7626-5 standards was used to study the dynamic behavior. The hydraulic evaluation of the impeller was carried out by obtaining the pump characteristic curves using an academic-commercial test bench. The results were compared with those of a conventionalmetallic impeller, and lower natural frequencieswere obtained in the pineapple biocomposite material. In terms of hydraulic performance, the head, power and efficiency were lower for the pineapple biocomposite impeller.