Abstract
Artificial heart pumps have attracted attention from researches worldwide as an efficient method for organ transplantation. In Europe, clinical trials of magnetically suspended centrifugal pumps have already been successfully performed, and these pumps have been commercialized. The aim of our research is to numerically examine the internal flow and the effect of the leakage flow through the gap between the impeller and the pump casing on the performance of the pump. The results obtained show that the pressure head increases due to the effect of the fluid passing through the gap. It was also observed that the leakage flow rate is sufficiently large, and that there is neither a stagnant nor a dead flow in the pump. Therefore, the present pump is very efficient in "wash-out" effect.
