Abstract：In order to improve the open water performance of water jet propulsion pump, the improved particle swarm optimization(PSO)algorithm was used to optimize its rotor blades. The optimization algorithm combined with numerical simulation technology was applied to optimize hydrofoil NACA-6510 with the lift-drag ratio and pressure distribution as optimization objectives. The results show that the lift-drag ratio increases by 14.7% and the minimum value of hydrofoil pressure distribution increases by 20% after optimization, effectively inhibiting the occurrence of cavitation. The optimized hydrofoil was applied to the hydraulic model design of water jet propulsion pump without hydrofoil position changed, and the performance was analyzed. The thrust and efficiency of the pump increases by 2.55% and 6.38% respectively. Combined with the analysis of torque coefficient and shaft power, the performance of water jet propulsion pump is improved obviously after optimization. The pressure pulsation of the optimized blade in the flow field is significantly improved, and the minimum pressure value of the blade is increased, which delays the occurrence of cavitation. Based on the blade load distribution, and the frequency distribution of thrust and torque, it is found that the blade optimization does not change the fundamental frequency, and the amplitude change corresponds to the external characteristic parameters of the water jet propulsion pump. From all aspects, the performance of the optimized water jet propulsion pump is effectively improved.
