<p>High-speed inducer centrifugal pump is widely used in various industrial applications, with high reliability and cavitation performance requirements. The use of an inducer can improve the flow field distribution and cavitation performance of high-speed centrifugal pump. However, there is a contradiction between achieving better hydraulic performance and greater structural reliability. The increase in the thickness of the inducer often reduces the cavitation performance. In order to explore the influence of the thickness of the inducer blades at different positions on the structural reliability and hydraulic performance, 3 groups of control experiments with different thickness characteristics were designed. The results show that the inlet and outlet rim of the inducer is a significant deformation area, while the blade root is a stress concentration area. Thickening the blade root to 5&#xa0;mm and the blade tip to 1.5&#xa0;mm meets the structural strength standard with relatively minor head loss. In order to reveal the mutual influence among the flow channels of the centrifugal pump with the inducer and further optimize the structure, unsteady numerical simulation of the full flow channel of the high-speed centrifugal pump was carried out. The results show that the cavitation of the inducer flow channel causes low-frequency pressure pulsation, and the cavitation bubble wake leads to the existence of gas–liquid two-phase flow at the impeller inlet and the generation of cavitation phenomenon. The cavitation bubble forms self-excited pressure oscillation, affecting the flow stability. The hydraulic performance experiment was carried out. The relative deviation of the head from the numerical simulation result was less than 9%.</p>