Hydroturbine Runner Design and Manufacturing

Abstract

This research describes a methodology for the parametric design, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) aided analysis and manufacturing of a Francis type hydro turbine runner.A Francis type hydro turbine consists of five components which are volute, stay vanes, guide vanes, runner and draft tube.The hydraulic performance of the turbine depends on the shape of the components; especially on the shape of the runner blades.The design parameters for the other components are affected by the runner parameters directly.Runner geometry is more complex than the other parts of the turbine.Therefore; to obtain accurate results and meet hydraulic expectations, CFD analyses and advanced manufacturing tools are necessary for the design and manufacturing of the hydro turbine runner.The turbine runner design methodology developed is presented using an actual potential hydraulic power plant in Turkey.