Abstract
Bifurcation refers to wye division of penstock to divide the flow symmetrically or unsymmetrically into two units of turbine for maintaining economical, technical and geological substrates.
Particularly, water shows irrelevant behavior when there is a sudden change in flow direction, which results into the transition of the static and dynamic behavior of the flow. Hence, special care and design considerations are required both hydraulically and structurally. The transition induced losses and extra stresses are major features to be examined.
The research on design and analysis of bifurcation is one of the oldest topics related to R&D of hydro-mechanical components for hydropower plants. As far as the earlier approaches are concerned, the hydraulic designs were performed based on graphical data sheet, head loss considerations and the mechanical analysis through simplified beam approach.
In this paper, the multi prospect approach for design of Bifurcation, incorporating the modern day's tools and technology is identified. The hydraulic design of bifurcation is a major function of dynamic characteristics of the flow, which is performed with CFD analysis for minimum losses and better hydraulic performances. Additionally, for the mechanical design, a simplified conventional design method as pre-estimation and Finite Element Method for a relevant result projections were used.
© 2017 Turbomachinery Society of Japan, Korean Fluid Machinery Association, Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics, IAHR
