CFD Analysis for Aligned and Misaligned Guide Vane Torque Prediction and Validation with Experimental Data

Abstract

This paper presents a CFD-based methodology for the prediction of guide vane torque in hydraulic turbine distributor for aligned and misaligned configurations. A misaligned or desynchronized configuration occurs when the opening angle of one guide vane differs from the opening angle of all other guide vanes, which may lead to a torque increase on neighbouring guide vanes. A fully automated numerical procedure is presented, that automates computations for a complete range of operation of a 2D or 3D distributor. Results are validated against laboratory measurements.