CFD detection for inner flow and presure fluctuation in a hydraulic tubine

Pressure fluctuation is a common problem in large-scale hydroturbine, which will affect the performance of hydroturbines, such as negatively affecting the efficiency, increasing the damage of components and decreasing the life span, bringing up great potential troubles to the operation safety of large-scale hydroturbines. To study the pressure fluctuation in the hydroturbine, CFD calculation was performed on the Francis hydroturbine. The model of Francis hydroturbine studied in the paper is Baihetan HEC-a1014-type. The computations were carried out in the whole runner blade passage and the boundary conditions were set as the same as the experimental conditions. The unsteady flow of the turbine was computed. The effects of turbulence were modeled with RNG κ-ε turbulence model. The inner flow field and the pressure fluctuation were obtained from the calculation using the solver of Fluent. After analyzing the results, conclusions were drawn out.