Study of the velocity distribution influence upon the pressure pulsations in draft tube model of hydro-turbine

One of the mechanisms of generation of powerful pressure pulsations in the circuit of the turbine is a precessing vortex core, formed behind the runner at the operation points with partial or forced loads, when the flow has significant residual swirl. To study periodic pressure pulsations behind the runner the authors of this paper use approaches of experimental modeling and methods of computational fluid dynamics The influence of velocity distributions at the output of the hydro turbine runner on pressure pulsations was studied based on analysis of the existing and possible velocity distributions in hydraulic turbines and selection of the distribution in the extended range. Preliminary numerical calculations have showed that the velocity distribution can be modeled without reproduction of the entire geometry of the circuit, using a combination of two blade cascades of the rotor and stator. Experimental verification of numerical results was carried out in an air bench, using the method of 3D-printing for fabrication of the blade cascades and the geometry of the draft tube of hydraulic turbine. Measurements of the velocity field at the input to a draft tube cone and registration of pressure pulsations due to precessing vortex core have allowed building correlations between the velocity distribution character and the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the pulsations.