CFD-based casing and distributor hydraulic design optimization

Abstract

With recent advances in computational power, it is possible to optimize the design of complex hydraulic components such as casings and distributors in addition to runners and draft tubes. Continuing our previous work on CFD-based draft tube hydraulic design optimization, we present a procedure based on a metamodel-assisted evolutionary optimization algorithm comprising a parametric casing and distributor hydraulic geometry model and a hydraulic efficiency evaluation using an in-house mesh generator and a coupled finite volume flow solver developed by the University of Lucerne (HSLU). The approach can take hydraulic performance as well as mechanical stresses and civil engineering constraints into account, with the goal of helping designers obtain better overall solutions than with traditional design methods alone.