Abstract
The various flow phenomena in a Pelton turbine are quite complex and include the interaction of free surface jets with buckets in a rotating frame of reference. As the use of CFD for such flows is rather new it was decided to carry out individual validations of the flow codes for the different flow features. The main focus is the interaction of the jet with the bucket. The flow structures upstream of the jet have a strong influence on the jet shape and direction as well as on the secondary flow structure in the jet. Careful validations proofed that the selected CFD codes are able to compute these flows accurately. Based on this experience the flow of the free surface jet interacting with the buckets has been computed and the results have been compared to experimental data. These comparisons are in good agreement and provide the designer of Pelton turbines with a new insight and data previously not available. Inclusion of CFD flow predictions into the design process of Pelton turbines reduces development time and opens up new opportunities for optimization.
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