Reverse Engineering of Turbine Blades Kaplan’s type for Small Hydroelectric Power Station

Abstract

The paper presents the reverse engineering procedure for the reconstruction of the turbine blades for small hydropower plants. The scaled turbine model of Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station on the Danube river has been used for decades under the same exploitation conditions as a large turbine, to simulate the condition of large blades based on the similarity of physical phenomena. The blades of the scaled model have been selected for the small hydroelectric power plant project. Since the scaled turbine model was manufactured in the early 70’s, the CAD model is not available. The blade in best condition was scanned using an optical scanner. Starting from the STL model, the surface of the blade was redesigned, so that all damages and deformations were corrected.