Transient Flow-Induced Stress Investigation on a Prototype Reversible Pump–Turbine Runner

Dehao Zhang, Qiang Quan, Xingxing Huang, Zhengwei Wang (), Biao Wang and Yunfeng Xiao
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Dehao Zhang: Shannxi Zhen’an Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., Shangluo 710061, China
Qiang Quan: Shannxi Zhen’an Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., Shangluo 710061, China
Xingxing Huang: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Zhengwei Wang: Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Biao Wang: Shannxi Zhen’an Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., Shangluo 710061, China
Yunfeng Xiao: Shannxi Zhen’an Pumped Storage Co., Ltd., Shangluo 710061, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-10

Abstract: Pump–turbine units with high heads are subjected to strong pressure pulsations from the unsteady transient flow in fluid channels, which can produce severe vibrations and high stresses on the pump–turbine structural components. Therefore, reducing transient flow-induced stresses on prototype reversible pump–turbine units is an important measure for ensuring their safe and efficient operation. A high-head prototype reversible pump–turbine with a rated head of 440 m was used to investigate the transient flow characteristics and the flow-induced-stresses in this study. First, the flow passages of the pump–turbine unit and the structure of the reversible pump–turbine runner were constructed with CAD tools. Next, CFD simulations at the full load were performed to investigate the pressure pulsation characteristics of the pump turbine in both the time domain and the frequency domain. After this, the pressure files calculated by the CFD were exported and applied to a finite element model of the pump–turbine runner to calculate the transient flow-induced dynamic stresses. The results show that the pressure pulsations in the flow passage are closely related to the rotational speed, the guide vane number, and the runner blade number of the pump–turbine unit. The maximum flow-induced stresses on the pump–turbine runner at the full load were below 2 MPa and lower than the allowable value, which reveals that the designs of the pump–turbine runner and the flow passage are acceptable. The conclusions can be used as a reference to evaluate the design of high-head pump–turbines units. The approaches used to carry out the transient flow-induced stress calculations can be applied not only to pump–turbines units but also to other types of fluid turbomachinery such as pumps, turbines, fans, compressors, turbochargers, etc.

Keywords: transient flow-induced-stress; reversible pump–turbine unit; pressure pulsation; rotor-stator interaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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