The technical capability to predict the hydroabrasive erosion experienced by a Pelton turbine when operating with sediment-laden flow is a prerequisite for reducing the outage time for repairs. A multiscale numerical methodology to simulate this erosion process has already been validated for laboratory-scale impinging slurry jets on a flat plate, providing unprecedented accuracy. The present project aims at validating the methodology in the industrial environment by performing multiscale simulations of the erosion of prototype-scale Pelton turbines and comparing the results with available experimental data.
The report is related to the numerical simulation of erosion in the two case studies scheduled for the project, i.e. the study case of a Pelton runner bucket at stand still and the study case of rotating runner buckets. The numerical simulation results, such as the sediment flux or the average impact angle and velocity distributions on the bucket surface, bring insight into the erosion process. Furthermore, they explain the resulting erosion distributions, which are in very good agreement with the corresponding experimental erosion results available.
