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Redesign of a sharp heel draft tube by a validated CFD‐optimization
Author(s) -
Marjavaara B. D.,
Lundström T. S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in fluids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1097-0363
pISSN - 0271-2091
DOI - 10.1002/fld.1085
Subject(s) - computational fluid dynamics , shape optimization , draft tube , flow (mathematics) , pressure drop , turbulence , optimal design , hull , inlet , process (computing) , engineering , mechanics , computer science , mathematical optimization , mechanical engineering , marine engineering , structural engineering , mathematics , finite element method , aerospace engineering , physics , machine learning , operating system
Numerical optimization techniques in flow design are often used to find optimal shape solutions, regarding, for instance, performance, flow behaviour, construction considerations and economical aspects. The present paper investigates the possibilities of using these techniques in the design process of a hydropower plant. This is realized by optimizing the shape of an existing sharp heel draft tube and validating the result with previously performed experiments. The actual shape optimization is carried out with the response surface methodology, by maximizing the average pressure recovery factor and minimizing the energy loss factor. The result from the optimization shows that it is possible to find an optimal solution on rather coarse grids. The location of the optimum is similar to the experiments, but the improvements are unexpectedly small. This surprising result indicates that the simulated flow field does not completely act as the real flow, which may be a result of the applied inlet boundary conditions, insufficient turbulence models and/or the steady flow assumption. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.