The Influence of Anti-Cavitation Edge on the Hydraulic Performance of Bulb Tubular Turbine

Abstract

Abstract In engineering applications, anti-cavitation edges are often added at the blade’s suction surface. The internal flow field of the bulb tubular turbine is numerical simulated using ANSYS CFX-19.2 to understand the influence of the anti-cavitation edge. Four geometric models are adopted for investigation, i.e., no anti-cavitation edge, 2mm, 3mm and 4mm thickness anti-cavitation edge. The results show that the efficiency of the runner increases with the anti-cavitation edge. As the thickness of the anti-cavitation edge increases, the clearance flow rate decreases. The clearance leakage vortex is pushed away from the blade’s suction surface and its inception is far away from the blade’s inlet. Moreover, the strength for clearance leakage vortex decreases under the effect of the anti-cavitation edge, which reduces the damage to the runner blade.