Design and optimization of hydraulic drive mechanism of the Kaplan runner

Magistrsko delo obravnava zasnovo in optimizacijo hidravličnega pogona mehanizma Kaplanovega gonilnika. Na začetku magistrskega dela so na kratko predstavljene različne vodne turbine in njihove značilnosti. Podrobno je predstavljeno delovanje Kaplanovega gonilnika in delovanje vseh sil, ki bistveno vplivajo na izračun velikosti hidravličnega pogona. Opisano je delovanje genetskega algoritma, s katerim je potekala optimizacija mehanizma in hidravličnega pogona. Preračun in optimizacija obstoječega gonilnika je bila izvedena v programu Matlab. Optimizacija z vidika iskanja oblike mehanizma znotraj podanih omejitev, pri katerem za odpiranje in zapiranje gonilnih lopat porabimo najmanj dela, je bila uspešna. S tem pa je bila preverjena tudi kakovost rešitve obstoječega gonilnika.The master\u27s thesis analyses the design and optimization of the hydraulic drive of Kaplan\u27s runner mechanism. Brief presentation of various water turbines and their characteristics is presented in the first part of the thesis. That is followed by detailed analysis of the Kaplan\u27s runner′s operation and the operation of all forces, which significantly influence the calculation of the size of the hydraulic drive. The operation of the genetic algorithm is described, with witch the optimization of the mechanism and the hydraulic drive has been made. The conversion and optimization of the existing runner was carried out in the Matlab program. The optimization of opening and closing of the runner\u27s blades, within the given limits, was successful and the form of mechanism that needs the least work when opening and closing the blades was found. At the same time, the quality of the solution of the existing runner was also checked