Study on the Effect of the Guide Vane Opening on the Band Clearance Sediment Erosion in a Francis Turbine

Sediment erosion is a negative phenomenon for the water turbine. The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of the guide vane opening on the particle motion and sediment erosion in the band chamber using the Euler–Lagrangian approach. The software Ansys CFX and Tabakoff erosion model are used to simulate the sediment laden flow in the full flow passage of the hydraulic turbine. The results are in good agreement with the actual erosion character on site. Results show that the guide vane opening has a positive correlation with the flow in the non-clearance channel. The increase of the guide vane opening will increase the erosion of the runner blade head, but the friction wear on the outlet side of the blade surface will decrease. The rotating action of the runner makes the sediment particles in the band chamber rotate rapidly around the center of the runner and constantly collide with the band chamber wall. Under the small opening, the smaller the opening, the easier the leakage of the band clearance occurs. The unsteady flow in the band chamber will disturb the motion trajectory of particles, change the impact angle of particles, and affect the wear in the band chamber. Under different openings, the change law of the erosion in the band clearance is closely related to the change law of clearance leakage