Pump-Turbine Rotor-Stator Interactions in Generating Mode: Pressure Fluctuation in Distributor Channel

Investigation of the rotor-stator interactions of a reduced-scale model 0.19 ν= pump-turbine in generating mode is presented for the maximum discharge operating condition. This operating point is chosen in order to have the most important rotor-stator interactions. The numerical simulation of the unsteady flow is performed with CFX 5.7™ for a computing domain which is extended to the full pump-turbine from the spiral casing to the draft tube. A computing domain embracing the full geometry enables to minimize the errors, streaming focus the boundary conditions, the periodic interface or the pitch ratio of rotor-stator interface. It also allows considering the fully non uniformity of the in coming flow field from the spiral casing. The pressure measurements are performed with piezoresitive miniature pressure sensors located in the distributor channels. The pressure fluctuations for one distributor channel obtained from the numerical simulation present a very good agreement with experimental data. The numerical result analysis shows, how the pressure fluctuations at blade passage frequency (BPF) and its harmonics vary along a distributor channel of the pumpturbine. The maximum pressure amplitude of BPF occurs in the rotor-stator zone, but it decreases very fast backward to the stay vane. However, the pressure amplitude of the first harmonic corresponding to 2 times the blade passage frequency spreads to the spiral casing highlighting the -2 precessing diametrical mode resulting from the modulation of the interacting stationary and rotating flow field.