Numerical aided design of Pelton nozzle jet deflector

Hydro energy still occupies an important place among renewable energy sources. In special operating conditions, Pelton turbines are irreplaceable and can be used for extremely small hydropower plants and also large hydro power plants. Pelton turbines can operate with high head and relatively small flow rates. In many cases, the height differences of the water are very large. Sometimes it is necessary to stop the operation of the turbine very quickly and the consequences of water hammer can be very severe. The responsible part to minimize the consequences of this phenomena is jet deflector, which can be in two different technical designs. The steps for 3-D geometry definition, pre-processing and post-processing, flow modelling and FEM analysis are presented. In the paper is presented the new optimized design of push-out jet deflector shape. Optimization consider 3-D CFD analysis of free surface flow and stress analysis. The main goal of the research was to minimize the influence of all force components on the torque of deflector servomotor. The final results present the geometry of the deflector, with a significant reduction in the stresses and deformations. These have been achieved with a crucial reduction in the hydrodynamic force and torque.