Composite Stay Vane Geometry Modification for Hydraulic Turbines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hydraulic turbines face significant efficiency losses due to flow misalignment of water with stay vanes, which requires substantial time and costs to correct, involving heavy parts and safety concerns in confined spaces.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method using a composite material shell with a polymer casting to modify the geometry of stay vanes, allowing for attachment and injection of the casting to correct flow misalignment without heavy metal components, utilizing a shell assembly with a core and stiffeners to manage hydrostatic pressure and facilitate polymerization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional metal stay vanes are used to correct flow misalignment, then structural strength is improved, but weight and handling difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining a polymer matrix with fiber reinforcement (such as carbon fiber or glass fiber) to create stay vanes that achieve high strength-to-weight ratio. The composite structure provides the necessary structural strength while significantly reducing the weight compared to traditional metal components, making installation and handling much easier in confined turbine spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes thin-walled composite structures and shell formulations to create lightweight yet strong stay vanes. The shell-based design allows for optimized structural efficiency where material is distributed to provide strength where needed while minimizing overall weight, achieving the desired structural performance with significantly reduced mass compared to solid metal components.
2Reliability
If heavy metal parts are manipulated in confined turbine spaces, then flow misalignment correction is achieved, but safety issues and handling difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The use of composite materials creates lightweight stay vanes that can be safely handled and installed in confined turbine spaces without the safety hazards associated with heavy metal parts. The reduced weight eliminates the need for heavy lifting equipment and reduces the risk of injury to workers while maintaining the structural integrity needed for flow misalignment correction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs segmented or modular composite structures that can be assembled in sections within the confined turbine space. This segmentation allows for easier handling and installation of individual lighter components rather than manipulating one large heavy metal part, improving safety and ease of installation while achieving the flow alignment correction.
3Reliability
If substantial time and resources are invested in traditional correction methods, then flow misalignment is corrected, but productivity and cost efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Composite stay vanes can be pre-fabricated off-site with precise geometries for optimal flow alignment, then quickly installed in the turbine. This pre-fabrication approach eliminates time-consuming on-site metalworking and welding operations, significantly improving productivity and reducing the time and resources needed for flow misalignment correction while maintaining high reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical welding and heavy fabrication processes with composite material bonding and modular assembly techniques. This substitution eliminates the need for complex welding operations, heavy equipment, and extensive on-site manufacturing, thereby improving productivity and reducing correction time while achieving the same flow alignment reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient correction of flow misalignment in hydraulic turbines by reducing weight and safety issues, allowing for installation without dismantling, and avoiding the complications of metal welding, thus improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
Implementation Method 1
injecting a polymer casting into a space at least partially defined by the outer shell
Implementation Method 2
The composite material can comprise fiber and a polymeric material
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for modifying the geometry of at least one part of a turbine can include a shell assembly 3 that includes an outer shell that is shaped to modify the shape of a pre-existing element of a turbine. The outer shell 8 of the shell assembly 3 can be composed of a fiber-reinforced polymeric material and can at least partially define an inner cavity. The outer shell 8 can be bonded to a structure to modify the geometrical shape of that structure. Thereafter, a polymer casting 12 can be injected into the inner cavity via at least one injection port attached to the shell assembly. In some embodiments, one or more stiffeners 9 and/or a core 10 can be positioned within the inner cavity to help improve the bonding of the polymer casting 12 to the shell 2 and/or improve a structural property of the apparatus.