Cavitation Diagnostics Based on Self-Tuning VMD for Fluid Machinery with Low-SNR Conditions

Variational mode decomposition(VMD)is a suitable tool for processing cavitation-induced vibration signals and is greatly affected by two parameters:the decomposed number K and penalty factorαunder strong noise interference.To solve this issue,this study proposed self-tuning VMD(SVMD)for cavitation diagnostics in fluid machinery,with a special focus on low signal-to-noise ratio conditions.A two-stage progressive refinement of the coarsely located target penalty factor for SVMD was conducted to narrow down the search space for accelerated decomposition.A hybrid optimized sparrow search algorithm(HOSSA)was developed for optimalαfine-tuning in a refined space based on fault-type-guided objective functions.Based on the submodes obtained using exclusive penalty factors in each iteration,the cavitation-related characteristic frequencies(CCFs)were extracted for diagnostics.The power spectrum correlation coefficient between the SVMD reconstruction and original signals was employed as a stop criterion to determine whether to stop further decomposition.The proposed SVMD overcomes the blindness of setting the mode number K in advance and the drawback of sharing penalty factors for all submodes in fixed-parameter and parameter-optimized VMDs.Comparisons with other existing methods in simulation signal decomposition and in-lab experimental data demonstrated the advantages of the proposed method in accurately extracting CCFs with lower computational cost.SVMD especially enhances the denoising capability of the VMD-based method.

Multi Domain Design of Fluid Machinery

The scope of the paper is the design of a fluid machinery with a multiphysics procedure, through CAD （computer-aided design）-CAE （computer-aided engineering）-CAx （computer-aided technologies） tools. The study of a wind turbine is a perfect example of a project that requires an interdisciplinary team design, in fact for such a project mechanical structure, and CFD （computational fluid dynamics） designers are necessary. In addition, in the last years, the multi domain design has been supported by the continuous development of software for computer-aided design and the unceasing increase of the connection between performances and computer costs： the final aim is to propose the instruments that assist the designer throughout all the steps of the project. The multi domain design, illustrated in this article, is based on how to design the wind turbine, and it is not about process management and manufacturability. In particular, in the article, the emphasis will be placed on the integration between CAD and mathematical software of general type and on the CAD-CAE integration.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Investigation on Performance of the Wells Turbine in Irregular Oscillating Flow

The Wells turbine is an axial-flow air-turbine designed to extract energy from ocean waves. An important consideration is the self-starting capability of the Wells turbine, a phenomenon encountered where the turbine accelerate by itself up to a certain speed for the best turbine performance. In order to clarify the self-starting characteristic and running performance of the Wells turbine in an irregular oscillating flow, a numerical simulation process is established in this paper on the rational assumption of quasi-steady flow conditions, Both self-starting characteristics and running performance are obtained through the numerical simulation and subsequently compared with the experimental data achieved on a computer-controlled oscillating flow test rig which could realize some irregular oscillating flow according to the specified spectrum. Results show that the self-starting time decreases with the increase of the significant wave height and the mean frequency of the irregular oscillating flow, Therefore, it is possible to predict accurately the performance of the Wells turbine by computer simulation.

Entropy Production Analysis for Hump Characteristics of a Pump Turbine Model

The hump characteristic is one of the main problems for the stable operation of pump turbines in pump mode.However,traditional methods cannot reflect directly the energy dissipation in the hump region.In this paper,3D simulations are carried out using the SST k-ω turbulence model in pump mode under different guide vane openings.The numerical results agree with the experimental data.The entropy production theory is introduced to determine the flow losses in the whole passage,based on the numerical simulation.The variation of entropy production under different guide vane openings is presented.The results show that entropy production appears to be a wave,with peaks under different guide vane openings,which correspond to wave troughs in the external characteristic curves.Entropy production mainly happens in the runner,guide vanes and stay vanes for a pump turbine in pump mode.Finally,entropy production rate distribution in the runner,guide vanes and stay vanes is analyzed for four points under the 18 mm guide vane opening in the hump region.The analysis indicates that the losses of the runner and guide vanes lead to hump characteristics.In addition,the losses mainly occur in the runner inlet near the band and on the suction surface of the blades.In the guide vanes and stay vanes,the losses come from pressure surface of the guide vanes and the wake effects of the vanes.A new insight-entropy production analysis is carried out in this paper in order to find the causes of hump characteristics in a pump turbine,and it could provide some basic theoretical guidance for the loss analysis of hydraulic machinery.

Fabrication of Diamond-like Carbon Films by Ion Assisted Middle Frequency Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering

Diamond-like carbon （DLC） films are deposited by the Hall ion source assisted by the mid-frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of the substrate voltage bias, the substrate temperature, the Hall discharging current and the argon/nitrogen ratio on the DLC film＇s performance were studied. The experimental results show that the film＇s surface roughness, the hardness and the Young＇s modulus increase firstly and then decrease with the bias voltage incrementally increases. Also when the substrate temperature rises, the surface roughness of the film varies slightly, but its hardness and Young＇s modulus firstly increase followed by a sharp decrease when the temperature surpassing 120 ℃. With the Hall discharging current incrementally rising, the hardness and Young＇s modulus of the film decrease and the surface roughness of the film on 316L stainless steel firstly decreased and then remains constant.

Numerical Noise Prediction in Fluid Machinery

Numerical methods successively became important in the design and optimization of fluid machinery. However, as noise emission is considered, one can hardly find standardized prediction methods combining flow and acoustical optimization. Several numerical field methods for sound calculations have been developed. Due to the complexity of the considered flow, approaches must be chosen to avoid exhaustive computing. In this contribution the noise of a simple propeller is investigated. The configurations of the calculations comply with an existing experimental setup chosen for evaluation. The used in-house CFD solver SPARC contains an acoustic module based on Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings Acoustic Analogy. From the flow results of the time dependent Large Eddy Simulation the time dependent acoustic sources are extracted and given to the acoustic module where relevant sound pressure levels are calculated. The difficulties, which arise while proceeding from open to closed rotors and from gas to liquid are discussed.

THEORETIC SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT FLOW OF LIQUID IN THE PIPE WITH FLUID MACHINERY

The transient flow of liquid in the pipe with fluid machinery is analysed in this pa- per.The theoretic solution of the transient flow produced due to the regulation of fluid machin- ery is found by use of the method of the Laplace transformation.

A Straight-bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine with a Directed Guide Vane Row-Effect of Guide Vane Geometry on the Performance-

The objective of this study is to show the effect of guide vane geometry on the performance. In order to overcome the disadvantages of vertical axis wind turbine, a straight-bladed vertical axis wind turbine （S-VAWT） with a directed guide vane row has been proposed and tested by the authors. According to previous studies, it was clarified that the performance of the turbine can be improved by means of the directed guide vane row. However, the guide vane geometry of S-VAWT has not been optimized so far. In order to clarify the effect of guide vanegeometry, the effects of setting angle and gap between rotor blade and guide vane on power coefticlent and start- ing characteristic were investigated in the experiments. The experimental study of the proposed wind turbine was carried out by a wind tunnel. The wind tunnel with a diameter of 1.8m is open jet type. The wind velocity is 8 m/s in the experiments. The rotor has three straight blades with a profile of NACA0018 and a chord length of 100 mm, a diameter of 0.6 m and a blade height of 0.7 m. The guide vane row consists of 3 arc plates.

A Twin Unidirectional Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

A twin unidirectional impulse turbine has been proposed in order to enhance the performance of wave energy plant. This turbine system uses two unidirectional impulse turbines and their flow direction is different from each other. However, the turbine characteristics have not been clarified to date. The performances of a unidirectional impulse turbine under steady flow conditions were investigated experimentaUy by using a wind tunnel with large piston/cylinder in this study. Then, efficiency of the twin impulse turbine have been estimated by a quasi-steady analysis using experimental results.

Impulse Turbine with 3D Guide Vanes for Wave Energy Conversion

In this study, in order to achieve further improvement of the performance of an impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes for wave energy conversion, the effect of guide vane shape on the performance was investigated by experiment. The investigation was performed by model testing under steady flow condition. As a result, it was found that the efficiency of the turbine with 3D guide vanes are slightly superior to that of the turbine with 2D guide vanes because of the increase of torque by means of 3D guide vane, though pressure drop across the turbine for the 3D case is slightly higher than that for the 2D case.

Effect of End Plates on the Performence of a Wells Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

In order to improve the performance of the Wells turbine for wave energy conversion, the effect of end plates on the turbine characteristics has been investigated experimentally by model testing under steady flow conditions. The end plate attached to the tip of the original rotor blade is slightly larger than the original blade profile. The characteristics of the Wells turbine with end plates have been compared with those of the original Wells turbine, i.e., the turbine without end plate. As a result, it has been concluded that the characteristics of the Wells turbine with end plates are superior to those of the original Wells turbine and the characteristics are dependent on the size and position of end plate. Furthermore, the effect of annular plate on the turbine performance, which encircles the turbine and is attached to the tip, was investigated as an additional experiment. However, its device was not effective in improving the turbine characteristics.

Comparison of Performances of Turbines for Wave Energy Conversion

The Wells turbine for a wave power generator is a self-rectifying air turbine that is available for an energy conversion in an oscillating water-air column without any rectifying valve. The objective of this paper is to compare the performances of the Wells turbines in which the profile of blade are NACA0020, NACA0015, CA9 and HSIM15-262123-1576 in the small-scale model testing. The running characteristics in the steady flow, the start and running characteristics in the sinusoidal flow and the hysteretic characteristics in the sinusoidal flow were investigated for four kinds of turbine. As a conclusion, the turbine in which the profile of blade is NACA0020 has the best performances among 4 turbines for the running and starting characteristics in the small-scale model testing.

Comparative Study of Turbines for Wave Energy Conversion

The objective of this paper is to compare the performances of the themes, which could be used for wave energy conversion in the near future, under various irregular wave conditions. The turbines included in the paper are as follows: (a) Wells turbine with guide vanes; (b) impulse turbine with self-pitch-controlled guide vanes; (c) impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes. In this study, experimental investigations were carried out to clarify the performances of the turbines under steady flow conditions, and then a numerical simulation was used for predicting the performances under irregular wave conditions with various significant wave heights. As a result it was found that the running and starting characteristics of the impulse turbines could be superior to those of the Wells turbine.

Numerical Calculation of the Dynamic Behavior of Solid Particles through the Inlet Box with Complex Geometry of a Fluid Machine

A finite element method is used to calculate the three-dimensional gas flow field in the inlet box of a large-size fluid machinery,The dynamic behaviors of solid particles through the inlet box are obtained numerically by the 'one way coupling” method .The trajectories of different-sized particles and the distribution of particle positions on the outlet plane of inlet box are investigated.