Experimental identification and study of hydraulic resonance test rig with Francis turbine operating at partial load

Resonance in hydraulic systems is characterized by pressure fluctuations of high amplitude which can lead to undesirable and dangerous effects, such as noise, vibration and structural failure. For a Francis turbine operating at partial load, the cavitating vortex rope developing at the outlet of the runner induces pressure fluctuations which can excite the hydraulic system resonance, leading to undesirable large torque and power fluctuations. At resonant operating points, the prediction of amplitude pressure fluctuations by hydro-acoustic models breaks down and gives unreliable results. A more detailed knowledge of the eigenmodes and a better understanding of phenomenon occurring at resonance could allow improving the hydro-acoustic models prediction. This paper presents an experimental identification of a resonance observed in a close-looped hydraulic system with a Francis turbine reduced scale model operating at partial load. The resonance is excited matching one of the test rig eigenfrequencies with the vortex rope precession frequency. At this point, the hydro-acoustic response of the test rig is studied more precisely and used finally to reproduce the shape of the excited eigenmode.