A methodology for assessment of erosive wear on a Francis turbine runner

The study also includes petrographic analysis of the sediment taken from the site of power station to obtain the parameters related to concentration(C), size (Ksz), hardness (Khd) and shape (Ksh). Effect of these parameters have been introduced into the wear models used in this investigation. The erosive wear assessment reveals that damage is severe at the runner outlet due to the high relative velocity(45.5 m/s against 15.5 m/s at inlet) and presence of hard minerals. The average loss of thickness for runner is 1.3 mm/year of operation, which agrees within 10% of the measured values from site of the power station.