We report on parallel experimental studies of twin vortex ropes in laboratory models of an elbow and a conical hydroturbine draft tube focusing on the unstable cyclic switch-overs between the single and twin helices. The measurements involve high-speed visualization, pressure pulsation recordings and laser-beam detecting of the precessing helices. The Fourier transform of the pressure probe signals accompanied by optical detection provided the frequencies and amplitudes of the detected single and twin ropes, which were compared between the two draft tubes in a range of Reynolds number from 10⁵ to 5 × 10⁵. The experiments showed constant, though different, Strouhal numbers both for the single and twin ropes. The single-rope Strouhal numbers normalized with the swirl number for the two draft tubes collapse onto a unique value of 1.1 independent of Reynolds number. The ratio of the helix frequencies in the twin- and single rope regimes was 1.15 and 1.4, respectively, for the elbow and the conical model.

An experimental study of the cavitation flow around the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 0012 hydrofoil with different surface morphology was carried out in this work. The surface morphology was set by modern laser ablation technology. The average values and intensity of vapor–gas cavities were determined. It has been revealed that laser texturing delays the emerging cavitation and somewhat decreases its intensity at higher cavitation numbers. A decrease in the cavitation number leads to an increase in its intensity for a smooth hydrofoil in comparison with a rough one, which is also expressed in an increase in the frequency of cavities. The paper presents a comparison of the flow regime with equal cavitation numbers, which clearly describes the features of the development of a vapor–gas cavity on the suction side of the foil with different surface morphologies. The paper provides an explanation of the reasons for the influence of surface morphology on the development of cavities.

Operating hydraulic turbines under part- or over-load conditions leads to the development of the precessing vortex rope downstream of the turbine runner. In a regime close to the best efficiency point (BEP), the vortex rope is very unstable because of the low residual swirl of the flow. However, strong pressure pulsations have been detected in the regime. These oscillations can be caused by self-merging and reconnection of a vortex helix with the formation of a vortex ring. The vortex ring moves along the wall of the draft tube and generates a sharp pressure pulse that is registered by pressure transducer. This phenomenon was investigated on a simplified draft tube model using a swirl generator consisting of a stationary swirler and a freely rotating runner. The experiments were performed at Reynolds number (Re) = 10⁵. The measurements involved a high-speed visualization technique synchronized with pressure measurements on the draft tube wall, which enables an analysis of the key stages of vortex ring formation by comparing it with the pressure on the draft tube wall. Quantitative information regarding the average velocity distribution was obtained via the laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) technique.

This review addresses the current state of research into active control and suppression of vortex rope in hydroturbines under off-design operating conditions. Only active control methods that can be “switched on” when required under off-design operating conditions are considered in this work. The review focuses on air addition into the flow, as well as various auxiliary fluid jets. It includes all the best practices for vortex rope suppression in numerical and experimental studies. It can be inferred from the review that a modern flow control system should be comprehensive, designed for a specific hydroturbine geometry, and obtain feedback from the flow. Injecting ~2% of air from the impeller fairing cone appears optimal for suppressing pressure pulsations without significant efficiency loss. The cost of air injection is rarely estimated, but the use of an automatic venting system can minimize overheads and potentially improve efficiencies at low gas contents. Fluid jets ranging from 3% to 12% of the main flow rate can efficiently suppress pressure pulsations, but their high energy requirements limit their use. Azimuthal perturbation of the flow appears promising as it does not require significant energy loss, but practical implementation remains challenging as one needs to accurately know the system dynamics and be capable of real-time manipulation of the flow.

This experimental study reveals a counterflow slip at the interface of two immiscible fluids filling a sealed vertical cylindrical container whose bottom disk rotates while other walls are stationary. An advanced particle image velocimetry helps us analyze and quantify streamline patterns and velocity profiles of the steady axisymmetric flows of both fluids. As the angular velocity of a disk increases, starting from zero, three changes occur in topology of the upper-fluid flow while topology of the lower-fluid flow remains invariant. These changes result in the counterflow slip at the entire interface, whose nature is speculatively discussed and requires further research.