Design and Analysis of Pelton Wheel Bucket

ABSTRACT Pelton turbines are hydraulic turbines which are widely used for large scale power generation. A micro hydelpelton turbine is miniature model of actual pelton turbine which can be used for small scale power generation. This type of turbines converts potential energy of water at height into kinetic energy by allowing the water to fall freely on the pelton runner. This water impact provides necessary torque required for the rotation the runner by overcoming its inertia forces. The rotation of runner develops a mechanical energy which is coupled to the alternator which converts it into electrical energy. The project shows the analysis of the Pelton wheel bucket modelled using CATIA V5 software. The material used in the manufacture of pelton wheel buckets is studied in detail and these properties are used for analysis. The bucket is analyzed using ANSYS Workbench 15.0 .The bucket geometry is analyzed by considering the force and also by considering the pressure exerted on different points of the bucket. Structural analysis was carried out with two different meshes and also six different materials such as Grey Cast Iron; E-glass Fiber; AISI 1018 Steel; CA6nm Steel; Al Alloy; Ti6Al . The best combination of parameters like Von misses Stress and Equivalent shear stress, Deformation, shear stress and weight reduction for turbine bucket were done in ANSYS software. Grey cast iron has more factor of safety, reduce the weight, increase the stiffness and reduce the stress and stiffer than other material. With this analysis we can determine the lifetime and the strength of pelton turbine.