Journal of Hydraulic Research

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Comparative analysis of twin vortex ropes in

laboratory models of two hydro-turbine draft-
tubes

Sergey Skripkin, Mikhail Tsoy, Sergey Shtork & Kemal Hanjali

To cite this article: Sergey Skripkin, Mikhail Tsoy, Sergey Shtork & Kemal Hanjali (2016)
Comparative analysis of twin vortex ropes in laboratory models of two hydro-turbine draft-
tubes, Journal of Hydraulic Research, 54:4, 450-460, DOI: 10.1080/00221686.2016.1168325

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Published online: 28 Apr 2016.

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 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016), pp. 450460
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2016.1168325
2016 International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research

Research paper

Comparative analysis of twin vortex ropes in laboratory models of two

hydro-turbine draft-tubes
SERGEY SKRIPKIN , PhD student, Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
Email: Skryp91@mail.ru (author for correspondence)

MIKHAIL TSOY, PhD student, Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
Email: Miketsoy@mail.ru

SERGEY SHTORK, Leading Researcher, Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
Email: sergei_stork@mail.ru

KEMAL HANJALIC, Professor, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands; Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
Downloaded by [IAHR] at 01:15 08 July 2016

Email: khanjalic@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
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 dierent, 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.

Keywords: Hydroturbine draft tube; precessing vortex core; swirling ows; twin vortex; vortex dynamics

1 Introduction aect the eciency of the hydro generator. If the precession

Vortex ropes are often formed in draft tubes of hydraulic tur-
bines operating in suboptimal conditions, usually at partial load
or overload, or during the start/stop or load-change transients.
Under such conditions, the input ow in the draft tube has a high
residual swirl, which causes vortex breakdown (Lucca-Negro
& ODoherty, 2001) and consequent precessing vortex core
(PVC) (Syred, 2006), usually visible in water ows as a vor-
tex rope lled with cavitation or air bubbles (Alligne, Nicolet,
Tsujimoto, & Avellan, 2014). The precessing vortex rope is
associated with strong pressure uctuations and the regime is
generally known as draft-tube surge (Falvey, 1993). Interac-
tions with the water-conveyance system may cause pulsations
of the runner torque up to 20% of the nominal, and directly
frequency happens to coincide or be close to the natural frequen-
cies of the water-conveyance system, the resonance may lead
to serious negative consequences such as mechanical damage,
reduced lifetime and ultimate equipment failure. Thus, one of
the main goals of the study of this phenomenon is to determine
the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the PVC at var-
ious operational modes of the hydraulic unit. Such information
should help optimize the design and identify the critical oper-
ating range aimed at preventing or diminishing strong pressure
pulsations, avoiding resonance, and thus improving the safety
and eciency of a hydroelectric power station.
The draft-tube surge, PVC, and unsteadiness in hydrotur-
bines have long been a focus of research in uid machinery.
Numerous publications, primarily on experiments and more

Received 4 July 2015; accepted 13 March 2016/Open for discussion until 28 February 2017.

ISSN 0022-1686 print/ISSN 1814-2079 online

http://www.tandfonline.com
450
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)
recently also on computer simulation and modelling can be
found in the literature (Jonsson, Mulu, & Cervantes, 2012;
Susan-Resiga, Muntean, Avellan, & Anton, 2011; Wang, Li,
Ma, Yang, & Zhu, 2012; Wu, Liu, & Dou, 2012). Most works
focus on the regime with a single-helical vortex core, but some
publications deal also with the usually unstable and short-lived
twin rope phenomenon. One of the rst detailed studies of two
surge modes and the twin vortex rope in draft tubes was reported
by Wahl (1994) experimenting with a 1:40 scale-down model of
a 700 MW Francis turbine. Pressure pulsations in the draft tube
were recorded by two piezoresistive sensors, arranged diametri-
cally opposite. Optical techniques at that time were inadequate
for detailed studies of the structure and dynamics of vortex
ropes. The main ndings were the measurements of the preces-
sion frequency, which for the single rope was 0.29 Hz, and for
the twin rope 0.78 Hz.
Skotak, Mikulasek, and Troubil (2001) investigated dier-
ent regimes in terms of the ow rate, inclination angle of guide
vanes and load in a large-scale model of the turbine. These
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authors obtained the mode with a double helix near the opti-
mal load and at partial load at a high swirl rate. In the rst
case, the precession was directed opposite to the runner rotation,
whereas in the second case it was co-directional. Similar eects
were reported by Nishi and Liu (2013), who studied dierent
modes of turbine operation. In their monograph, Drer, Sick,
and Coutu (2014) acknowledged that there are regimes when
a single vortex is replaced by a twin rope, but noted that such
events are not of much a practical value a statement that could
be disputed. Namely, as shown below and reported in the litera-
ture (e.g. Wahl, 1994), the frequency and amplitude of pressure
pulsations are dierent in the single and twin rope modes. Since
both parameters determine whether and to what extent the pres-
sure oscillations will excite and induce vibrations of the draft
tube and other turbine components, these issues are of much
concern in real turbine operation. We also recall (for example
Alekseenko, Kuibin, & Okulov, 2007) that in a twin rope mode
the intensity of each helix (dened as the circulation, i.e. the vor-
ticity ux through the vortex tube cross-section) is lower than
of a single rope, which reects directly on the amplitudes of the
pressure pulsations. Thus, dening the conditions for each mode
Figure 1 A view (left) and a sketch (right) of the elbow draft tube model (EDTM)
Analysis of twin vortex ropes in draft tube models 451
and correlation between the frequencies and amplitudes for the
two modes should be of a signicant practical relevance and
ought to be accounted for the hydroturbine design and operation.
The authors of the above-mentioned publications (Drer
et al., 2014; Nishi & Liu, 2013; Skotak et al., 2001) noted the
twin-rope phenomenon but referred only to the work of Wahl
(1994). Since then, the measurement and diagnostic techniques
have greatly advanced allowing updating and supplementing the
available experimental information on this phenomenon.
In the present work, we have experimentally reproduced con-
ditions with strong residual ow swirl in the models of two
draft tubes. In one conguration the swirl is generated by a sta-
tionary vane swirler and in the other by a similar xed swirler
followed by a free runner. Both types of swirl generators ensure
the swirl intensity (dened by the ratio of the bulk tangential-to-
axial velocity) to be constant, as the tangential (swirl) velocity
is directly proportional to the ow rate and thus, to the axial
velocity. The swirl generators have been designed to create the
operating conditions that correspond to the unstable regime at
part loads with the swirl rate above the critical so that atten-
tion could be focused on the dynamics of a cyclic transition
between single and double precessing vortex ropes. This insta-
bility is particularly interesting because the characteristics of a
vortex rope, namely, vorticity eld, amplitude and frequency of
precession, change almost instantly. This pattern of the PVC in
draft tubes is hard to quantify and predict.
2 Experimental set-up and measurement methods
The experimental studies were conducted on two closed hydro-
dynamic loops mimicking two types of hydroturbine draft tubes
(Figs 1 and 3): a conventional elbow draft tube model (EDTM),
(changing from a circular to rectangular cross-section), and a
conical draft tube model (CDTM). The two models have dif-
ferent swirl generators, but with the same design swirl number.
The eects of the dierences in the swirl generator designs are
discussed in Section 4. The areas in which the optical measure-
ments were performed are marked on both models by dashed
lines.
 452 S. Skripkin et al. Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)

Figure 2 Pressure uctuations recorded by a hydrophone in EDTM (left); and the Fourier spectrum of the signal (right); Q = 0.022 m3 s1

The rst (EDTM) experimental set-up (Fig. 1) consists of a
simplied transparent model of draft tube with a throat diam-
eter D = 0.12 m. Instead of a turbine runner, a stationary vane
swirler with xed geometrical swirl rate of Sg = 1.1 is used to
generate swirling motion in the draft tube. This swirl generator
with xed blades allows to control the swirl intensity, but it can-
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its placement close to the draft tube throat, far from the location
of the ropes maximum amplitudes.
The second (CDTM) experimental set-up (Fig. 3) simu-
lates the cone of a straight draft tube with a throat diameter
D = 0.1 m. It consists of a swirl generator followed by a straight
vertical diuser. The main task of the swirler is to reproduce the

not reproduce the total pressure imbalance from hub to shroud conditions for the formation of the ow similar to the one under
(namely, a decit of the total pressure near the hub), as in the the turbine runner.
real hydraulic turbines operated at part load. The above swirl This is achieved by forming the appropriate proles of
number is (for convenience and easier comparison) dened by a the axial and tangential velocity components under the swirl
simple expression based on the swirler geometry (Gupta, Lilley, generator, which correspond reasonably well to the situation
& Syred, 1984): in a real hydroturbine. The CDTM set-up mimics the swirl
  generator developed at Politehnical University of Timisoara
2 1 (d1 /d2 )3 (Susan-Resiga, Muntean, Tanasa, & Bosioc, 2008), which uses
Sg = tan() (1)
3 1 (d1 /d2 )2 a runner at runaway speed to generate the total pressure imbal-
ance from hub to shroud. The swirl generator consists of two
where d1 and d2 are the swirler internal and external diameters, swirlers, the rst with xed vanes followed by the second
and is the vane inclination angle. which is a freely rotating runner, with a design swirl number
This conguration allows simulation of the mode with high Sg = 1.1. This combination of swirlers provides the distribu-
residual ow swirl. The experimental set-up is equipped with an tion of the axial and tangential velocity component closest to
ultrasonic ow meter, which in the aggregate with a frequency the distribution under the runners of real turbines.
converter that controls the pump operation, allows setting the
ow rates (Q) up to 0.028 m3 s1 with an accuracy better than
1%. Pressure pulsations on the wall of the draft-tube cone
were recorded by a mounted piezo-electric pressure transducer
(hydrophone), and its signal was digitalized by an analogue
digital convertor. A typical recording is shown in Fig. 2 (left).
The duration of the measurement for each value of the ow rate
considered was 60 s at a sampling frequency of 1 kHz. The sig-
nal spectrum was computed using an FFT algorithm and from
its analysis the peak corresponding to the frequency of rope
precession was determined. It should be pointed out that the
recording of pressure by hydrophones provided a signal useful
for the analysis of the frequency characteristics (the focus of
the present work), but not suciently accurate nor sensitive to
provide trustful quantitative pressure measurements, especially
for the short-lived low-intensity twin-rope regime. The pressure
signal appeared contaminated by the pulsations originating from
the elements of the experimental rig and turbulence uctuations. Figure 3 A view (left) and a sketch (right) of the conical draft tube
Moreover, the response of the hydrophone was also impaired by model (CDTM)
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)
Figure 4 A snapshot of rope visualized by release of some dis-
solved air from water in CDTM at Q = 0.024 m3 s1 , R = 4 105 ,
Sg = 1.1, and a record of the photodetector signal and its FFT indicat-
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ing the precession frequency
Adjustable centrifugal pump 3LMH 80-160/18.5 from Ebara
Corp. (Japan) with a maximum ow rate of up to 0.067 m3 s1
was used as a feed pump. The ow rate is controlled by a feed-
back system that includes an electromagnetic ow meter and a
frequency inverter. For simulating the cavitation regime in the
test section, the hydrodynamic loop is equipped with a vacuum
pump that creates additional evacuation up to 96 kPa. To reduce
optical distortion, the outer walls of the CDTM test section were
made in the shape of a tetrahedral prism (Fig. 3). The precession
of the vortex rope was detected and analysed using a nonintru-
sive optical system to avoid reducing the transparency of the test
section. The system operation is based on registering the laser
beam by a photodetector, interrupted by the rope once for each
period of precession (Fig. 4). Thus, the point of the laser beam
intersection by the vortex corresponds to the lower level of the
photodetector signal. The resulting signal was processed by fast
Fourier transform, which allowed the frequency of the vortex
precession to be determined.
3 High-speed visualization of the dynamics of
single-to-double rope transition
The complexity of the swirling and vortical patterns as well
as a high level of turbulence in a typical draft tube makes the
visual analysis of the process dicult. For a detailed study
of the swirling ow structure we used a high-speed camera
pco.1200 hs from PCO AG (Germany) that allowed images to be
registered with a frequency of up to 600 frames per second and a
resolution of 1280 1024 pixels. This equipment allowed visu-
alization of the vortex rope with its phase resolution of up to 5
per frame.
In the EDTM, the ow visualization was performed using a
powerful source of light, refracted from the surfaces of a small
Analysis of twin vortex ropes in draft tube models 453
amount of air bubbles injected into the ow, and concentrated
in the area of low pressure. As shown in Skripkin, Kuibin, and
Shtork (2015), air injection of the volumetric rate less than 0.5%
of the total ow rate does not aect the characteristics of the
PVC. In CDTM, the vortex rope was visualized by the cavitation
bubbles. Below are some images obtained by splitting the video
fragments of high-speed shooting (Figs 5 and 6).
The structure of the vortex rope is very unstable; it changes
periodically between one or two intertwined helical vortices.
The direction of precession of both the single and double vor-
tices coincides with the direction of the swirl, while the vortices
are left-handed (Alekseenko et al., 2007; Alekseenko, Kuibin,
Okulov, & Shtork, 1999). Almost over the whole range of the
ow rates where it was possible to register the transition of
a single into a double vortex, the mode of the single-helical
rope prevails, whereas the mode of the double-helical rope
is less stable. A similar change of conguration during the
periodic change between the single- and double-rope modes
was also reported by numerical simulation of swirl ow using
a Reynolds-stress turbulence closure model (Stefan, Rudolf,
Muntean, & Susan-Resiga, 2013).
A series of snapshots in Figs 5 and 6 illustrates the vortex
convolutions at dierent phase angles of a single cycle for which
the transition from a single-helical to double-helical vortex con-
guration and back occurs. The rope patterns in both types of
the draft tube look very similar. It should be noted that the time
step between the frames shown in Figs 5 and 6 is not equal. The
frames shown were selected among many to display best the
various characteristic stages of the transition.
The ropes in the CDTM are visualized by natural cavitation
in the low-pressure area. Because the swirl parameters in both
test rigs remain constant and independent of the ow rate, single
vortex rope always transits to a double rope at all investigated
R numbers. Admittedly, in the EDTM, the twin rope appears
to be short lived compared to CDTM, and it is more clearly
visualized at low ow rates.
The sketch in Fig. 7 illustrates a complete transition cycle
from a single-helical to a double-helical mode and back. This
scenario was elaborated based on a frame-by-frame analysis of
the performed high-speed visualization in the test sections of
the two draft tubes. At a certain point in time (Fig. 7b) the
vortex rope starts to become somewhat thinner, and in the oppo-
site phase to the just initiated second vortex with yet unformed
geometry, but already separated from the original one. After sev-
eral periods of rotation both ropes acquire a clear helical form
and virtually the same pattern and shape (Fig. 7c), which makes
it impossible to identify the original vortex. Both ropes rotate
with the same angular velocity.
The above twin-rope pattern does not remain for long and
it is aected by ow instability which distorts the smooth heli-
cal form of the vortices, breaking its symmetry, Fig. 7d. As a
result, one of the vortex ropes gains in its strength and tends to
stabilize again into a more regular and smoother helical pattern
with a longer spatial period, while the second rope weakens,
 454 S. Skripkin et al. Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)

0.000 s

Figure 5 Visualization of the transition between single- and double vortex rope in EDTM at Qwater = 0.011 m3 s1 , Qair = 3.3 105 m3 s1 ,
R = 1.4 105 , Sg = 1.1). The ropes are visualized by air bubbles concentrated in the low-pressure area. The snapshots are taken at various phase
angles over one cycle to display the main base structures
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Figure 6 Visualization of the transition between single- and double-cavitation vortex rope in CDTM (Qwater = 0.032 m3 s1 , depression
P d = 40 kPa, R = 5 105 , Sg = 1.1)

becomes thinner but also smoother and with a shorter period,
Fig. 7e. The angular velocities of both vortices begin to change,
and the opposite-phased conguration of the vortices deforms
and eventually gets broken. The vortices approach each other
and merge into a single vortex rope with the original shape,
amplitude and period. An example of the theory of interaction of
a pair of vortices is available in the monograph of Alekseenko
et al. (2007), which describes the results of numerical simula-
tions of the behaviour of vortex ropes with the same circulations
at dierent locations relative to each other. The vortices begin
clinging onto each other at some critical distance between them
and then merge.
A comparison of snapshots at dierent phase angles shows
that the periods of the single and twin-vortex ropes are dierent.
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016) Analysis of twin vortex ropes in draft tube models 455

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

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Figure 7 A schematics of the characteristic sequential phases in the transition cycle from single-to-double and back to a single vortex rope. Similar
behaviour is typical for all investigated ow rates

This is illustrated in Fig. 7a and c which show that the spa-

tial wavelength of the twin rope, Lt , is shorter than that of the
single rope Ls. However, the dierence between the two is not
the same for the two draft tubes: the present experiments show
that (Lt /Ls )EDT = 0.87 and (Lt /Ls )CDT = 0.72. We return to the
discussion of this issue in Section 4.
The snapshots further indicate that the rope amplitudes, i.e.
the maximum displacements from the geometrical centreline,
are, however, very similar. These amplitudes are not directly
related to the amplitudes of the pressure pulsations which seem
to dier substantially for the single and twin ropes. As men-
tioned above, our pressure measurements by hydrophone, while
detecting a clear periodic pressure signal during the single-rope
mode, was unable to detect periodic pulsation during the short
existence of the twin-rope mode due to low intensity of the dou-
ble helices and contaminations by other pulsations originating
from the rig elements. We conjecture, however, that the inten- Figure 8 The signal detected by a photodiode in CDTM
sity (vorticity ux) of the rope will remain conserved within the
short transition period, so that in the twin-rope mode the vortic-
ity ux is distributed among the two helices with the intensity crossed the path of the beam, and the photodiode registered only
of each being lower than that of a single rope, as also reported the level of the ambient lighting. The recorded data are pre-
by Wahl (1994). sented in three dierent time scales, with subsequent blow-ups
Using the optical system (Fig. 4) on CDTM, we investigated of the abscissa (Figs 810).
the frequency of the conguration switchover from the single- Figure 8 shows the photodiode signal, recorded on CDTM
rope to double-rope mode. The laser beam was directed through over 6 s at a constant ow rate of 0.033 m3 s1 and with addi-
the diuser axis, while in the double-rope mode both ropes tional evacuation on the loop of 60 kPa. The high signal level
simultaneously crossed the path of the beam twice during one of 0.05 V corresponds to the double-rope mode, and the low
period of precession. In the single-rope mode, the rope always level of 0.015 V corresponds to the single-rope mode. The
 456 S. Skripkin et al.
Figure 9 A zoomed-up horizontal scale for the initial portion of the
signal shown in Fig. 8
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Figure 10 A further zoom-up of the horizontal scale for the signal in
Figs 8 and 9
frequency of the pattern transition from single- to double-rope
modes was 3.5 Hz, compared with the typical precession fre-
quencies of 37 Hz for the single rope and 54 Hz for the twin
rope. Figure 9 shows a part of the signal at an enlarged time
scale for the rst 2 s. The duration of the double-rope mode is
26% of the period of the conguration switchover, the single-
rope mode takes 74%, and their ratio is Ttwin /Tsingle = 0.35.
Thus, the single-rope mode dominates, and the double-rope
mode is less stable. The stability of the double-rope mode pre-
sumably depends on the swirl intensity, ow rate, and additional
evacuation.
A further blow-up of the signal time scale (Fig. 10) reveals
that the laser beam in the double-rope mode is periodically
interrupted by crossed ropes. The frequency of these inter-
ruptions corresponds to a double frequency of precession; the
Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)
same frequency of pressure pulsations should be registered by a
pressure sensor, installed in the diuser.
4 Strouhal number scaling of single and double ropes in
two draft-tube models
Visual observation of the switching of vortex modes from single
to double helical ropes and reverse in the laboratory models of
two hydro turbine draft tubes showed a remarkable similarity
of the patterns and their sequence during one transition cycle
despite large dierences in the geometry of the two models. It is
noted that in both cases the swirl was above the critical and the
dynamic switch from one to another mode occurred at all ow
rates in the range where this instability occurs, which depends
on the system conguration.
In order to quantify this similarity, we consider the Strouhal
number, St = f De /V, as the fundamental criterion of similar-
ity of oscillatory ow phenomena, and its dependence on the
Reynolds number, R = VDe /, for the two cases of draft tubes,
where V stands for the characteristic velocity, De is the charac-
teristic (equivalent) diameter, f is the frequency of precession
and is the uid kinematic viscosity. Because of the dierence
in the geometry of the two draft tubes, dening the appropri-
ate and comparable characteristic parameters V and De in the
St and R numbers for both congurations is not unambiguous
and may inuence the comparison. This is seen by expressing
St and R in terms of a (constant) volume ow Q = VA (where A
is the cross-sectional area corresponding to the bulk velocity V),
St = f De A/Q, R = QDe /(A). Depending on the denition of
De , St and R may dier much for dierent draft tube geome-
tries. Adopting as the reference the inlet to the draft-tube cone
(the throat) (and assuming that the runner/swirler hub tail does
not penetrate into the cone so that the inlet has a circular (not
annular) cross-section) De is then the diameter D of the draft-
tube throat and V the corresponding average velocity. It follows
then that St D3 and R 1/D. It is obvious that for another
characteristic cross-section these relations could be dierent and
perhaps not directly comparable for two hydroturbine models
of dierent types. In the present work we adopted the above-
dened throat cross-section as the reference and compare the St
dependence on R for the single and twin ropes in the two draft-
tube models considered. Furthermore, as it is known (Litvinov,
Shtork, Kuibin, Alekseenko, & Hanjalic, 2013) that the Strouhal
number depends linearly on the ow swirl rate, it is common
to plot the ratio St/S instead of St to eliminate a parametric
eect of the swirl number, thus allowing one to generalize the
results and to compare them for dierent swirl rates, but also
for dierent congurations. Following this conjecture, we made
an attempt to nd a common scaling of the St/S ratio for both
draft tubes. A practical diculty appeared, however, in choos-
ing the proper denition of the swirl number. While its physical
denition as the ratio of the axial ux components of angular
and axial momentum (Alekseenko et al., 2007; Gupta et al.,
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016) Analysis of twin vortex ropes in draft tube models 457

1984) is clear and precise, a variety of formulae have been used Table 1 Denitions of swirl numbers considered. Note that
in the literature, diering in subtle approximations and the sim- equation numbers are shown in the left column
plications adopted. Moreover, since the swirl parameter (just Swirl number
as the Strouhal number) may change along the ows and can
be dierent in dierent cross sections and when using dier- Eq. no. Denition EDTM CDTM
ent reference variables, bringing the expressions to the common R
UWr2 dr
(3) S= R 0
1.47 0.67
denominator for dierent geometrical congurations (as in the R 0 [((U2 +(W2 Wmax 2 )/2]rdr
R
present case) can be ambiguous because it is dependent on the 0 |U|Wr dr
2
(4) S= R 1.5 0.68
choice of the reference planes and variables. A case in point R 0 [((U2 +(W2 Wmax 2 )/2]rdr
R
is the geometric swirl number derived on several assumptions, UWr2 dr
(5) S = 0 R 2 0.83 0.62
R 0 U rdr
which was found useful when considering one geometry at dif-
Wmax
ferent swirling conditions, but can be misleading when applied (6) S= Umax 0.91 0.83
 
and compared in two or more dierent congurations. (1) Sg = 2 1(d1 /d2 )3
tan() 1.1 1.1
3 1(d1 /d2 )2
We considered in parallel several common denitions of
the swirl number and compared the values for the two draft
tube models with, as stated above, the adopted common con-
reversal occurs in the centre of the duct at small radii, the contri-
ditions (the diameter and velocity) at the cone inlet (throat)
bution of this term to the integral is small and the total eect is
cross-sections. Since most expressions require integration of the
marginal as conrmed by the swirl number values very close to
velocity over the cross-sectional area, we performed a series of
the original ones. In Eq. (5) (Table 1), the pressure is neglected,
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measurements of the axial and tangential velocity proles in

whereas the most simple, but frequently used formula, Eq. (6)
a plane just after the throat using a laser-Doppler anemometer
(Table 1) goes even further by assuming uniform distribution
(LDA).
of both velocity components. Table 1 shows a signicant varia-
The most complete denition of the swirl number includes,
tion in swirl numbers calculated by dierent formulae, but in all
next to the mean momentum components, also the eects of
cases the swirl in the EDTM is stronger than in the CDTM, each
pressure distribution and of the averages of the uctuating
dictated by its own swirler. Irrespective of these dierences, the
momentum components (in terms of turbulent stresses) (Gupta
rope patterns both for the single and twin rope look remarkably
et al., 1984):
similar.
R In an attempt to scale the two draft tube dynamic charac-
(UWr2 + u w )dr teristics and to nd a common denominator, we plotted the
S= R
0
(2)
R [(U2 + u 2 + (P P )]rdr detected St/S ratio versus Reynolds number for the two cong-
0
urations, using dierent swirl number denitions from Table 1.
where U and W stand for the local mean axial and tangen- It turned out that using the most common denition of Eq. (5)
tial velocity components respectively, is uid density, R is
the radius of the cross sectional area, u 2 is the square of the
streamwise velocity uctuations, u w is the primary Reynolds
stress, P stands for the local static pressure and P denotes the
reference pressure.
However, because of diculties in measuring all terms in
the equations with sucient accuracy, various simplications
are usually applied. A list of common (not necessarily com-
plete) denitions, simplied in one way or another, is provided
in Table 1. All formulae stem from the basic denition, Eq. (2),
and are listed here in a sequence that illustrates a progressive
degree of approximation.
It is noted that in Eq. (3) (Table 1), the contribution of the
static pressure from Eq. (2) is replaced by the corresponding
component of the dynamic pressure. This modication (origi-
nating in the assumption that the Bernoulli equation holds well Figure 11 The Strouhal-to-swirl number ratio obtained for the sin-
gle and twin ropes in the two draft-tube models over a range of
for the averaged tangential velocity across the section) was
Reynolds numbers considered. The measurement uncertainty is indi-
found to have a substantial inuence if the maximum tangen- cated on the rst (the lowest R) symbol for all four cases; S is dened
tial velocity is not located near the wall. In Eq. (4) (Table 1), the using denition of Eq. (5) (Table 1). For clarity, the frequencies of
axial velocity in the numerator is replaced by its absolute value, the twin ropes refer to a single helix, thus are half of those sensed by
thus neglecting the eect of back ow. However, because ow hydrophones or laser-beam
 458 S. Skripkin et al.
(Table 1) brought all measurement points for the single rope
over the range of the R numbers considered to the same value of
about 1.1, Fig. 11. As expected, no eect of R number has been
detected conrming the full Reynolds-number similarity. It is
worth noting that the simple and very practical expression (Eq.
(6); Table 1) brings the values of St/S for the two draft tube
models also relatively close to each other (about 1.0 for ETDT
and 0.82 for CDTM), though not so well as Eq. (5) (Table 1),
but much closer than the other formulae.
On the other hand, no common scaling could be found for
the twin ropes. To clarify the origin of the dierences we return
briey to Fig. 7, where it has already been indicated that in both
draft-tube models the spatial wavelength of the twin ropes is
shorter than that of the single rope for the same ow rate (and R
number), Fig. 7a and c, as also seen in the images in Figs 5 and 6.
The ratio of the spatial wavelengths for the twin and single
ropes, Lt /Ls , was found to be 0.87 for the EDTM and 0.72 for
the CDTM. For a constant convective (axial) velocity, the spatial
wavelength is directly proportional to the time period, which is
reciprocal to the frequency ratio, namely t /s = Lt /Ls = fs /ft .
Downloaded by [IAHR] at 01:15 08 July 2016
Thus, (ft /fs )EDT 1.15 and (ft /fs )CDT 1.4, from which it fol-
lows that (St/S)EDT t 1.27 and (St/S)CDTt 1.55, both well
in accord with the values measured by hydrophones and laser-
beam interruption1 shown in Fig. 11. Wahl (1994) reported
(ft /fs ) 1.35 in his experiments on the 1:40 scale turbine model
in a wide range of conditions. This ratio is close to the results
found in our experiments.
Two questions arise: rst, why the spatial period of the sin-
gle rope in the EDTM is shorter than that one in the CDTM
and, second, why the dierence between the twin and sin-
gle rope in the EDTM is smaller (1/1.15 = 0.87) than in the
CDTM (1/1.4 = 0.72). Without going deeper into the theory
(e.g. Fanelli, 1989; Guarga & Cataldo, 1993, which inevitably
has its limitation when it comes to its application to the mod-
els mimicking real draft tube geometries), we conjecture that in
contrast to a straight long draft tube in the CDTM where the
precessing ropes develop freely, the elbow in the EDTM acts
as an obstacle, bending the ow and causing asymmetric ow
deceleration, but also imposes some blocking to the rope expan-
sion in the ow direction. This results in a shorter single rope
but also in a smaller dierence between the periods of the single
and twin ropes, compared with CDTM.2
Regarding the mechanism of switching between the sin-
gle and double ropes, we refer to some earlier ndings
based on phase-averaging (Cala, Fernandes, Heitor, & Shtork,
2006; Shtork, Cala, Fernandes, & Heitor, 2005) and a proper-
orthogonal-decomposition analyses (Markovich, Abdurakipov,
Chikishev, Dulin, & Hanjalic, 2014). These authors reported
that the vortex breakdown zone, even in the case of formation
of a single spiral vortex core, actually consists of a pair of co-
rotating co-winding spiral vortices a primary vortex, which is
normally detected by the visualization technique and pressure
sensors, and a secondary weaker vortex structure. This suggests
a possible scenario for the formation of a twin helical structure,
Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016)
as a modication of an original double helix structure, with one
of the vortices dominating, to a double vortex mode with equally
distributed vortex intensities. Needless to say that clarication
of this issue as well as other here-detected features calls for more
research, which goes beyond the scope of the present study.
5 Conclusion
Unstable cyclic transition between single and twin vortex ropes
have been studied experimentally in the laboratory models of
an elbow and a conical hydroturbine draft tubes (EDTM and
CDTM) at the above-critical swirl rates mimicking unstable
part-load turbine regimes. High-speed video imaging, pres-
sure recordings and laser-beam-interruption frequency detection
reveal similar helix patterns and the dynamic features over a
range of Reynolds numbers. Despite dierences in the swirl
generators and the draft-tube geometries, the measured Strouhal
numbers showed constant though dierent values both for the
single and twin ropes over the range of Reynolds numbers for
which the ropes were detected. When normalized with the com-
mon swirl number (dened by the ratio of the integrated mean
axial components of the angular and axial momentum), the
single-rope Strouhal numbers normalized with the swirl num-
ber for the two draft-tube types showed a unique value of 1.1
independent of the Reynolds number. However, the normalized
St numbers of the twin ropes show dierent values for the two
congurations: the ratio of the (single helix) frequencies in the
twin- and single-rope modes in EDTM is 1.15 compared to 1.4
in CDTM, the actual frequencies of pressure pulsations being
double (two ropes). The twin helix in EDTM was more unsta-
ble, short lived and less easy to detect at higher ow rates.
Moreover, both the single and twin ropes in EDTM appeared to
have somewhat shorter wavelengths than in CDTM. The shorter
wavelength and a smaller ratio of the twin-to-single rope fre-
quencies in EDTM are attributed to the back-eect of the elbow
curvature the pressure build up on the concave wall breaking
the ow symmetry and suppressing the ropes axial convection
and expansion. It is also recalled that the length of the draft
tube exerts an inuence since the helix wavelength will adjust to
match the elbow length and eigen frequency. The higher insta-
bility and a shorter life of the twin rope in the EDTM is also
believed to be related to the elbow curvature which acts as an
additional source of instability. This phenomenon was observed
in two test rigs with dierent draft tubes and swirl generators.
Moreover, this phenomenon also was found by Wahl (1994) on
the 1:40 turbine scale model. Thus, it can be concluded that sim-
ilar phenomenon may indeed occur in real turbines during the
operation in part load regimes.
The phenomenon discussed calls for further and more
detailed research, which is currently in progress focusing on
the vorticity distribution and its dynamics during the transi-
tion, which could be useful for checking and possibly revis-
ing the analytical theory of vortex dynamics in elements of
 Journal of Hydraulic Research Vol. 54, No. 4 (2016) Analysis of twin vortex ropes in draft tube models 459

hydroturbines. However, the results presented could already be v = uid kinematic viscosity (m2 s1 )
useful for estimating the precessing frequencies in real hydro- = water density (kg m3 )
turbine draft tubes from data obtained in laboratory models of = time period of twin rope (s)
not-necessarily identical geometrical conguration. Of course, s = time period of single rope (s)
transition from one mode to another is sensitive to the cong- u 2 , u w = turbulent stresses (kg m1 s2 )
uration geometry and also to other factors such as additional = guide vane inclination angle ()
evacuation and air injection.

ORCID
Funding
Sergey Skripkin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5232-7628
This work was funded by the Russian Science Foundation [grant
number 14-29-00203].
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