Efficiency Sensitivity Analysis of a Very Low Head Axial Turbine (VLH) considering Upstream Channel Geometrical Parameters

Time-consuming computational fluid dynamics problems with complex geometries and a large number of computational nodes can be challenging in parametric studies. In this research, we integrate CFD with Response Surface Methodology to investigate the sensitivity of hydraulic efficiency of a particular kind of water turbine to its upstream channel’s geometrical parameters. By choosing samples through Design of Experiment (DoE) techniques and then creating a Meta-Model, the effects of each parameter is studied. In addition, we compared two different Meta-Models and investigated how they influence the accuracy of the response as another objective of this research. The turbine installation angle has the most significant influence on the turbine’s performance, and also the Kriging method predicted the response function more accurate than Second Order Model. .