• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.140-149
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• 2011

For a certain operating point of a horizontal shaft bulb turbine (i.e. volume flow, net head, blade angle, guide vane angle) the efficiency for different pressure levels (i.e. different Thoma-coefficient ${\sigma}$) is calculated using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD-)-code including two-phase flow and a cavitation model. The results are compared with experimental results achieved at a closed loop test rig for model turbines. The comparison of the experimentally and numerically obtained efficiency and the visual impression of the cavitation show a good agreement. Especially the drop in efficiency is calculated with satisfying accuracy. This drop in efficiency in combination with the visual impression is of high practical importance since it contributes to determine the admissible cavitation in a bulb-turbine. It is seen that the incipient cavitation in Kaplan type turbines has no major importance in determing this admissible amount of cavitation.