MechE Colloquium: Fatigue modelling and mitigation in hydraulic machines
Event details
| Date | 01.10.2024 |
| Hour | 12:00 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Dr. Elena Vagnoni, Hydraulic Machines Platform, EPFL |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract: The growing demand for increased flexibility in modern power systems poses a significant challenge to the safe operation of the hydropower asset. Extended operating ranges and frequent start-ups and stops, necessary to regulate the power grid, lead to performance degradation and reduce the lifespan of the hydraulic machines. As a consequence, new technologies and strategies for operational control and monitoring are needed to improve hydraulic machines reliability and longevity. This talk presents our recent findings on the understanding and modelling of the fatigue-induced damage and the underlying fluid-structure interactions causing the premature aging of the hydraulic machine runner blades during start-up procedures. Experimental investigations using strain gauges measurements and particle image velocimetry on reduced-scale models help develop predictive models considering the full operating range of the machine, offering a breakthrough for the optimization of the start-up sequences to minimize the fatigue-induced damage.
Biography: Dr. Elena Vagnoni is currently the head of the research projects group at EPFL Technology Platform for Hydraulic Machines and lecturer for the EPFL Mechanical Engineering Section. Her research interests focus on the experimental investigation and predictive modelling of flow phenomena and fluid-structure interactions in hydraulic machines to improve hydropower exploitation.
She graduated with honours in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan (Italy) in 2013, and she obtained her Ph.D. in Mechanics at EPFL in 2018. Before her current position, she was a research assistant fellow at Johns Hopkins University (US), a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, and a SNSF-fellow guest scientist at NTNU (Norway). She is the Swiss expert for the Annex IX of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydropower Technology Cooperation Programme and Vice-Coordinator of the European Energy Research Association (EERA) joint program Hydropower.
Biography: Dr. Elena Vagnoni is currently the head of the research projects group at EPFL Technology Platform for Hydraulic Machines and lecturer for the EPFL Mechanical Engineering Section. Her research interests focus on the experimental investigation and predictive modelling of flow phenomena and fluid-structure interactions in hydraulic machines to improve hydropower exploitation.
She graduated with honours in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan (Italy) in 2013, and she obtained her Ph.D. in Mechanics at EPFL in 2018. Before her current position, she was a research assistant fellow at Johns Hopkins University (US), a postdoctoral researcher at EPFL, and a SNSF-fellow guest scientist at NTNU (Norway). She is the Swiss expert for the Annex IX of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydropower Technology Cooperation Programme and Vice-Coordinator of the European Energy Research Association (EERA) joint program Hydropower.
Practical information
- General public
- Free