Cavitation is a negative factor of hydraulic machinery because of its undesirable effects on the operation stability and safety.\nFor reversible pump-turbines, the improvement of cavitation inception performance in pump mode is very important due to\nthe strict requirements. The geometry of blade leading edge is crucial for the local flow separation which affects the scale and\nposition of pressure drop. Hence, the optimization of leading edge shape is helpful for the improvement of cavitation inception\nperformance. Based on the genetic algorithm, optimization under multiple flow rate conditions was conducted by modifying the\nleading edge ellipse ratio and blade thickness on the front 20% meanline. By using CFD simulation, optimization was completed\nwith obvious improvements on the cavitation inception performance. CFD results show that the pressure drop location had\nmoved downstream with the increasement of the minimum pressure coefficient. Experimental verifications also got an obvious\nenhancement of cavitation inception performance. The stability and safety was improved by moving the cavitation inception curve\nout of the operating range. This optimization is proved applicable and effective for the engineering applications of reversible pumpturbines.
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