Performance Analysis of a Cross-Flow Turbine Runner Made of HDPE-Wood Fiber Biocomposite
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This study investigates the hydraulic and structural performance of a Cross-flow turbine runner manufactured from recycled HDPE reinforced with 40% wood fibers, with the objective of assessing its suitability as a sustainable and mechanically reliable alternative to steel and pure HDPE for micro-hydropower applications. A comprehensive multiphysics methodology was implemented, combining CAD-based design, thermoforming fabrication, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and experimental validation on a calibrated hydraulic test bench. Mesh sensitivity analysis, rotor-stator coupling, and turbulence-model verification were performed to ensure numerical robustness, while structural predictions were benchmarked against tensile testing data for the biocomposite. Results show that the 40% wood‑fiber reinforcement significantly enhances structural rigidity, reducing maximum blade deformation by 74% compared to pure HDPE (from 0.16 mm to 0.042 mm). The biocomposite runner achieves a peak hydraulic efficiency of approximately 57%, corresponding to 87-92% of the efficiency of a geometrically identical steel runner. Structurally, the maximum von Mises stress reaches 14.64 MPa, yielding a safety factor of 2.85 relative to the material’s tensile yield strength of 41.72 MPa. Overall, this research demonstrates that high‑fraction wood‑fiber biocomposites can deliver near‑metallic performance while offering a cost‑effective, corrosion‑resistant, and environmentally sustainable solution for rural and remote electrification.
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