Forces Acting upon the Guide Blade:

It is easier to determine the force acting upon the blades when the blades are in a closed
position (see Figure below).

The connecting line of the contact (sealing) points of the blade separates from each other
spaces, in one of which - outside the guide blades - there is a pressure corresponding to
the head of the water above the guide blades, Hn (see Figure below), whilst in the other
space - inside the blades - there is the pressure in front of the runner. This pressure in
front of the runner may be different under different operating conditions; let us
investigate three important cases.
a) We shall assume that the guide blades were closed with the turbine running; in
this case, the turbine slowing down is still in motion and the draft tube is filled
with water. The water in the draft tube develops on the inner side of the guide
blades a sucking effect by an under pressure which equals the water column Ha
minus the overpressure of the runner. The relative velocities equal zero, and,
therefore, this overpressure is

U 21−U 22
hp=
2g
The pressure difference between both considered spaces is therefore given by

U 21−U 22 U 2−U 22
(
γ H n−γ −H d +
2g ) (=γ H n+ H d− 1
2g )
 This overpressure acts upon the connecting line of the contact points of the blade,
the length of this line equals the spacing of the blades, t; the resultant force passes
through the bisecting point of this connecting line and is perpendicular to the
latter. The effective surface, acted upon by the overpressure, equals t . B, B being
the face of the guide wheel; consequently, the total force Rz acting upon the blade
is in this case

U 21−U 22
(
R z= H n + H d −
2g )
tBγ (1)

The resultant Rz in general will not pass through the pivot of the blade. Its
perpendicular distance from it will be Xz. In this case, the force Rz endeavors to
rotate the blade with the moment

U 21 −U 22
(
M z =R z x z= H n + H d −
2g )t B γ xz (2)

b) When the turbine has stopped, but the draft tube has remained until then filled up
with water, the overpressure of the runner disappears, and consequently the
corresponding term in the expression (135), or, as the case may be falls off. The
force acting upon the blade will then be
R z=( H n+ H d ) t B γ =H t B γ (3)

and act with the moment.

 M z =R z x z=( H n + H d ) t B γ x z =H t B γ x z (4)

c) When, after the turbine has been stopped, air penetrates into the draft tube through
leaks, the under pressure created by the draft tube and given by the water column
Ha disappears, and the force acting upon the blade will be
R z=H n t B γ (5)
and the moment will equal
M z =H n t B γ x z (6)
It is evident that the greatest force and moment will act upon the blade in case b), and we
must reckon with these values from Equations (3) and (4) as maximum magnitudes in our
strength calculation.
So, we will calculate the maximum force acts upon the guide blade using equation (3). As
we designed above,
Parameter Value Unit
Hn 110 m
Hd 0.52 mWc
t 0.115 m
B 0.1422 m
xz 0.0575 m
U1 33.9132 m/s
U2 29.8451 m/s

R z=( 110 +0.52 ) 0.115∗0.1422∗1000∗9.81=17.73 KN

Reference:
“Hydraulic Turbines Their Design and Equipment”, MIROSLAVNECHLEBA, Dr.
Techn., M. E.,